Hey I think i might be a little misguided in the college process. I really liked Providence and did not like Boston college when i visited this weekend but my grades and test scores indicate I can get into better schools than Providence. Would it be a waste of all my hard work during High School to go to Providence for business over a more reputable school I could get into? I guess another question is, how good of a school is Providence?
Continue looking at schools and see what you like and what you don’t. There may be better schools than Providence that you find you do like, or there might not and it turns out that Providence is the place for you. It certainly wouldn’t be a waste of your time and energy in high school if you got in to your top choice.
If you like Providence, and it looks to be afordable, go ahead and apply. If you are admitted there, and to other places that are more famous/higher-ranked/whatever, once you have all the admissions offers and financial aid packages on the table you can think about which truly are better fits for you.
I agree with both posts above. Keep looking at schools. Think about what you liked about Providence and look for other similar schools. Providence college might turn out to be the right place for you.
I don’t like the term “better schools”. Pretty much any college or university at least in the top about 1000 (or even 2000) schools in the US is a very good college or university for some students. Every college and university is a bad choice for many other students. You need to find a school that is a good fit for you. It is possible that Providence might be the right fit for you.
You also should consider the cost of college. You should find out from your parents what you can afford, and try to find out what schools are likely to cost. The net price calculator can be helpful (if you google " net price calculator" you will find it). I noticed just now that the “sticker” price for Providence College is fairly high, but they do have both need-based and merit scholarships so it is at least possible that those high grades that you got in high school might save you some money. Also, what you learn in high school will help you in college in multiple ways.
You post makes it look like you are looking beyond just the ranking for each school. This is very wise.
Look at and apply to a variety of schools. This is why “they” say to apply to match (those you align with), reach (not sure your stats will get you in), and safety (of course you will get in) schools. That way you will have several options. It is a good idea not to look at just one college and apply to only one (of course there are exceptions but as a rule it’s not wise).
Hope this helps. Here’s what we did but it requires you to narrow the universe, because as a previous poster stated, there are MANY good schools out there. Really think about this:
- Geography - where do you want to be? (my S decided to look at only east coast schools - we live in FL)
- Urban vs. Suburban vs. Rural (he wanted suburban - defined campus but accessible to a city or large town)
- Size ( he settled in on the 5k - 10k undergraduate student population)
- Strong programs (what are they good at re what you are interested in)
- School spirit / athletics (fuzzy as spirit means something very different to everyone. To him it was about attending football and basketball games. Does the student body care? etc.)
- Greek Life (how big of a deal is it?)
- Alumni network (how strong / active)
Once we narrowed it down to this criteria, it became about feel via visiting campuses. Funny, it proved to be a good list and barometer as we visited some schools that didn’t meet the criteria just because we were in the area (BU while we visited other Boston schools . Great school but VERY urban. No “classic campus”. He liked the thought of being able to access Boston BUT didn’t want to live in the city. It was noisy, crowded, etc.) Other schools met most of the list but were too small or didn’t seem to have the vibe around sports he wanted. Ultimately he applied to several that met most of the requirements and got accepted to a few and then he could choose based on reality.
Don’t get stuck on a specific school as admissions is very fickle these days. If you have a few that meet YOUR criteria and you’re realistic about admissions, you should gain acceptance to a great school that you’ll love. Best of luck!
Remember that just because your stats are above average for a school, you may still be denied admission. This is especially true at schools like Boston College.