Generating a college list

College Search & Selection
1

Currently I’m a rising senior in high school and I’m starting to think about colleges. I’m looking into some competitive schools right now but I’m still having trouble formulating a decent list. I would like to go to schools in or near New England (I’m from CT) and the east coast. I’m looking to major in Biochemistry so I want to go to a school with lots of research opportunities. My SAT is a 1470/1600 but I’m planning on getting it up. My SAT subject tests were also high (740-780). I’ve taken 5 AP classes so far and have done well in all of them and next year I am going to take 5 more. I play a sport and have lots of extracurriculars with some strong leadership roles. So far, here’s the schools I am tentatively thinking about but I need help narrowing it down:

Yale
Brown
Dartmouth
Cornell
Princeton
Columbia
Amherst
Wesleyan
Wellesley
Tufts
UChicago
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Boston College
Lehigh
Brandeis
Carnegie Mellon
Northeastern
NYU
Boston University
University of Connecticut
UVA
UMiami
UMichigan

I would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks!

2

What’s your GPA and how much can your parents pay toward your education? Have you run the Net Price Calculators at any of these schools?

3

My gpa is a 3.94 on a 4.3 scale but the highest gpa in my grade is 4.1 so I’m in the top 5 or top 10 percent. My parents and I talked and they said cost isn’t something to worry about so that’s not really a factor for me.

4

You would be a good fit for most of the NESCACs, particularly with respect to their opportunities for research.



For basic, school-specific statistical information, this site appears current:



http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/college-profiles-new-sat/

5

Your parents answer is very common and mostly comes from well meaning parents who haven’t developed a college costs strategy. Each year there are hundreds of students who are stranded because it turns out they only applied to unaffordable colleges and a safety… Cost is ALWAYS something to worry about.

Please run the NPC on ALL of these as well as UConn, ConnColl, and Trinity, and bring the individual results to your parents, see what’s affordable from income only, from income and savings, etc. How much do they set aside each month for your college? $2,000? $500? Do they have a college fund/529 for you? Have that conversation and Cole back with numbers (EFC, net cost that’s affordable for your parents, which universities that fit within that budget).

6

You can never be too sure about your college chances, so I recommend applying to local community college just in case. That’s what my brother did

7

I’ve already had that conversation and I don’t know specifically how much money they put in every month, but I know they’ve had a 529 Chet account since I was born. The account has about $130k in it and although I don’t qualify for any financial aid, my dad’s work pays for half of my tuition. Basically, count genuinely isn’t an issue.

8

Here is your list:
Yale Brown Dartmouth Cornell Princeton Columbia Amherst Wesleyan Wellesley Tufts UChicago Duke Johns Hopkins Northwestern Boston College Lehigh Brandeis Carnegie Mellon Northeastern NYU Boston University University of Connecticut UVA UMiami UMichigan

Here are my thoughts.

For the Ivies you will need to have some national or international distinctions. If all of your awards and honors are at the school level, or school and state level, then it is a very long shot to get into an Ivy, and possibly the very top LACs as well.

Your selections under consideration range from small LAC to rather large public schools, and from being located in major cities of millions to being in a college town (Ann Arbor, Michigan, e.g.). They include those not known for football, to those with lots of school spirit and a culture that rallies around major sports competitions, directly or indirectly.

I suggest you do some soul-searching to really define better what you are looking for in your college experience, lifestyle and location. That decision has to be made sooner or later, and better to make it before finalizing your list than after you get acceptances. You might be able to identify your true priorities just by comparing the options you have. Disregarding any notions of “prestige” or ranking, and only looking at what your four years of life might be like, if you were offered a choice between Wesleyan and Michigan, which would you choose, and why? What about between Michigan and Miami? What about between Duke (in a forest by a small town) and Boston U (in the very heart of the city)? Go through your list and figure out what your true preferences are.

My gut impression glancing over your list is that you would be happiest in a major city, and if that’s the case, you can start narrowing the list by taking off any university/college that is not located in a major city or very close by with easy access. That’s just one approach.

If you really analyze your true preferences, you should wind up with a list of options that all have similarities in the nature and size of the university/college and type of location/city, with the main difference being in cost and how competitive admissions are. Don’t let prestige or ranking alone cause you to wind up in the middle of nowhere, e.g., if you really crave big city life with public transportation, museums, performances, internship opportunities, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, etc.

9

Ok , excellent for costs.

Now, how did you establish your list? Did you check their test scores and pick all of universities within range?

Perhaps you should get a Fiske guide. Read about three or four universities from your list : what do they have in common? How are they different? Did you find out about characteristics you dislike ?

10

You had asked about research opportunities in biochemistry. A tip for you – there are numerous summer research internships all over the country (and world) that you can apply to, no matter what the situation is like at the university you attend. Start looking for these in the early fall, as applications for most summer research internships are due by January.

If you want to do research during the academic year, then you can look for these types of things at your target universities/colleges:

UROP - Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (on campus and international)
URS - Undergraduate Research Scholarship (on campus and international)
RAP - Research Apprenticeship Program (often lasting two years)
Directed Research - courses you sign up for to get credit for individual research with a professor
Part-time Research Assistant jobs (paid) - in professor labs or government labs on campus (USDA, e.g.)
Volunteer research assistant positions - in professor labs or on-campus hospitals
Required or optional research thesis for major or honors program - research will be built into your program
Study abroad programs that combine research and academics
National scholarships to support/sponsor research - you can apply for these once you are an undergraduate

My daughter lined up a paid lab research position that she started her first week as a freshman at her university just by looking at the job ads for students, and contacting one of the labs to express interest. She also received a research scholarship to conduct a research project with a professor, and this summer she is completing a research internship at another university. Later on she plans to complete an honors research thesis. She attends the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, which has endless research opportunities for undergraduates. Many universities and colleges have tons of research opportunities if you look for them, but you may need to be proactive to take advantage of them.

11

Not quite. Durham is a city of over 250,000 and is part of the greater Triangle with lots of people and many major employers (Research Triangle Park) as well as a vibrant start-up culture.

Granted, Duke Forest is beautiful, but it’s not like the school is sitting in the middle of it!

I do agree though with the concept of thinking WHY on these particular schools. Your reasoning should be more than just the fact that the school has significant name recognition. You’ll spend 4 years of your life there. What are your priorities outside of biochem and research opportunities?

12

Thanks for the comments, they have been helpful. As far as location goes, I’m not really too picky about that. I wasn’t specifically looking for a college in the city but I also wasn’t looking for one in the middle of nowhere. I chose these colleges based loosely on SAT scores and on where there would be research opportunities (according to my research). The list that I generated was supposed to cover safeties to reaches. At the moment I’m just not sure what schools I want to eliminate, but that just depends on personal preference and what I want out of college, which I haven’t really decided yet. I will come back when I have more developments.