GPA dropped - no idea where to apply?

[CanuckHorn]

<p>What are you interested in studying? What type of campus interests you (small school / big city)? Other schools you may want to consider - Colgate, Trinity University, SMU and Tulane. Just be sure to give yourself a good range of schools. My son knew he was in at one of our big state schools and that was his one safety. He then applied to several reaches and a few matches. He then received a nice scholarship from one of his matches that made it just a little more expensive than the state school. The opportunity to really get to know his professors, and be in small classes convinced him to attend the small school. Be sure to look at graduation rates. We made a spreadsheet with the following columns Tuition / Room & Board / Aid / Total Cost / 4 yr grad rate / 5yr grad rate / 6yr grad rate / # of students / # of students in your intended major / SAT Range for mid 50% / Percentage of students in the top 10% in high school / US News ranking. It was very helpful to be able to quickly see how schools compared. In TX - A&M graduates about 45% in 4 years where Trinity University graduates around 70% in 4 years. More extreme examples - Cal Poly (good engineering program) graduates only 25% in 4 years while Carleton graduates 89%. We found the graduation rate along with cost to be the most helpful in choosing a school, because your ultimate goal is to graduate with a good degree with as little debt as possible. Good luck!</p>