Help choose my college choices based on my stats!!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Senior in HS</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.68/4
Weighted GPA: 4.32
In the top 12% of my class. (out of a class of a little less than 800 students)
Have been taking ALL honors classes and AP classes (4 APs senior year).
Involved in 4 extracurriculars: (as of end of senior year)
-synchronized swimming 4 years
-best buddies 2 years
-Model UN 3 years
-club for social change 2 years
Got 1 smallish award.
Volunteered at the library this summer.
ACT: 33
SAT comp: 2090 (but I am retaking it in the fall, shooting for a 2200-2300)
verbal: 670
math: 740
writing: 680
SAT subject: math-770 lit-710</p>

<p>APs (so far, up to junior year): APUSH-4, Eng lit-5, gov’t-5, psych-5</p>

<p>I am a first generation immigrant from Asia, female–I obviously speak a different language fluently.</p>

<p>Ok, so those are my stats. As for my college choices, here they are: [23]</p>

<li>American University (safety, I think, but a bit hesitant because of the rumors I’ve heard)</li>
<li>Amherst (reach)</li>
<li>Barnard (reach)</li>
<li>Bates</li>
<li>Brandeis (match/low reach)</li>
<li>Bucknell U. (I think match, but idk…)</li>
<li>Claremont Mckenna (far reach, because of my lack of leadership)</li>
<li>Colby </li>
<li>Colgate</li>
<li>Columbia U. (reach)</li>
<li>Cornell (reach)</li>
<li>Haverford (high match/low reach?)</li>
<li>University of Illinois-Urbana (match)</li>
<li>University of Michigan</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Reed </li>
<li>Skidmore (safety)</li>
<li>Grinnell (safety/match)</li>
<li>U. of Southern Cali (match/low reach)</li>
<li>Swarthmore (reach)</li>
<li>Vanderbilt (still hesitant on this one because of all the things I’ve heard about it–racism and lack of diversity?)</li>
<li>Yale (very high reach, only going to apply because I will regret it if I don’t)</li>
<li>either Loyola U. Chicago or DePaul (both safeties, but which is better?)</li>
</ol>

<p>As you can see, I have 23 schools and I have to weed them down to about 13. HELP!??!!</p>

2

<p>Well, let’s ignore the list of colleges for a moment and focus on what you’re actually hoping your college experience will be like. </p>

<p>Below is a list of 23 different things that a student might be looking for in a college experience. Pick your top 10 out of this list, and then rank them in order of importance to you from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most important item. You can only pick 10, so think about your choices carefully. If there is something you think should be in the top 10 that isn’t listed, you can add it, but you can still only choose 10 “must haves.”</p>

<p>If an option you choose as a must have has more than one item to pick from, pick the one that comes closest to your ideal image of your college. Write it that way on your list of top 10.</p>

<p>It might help to print the list out, put each one on a separate slip of paper, and sort them by hand as you think about each option.</p>

<p>Close to home/far from home (pick one of the two)</p>

<p>Has greek life/doesn’t have greek life (pick one of the two)</p>

<p>located in a city/suburb/rural area (pick one of the three)</p>

<p>good financial aid</p>

<p>strong overall academics</p>

<p>people I know view it as prestigious</p>

<p>strong program in my potential major</p>

<p>has a strong academic reputation with graduate schools</p>

<p>good merit scholarships</p>

<p>lots of personal interaction between faculty and students</p>

<p>has a strong reputation with employers</p>

<p>has a work hard/play hard atmosphere</p>

<p>nice weather</p>

<p>is a fun school socially</p>

<p>has a lot of diversity in the student body</p>

<p>small/large/medium-sized (pick one of the three)</p>

<p>I will fit in socially (try to describe what that means to you)</p>

<p>campus is politically active and students are mainly liberal/conservative/moderate</p>

<p>athletics are popular/athletics are not the focus (pick one of the two)</p>

<p>campus has lots of cultural activities</p>

<p>opportunities for independent research</p>

<p>many small discussion-based classes/many large lectures (pick one of the two)</p>

<p>other students are: brainy/quirky/attractive/creative/athletic/outgoing/happy/friendly (pick the two words that best describe the student body you hope your college will have — feel free to add one of your own words)</p>

<p>After you choose your 10 “must haves” put the leftovers into rank order as well. Be sure to make any choices amongst the items with more than one description. If there are any that you absolutely DON’T want, put them in a separate “Don’t Want” pile.</p>

3

<p>well you have quite a variety of schools… maybe think more about what you want in the colleges atmosphere to narrow it down… for example usc and brandeis are total opposites… if it doesnt matter to you then try and limit the reaches a bit and divide your schools into something like 3 safeties, 5 matches, 3 reaches, and maybe like 2 super reaches.</p>

4

<p>I agree with Carolyn. I’d sit down with the Fiske Guide, spend time on the web, and try to visit as many as you can… but, here’s my list for you…</p>

<p>Amherst
Barnard
Bates
Bucknell
Colby
Columbia
Cornell
Haverford
Reed
Skidmore
Grinnell
Swarthmore
Yale</p>