Help finding "fit" colleges please?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a junior in a small high school (800 students total) this year and I am completely lost as far as the college application process goes. My parents were both international students that transferred to and graduated from Penn State (they are alumni but don't have any connection to the school besides the fact that they graduated there), so they don't know how the college application process for high schoolers works at all, we do not have any close family friends to ask, and 75%+ of the kids at my school will most likely end up going to a college in our area and live out the rest of their lives here (for example, no one cared about the PSAT, and overall most people are fine with not-so-rigorous classes and average GPAs), therefore there's not much of a point in asking my classmates about colleges outside of our state (WI).</p>

<p>I was pretty much caught completely unprepared for all this college "stuff," and have now been stressed out trying to decide on a major (I'm thinking about going into business for management information systems- though this is only because I have won an award for business and therefore everyone that I've talked to has suggested business), looking at colleges (I've heard that you should decide on a major before you start touring), and studying for the ACT and SAT.</p>

<p>I have not heard of any colleges besides our local one, the state one (UW-Madison), colleges in the Ivy League, UM-Twin Cities, and Northwestern. Looking at some of the "chance" posts in the forums for these schools, it seems pretty unlikely for me to get into any of them.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>School: Not competitive, very small (800 students) in a town with pop. 15k</p>

<p>GPA: ~3.8 (out of 4.0 max, and our school doesn't give extra credit)</p>

<p>Rank: Top 15% (however this might change to 20%)</p>

<p>ACT Comp: 32 (This was the score from a practice past ACT test offered at my school; I plan to study and take it in the spring along with the SAT.)</p>

<p>Current / Planned AP Courses:<a href="My%20school%20doesn't%20let%20you%20take%20AP%20classes-%20besides%20math-%20until%20junior%20year%20due%20to%20the%20required%20classes%20you%20have%20to%20take%20freshman%20and%20sophomore%20year.">/b</a> Also- do courses that will be taken senior year count in college applications?
**Current:
AP Calculus
AP Language and Composition
AP US Government and Politics
Senior year:
AP Literature and Composition
AP Psychology
AP French
AP Chemistry (Undecided)
(I also plan on taking Computer Science and Calc II at our local college if it can fit my schedule senior year)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
French Club (will be 3 years by senior year, got silver and gold in French Concours for freshman and sophomore years)
Marching Band / Colorguard (will be 4 years and competing in a national competition this year)
Concert Band (received highest score for Solo & Ensemble for 2 years, hopefully for next 2 years as well)
Critical Thinking Club (new club this year with political science grad from prestigious school heading it)
FBLA (will be 4 years, 8th place @ Nationals for E-Commerce last year)
NHS (will have at least 40 volunteer hours by end of senior year)
Flute (will have played it for 7 years by senior year)</p>

<p>As far as interests go, I'm considering a major in Psychology (con- no desirable jobs), Neuroscience (con- at least ~12 years, a PhD path), and Business with technology (con- I am not much of a "leader").</p>

<p>My question is, based on the information below, what are some "fit / match" colleges that I'd probably get accepted into? What are some "reach" colleges that I might have a shot at? I'm aware that I'm going into this all really late, but what can I do from now on to improve my shot at some of the better colleges? Right now I know that compared to pretty much everyone else on this site my profile is really lackluster, but I'd appreciate an honest opinion of where I stand right now. Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>from my read I think you want to leave your town and spread your wings. (you can always go home after college)</p>

<p>if you like smaller schools with great academics and happy students there is hendrix college, muhlenberg college and college of wooster.</p>

<p>medium size schools to look at butler university and drake university ( larger but no to large)</p>

<p>and a bigger school university of pittsburgh</p>

3

<p>Your first step is a conversation with your parents about 1) what they can afford to pay and 2) what their constraints/expectations are (if they have any). (For example, do they want you to be within a certain geographic area?) </p>

<p>The next step is start reading up on various schools - pull out the college guides - so you can develop a set of criteria for choosing schools: size, location, majors, culture, urban/suburban/small town, etc…What are the characteristics of the schools you are most interested in? Go visit your state school, UW Madison and see what you think. It’s a good baseline - lots of majors, a wide range of students, usually among the cheaper options. Use the college finder on CC and read about the schools that come up. Develop a list of ‘reaches, matches and safety’ schools to apply to. Search CC for those definitions.</p>

<p>You don’t need to decide a major - most people are undecided when they apply. But if you think you might want a pre-professional major (like business or engineering), that probably rules out most of the small liberal arts colleges (which usually offer economics and physics/math/comp sci - but not business or engineering). </p>

<p>And you will be asked what classes you are taking senior year at the time you apply. Later you will be asked to provide grades as well - but often that’s to make sure you maintained your GPA, rather than as a factor in the decision to admit or not.</p>

4

<p>Since your a junior you’ve got time to completely ace the ACT. If you got a 34 (very likely if you study a little bit, considering the 32) then your GPA and ACT would be in Northwestern range, and therefore definitely within the others (other than maybe Ivy, obviously). I wouldn’t count yourself out of great schools, your stats aren’t bad at all. The only thing hurting you is maybe the rank, but with a 3.8 you’re still good.</p>

5

<p>Agree with zobroward. What is your financial need? I am guessing you would thrive at a small LAC such as he has suggested–and with your credentials you would probably get very generous merit aid that would make the cost of attendance less than UW or UM.</p>

6

<p>Get familiar with a good college search engine such as college navigator [url=&lt;a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”&gt;College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics]College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics<a href=“use%20the%20expanded%20options%20on%20the%20left%20to%20include%20as%20many%20factors%20as%20possible;%20you%20can%20download%20results%20to%20spreadsheet”>/url</a>. There is also a different type here on CC called SuperMatch, and one on collegeboard.org.
One idea is to borrow a useful college guide such as the Fiske Guide or the Princeton Review from the library and start browsing through for ideas after reading the first few chapters which will give you an overview of the whole process. Or you can buy one (used ones that are a year or two old are OK though the cost info will be out of date).
Since you are unsure of your major, go to a school that will have lots of options in case you change your mind.
P.S. - you do not need to be a “leader” to have a career in Business or Business Technology. Also, leadership skills are developed over time, so you may have potential anyway; you are still so young!
I **disagree **with the advice to hold off campus visits until you know your major! Most kids are undecided when they go to college and most change their minds at least once in college. Go to campuses that are convenient to start getting an idea of what factors matter to you: size, location, urban/country, Greek life, Sports etc. etc.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for everyone’s posts! As a new member of CC and pretty much clueless about college, your posts definitely help.</p>

<p>I do plan on trying to get in and applying to more selective schools like UW-Madison and UM-Twin Cities, but as they’re both very large schools I’ll definitely pay attention to how I feel about that when I start touring colleges.</p>

<p>Thanks M’s Mom, for your post on how I should get started. I’ll be following your advice.</p>

<p>I’m hoping to get my scores up and will definitely be checking out the CC forums for standardized testing.</p>

<p>I haven’t considered financial aid yet, so that’ll be something to look into as well while searching for colleges.</p>

<p>Thanks for your advice as well, BeanTownGirl. I’ll check out that book and use the search engines- right now my main problem is that I don’t know any colleges besides the few prestigious ones I’ve heard about, so I’m hoping I’ll find other colleges I might like from the results.</p>

<p>Right now I don’t really know what factors really matter to me, so I’ll be sure to start touring colleges to get a feel for what I might like and dislike.</p>

<p>As for leadership qualities, the main reason I’m worried about my lack of them is the college interviews. I’m afraid I have nothing to say as far as leadership experience goes, and I don’t know how I’ll respond to that if asked about such a thing during an interview.</p>

<p>Again, thanks to everyone who’s replied.</p>

8

<p>“leadership” is not a requirement for attending a top school. No one looks at a top athlete or outstanding musician or artist and asks why they aren’t president of the French Club or honor society. Secondly, leadership can be demonstrated by simply taking the initiative in any area in which you have a significant interest. You can lead a project or teach something you know well or bring an idea you developed to fruition - it doesn’t have to mean being elected as club treasurer. Frankly, it’s much more important is to show intellectual curiosity, commitment (the ability to follow through) and depth in your interests. You clearly have that in the area of music. Don’t undersell yourself and don’t pad your resume with pointless ECs and volunteer work that detracts from your and their clarity about who you are and what you have to offer.</p>

9

<p>Do speak with your parents about the money issue. You need to know how much they truly are ready, willing, and able to pay each year. Run some of the Net Price Calculators at the websites of the colleges/universities that you are thinking of, and see what your family might be expected to pay. Lots of parents find that information shocking, so you may want to have a box of tissues handy.</p>

<p>To learn more about how financial aid works, read through the information at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and spend some time in the Financial Aid Forum here. Your grades and ACT score are good enough to qualify for merit aid at a number of places, so read through the threads there on guaranteed merit-based aid.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

10

<p>A few points:
Don’t judge your chances of admission based on the “chance me” threads in CC! These don’t represent a statistically valid sample and you have no idea if anyone is telling the truth or leaving something out. Instead use the statistics provided by the colleges themselves, these can be found on College Navigator or the College Board. Look at % admitted and mid-range of SAT/ACT and GPA. Remember that most colleges look beyond the “numbers” and consider EC’s, recommendations, essays, etc.</p>

<p>Interviews - not all schools conduct interviews, in fact most do not. Don’t be afraid of interviews, they are usually just conversations where someone tries to get to know you a little better and help you develop a personal connection to the school. My son said that the easiest interviews were with admissions officers because they often did most of the talking, he felt like they were trying to sell him on their school. Interviews with alumni usually have even less bearing on admissions and none of them were hard or intimidating.</p>

11

<p>BeanTownGirl is right, don’t listen to the chance me threads. I’m sure plenty of people they said would get in didn’t, and plenty of people they said wouldn’t get in did, so…</p>

12

<p>You have gotten great advice above. You might enjoy reading a book that is an overall guide to the college admissions process, like “Admission Matters” by Sally Springer and Jon Reider.</p>

13

<p>I think that you should start visiting some schools nearby as proxies for types of schools. </p>

<p>For example, you probably have no school on Monday (Veterans Day), but both Beloit and Lawrence University (in Appleton) are open and have classes. </p>

<p>Pick one and visit to give you a sense of what a liberal arts college is like. </p>

<p>Then on a Saturday visit Madison and see what a large university is like. If there is a home football game, the place will be swarming with fans. </p>

<p>These are very different experience. Would you prefer the more intimate, personal experience, or the vast offerings and resources and school spirit of a large university. Would you prefer a small college town, or a city. </p>

<p>Once you have an opinion on the size choice get Fiske guide and start looking through it and get a sense of what matters to you. Plan to visit some schools during spring break to further get a sense of what you want. </p>

<p>It’s a process of discovery, mostly about yourself.</p>