<p>I know the school I want to go to, the school I would go to if accepted & if it's cheap, and the school I'm on-the-fence about applying to. I'm trying to send in applications before the end of the month, and my father is giving me a hard time and keeps saying I need more safety schools.</p>
<p>I'm from a middle class family and go to an unimportant high school in a small town. It's very, very, VERY focused on athletics, and because of my scoliosis (and general hatred of my entire town), I have very little extracurriculars. I attended the World Language Club in ninth grade, but dropped out when I found out it had nothing to to with world languages or even being a club. I was in the art club 9th and 10th grade but stopped going when the club was cut (our school is a big fan of saying the budget is too small so they cut all the programs for the students and give the teachers huge raises). I went on our school trip to France and spent two years fund raising for that one week, but that's the only important thing I've done in school. Actually, just last week I started working on the county-wide Lego Robots competition, but the competition itself isn't until next month.</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.89 (and it's weighted at around 4.1 I think?) and I have a 1730 on the SATs. Last year I took Honors French III and Algerbra 2, and this year I have H Pre-Calc, H French IV, AP Studio Art, and AP Computer Science. My school doesn't have many other advanced subjects, and the ones they do are in my worst subjects (such as English and History). I'm taking Cryptology this year which pretty much the only math elective offered in this school. I'm also taking an Intro to Engineering w/CAD next marking period, but everyone in my school says it's a joke class.</p>
<p>Sorry if I sound whiny and complain-y, my parents are giving a hard time about college (my father wants me to apply to schools that are out of reach and my mother keeps telling me how even community college is too big for me and that she doesn't believe I can handle being on my own-- my mother's opinion isn't as important as it is annoying tho) and I'm just getting depressed again about spending 12 years in a school system I just do not believe fits me at all.</p>
<p>I'm a female high school senior in New Jersey and so far the only school I liked is Rowan University. I'm also interested in the College of New Jersey, but the area isn't very nice and the school's small size felt somewhat limiting to me (I feel like Rowan gives better Real World experiences). I was looking at UMass Dartmouth as a safety... but I don't know how much I like it. I'm not able to actually visit the school and I don't know how strong of a school it is.</p>
<p>I'm interested in Computer Engineering and prefer to stay in the North East. I looked at just about every school in New Jersey, but I'm willing to consider schools between Maryland and Rhode Island. I prefer a medium sized school. What I liked most about Rowan was how it's engineering classes seemed very hands on beginning Freshman year, the school is in a quiet area that has everything you need (food, clothes, entertainment, peace & quiet, job opportunities), the costs were some of the cheapest I've seen, and the student body was friendly, accepting, and had a a place for everyone. I would prefer schools similar to that. I considered Drexel University but its size, costs, location, and school calender were a bit much to over look. I'm also considering Arcadia University, but I found finding information on its Engineering Partnership Program very difficult and I'm having trouble applying to such an expensive school.</p>
<p>Applying to just Rowan and TCNJ would cost around $140 in admission fees, so I don't want a huge list to apply to. Is Arcadia and UMass a good decision to apply to? Are any other schools near New Jersey worth applying to? Thank you for finding the energy to read this post :)</p>