<p>I'm having a lot of trouble finding schools that I want to apply to, especially safety schools. I was hoping someone here could help. I'm from an incredibly small, incredibly rural high school and, as a result, don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere for another four years. Schools with fairly large cities within (or under) an hour's drive or so are perfect. Weather doesn't effect me too much, so geographical location is no problem. Major wise, I'm looking for a school that has a killer Neuroscience and English/Journalism program and a decent acceptance rate into med. school (I don't neccessarily care if they have a pre-med major, a pre-med track is fine). I'd like to have the option to double major, but can live with a minor. I want a school that'll challenge me, but I'd rather not spend the entire time holed up at the library, living off of dust and overpriced cheetos. Work hard, play hard and all that jazz. Amazing financial aid is also a must.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
ACT: 30 composite (taking it again, don't worry)
GPA: 3.95 uw (not sure of w)
Rank: 1 out of 68
AP Classes: English Langauage and Lit, and Calculus (only AP's offered)
EC: Beta Club President, editor of the school newspaper and staff writer for two years, school yearbook editor for one year and page designer for two, 50+ hours of volunteer work at the local library (I have other EC's, but these are the time consuming ones)
Reccomendations and Essay: solid</p>
<p>There are two schools that I'm hopelessly in love with, Vanderbilt and Cornell (no neuro at Cornell, though). Unfortunately, I'm starting to doubt that I can get into Vanderbilt, much less Cornell. Tulane, Colgate, and Rochester are currently on my list too, but that's subject to change every fifteen minutes (or whenever a fresh batch of mail rolls in).</p>
<p>I guess that's it. All suggestions are appreciated!</p>
<p>I don’t have any specific advice, but certain thing in your profile stood out. </p>
<p>You have the following things going for you:</p>
<p>(a) you are the valedictorian</p>
<p>(b) you have taken the most demanding courseload at your HS (if you can supplement your curriculum with difficult classes at a local college, all the better)</p>
<p>(c) I’m not sure where you live, but you seem to have geographic diversity in your favor.</p>
<p>It’s probably a good thing that you’re retaking the ACT. Have you taken any practice SATs just to see if you’re good at them?</p>
<p>Dump Cornell, unless you’re looking for another “stuck in the sticks” experience. Based on my experience with other “sticks raised” kids, I’d recommend an urban/suburban school where you can extend your education to off-campus pursuits. I concur that you’d be a match for Tulane, Vanderbilt and Rochester. For health-sciences-oriented safeties you might consider Creighton, St. Louis University, and the University of Pittsburgh. I’m sure other posters can make equally good suggestions. Good luck!</p>
<p>Let me just say this much… I know how you feel.</p>
<p>Anyways, OneMom’s suggestions were spot-on. Maybe throw in some LAC’s like Oberlin (by Cleveland, which is a really cool city, believe it or not), Kalamazoo (okay, it’s not exactly in a booming metropolis, but the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan and Chicago aren’t all THAT far away,plus you’ll be in a city), and Macalaster (right in Minneapolis, quite possibly one of the coolest cities on the face of the earth, and if you’re dilligent, maybe you could even swing an internship at the Mayo Clinic an hour to the south in Rochester).</p>
<p>University of Michigan also comes to mind, and trust me, you CANNOT dispute how great of a place Ann Arbor is.</p>