Help, less than 24 hours to commit and still don't know where to go to college

College Search & Selection
1

I’m still not sure where I should go. So I am a guy from Indiana and I really don’t want to stay here in the boring midwest much longer. Money isn’t an issue for my family and I know I’ll be debt free regardless of where I’ll go for undergrad.

So here is a list of all the colleges I got accepted to. The top will be the ones I am leaning most on at the moment. I pretty much didn’t receive any financial aid other than scholarships/grants. Career wise, I am looking to becoming something health related like a dietitian.

Chapman: I am leaning towards this college the most right now for a number of reasons. Biggest reason is that it is division 3 and the track coach already said my times are good enough to join. I really want to run college track and maybe it will look good when I apply to grad school too right? Another big reason is that Chapman is probably the most selective college I got into I think, so I might as well go to the best college I got into. I also plan on living by the Orange County or LA area when I’m done with college because I have a lot of relatives living around here, so it is better to go to a college that is local. The dorms are also air conditioned which is awesome to go along with the great weather here.
Cons: Not really any. I’m just not sure if this is the best college I should go. Cost isn’t really a big deal but I only got a $23,200 grant so Chapman will cost me $38,647 a year. It is still affordable for me and I will still be debt free after I finish undergrad, but I won’t have that much money for grad school(not sure if I need to go though?).

Depauw: Only reason this is second on my list is because it is also D3 and is rather cheap since I got a large grant and merit award. I will only be paying $25,308. The dorms are air conditioned too.

Purdue-West Lafayette: I’m not sure on this one. It is a highly respectable school… for anything STEM related(especially engineering). The problem is that I don’t want to do anything STEM related so I’m not sure how respectable of a college for me then. I got accepted to the school of liberal arts(may change this). Big problem is that it is D1 and there is no way I’ll make it to a Big 10 school. I got no financial aid or any merit aid so I will paying the full $24k.

University of San Francisco: I like San Francisco and it has nice weather. It is a D1 school but I might be able to walk on to the team.

University of the Pacific: I do like California and their dorms are air conditioned as well. It is D1 but I might be able to walk on.

Nazareth College: The track coach has really expressed big interest in me. The only problem is that this school really isn’t selective and I want to go to a school that is selective or else I feel like all my hard work in high school has been a waste.

Earlham College: I hear this school has one of the best Japanese programs. I might major in Japanese if I go here since it so highly ranked in this area. It is also Division 3. I also got a pretty big scholarship and Earlham will only cost me $22,230. Earlham would actually be top in this list but one big thing is missing… NO A/C in dorms! Living in Indiana and playing outside when it is subzero has made A/C a necessity for me. I can’t sleep when the room is above 69 degrees even with a fan.

IU-Bloomington: The other big state school in Indiana. Accepted to the school of public health. Don’t want to go here because it’s D1 and I won’t make the track team. Received nothing so will cost full at $25k. It really isn’t a selective college either.

Butler: I hear it is selective so that’s good, but it’s D1.

Allegheny: Meh, no diversity. It is D3 though.

DePaul: Chicago is a nice city but I hear this is a commuter school, plus it is D1. It really isn’t a selective college either.

Other colleges I got accepted too but I really don’t think I will be going:

Seattle Pacific University
Ball State University
Valparaiso University
Menlo College
Wittenberg University(in Ohio)

2

Depauw seems like a good education.

3

Hard to believe you haven’t narrowed your choice down from all these colleges at this point.

4

If your parents are willing to pay for Chapman, go to Chapman. If not, then DePauw. Those seem to be the ones that are the bet fit for you. Cost difference over 4 years is likely to be around 60K or a bit more depending on tuition increases and your travel costs.

5

Chapman. Your parents apparently can pay 38k, it’s an excellent college, you want to discover another part of the country, and even yourself can’t find a downside.
Congratulations ? :slight_smile:

6

One of the two first-year dorms, Barrett, DOES have a/c at Earlham. Its unfortunate that you made a decision with incomplete information. If you apply for the dorm soon after you receive the housing info, you should be able to get in. It was recently renovated, too, with laundry rooms and kitchen on every floor.

7

my dad went to chapman years ago. he LOVED it and ran xcountry. It’s got a cool vibe going on now.

8

Even though Indiana and Butler are the best schools you got into academically (based on what I’ve heard, as I don’t know very much about most of your other choices), Chapman is a great place to spend all four years. It’s your top choice for very great reasons above. You should deposit there. It’s an obvious choice. Have a great four years at Chapman.

9

@MomofM
What about the upper-class dorms? How likely is it that I end up getting an A/C dorm for all 4(maybe 5) years? I would live off-campus but I believe Earlham doesn’t allow off-campus housing and that you have to live in a dorm all 4 years right? The huge promise scholarship Earlham gave me is hard to turn down, but I would still pay double that price if the all the dorms had A/C.

Out of all the colleges in this list, what would be the most hardest to get into? Is it Chapman? What would be the second hardest to get into?

Also, does it even matter where I go for undergrad? Is it better if I go to the most selective? Will it make it easier to get into grad school? Will employers care where you went for undergrad?

10

What matters is what YOU do in college.
Why would it matter which one is hardest to get into ? When you arrive on campus everything is reset to zero. Whatever you did in high is your background to help you succeed, but what you choose to do with it is on you. These choices you make as a young adult are what employers will look at.

11

As a midwesterner, you know that Indiana can get awfully hot in the summer. I understand your concern about air conditioning, but since you said that is your only concern about Earlham, I feel I should remind you that Earlham is in session from late August to early May. By mid-September the heat is not an issue, not an issue at all in early May. I’m not sure this should be your most important consideration. Earlham also has theme houses, so you wouldn’t need to stay in the dorms for all four years, really just your first year I think. I’m not saying quality of life issues aren’t important, but I’d think more about what you want to study,and what sort of community of teachers/students each college has to offer.

12

Since you say that cost is a minimal issue, I would vote for either Chapman (which seems to be your first choice) or U San Francisco. College is a great time to have new experiences and live on your own. Sounds like you’re ready for to try new things in new areas.

Between Chapman and U San Francisco, both have solid academics.
Consider that one is in the small city of Orange, in Orange County, which tends to be slightly more conservative than LA or San Francisco. The other is in a world-class city, but unlike NYU or BU, the campus is slightly outside of the more urban downtown area, and closer to Golden Gate Park.

I would suggest that for any school that you’re still considering, that you go to their wen site and look up the general education or core requirements that are outside any major requirements. Are these classes that you’d be happy to take? Do you think that you’d do well in them?
Then look up any of your potential departmental majors and check the graduation requirements for those majors.
If you’re thinking about being a dietitian, is there a hospital(s) close by where you can intern or shadow? Is there a specific major at the school, or would it be under the more generalized ‘health professions’? Since you’ll need grad school to be a RD, be sure that whichever school you choose will provide you with the correct classes to qualify for grad school admission.

Finally, look up the dorms and try to get a sense of the menus from the dining section. Check out any clubs you may be interested in outside of track.

13

^ Chapman is much better academically than USf though.
But the above advice is solid :slight_smile:
Do let us know what you decide.

14

@rnl2691
Yeah but I’m kind of “cold-blooded”(well only when it comes to sleep, I don’t care if it over 100 degrees during the day since I’ve had track practices outside when it was over 100 degrees before). I live in northern Indiana and I’ve been having the A/C on for the entire month of April. I set it at 68 degrees even when the temperature outside is 55 degrees. Do the theme houses have A/C? I still really want to go to Earlham but having no A/C is deterrent and also because Richmond is a city I’ve never heard of and seems really boring and small. The Japanese program seems really good here(I would actually enjoy studying it) but when I think about it, I’m not sure how successful I will be with a Japanese major.

University of San Francisco used to be one of my top choices until I found out it also doesn’t have A/C in any of the dorms and that you are not allowed to live off-campus for any year. I know the weather at San Francisco is great but to me, if the weather is over 60 I’ll need A/C since inside will also be 10 degrees warmer.
In terms of cost, I got a good grant and hilltop award so USF will cost me only $34984. It is slightly cheaper than Chapman but I might as well go to Chapman since it is more prestigious?

I forgot to mention that I still want to play tennis when I’m in college. It is the same season as track in college so I would want to join like a tennis club if the college has it. If they don’t, then there are always tennis clubs/leagues I could join which I know Orange County has. All of the colleges in Indiana are located in really small cities(except Butler which is in Indianapolis) so I am not sure if they will have such a thing. This was another reason why I want to go to colleges like Chapman and USF.

No mention of IU-B or Purdue so far. Most students here in Indiana want to go to one of these two except for me. I guess it is because most got some sort of aid but I’m paying full(which is kind of lame considering my parents had to pay taxes that is equivalent to someone’s income). Should I still consider these two or cross them out of the list?

15

What if you get a roommate that doesn’t like sleeping in a cold room?

I don’t think graduate schools are going to care about whether you participated in sports. Grad schools care about grades, standardized test scores, recs from professors, and ECs directly related to your field.

I think you are making decisions based on the wrong criteria. But it sounds like you want to go to Chapman and you can afford it, so go there

16

earlham has barret with ac. If not the windows are very big and there is heating for the winter in every dorm.

17

I have also seen window units at many of the upper classmes dorms in mills(the u).

18

@me29034

Isn’t there like a college dorm roommate form that you fill out to match you with a roommate. There should be a question on there that would ask if you prefer cold or warm right?
I also plan on getting off-campus housing after freshmen year or a single dorm room. I heard Chapman had suite style dorms after freshmen year I believe too?

@SeniorStruggling

Yeah but the other first year dorms don’t have A/C, so what if I end up with it then? I don’t think you are allowed to bring an A/C unit can you?

19

I don’t know if the theme houses have ac. I do know Earlham has a tennis team.

20

@CitizenSen Barret isn’t the saught after dorm so you have no isssue if you pick it.