Help me add to and pare down my college list!

College Search & Selection
1

Hi CC!
I’m a junior at a NJ charter school, and I’m making my college list. Here’s a little about me and what I’m looking for:
-Pretty much anywhere in the size range- like 3,000 to 20,000
-Not too far from NJ but definitely out of state
-I’m kind of nerdy and quirky and it’s a big boon if the school matches that or has segments that match that
-Options for majors, as I’m undecided as of yet.
-Preferably in a city or just outside.

Academics (Scores and whatnot)
SAT (June 2015) – 700CR 730M 750W
No Subject SATs yet
APs: Biology and Environmental Science (5’s). This year I’m taking Language, US History, Chemistry, Computer Science, and either Physics 1 or Comparative Gov.
GPA- 4.0 UW/4.62 W
Ranking- 1 or 2 out of 52

Race:Black
Sex:Male
School: Suburban, charter (mainly low-income though)

Major Awards: none, really, although will be entering several international contests this school year.

EC’s

  • volunteer CIT at a summer camp- 2 summers, 50 hours a week
  • paid Counselor at a summer camp- 1 summer, 40 hours a week
  • volunteer tutor at an elementary school- 1 year, 100 hours cumulatively
  • volunteer ‘Soccer Buddy’ at a program for disabled kids- 2 years, 20 hours cumulatively
  • Student Activities Council Member- 1 year, 5 hours a week
  • Student Council Grade Delegate- 1 year, 10 hours a week
  • Science club member- 1 year, 2 hours a week
  • College Mentorship Program (Small groups of students performing community service and learning more about colleges and the admissions process)-1 year, 10 hours a week
    -Red Cross Club Committee Leader- 1 year, 10 hours a week
    -Soccer team- 1 year, 5 hours a week

College List so far
The problem with this is that this is simply done through BigFuture using a series of superficial preferences.
The top 4 are my unequivocal favorites, in no particular order.
Columbia University
Brown University
Johns Hopkins University
Carnegie Mellon University

University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Duke University
NOrthwestern UNiversity
Case Western Reserve University
George Washington University
Tulane University?distance
University of Pittsburgh
Virginia Commonwealth University
Clark University
University of Richmond
Brandeis University
Rice University
Butler University
Providence College
Case Western Reserve University
Wake Forest University
Tufts University
University of Denver
University of Rochester
Washington University in St Louis
Georgetown University
Emory University
Old Dominion University
New York University

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your help!

2

The University Athletic Association schools – which you happen to already have in abundance on your list – keep sports within a perspective that seems to indirectly make them a match for what you are looking for.

3

@merc81 thanks! I looked it up but found that I’d already looked into all the schools.

4

@bbbaaa784: I was thinking of the UAA as sort of an organizing principle in terms of creating a solid core for your list. If you tend to like their philosophies as institutions, then that may indicate that some of the frattier, more sports oriented schools on your list would not be as good for you in terms of fit.

5

What did you like about the unequivocal four schools? Thinking about their qualities may help you pare the larger list. Your larger list is quite interesting. You question Tulane because of distance but you also have Rice, Denver and WUSTL. How did these four schools end up on your list? What about them did you like?

Now, which of these schools are your safety schools? Don’t say “I already have my safety, it’s (Rutgers/another NJ school that’s not Princeton) but I don’t want to go there”. If you don’t want to attend your safety, it’s the wrong school for you, and it’s not a safety. You can have an OOS safety school (ODU?, VCU?), it just has to be a school where you are assured acceptance, you can afford and you would be happy (not ecstatic but happy) to attend. Choosing a safety school forces you to think what you really want in a school. What does it absolutely need for you to attend?

Once you have your unequivocal four and two safeties, then it’s a matter of choosing the 4,6 schools on your list that best reflect their qualities. (How many applications do you want to submit?)

6

in my opinion
the ones I would keep from your list

Carnegie Mellon University

Vanderbilt University
Case Western Reserve University

University of Pittsburgh
Virginia Commonwealth University

University of Richmond
Rice University
Butler University

Case Western Reserve University
Wake Forest University

University of Rochester

Old Dominion University