Help me begin my college search

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a junior looking for suggestions of colleges to look at and to start building a list of schools to tour and apply to.

Stats:
3.88 UW GPA (a bit of a downward trend this year, but nothing dramatic)
Top 5% rank
33 ACT (taken last year, may retake later this year)
Most rigorous course load
Good but not spectacular extracurriculars

In terms of specific considerations: I would prefer to be in a warm climate, but I’m open to considering schools anywhere in the country. I’m not sure what I want to major in yet, but I have an interest in things like economics, political science, atmospheric/environmental sciences, and potentially business. I learn better in discussion-based classes and I don’t like the idea of being in a huge lecture hall. For location, a suburban or small urban area or a college town would be ideal. I’d like to be somewhere with a sense of campus community, preferably with many students living in the dorms or on campus. I’m not too hung up on prestige; any school with a generally strong reputation will do in that area.

I’m not particularly interested in Greek life. I’m fine with its presence and would possibly consider joining the right fraternity, but I would not want to be somewhere where it is cliquey or has a profound effect on social life. I would like to be surrounded by students who are intelligent and ambitious but not overly competitive or antisocial.

Do I fit the bill for someone who would be happier at a smaller university or an LAC? It seems like they might be a good fit on paper, but I go to a high school of about two thousand and I feel like I want a college that is at least noticeably larger than that. I don’t want to rule them out or anything yet, though.

I won’t be eligible for need-based aid, and I don’t want to rule anything out because of cost at this point. However, I’m definitely interested in schools where I would be eligible for significant amounts of merit aid (and, for reference, my home state is IL). I most likely will not be a NMF, but it’s difficult to tell this far out.

I know a lot of this is very subjective information. I’ve run every college search tool on the web but haven’t found anything to be all that helpful. I understand that there’s almost no way I can have everything I listed above. However, if any schools came to mind that you feel would be a good fit for me based on what I’ve written, I would love to hear them.

2

William and Mary seems like it could be a good fit. Washington & Lee, though it is smaller than you want. SMU or Rice could be options

3

These online resources can be useful for some of your expressed interests: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools,” “The 25 Most Desirable Urban Schools” (Newsweek); “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges,” “US Economics Departments” (IDEAS).

Seriously consider both LACs and universities until that aspect of your decision becomes clearer to you. “Discussion-based classes” often indicates a LAC, however.

Based on your academic accomplishments, you will have many good choices open to you.

4

Why would your student retake the ACTs when he or she has already scored a 33?

5

-Agnes Scott College
-Davidson College
-Furman University
-Harvey Mudd College
-Pomona College
-Scripps College

6

Try using the Supermatch function to the left (under Find a College)

7

Maybe Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. I’d think you would receive a nice merit award.

8

You have a very similar profile as out Son who is now a freshman, having gone through an extensive search process last year. My thoughts on some schools discussed up-thread, and a few others.

Trinity University is a Match, with strong Merit aid for your stats, likely $21K per year;
Rice slight reach, no merit;
Davidson slight reach, very likely no merit;
Furman is a safety, some merit, not a ton;
Rhodes, in Memphis, is a Match with strong merit;
Denison, in a beautiful small town near Columbus, is a Match with strong Merit;
W&M slight reach for OOS, limited Merit;
W&L match/slight reach, limited Merit.

There is a long thread on Merit aid schools that you should carefully review, as well as another long thread on “Southern LAC’s” you should review. Use the CC search function.

Good luck.

9

@newjerseygirl98, I don’t know how you generate your lists, but (sorry) there are often schools that make zero sense on them. Harvey Mudd is in no way a fit for this student. They have not expressed a strong STEM interest, and Mudd is a science and technology college.

OP, I do think the other Claremont Consortium schools are possibilities, although only Scripps (if you are female) might give merit aid, and business is not a major there (but you could take some classes at CMC, where there are more business offerings). In general, business is not commonly offered as a major at LACs. Dickinson has an international business major, and offers merit aid, but might be smaller than you want.

10

U of Puget Sound meets most of your criteria. It’s in Tacoma, WA, which is a pretty substantial urban center but not what you’d call a big city, and Seattle is only 40 minutes away. I don’t know that I’d call the Pacific Northwest warm exactly, but it at least doesn’t have harsh winters. UPS has a well regarded business and entrepreneurship program, and has a laid back feel with a small Greek presence. You’d get substantial merit money from them with your scores. Being a LAC, it’s pretty small, but it is at least in the upper 3rd of the typical size range of LACs with about 2500 kids.

There are a number of other nice LACs in the PNW that might also work, if you consider that warm enough for you, such as Willamette and Lewis & Clark. Whitman is also a great place, but at only about 1400 students, might feel too small.

11

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/

12

@intparent Sorry I didn’t know it was a STEM school…I usually just match the stats, & anything else they ask, like weather or budget.

13

I would look at Furman university and Wofford College in SC. Both schools have “scholars” programs for scholarships requiring recommendations and completion of the application by a GC in the Spring of your JUNIOR year. Both offer the opportunity to compete for substantial merit awards. Both schools are well respected LACs in the South. Good luck.

14

Claremont McKenna sounds perfect for you! Considering how selective it is though, merit aid will likely be very competitive.

I agree with a lot of the above suggestions. Some other small, warm-weather schools with good merit aid that you might want to investigate are Centre College and Hendrix College.

15

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses. You’ve given me a lot to think about.

Another things to note: how is the social life at all of these schools? I enjoy having a robust social life and would hope my fellow students had a similar additude. I’m not asking for a big-time party school, but I’d prefer to avoid places where students are “workoholics” or there is little to do.

Based on the responses, it looks like my profile fits well at LACs and small universities. Are there any larger ones I should consider? I mean, I’m not allergic to lecture classes or anything; I just think I’d prefer to have closer interaction with my classmates and professors. I hear that often at big schools the introductory classes are large lectures and the rest tend to be much smaller. How true is this?

One last thing, and I should have clarified this before- I’m a guy, so women’s colleges aren’t an option, haha.

16

Augustana (Illinois) might be a good fit. There is a visit day on March 31 as well (if you are interested).

17

in floirda–rollins college
http://www.rollins.edu/

not as warm but super student oriented and a hidden gem
hendrix college -https://www.hendrix.edu/