<p>I am going to major in either finance or some field of engineering. I am a senior in HS and need to start getting a list together. So here are my specs:
ACT 31
AP Euro test 4
GPA ~3.9 not weighted
Class rank 4 of 280</p>
<p>Now my college criteria
Warm
Preferably not over $30k
I live in MN and don't want to get screwed with oos tuition too bad.
Someplace with a cool college atmosphere
Not a very expensive place to live. I would like to get out of cold MN. Can't
stand winter.</p>
<p>you have a few items down for criteria but nowhere near enough to make a decision yet. Time is running out but you still have enough to do a more structured search.</p>
<p>Here's what I suggest:</p>
<p>) Learn more about college admissions and the options available to you. Get 2 or 3 books about college admissions since each author has a different point of view. One book I really like is "Admission Matters" since it lays everything out soup to nuts. A good book to follow that up is one by Loren Pope such as "Colleges that Change Lives" which advocates smaller schools. </p>
<p>2) Set expectations. This means having your parents fill out one of the financial aid estimators to see what they are expected to contribute, and see if they can/will do that. This means evaluating your stats critically and choosing colleges that are realistic and not just dreaming of the same set of Ivy's and top LACs everyone else lists.</p>
<p>3) Investigate. Visit nearby of various types; a large U, a smaller U, a LAC, an urban school, a rural school. Talk to people, take the tour. Find out what environment you prefer.</p>
<p>4) Set criteria. With the info you've gathered in step (1-3) put together a list of what you're looking for. What type school? What type of students does it attract? What activities do you want/dont-want at the school? A big-time sports program, for example? A large studies-abroad program? The chance to take music classes? A big greek system? No greek system? One where everyone lives on/near campus all 4 years? The better informed you are about what you're looking for, the easier it is to recognize it when you see it. So far you've listed warm climate, "cool atmosphere", not over 30K. IMHO that's not specific enough to recognize the right place when you see it.</p>
<p>5) Select. Get one of the books that lists hundreds of colleges. Read thru and find colleges that provide what you want. Pay particular attention to a safety and matches. Then blow one or two picks on a reach. Most students do just the opposite; they fill out a list of reaches, then try to pick a safety and a match or two. Just look at some threads on this forum to see what I mean.</p>
<p>6) Check it out. Visit the schools if you can when its back in session, preferably overnite. Ask the school to put you in touch with current students home for the summer in your area. Read the school paper online, look for live-journal entries by current students, etc. Try to build a picture in your mind of whether you'd really be happy there.</p>
<p>well here's some suggestions
Looking for state schools or private?
UCSB
U of Miami
University of San Diego
Southern Methodist University
Loyola Maymount University
University of Southern California
San Diego State University
University of Florida
santa Clara Univesit</p>
<p>State or private, don't really care. As long as it's not very expensive. BTW, isnt oos on UC schools extremely high? ucsb is one i was looking at though.</p>
<p>ya... all OOS are expensive...um the cheapest one on that list is San Diego State.... look into them.......Ummm... its pretty hard to find something cheap thats oos...apply for scholorships and such</p>
<p>Indiana University-Bloomington (not warm but mild winters)
Rice University
Stanford University (big reach and expensive, but what the hoo!)
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Texas-Austin</p>
<p>University of Florida (only costs 3k a year in-state, 16k out-of-state). Also is ranked 47th overall and is on the rise. UF has some of the strongest athletics, best school spirit, and strongest Greek Life in the country.</p>