Help me decide on colleges!

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hey everyone, I decided on a list of schools I like but it's too big. I've already gotten into safeties, this is just a list of schools I could possibly get into and would attend if affordable and I liked the atmosphere. First, my stats:
I am applying to be a History, Philosophy, Political Science, or English major. I want to go to law school after undergrad. I have a 1910 SAT 610, 610, 690, and a 28 ACT. I took it again last Saturday and am hoping I got a 30 or 31. 5.1 weighted GPA, and about A 3.72 unweighted. I'm a white male from Texas.
My school stopped reporting rankings but last year my rank was 68/603 (about top 11%). Rank will not be sent to colleges though.
By the end of the year ill have taken 10 AP classes: Human Geography (4), World History (3), English lang & comp (4), US History (5). my senior courses:
AP German 5, Aquatic Science, AP Gov/AP Microecon, Debate 4 called "Independent Speech Study, Pre ap pre cal, AP Biology, Ap English lit, & AP Psych
I took pre-ap which is basically honors at my school throughout my high school career. (We don't have "honors" only regular, pre ap and AP)
I think i have strong extracurriculars. Eagle Scout with some leadership positions in the troop like patrol leader and librarian. started my own functioning business through a year long Entrepreneur academy. Got a grant and have sold my product at several events with profit. My main hook/strongest EC is Debate. I'm the Debate team captain, I went to state, have gotten to finals/semifinals of several tournaments, and was selected by coach to coach the novices. I have NHS, German Club (with a leadership position) & German Honor Society, and a few smaller academic awards like AP scholar with honor. I also put my debate awards in the awards section.
I have 100+ volunteer hours. Ive volunteered at a couple republican conventions as a page, and worked a little on the campaign for Abbott. Besides that I did a lot of Eagle project community service and I did a lot of volunteering with my church. Went on a local mission trip 3 years in a row with my church and helped the local community. I'm also involved with Youth Group.
For work, I work about 10 hours a week at State Farm. I helped lead a marketing campaign and I also assist the workers with different things around the office. I also worked at a resturaunt during sophomore and half of junior year. </p>

<p>So I need help narrowing my list down! I honestly don't know if I would prefer a huge school or a small school yet, but I am planning on flying up to Colby and Bates to visit in January. Something I'm looking for in a school is a place that I can get good grades at (like a 3.8-4.0 I don't want somewhere like UChicago where its very tough to make good grades). I also want a school that typically puts kids into a top law program (top 14 preferably) and has a good pre law advising system. I am also very interested in greek life, student government, studying abroad, debate, and maybe participating in crew or another sport for fun.</p>

<p>I have a big list and I'm trying to narrow it down based on two things: Which would fit what I like and which do I have the best chance of getting accepted to?
Trinity, Emory, Bates, Colby, Colgate, Bucknell, Davidson, Middlebury, Lehigh
I know this is long, thanks for reading and I appreciate the help. Also, if there's another school that would fit my interests better let me know!!</p>

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<p>Davidson and middlebury are a reach. Consider kenyon and grinnell </p>

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<p>Law is a difficult field; best to major in business and have some practical skills in case you cant get a job as a lawyer. Best to spend as little money on college if you’re going to major in liberal arts – unless you have superlative grades and connections. </p>

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<p>@proudfather‌ I enjoy my history, English and government classes more than others and usually excel in them even though they’re AP (which is shown on my transcript). I know where you’re coming from, a liberal arts degree is not very good without going to law school. If I find that I don’t enjoy law I will switch majors. I also know already that I love philosophy (from debate)</p>

<p>I guess this comes down to which one of these schools is the best fit for me… How do I find this out without the ability to visit them??</p>

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<p>Getting into a top 14 law school is mainly about college GPA and LSAT score.
<a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com</a></p>

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<p>it also matters what law school you go to. A lot of law firms and companies are cutting back. Some of these marginal law schools really don’t get you a job. I get resumes all the time for low-paid administrative jobs from folks with law degrees. it’s just not the meal ticket it used to be.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ yes, I know, I’m trying to find a college that’s the best fit for my interests and which one i can make the best grades at. I just don’t know which one that would be out of the ones I listed
@proudfather‌ my goal is an ivy law school which is highly highly unlikely. But I know ill work hard in college, prepping for the LSAT is going to be a big deal for me. </p>

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<p>Here’s a jobs outlook profile – notice that law and legal is not even on the list <a href=“http://www.dailytribune.com/business/20141211/us-talent-and-recruitment-research-firm-releases-2015-top-jobs-forecast”>http://www.dailytribune.com/business/20141211/us-talent-and-recruitment-research-firm-releases-2015-top-jobs-forecast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I would also try to find a UG school with a strong mock trial team. I know Furman is very good.</p>

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<p>Might add Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious) great pre-law program and nice campus 1 hour from Boston. HC competes in sports against Colgate, Bucknel, and Lehigh in the Patriot League. Unlike most of those schools Holy Cross is not located in the middle of nowhere. HC has tremendous law alumni network including 1 Supreme Ct Justice(2 other Justices have HC affiliations), 1 Senator, 4 CONGRESSMEN, Chris Matthews of MSNBC ETC. HC has JAN15TH application date and is need-blind(MEETS 100% demonstrated financial need,)</p>

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<p>@par72‌ I was considering Holy Cross and was getting excited to apply a while back until I heard the academics are as hard and stressful as some Ivy leagues. This made me think that I couldn’t get a very good GPA there so I started looking elsewhere. Could I get in with my stats? </p>

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<p>Hihi I am a freshman at trinity college in Hartford, CT and hope my stats will help you decide on which ones are “reach” schools and which are safer! Also, feel free to ask my questions about Trin.</p>

<p>I was accepted at Trinity for RD, waitlisted then rejected by Colby for RD, and waitlisted then put on summer waitlist by Colgate for RD. Two of my friends with super good apps and Ivy League acceptances was waitlisted by Middlebury, so Middlebury seems pretty up there.</p>

<p>SAT: 2120, (CR 660, M 740, W 720)
SAT IIs: Math 790, physics 760
GPA: 3.76 unweighted… but 2.3 unweighted if only counting senior first semester…
International Asian
AP statistics (5)
IB diploma, senior year course load: English A HL, Chinese A SL, Math HL, Econ HL, Chemistry HL, Music SL, TOK (all IB)
ECs: NHS (pres), Student Council (secretary), Music club (secretary), volleyball and basketball varsity, and a lot of other over committing in extra curricular and volunteering and all that fun stuff instead of doing my homework</p>

<p>As for you interests:
FYI Colby (and most other NESCAC schools, except for Trinity :O) banned Greek life! But Colby has great dining halls and my friend there is really enjoying it. kind of happy I wasn’t accepted though, only because it is really cold up there. My friend there seems to be enjoying it at Colby!
Trin does, and you can rush by sophomore year. You will also have the opportunity to join Student Government as a freshman for a variety of positions. We also have a debate club! Also, our crew teams have a varsity and a freshman team, and there have been many walk-on freshmen who make it into varsity afterwards!
Also, Trin academics aren’t very demanding in my opinion. I am a pretty lazy person, as my 2.3 senior year GPA shows, but I got through the first semester without much trouble! Also, the professors here are very willing to help so if you want good grades, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Also, Trinity really encourages studying abroad, so you’ll be able to gather information on that very early on if you’re interested!</p>

<p>It is very difficult to sound unbiased, so here is something about Trinity that might not fit you, which will definitely turn into more advertising for Trinity:
I have no idea how much Trinity prepares for law school. This is something that you might be able to contact admissions about or try to look up online. However, alumni networking is very prevalent within smaller schools, and that may be a valuable resource when searching for internships and other things that may get you into good law schools. Trinity has “externships” over some breaks sponsored by alumni, and I’ve seen some law selections on there! Also, Yale apparently has the best law program, but that school is freaking hard to get in… however is only an hour’s drive away from Trinity. There might be possibilities there when considering internships and work opportunities during short breaks.</p>

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<p>@hamtaro thanks for the long response!
Why is greek life banned everywhere else? :/</p>

<p>And I do have a few questions. You said you were international Asian, so you applied as an international student, right? That makes it very hard to get into correct (I am not international btw, just wondering)? And honestly, Trinity and Bates are probably my two top choices for LACs right now. I am going to visit either Connecticut or Maine to visit Trinity or Bates. Will having an interview and visiting boost my chances a large amount?
Another thing, how good is the financial aid? I’ll run the calculator, but I probably would need the cost reduced down to about $20k, which is what the calculator had for me at Bates.</p>

<p>What’s the student body like in general? I am more preppy than artsy, and I think I would make better friends with preppy, academic driven kids. I am sure I’ll find both at each college though.</p>

<p>One last question, do you think I can get in? haha, and do you have any tips for gaining admission?</p>

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<p>Hihi glad you are okay with me being wordy!
I actually heard that on a tour at Colby, but I forgot why :stuck_out_tongue: If my vague memory is serving me right, I believe that it is because people usually point fingers at Greek life for being the cause of drinking problems and sexual harassment, so the NESCACs mostly decided to ban their Greek life together. However, the benefits of Greek life (alumni network, donations by alumni, other reasons I am unclear of) made it difficult for Trinity to ban it. In other words, both banning and not banning Greek life seem like pretty “political” decisions.</p>

<p>Yes, I did apply as an international student! I didn’t ask for financial aid, went to a school that taught all subjects in English (except for the second languages of course :P), and had quite a bit of heavy ECs that I committed to for all four years of high school. I feel like people at Trinity are mostly very involved on campus, so that may have been a plus, and certainly helps me have more fun and learn more from being involved now that I’m actually here.</p>

<p>I almost applied for Bates as well! However, I thought that maybe Bates was a bit too cold to be worth it… but mainly that the Trinity vibe was a lot more of a fit for me. I think interviews definitely help. I can’t speak from experience, but I know that most people do pretty well on interviews, and based on stalking threads of other colleges with my friends, interviews seem to help! What I do know from experience is that interviews are a great chance to get to know more about the school and whether it is a fit for you!</p>

<p>I personally don’t have financial aid, but that is only because I didn’t apply. Some of my friends even got more than they had expected! Their applications sounded pretty great though, so maybe that’s why, but you definitely have a chance at getting full need and maybe even more. While I don’t know much about Bates financial aid, it is a more selective school and therefore may not give out as much of that little bonus to keep strong students. That isn’t always the case though, I’ve had friends be given more aid at a more selective school, but that is usually what happens.</p>

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<p>Oops I posted that one by accident
here is an updated version:
@nightwing321‌ glad you are okay with me being wordy!
I actually heard that on a tour at Colby, but I forgot why :stuck_out_tongue: I believe that it is because people usually point fingers at Greek life for being the cause of drinking problems and sexual harassment, so the NESCACs mostly decided to ban their Greek life together. However, the benefits of Greek life (alumni network, donations by alumni, other reasons I am unclear of) made it difficult for Trinity to ban it. In other words, both banning and not banning Greek life seem like pretty “political” decisions.</p>

<p>Yes, I did apply as an international student! I didn’t ask for financial aid and had quite a bit of heavy ECs that I committed to for all four years of high school.</p>

<p>I think interviews definitely help. I can’t speak from experience, but I know that most people do pretty well on interviews, and based on stalking threads of other colleges with my friends, interviews seem to help!</p>

<p>Some of my friends even got more aid than they had expected. Their applications sounded pretty strong though (but who knows :P), so maybe that’s why, but from what I know, applicants have a good chance at getting full need.</p>

<p>There are definitely many preppy people and some artsy people along with some in-betweenies and out of the spectrum-ers, but you’ll definitely find people similar to you. Trinity is probably more on the preppy side. What I think is great about people here is that so many of them know how to party, eat properly, be involved in campus organizations, study, AND sleep enough to function properly… I think that’s pretty darn great to know, especially if you’re looking for both academically driven people and participation in Greek life.</p>

<p>I am no expert on the college admissions process, but maybe they’ll like your vibe during the interview, or maybe they’ll care about your weaknesses more than your strengths (or vice versa). Based on your stats, maybe your SATs are on the low to average and there are a lot of crazy people out there with super cool ECs and no financial aid, but I wouldn’t say any of those are weak at all, and your essay or recommendations could be phenomenal to them. The extracurricular stuff you do also looks pretty awesome. Your course rigor is great, which you probably already know, and apparently that’s super important to colleges. I would say you have more of a chance at Trinity than Bates just based on the noticeable difference in selectivity, but definitely a shot at both!</p>

<p>You also seem pretty darn nice and I hope admissions committees see that and take that into consideration! Also, keep doing research on colleges you’re interested in! I’ve heard that using those during interviews or in essays, especially when talking about how you are a fit for the college and how the college is a fit for you, can help! Otherwise, just go for it, plan for the worst, and hope to get into your top choice(s) (at least that’s what I did)!</p>

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<p>@hamtaro thanks so much for your help! I think I’m going to be visiting soon :smiley: </p>

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<p>@nightwing321‌ np! good luck and have fun! :smiley: </p>

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@nightwing321‌ update: I was scheduling an appointment with Career Development and I found out that there is an advisor that does pre-law advising! I will not be able to test out the quality myself, but there is someone official to help for sure!

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Thanks for letting me know @hamtaro‌ ! I did my interview with Trinity and it went well. I Have done more research and it sounds like an awesome place to go to school. I really want to visit soon, I was going to come on Sunday-Monday but the flights filled up.