Help Me Decide

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I posted this in the Chance Me section, but was not getting the kind of answers i wanted....everyone kept giving me, well, chances and not advice onto which to apply to...so i'll try my luck here</p>

<p>My dilemna is that i can only afford to apply to six schools. My current list is much larger than six. I was hoping for advice one which ones to keep and which to cut..the current list is</p>

<p>Union-will apply to regardless because its free
Mount Holyoke-will apply to regardless because its free
Un. of Alabama-same as above two...</p>

<p>Here is where i need to decide my remaining six
Smith
Tulane
Univeristy of Pittsburgh
Pitzer
Scripps
Pomona
F&M
MIT
Carthage
Baldwin Wallace</p>

<p>THanks for any and all help...I will list my stats below in case you want them to make a better suggestion, but seriously, you don't have to read them. If you already have opinions, just list them, you don't need to tailor it specifically to me</p>

<p>Quick Stats:
GPA: 4.0uw 4.3w
Rank 3/441
ACT: 34
PSAT:211(commended)
Pres. of Theatre Club
VP of SPeech and Debate
-3 Time national qualifier
-Runner up in state tourny for PF(recruited for debate by Carthage and UA)
Captain of Quiz Team
Captain of Brain Bee
Cpt. of Math Team
Editor of Yearbook
COpywriter and columnist for Paper</p>

<p>Work 15-20 hours a week at a Dairy Queen</p>

<p>1000 volunteer hours at a community theatre...</p>

<p>Like i said, any way you want to give me advice, i'd love to hear it</p>

2

<p>I think it’s free to apply to Colgate too, if that’s a place you like. Can you get application fee waivers from your high school? What do you want to study in college?</p>

3

<p>I can’t get fee waivers…my family makes enough that we can’t get them, but i have to pay for the apps. I want to study neuroscience or biology</p>

4

<p>I thought Tulane was free too?
Maybe I’m wrong.</p>

<p>Have you visited any of these schools?</p>

5

<p>Man, six is tough. Admittedly, I only applied to ASU, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, Olin and Drexel (because it was free), but I realize that was probably a mistake: I had the resources to apply to a few more, and I really had no match schools on my list. This meant in spring I was preparing myself to attend ASU.</p>

<p>So, here’s what you need to do. Rate your schools as reach, match and shoe-in. (Your stats’re telling me that you have a good chance wherever you apply to.) Also, if you were going to take the SAT reasoning test: don’t. an ACT score of 34 is pretty darn good. Use the money you save to pay for another application, unless oyu still have to take the SAT II subject tests. Now, apply to one shoe-in school. Make sure it’s your favorite of all of those (unless U of Alabama is your shoe-in). Then, look at your match list. Personally, I’d apply to 2 “matches” (working in tiers, from schools you’d most like to attend/are the most reaches, to schools you’d still enjoy but are less of a reach, is a good idea).</p>

<p>Now, you have 3 (or 4 if U of Alabama is your shoe-in) reach schools to apply to. I suspect that MIT is topping your list, so apply there, even if it’s a big reach. Pomona’s pretty sick too, so apply there. Then, it all depends on what you want to major in. If it’s engineering, my other two would probably be Pitt (that may be more of a match than a reach) and Tulane (again, likely more of a match than a reach, but I’m not sure). But yeah, figure out which reaches.</p>

<p>Don’t shortchange yourself and not apply to enough reaches. If you figure out two or MAYBE three match schools you’d really like to attend (Tulane, Pitt, Carthage?) then you have three or 4 reach schools to apply to (MIT, Pomona, and if you really liked one or two more reaches but took them off because you thought to only apply to two reaches, put them back on).</p>

<p>And I don’t know enough about Scripps, F&M, Pitzer, Carthage or Baldwin & Wallace to label them reach or match, so maybe you’ve got your reaches filled out with 4.</p>

6

<p>Can you write out, in 2-4 sentences per school, why you would love to attend each school on your list?</p>

7

<p>OK, I saw your other post, and in general I agree with what they said in the other thread: if you LIKE better schools, please apply to them. Brown has a GREAT neuroscience department, and while I was at their visit a transfer from Columbia talked about how Brown’s theater was better. Find one or two more TOP schools to apply to besides MIT and Pomona, that you really really like (I doubt Harvard or Yale are your thing. MIT is your reach school in that category, and H+Y’s undergrad stuff doesn’t seem to match you). I’d amost want to say Duke, unless there’s some reason you threw it off your list. There was an article on the main CC page (not talk) about how there’s this selectivity index (from a former Dartmouth adcom, not sure if selectivity’s the right term) based on your class rank and SAT/ACT score, and if you got a 9 on the index you had like an 80% chance of admission (not true today, likely it’s down to 50 or 40%) But from what I saw, you’re at least an 8 on that scale. Meaning to schools in the Dartmouth/Brown/Duke/Chicago type range, you likely have a 40% chance. And your ECs improve it quite a bit (1000 hours just in volunteering to theater? craziness)</p>

8

<p>Thanks to everyone who took the time to write a detailed response. ALL of it has been super helpful…Someone asked me to write a few sentences on why i like each school…so i’m going to try to do that</p>

<p>Union-visited and absolutely loved it…just felt like home…
U Alabama-visited and liked it. Really like their finaid and merit scholarships
Mount Holyoke-i want the option of a women’s college that i will prob get into</p>

<p>Smith-I love their curriculum and their housing. Plus, their placement into grad programs is great
Tulane-love the location and want a “bigger” (but not huge) option
Pitt-i don’t love pitt. it’s close to home and cheap, and has what i want
F&M-freaking love their theatre director. GREAT guy. Plus they are super open about letting me double major in very different things
MIT-this is my hail mary app. I would just apply to see if i could get in…prob would never go
Pomona-LOVE the location…love the consortium
PItzer-enjoy the fact it’s super hippy…and i am def a hippie
Scripps-like the idea of a women’s college in consortium and one in a warm climate
Baldwin-Wallace…idk…its just kinda always been on my list…i like that it isn’t super far away</p>

<p>once again THANKS for you time and responses</p>

9

<p>You’re probably just as likely to get into Smith as Mount Holyoke. It seems like you like Smith a lot more than Mount Holyoke (for the same reasons I do, oddly enough), based on your description of each. Why not just apply to Smith instead? </p>

<p>I’d recommend that you apply to Scripps as well because it combines the features you love about Pomona with your desire for a women’s college option, and it could be a good statistical match for you. </p>

<p>I think you should use either Pitt or BW as your safety; Pitt would be especially good as a financial safety. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, use MIT as your huge reach, and you’ve got a decently rounded college list: a safety (or two? Not familiar with the selectivity of 'Bama for OOS), a couple of matches, and a huge reach. </p>

<p>Best of luck. :)</p>

10

<p>Honestly, if you wouldn’t consider MIT if you got in, I don’t see the point in applying. It’s fine to have dreams schools that are reaches, but only if you might actually attend them if accepted.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the comments everyone…
although i think i’m more confused as opposed to less :)</p>

12

<p>I don’t know all of those schools that well, but the ones I do all sound like really nice schools. I agree with teenage_cliche, if you’re that tight on money, it’s probably not worth it to apply to MIT if you’d never go. However, if you really would like to go and just don’t think you’d get in or be able to pay for it…maybe you should apply. They have a policy to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need and the money to uphold that…so it might not be as far out of reach as you think.</p>

13

<p>Okay, let’s do some rough categorizing first…</p>

<p>Union - low match
Mount Holyoke - low match
Alabama - safety</p>

<p>Smith - low match (just as free as Holyoke to apply to, btw)
Tulane - match
Pittsburgh - safety (assuming financial safety as well, since you live in PA?)
Pitzer - match
Scripps - match
Pomona - reach
F&M - low match
MIT - reach
Carthage - low safety (should get generous merit money)
Baldwin-Wallace - low safety (ditto)</p>

<p>IMPORTANT QUESTION: How much merit aid do you need? (IIRC, you do need aid.) The categories above are for admissions only, not affordability. Run your family’s numbers through Amherst’s or Williams’s FA calculator; it will serve as a general guideline. (Do NOT use Princeton’s calculator, as it’s only valid as a guideline for HYPS.) Can you afford the number that comes up? If not, drop MIT and Pomona. No point in wasting the application fees. Also look CLOSELY at the merit awards at Smith/Holyoke/Pitzer/Scripps–I know for a fact that the max award doesn’t come close to full tuition–so is it possible for you to afford?</p>

<p>Now to narrow further. (I’m assuming that you can’t afford a school solely on need-based aid. If you can, my recommendations will change significantly.) Keep Union as a definite. Replace Holyoke with Smith–you have strong reasons for liking Smith and none for Holyoke that you’ve shared. Keep Pitt, as much as you dislike it, as a financial safety. I think you should apply to F&M and Tulane as you have reasons for liking them AND they are most likely to be affordable. You don’t have a good reason to like BW, so drop it–UNLESS you REALLY don’t want to attend Pitt, in which case, keep BW and/or Carthage as merit matches. That takes up all of your slots, though.</p>

<ol>
<li>Union</li>
<li>Pitt</li>
<li>F&M</li>
<li>Tulane</li>
</ol>

<p>5 and 6 can go either way. If you are solely dependent on big merit money and hate Pitt, go for the low safeties. If your parents can swing your EFC, apply to need-based reaches like Pomona and MIT. If your parents don’t qualify for need-based aid but can swing $30k a year, try for Scripps’s half-tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>Oops, I just checked Union’s website and realized that the max merit award is $10k. COA is over $50k, so unless you qualify for enough need-based aid or are able to pay $40k+/year for Union, I would recommend against applying. I know it’s painful to cut so many great schools, but if you can’t afford them, it will just be worse in the spring when you have to turn down the acceptances.</p>

<p>You are smart to keep your financial options open. Best of luck.</p>

14

<p>It’s free to apply at Bradley University in Illinois. They give merit aid too. They have strong engineering, business, nursing, and other programs.</p>

<p>Since you are a self-described hippy, have you looked into Reed College in Oregon? It seems to have its share of tree-hugging, birkie-wearing souls. Don’t know if it’s free to apply, though.</p>

<p>GOOD LUCK!!!</p>