<p>3.5 GPA, taken 9 AP/HP classes over four years.
Strong upward trend in my grades.</p>
<p>1990 on SAT. 680 M 630 V 680 W</p>
<p>760 SAT II US History</p>
<p>700 SAT II Math 2</p>
<p>5 on AP US History Exam</p>
<p>Strong extracurriculars in Music. I play in many bands including one for money. Have won some distinctions and honors in music.</p>
<p>Interned at a programming company over the summer.</p>
<p>Played rugby (club not varsity sport) for 4 years.</p>
<hr>
<p>Interests:</p>
<p>I have 3 main fields of interest. Computers and programming stuff, History and Political Science, and Music. </p>
<p>What I want:</p>
<p>I want a small to medium size school (2000-10000) in a suburb with easy access to a city. Intellectual student body but also fun (work hard play hard mentality). I'd like the school to have good programs in Computer Science and Poly/Sci but also a music program that is available to all students regardless of major. I dislike preppy people and schools where everybody wears A&F.</p>
<p>So far the ideal college that I've looked at and visited was Tufts. My problem is that Tufts would be a reach for me and I'm having trouble finding schools similar to it that I like. I'm not necessarily concerned with reputation just so long as I can have a fun and productive college experience. So what I really need are some good-fit and backup schools to apply to. Thanks.</p>
<p>You may not love the location, but University of Rochester sounds like a good school for you. It would be a match easily. Rice and Northwestern sound like your type of school, but neither is easy to get into. Fordham has two locations and one is quite suburban. I think that it would be a safety. U Maryland College Park is good, but huge. You would be eligible for the honors programs, so that might make it seem smaller.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies so far. I have looked at Rochester and am considering applying. I’ll make sure i look at the other suggestions. And to lolabelle I am a guy so Wellesley would not be an option. Anybody else have any other good ideas?</p>
<p>How about Vassar? It has many cross-applicants with Tufts but is slightly further away from a big city… though still accessible to New York. It would be a high match/low reach.</p>
<p>The truth is few schools have that 5-min outside a major city location Tufts has so you should accomodate for that factor when finding schools to add to your list.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind if a campus is urban, just so long as it has a defined campus. I don’t want something like BU or NYU where it’s just a collection of buildings sprawled throughout a section of the city.</p>
<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-smaller version of Georgetown. HC has a very nice campus in a mid size city. Holy Cross is only 1 hour from Boston and the school has solid academics with great school spirit.</p>
<p>^Worcester Polytechnic Institute aka WPI would probably fit the OP better than Holy Cross if we’re talking about Worcester. HC doesn’t exactly stand out in computer science and poly/sci. However, I don’t know about WPI’s music programs, or even if they have one.</p>
<p>Maybe you should look at both? Clark is there too; they’re pretty well-rounded everywhere.</p>