Help Me! I know nothing about choosing a college!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, I'm not really scared about getting accepted into a college. Perhaps I'm a little overconfident, but I don't need the stress of getting rejected too.</p>

<p>The only school I've visited/could afford to visit (meaning that it was free) was Grinnell. I love Grinnell, but my family thinks that I'm making my choice to quickly.</p>

<p>So, suppose I could get into any school I wanted, and it doesn't matter the location. Only that there's less than 2000 people, and it's a tech school or anything, what would you suggest that I look into, and could you tell me why?</p>

<p>So far I know about:</p>

<p>Grinnell</p>

<p>So I guess I looking for a similar experience-esque</p>

2

<p>First, I would suggest that you look into yourself and figure out what you want in a college experience. Saying that you want a college like Grinnell isn't that helpful since it's the only college that you've visited.</p>

<p>What did you like about Grinnell? What didn't you like? What do you want your college experience to include? Have you seen Grinnell in the winter? If you flew in over the summer, that's very different than is winter in the Midwest.</p>

<p>Also, be realistic. It's a waste of time for people to make suggestions to you without knowing your stats, personality and interests. All of those would affect what kind of colleges that people would suggest for you.</p>

<p>It's also a waste of time for people to make suggestions without considering location, something that is important to virtually everyone. Surely, you have some preferences: North, South, urban, rural, religious, Greek, diverse, liberal, etc.</p>

<p>A way that you could start looking thoughtfully would be to pay the $15 or so to register for US News premium college site. There, you can find out info such as what other colleges students apply to who apply to Grinnell. You also can find out the same situation by doing a careful Google.</p>

3

<p>I can't describe why I love Grinnell. It's just a fit really.</p>

<p>The people are sort of...quirky, but not insane. "Grinnellians" are like...a new breed. They're smart, but not cocky, and they work hard (always studying for show). I live in the Midwest, and I'm used to cold winters and hot summers. </p>

<p>It really appeals to be because it's small, and a close knit community, so I guess that's what I'm looking for.</p>

<p>I have 3.4, not amazing I know, but after talking to admissions reps, they are much more impressed to see that I'm full IB Diploma than me having a 3.9 or something. Competitive colleges know my school, even Harvard, and they seem to know what a rigorous school it is....</p>

<p>Black Female</p>

<p>I'm like...10 in my class of 61. We technically don't rank, so I don't know. </p>

<p>M 670
V 640
W 640</p>

<p>Those will come up I'm sure. That was my first go.</p>

<p>R 29
W 29
M 28
S 25
Comp 28</p>

<p>I hope that was right...</p>

<p>National Achievement Semi-Finalist (so far)
National Merit Commended
University of Rochester Science and Humanities award...thing.</p>

<p>Co-founder and VP of Anime Club
VP for Spanish Club
Co-captian for Cheerleading
Student Council Rep
Track and Field
Tutoring
Student Advisory Board Chair</p>

<p>300+ hours of Volunteering...</p>

<p>I can never remember any of my honors, meaning that they won't be listed on my apps.</p>

<p>I dunno. I'm not amazing like a lot of people on here, but I'm not looking at Harvard or anything. I'm applying to Cornell U because my family thinks that I'm a genius, but I won't be crushed if I get rejected.</p>

<p>I looking for a school that is liberal artsy, nice to queer folk, needs black people.</p>

<p>Did that help? ^_^</p>

4

<p>Liberal, artsy, nice to queer folk, needs black people (& like Grinnell):</p>

<p>Oberlin
Wesleyan
Smith
Vassar
Skidmore
Occidental (in LA)
Macalester (more urban)
Brown (larger & more urban)</p>

<p>Check into those and see if any appeal to you...</p>

5

<p>If you take the SAT over and carefully study for it using something like 10 SATs, you probably can raise your score by 50-100 points. S scored similar to you on the PSAT last OCt. then scored a 720, 700 on the SAT in Jan. and a 760, 780, 650 on the new SAT in May. He studied for the SAT and that helped.</p>

<p>Cornell is not small. If you want to try an Ivy, why not Brown or Dartmouth? Check them out. I think that your chances are better than average. </p>

<p>Your scores, though, even now are solid enough for you to have a chance at virtually any college in the country. The IB curriculum as well as National Merit commended/Nat achievement semifinalist will help, too.</p>

<p>If $ is a consideration, Grinnell is a good bet. Other places that you might like are Beloit, Earlham, Carlton, Oberlin, and Macalester, which all share the quirkiness that you like. Also consider Swarthmore and Wesleyan, which while in the NE still have cold weather and the quirkiness and stuidiousness that you enjoy. </p>

<p>Beloit, Earlham, Oberlin, and Swarthmore also have merit aid. If you need need-based aid, all of the colleges would probably do well by you as you'd be very sought after by them. U Rochester is another to look at, though I don't know how quirky the students are.</p>

<p>Also look at Kenyon. I'm not as familiar with it, but have heard good things about it.</p>

<p>Also consider women's colleges like Smith, Wellesley, Mt Holyoke and perhaps Barnard.</p>

<p>Wesleyan and Smith are particularly known for being queer friendly. I think that Earlham and Oberlin also may be. Check out livejournal.com and look for interest areas related to the colleges that interest you. You can get good inside info that way.</p>

6

<p>Wow! Thank you both! </p>

<p>I'd never really looked into Vassar, Wesleyan, Macalester or Earlham, so those are names I'll remember to research. </p>

<p>I'm really shocked that you moms are so good at this! I wish my mom were as college-search educated as you lot are. That would make this whole stressful process a little easier for me.</p>

<p>Oh...and SATs are the day after tomorrow...studying now might be pushing it a bit. But I'll update with my scores later on, and then I'll study for the test for that final faithful time if I'm not satisfied this time.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

7

<p>You are welcome. You can see that you must have posted helpful info-- good, specific wishes-- to get such similar lists from two different moms.</p>

<p>Stay in touch.</p>

8

<p>brickbreeze,
You can get great help from parents here, particularly on Parents Forum. We tend to be nerdy/mentor types who like to find out college info and pass it on. Most parents aren't like that -- no matter how much education they have. We are sorta quirky folks.</p>

<p>In a way, be happy your mom isn't like this. I drive my S nuts because he finds my intensity and interest about college to be tooo much! He's glad that I hang out here so that all of my intensity isn't focused on him. :)</p>

<p>Incidentally, I was even like this as a h.s. student: got lots of pleasure tracking down info to help my friends with their applications. This is just my passion: helping people get on track to get in the best educational environments to flourish.</p>

9

<p>These parents are great, and know what they are talking about most of the time. I've come to depend on them a lot of times with stuff the younger crowd couldn't. :D</p>

10

<p>You are a very good match for Smith, which is also very generous with financial aid (28% of student body is made up of low-income students, the highest percentage of any LAC in the country.) It's in a happenin' town. Macalester is also an excellent choice (much overlap with Grinnell), especially if you'd like to be in a city (in a terrific neighborhood, too!) Earlham is very fine, and rural like Grinnell.</p>

11

<p>check out Swarthmore if you are looking for small and "quirky" with a commitment to diversity. There is a lot of info on the Swarthmore cc thread under liberal arts colleges. It has easy access to city of Philadelphia by train (20 minutes) but is a gorgeous campus and strong sense of community.</p>

12

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I see "quirky" used all the time, especially for certain LACs. What exactly does that mean? Liberal? But when y'all say liberal, are you speaking about politics or ???? </p>

<p>I don't think my S is "quirky" .....so will a non "quirky" student enjoy a quirky campus??</p>

<p>I probably don't know enough about some of the colleges on my S's list (which still needs to be narrowed down), but which of these are considered "quirky"?</p>

<p>Grinnell.....yes but why?
Carleton...yes but why?
Oberlin...yes but why?
St. Olaf....I imagine "no" but why?
Kenyon....?
Denison....?
Pomona....?
Occidental....yes, but why?
Redlands....?
USC....."no" right?
UC Berkeley....?
UC Davis/Irvine....."no" right?
HYPS......"no" right?
AWS...Williams "no" but AW "yes"?</p>

<p>Sorry to sound so confused. </p>

<p>Brickbreeze.....great job! I think you will be a tremendous candidate whereever you apply. People here are fantastic, so don't hesitate to ask questions and learn all you can!</p>

<p>FresnoMom</p>

13

<p>Fresno, You've got it about right.</p>

<p>Denison - no
Kenyon- 50/50 towards no
Pomona 50/50 towards no
Redlands ? - dont know, but I guess no or 50/50
Berkeley too huge to classify; plenty of quirky in community--all types
Davis 50/50, Irvine no
Swat yes, Amherst 50/50 towards no</p>

<p>why is a school "quirky?" Means it has a critical mass of artistic, slightly hippie kids, is not classically preppy, relatively more ethnic diversity, politically more liberal, openly gay students welcome, relaxed/casual, non-greek life is dominant, feminism thrives.</p>

<p>not quirky = a preppier, more conservative, or more jocky environment. Frat presence more dominant. More traditional gender roles, etc.</p>

<p>Most religious schools (St Olaf) often not quirky due to self-selection, Evangelical schools LEAST quirky, but Quaker schools (Earlham, Guilford, Swat, & Haverford) can be quirky.</p>

<p>My D is in the exact middle; she's not really quirky herself but she likes quirky kids. She's very interested in art, music & theatre, & is comfortable with gay friends. OTOH she is an athlete & comes off pretty "abercrombie" in her personal style. However, very liberal politically. </p>

<p>We pretty much tried tried to find places on the quirky side or pretty close to the middle of the road. She absolutely hated the ultra-quirky schools we visited-- Bennington, Hampshire. </p>

<p>Look at your kids circle of friends-- diverse? arty? jocks? He'll want to have enough friends from a similar spread to feel happy in college. Later he may also grow in new directions.</p>

<p>Don't get too hung up on this because there are lots of different types of kids at all these schools. I am sure you can find lockjaw preppies at Oberlin and multi-pierced free spirits at Williams.</p>

14

<p>"I am sure you can find lockjaw preppies at Oberlin and multi-pierced free spirits at Williams."</p>

<p>In the latter case, we actually tried to count them. (no joke intended) Granted, appearance isn't everything. But we never ran out of fingers. ;)</p>

15

<p>uchicago might be a bit larger than your other schools, but it is in the midwest and it's "quirky"</p>

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<p>I don't know if you lot care or not, but on the 8th I took my SAT. I think that my score dropped a few points. But I'm still happy.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the help. I'm looking more seriously into some of the schools above. I secretly stopped looking when I found Grinnell, but I guess that's not fair to all the other amazing schools out there, right?</p>

17

<p>Well, Grinnell is a great school. You may take a look around and still find you favor it. But it is good to gather some other options, especially when one's favored school is selective and admission is hard to guarantee.</p>

18

<p>What not exploring other options is not fair to is you. You deserve the opportunity to take a serious look at the range of colleges that there is that would match what you want in a college. You also deserve the opportunity to maximize your financial aid and admissions chances, which is what you can do by researching more colleges and applying to more colleges.</p>

<p>While Grinnell is a wonderful school, I agree with SBmom. For all you know, there may be other schools that you'd like even better or that would give you better aid or even promise you paid internships, paid international travel or other perks. Your senior year in h.s. is the only time that you'll be in such an advantageous position when it comes to college options, so take full advantage: Don't narrow your options prematurely.</p>