<p>I'm a junior that needs help coming up with ideas of colleges/ narrowing down my current ideas. So far these are my stats:</p>
<p>4.0/4.5 GPA (all honors available taken)
800 cr/ 800 m/ 700 w SAT</p>
<p>ECS:
soccer all 4 years (varsity + club team)
very involved in speech/debate, state level awards
student council
few clubs</p>
<p>very undecided about major, so I'd like a well-balanced school</p>
<p>I'd ideally like my college to have school spirit (good sports teams ideally), good academics, and the ability to switch/double major if possible since I'm so undecided! I'm open to most areas of the country, but I'm from CA so nice weather is a huge plus though not a deal breaker. I'd like mid sized (5,000-10,000) and near a big city. My parents can pay full cost at privates, but I'd love to get merit aid and save some of that money for possible grad school/other expenses. </p>
<p>I'm Catholic but religious preferences aren't a huge deal either. </p>
<p>my list so far:</p>
<p>Reaches:
Stanford
Northwestern
Duke
Georgetown
Emory</p>
<p>Matches:
USC (high match?)
UCLA
Boston College (maybe, not so sure)
Wake Forest
Davidson</p>
<p>Having just gone through the process with my daughter, I wouldn’t consider any of your reaches to be matches, with the exception of Emory. Matches look spot on. I agree with the comment on Vandy, and would consider it a reach. Notre Dame? UVa? UNC? I know none of them are terribly close to a big city (Chicago is 2 hours from South Bend), but they seem to fit your criteria.</p>
<p>EA, or Early Action, means you apply by a certain date and get an answer (accepted, rejected, or deferred) by mid-December. If you are deferred, your application goes into the regular application pool where it is reconsidered in the spring. EA is not binding, meaning you don’t have to go to the school if you’re accepted. You can usually apply to multiple schools EA, UNLESS it’s </p>
<p>SCEA, or Single Choice Early Action. It’s the same deal as above. Admissions is not binding. . . but you may not apply anywhere else, not EA, not ED. . . </p>
<p>ED, or Early Decision, also means you apply by a certain date and get a decision by December. You may only apply to ONE school ED, and if you are accepted, you are expected to enroll. If you’re 100% sure you want to go to one specific school, and you are sure you’ll be able to pay for it, it’s beneficial to apply ED. (There are schools that will let you out of an ED contract if your financial aid isn’t adequate, but don’t count on it.)
Also: You can apply to one ED school and as many EAs as you want. But if you get accepted to you ED school, you’re expected to immediately withdraw applications from all your EA schools.</p>
<p>Not true that a student could apply ED to one school and also “as many EAs as you want”. Georgetown, for example, prohibits a student from applying EA if they are applying anywhere else ED.</p>
<p>If you want a huge merit package, look into Tulane and U Miami. I’ve heard the academics are good, and they’re both in or just outside of big cities. Both have great spirit and a wide variety of major choices. </p>
<p>Other schools to consider:
-Rice
-Vanderbilt
-Any of the Claremont Colleges besides Harvey Mudd or Scripps if you’re a guy
-University of Alabama for its merit scholarships</p>
<p>Ejcclc: I don’t think it’s worth it to pay OOS prices for UNC or UVA when the OP has the UCs in his/her backyard. I also suspect that the UCs, at least the mid tier ones, if not UCLA and UCSD, will award this student Regents, a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the advise. I’m still unsure about what to do with early applications, does anyone have any advise about which they think is best? </p>
<p>I’ll look into those suggestions. Vanderbuilt looks great! And I’ve considered UVA and UNC chapel hill, but like was said before, I’m not sure if I/my parents will be willing to pay for an OOS public since the UCs are a really great (and much cheaper) resource. </p>
<p>As for my major, I’m still undecided but it will probably be something liberal arts-y, so maybe philosophy or biology. It’s very up in the air still. </p>
<p>Again thank you all so much, your help is greatly appreciated and let me know if you have any other questions!</p>
<p>“If you’re 100% sure you want to go to one specific school, and you are sure you’ll be able to pay for it, it’s beneficial to apply ED. (There are schools that will let you out of an ED contract if your financial aid isn’t adequate, but don’t count on it.)”</p>
<p>Yes, you can count on it; it’s in the ED agreement itself. No school will attempt to compel attendance then have to expel when the bill can’t be paid. But the OP is full-pay, so ED would be binding, and should be used only if one “dream school” emerges.</p>
<p>Generally, ED more than EA. It depends on the school. At the most selective schools neither may help at all; at some schools ED may help significantly.</p>
<p>A school’s Common Data Set may give a hint at the C7 entry “Level of applicant’s interest” since applying ED or EA can mean showing interest.</p>
<p>Might also look at Holy Cross great Jesuit/Catholic school 1 hour from Boston. Holy Cross has a very good combination of academics and athletics. Also HC HAS ONE OF THE BEST ALUMNI NETWORKS in the country. HC website is very informative.</p>
<p>This I did not know. Sorry. I know there are many ED schools that WILL allow you to apply elsewhere EA, so OP, do your homework for whatever school you apply to ED, if you choose to go that route. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re right; no school will hold you to an ED if you can’t pay for it after you receive your financial aid package, but that shouldn’t be used as an excuse to not go. And I believe many colleges will see through it if you do use that as an excuse. Bottom line: You shouldn’t apply to ED anywhere if you’re not sure you’d be happy attending that school.</p>