~~*Help me narrow down my list*~~

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I’m a rising senior trying to narrow down my list for the fall. My parents are only letting me apply to 10 schools, which I think is pretty fair but still kind of annoying. I used to have a much longer list, but after visiting some schools and thinking about what I really want, it has become much shorter. But it’s still too long!! </p>

<p>Here are some things about me and what I’m looking for in colleges… (in no particular order of importance):</p>

<li><p>I’m a little bit of a nerd, and definitely looking for a place where’s that embraced, a place where people are excited about their academic interests, whatever those may be.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m gay and would want my school to be gay-friendly, and maybe have some gay people as well.</p></li>
<li><p>I probably want a small to medium school, 1500-5000 is optimal. </p></li>
<li><p>I’d like a fairly loose curriculum, but this isn’t a deal-breaker.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ll probably major in the humanities or a social science that doesn’t involve a lot of math. Possibilities are history, polisci, english.</p></li>
<li><p>At this time I’m not that interested in drugs or alcohol, but I’m not opposed to their use.</p></li>
<li><p>I really don’t want a big Greek scene.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>So here’s a list of schools I’m interested in. If you have any experience with them, positive or negative, that you think might be relevant to me–please share!</p>

<p>On to the schools… (I have visited all of these)</p>

<p>Wesleyan - Loved it but maybe slightly too hippy?</p>

<p>Brown - Loved it.</p>

<p>Swarthmore - Loved it but a little worried that students are <em>too</em> nerdy. Some people I talked to were extremely socially awkward.</p>

<p>UC Berkeley (in-state) - This one obviously shatters my size guideline but I really like everything else but that. But I’m still not sure if I can deal with 500 people classes! That’s larger than any school I’ve ever attended.</p>

<p>Harvard - Loved the location. The students I talked to were incredibly diverse and amazing.</p>

<p>Vassar - I visited a lot of schools and it had the most beautiful campus and the best food. They have a lot of gays haha.</p>

<p>Princeton - People told me I wouldn’t like it, but I really did. People said that I would think it was too conservative–I didn’t see that at all. I like its undergraduate focus. Is it really that consevative? I might have just not seen it the day I was there…</p>

<p>Other schools I really liked: </p>

<p>Oberlin
Carleton
Grinnell
Macalester
Pomona</p>

<p>My safety will be UC Davis, which my parents are giving me as a free application that won’t count towards the 10. </p>

<p>So as you can see, I’ve listed 12 colleges that I’ve visited and have liked, but I’m still open to more! If you have suggestions of schools that meet a lot of my 7 criteria, then please recommend them. I don’t want my search to be too narrow.</p>

<p>If you read all of this… thank you!</p>

2

<p>Oberlin meets every one of your criteria to a T.</p>

3

<p>How do you feel about large city vs. small town?? Seems like that might be a criteria that you could use to cut a couple of schools.</p>

<p>You might also want to consider WUSTL, it seems like it has a pretty diverse community, though it's a little larger than your size range.</p>

4

<p>Entomom, </p>

<p>At first I thought I'd like a big city, but after visiting Columbia and NYU I came to understand I don't want THAT big of a city. </p>

<p>At first I thought I wouldn't want any school in a small town, but after visiting Carleton, Grinnell, and Oberlin, I feel like I can't just cut a school because of being in a small town. It's not a positive for me, but probably not a dealbreaker either. </p>

<p>WUSTL does send me a lot of emails lol. I know they are a very good school but my parents told me to avoid the south. I was surprised to see that they were recently listed as one of the ten most liberal schools by a Facebook poll. I guess I need to research them, as I don't know much about WUSTL.</p>

5

<p>I don't know that I'd really consider St. Louis "the south." It seems like you might need another safety-I don't know much about UC Davis so I'm not sure if it's a true safety for you or not.</p>

<p>Have you considered Rice? it is southern (Texas), but it meets some of your other criteria.</p>

6

<p>I definitely wouldn't consider SL the south. My D visited last year and liked it a lot. They are terrible about advertising, but if you can get past that, they are a very good school. My D also spent a month at Grinnell for a summer program, she really liked the school but didn't think she'd be happy in a small, isolated town for 4 years. </p>

<p>Since you haven't given your stats, I'd say the other way you might cut your list is to rank the schools as far as high reach, lower reach, match, safety and see if you have a reasonable amount in each category and take schools out accordingly.</p>

7

<p>Prefect - I've heard a lot of good things about Rice. Did you go/do you go there? </p>

<p>Entomom - A quick stat snap shot of me: 2270 SAT, 750+ in three SAT subject tests, 3.9 UW GPA with 8 APs by graduation. Even with good stats, I probably have more reaches than matches. Something to think about...</p>

<p>About UC Davis being a safety--I'm pretty sure it is, but I might apply to Santa Barbara as well just to make sure I get into one of them. The problem is, I'm not terribly excited about either school. If anyone has any suggestions of schools you feel are safeties (for me), that I would like, please tell me.</p>

8

<p>Kenyon would be a great safetyish school.</p>

9

<p>jmanco - Doesn't Kenyon have a mid 30% acceptance rate? That hardly seems like a safety!</p>

10

<p>um.. bump.</p>

11

<p>Wesleyan would be a superb choice!</p>

12

<p>kenyon's sat range is REALLY low, and the guy has a majestic 2270.</p>

<p>kenyon is safety-ish.</p>

13

<p>I would also suggest you consider Rice. It meets most of your criteria.</p>

14

<p>I guess the reason I haven't considered Rice is that I A) have a very stereotyped negative image of Texas and B) I had always thought they were a very engineering/science oriented school. </p>

<p>And jmanco, I've never heard of anyone refer to a SAT score as "majestic" before. Perhaps you are studying SAT vocab yourself? =P</p>

15

<p>More opinions please.. Perhaps people who attend WUSTL or Rice and can talk about LGBTQ community/friendliness there.</p>

16

<p>I'm not an expert on the UC system, but it seems to me that with your stats you have a good chance of getting into any of the campus' and can count several as safeties. </p>

<p>I'm not sure how well Kenyon fits your criteria. I've never visited, but I get the impression it's more conservative than Grinnell and in an equally small and isolated town.</p>

<p>By the way, my D also visited Rice during Rice Visions after being accepted. She also held your general view of TX and that may have affected her visit as she didn't like it as well as some other schools.</p>

<p>Finally, have you talked to your parents about being able to afford the privates since they are almost all need only FA? Have they run FAFSA and Profile calculators and found out what your approximate EFC is?</p>

17

<p>Entomom - You are beyond helpful!</p>

<p>You hit it on the head as to why I am wary of Kenyon - small and isolated like some other LACs I'm looking at, but not as liberal. My thinking now is if I'm going to look at a small school in a small town, it better be pretty darn liberal.</p>

<p>In terms of the private cost and financial aid, it could be an issue, especially when it comes to a couple of schools that I <em>really</em> like (Wesleyan, Brown) that do not possess endowments as impressive to those of their competitors. If I get into a school I love but my parents can't quite afford what the school thinks I should pay, I'm pretty sure my grandparents would step in. If worse comes to worse, I'll attend a UC, which my parents can afford.</p>

18

<p>I A) have a very stereotyped negative image of Texas </p>

<p>Houston is an extremely cool and vibrant city. Lots of great museums, sports teams, concerts, FOOD, and yao ming.</p>

<p>B) I had always thought they were a very engineering/science oriented school. </p>

<p>I visisted their classes and the English classes I saw were really nice and discussion based.</p>

<p>Also, I have met many Rice people and seen the campus, and homophobia is not a problem.</p>

<p>look at the rice facebook group for barack supporters, nearly all rice students are in it</p>

19

<p>I was going to recommend Brown, but you already have that. :p </p>

<p>As for the number of reaches/matches on your list, I think your record is good enough that this won't be much of an issue. If you were a good but not great student, it'd be a lot safer to apply to only two reaches or so, but once you get to a certain point, the traditional 'reaches' are more like crapshoot matches. So, I mean, you'll probably get into one of them; I wouldn't sweat it.</p>

20

<p>In case you drop a school from your list, you might consider Reed:</p>

<ol>
<li>Exact match.</li>
<li>So many gays and gay-friendly that there doesn't seem to be a need for a gay organization.</li>
<li>A bit smaller, 1492. </li>
<li>Some divisional requirements, but you'll never have to take a math class. ;)</li>
<li>Top departments for history, polisci, english; see REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY.</li>
<li>Drugs and alcohol are present, but no pressure to use.</li>
<li>Zero Greek scene.</li>
</ol>

<p>Beautiful campus on the edge of Portland, great public transport, lots of culture.</p>