Help me narrow down the list :)... and chance me!?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey! Here is what I'm looking for:
I want to stay relatively near New England/Northeast... I'd go to PA but not much further... I want a school with kind of quirky kids. Maybe I'm weird, but I like nerdy kids! I don't want a huge party school or one with a huge, overwhelming greek life. A somewhat diverse student body would be nice... this doesn't have to be diverse racially, (it could be though) or by major or whatever, just diverse enough that I feel like there is a good mix of people, and everyone doesn't think, act, dress, speak etc. the same way. I think I'd like a larger school, at least medium, maybe like 3000 minimum... (but I would be willing to go smaller if the school fit my other criteria) </p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>GPA
3.83</p>

<p>I've taken all of the hardest courses at my school and I have taken online APs to supplement. (10 APs total, school offers 7 or 8 including art and languages)</p>

<p>ACT
E- 35
M- 31
R- 30
S- 28
C- 31</p>

<p>(I plan to retake)</p>

<p>ECs, Awards, Volunteer stuff, etc:
Golf: co-captain sophomore through senior year
NHS
Several leadership positions around school
SADD member
Lots of volunteer work
Same job since freshman year at a tennis place--I play tennis as well, but my school does not have a team
Internship with insurance company... work for them over the summer</p>

<p>There's more... but I think you get the picture and no need to go too much into detail</p>

<p>Here is the list of PROSPECTIVE schools. There is no way I will apply to this many. I want to get it down to 10-15. Let me know what my chances are at the schools you are familiar with, and if there are any you think don't fit my criteria or are way to out of reach or anything, let me know!</p>

<p>Cornell
UPenn
Colgate
Hamilton
Middlebury
Wesleyan
Tufts
University of Chicago
Vassar
Brandeis
Haverford
Swarthmore
Johns Hopkins
CMU
BC
Skidmore
Smith
Bucknell
Wheaton (MA)
Dickinson
Villanova
Gettysburg
Allegheny
Hampshire
Union
University of Vermont</p>

<p>As you can see, I need to cut this in HALF! Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Please? I would REALLY appreciate any input? I need to visit schools in the next few weeks… and I don’t know which schools are worth the drive. :)</p>

3

<p>bump… anyone?</p>

4

<p>Bucknell has large Greek life, Colgate and BC have lots of parties. They are also good schools, but they may not fit your criteria of nerdy kids and schools that are more low key in the Greek and party areas.</p>

5

<p>Thanks! i really appreciate it! that’s how i view bucknell, too… it’s just my mom went there and she’s really pushing me to apply.</p>

<p>I knew Colgate and BC were preppy, (which I don’t really like), but I thought that the religious thing and the low tolerance for alcohol would make BC less of a party school, guess not, ha!</p>

6

<p>Chicago is your best fit. And, while I think you’d be perfectly fine at Wesleyan (there’s a lively party scene that you can either partake or ignore), I think youll have a heck of a time convincing your mother, if she’s already pushing Bucknell. ;)</p>

7

<p>Thanks! I really like Chicago! But it is definitely a reach! Any other opinions/suggestions?</p>

<p>I’d appreciate any input, really.</p>

8

<p>i hate to say this, but the lower you go in the food chain, as far as the NE is concerned, the preppier the students get. The high-end, need-blind, ivies and LACs tend to be the most diverse. I’m going to stick my neck out and suggest you look into Wagner College. It’s a bit off the beaten track; I don’t think there’s much fin/aid available. But it has a lovely LAC-like campus on Staten Island, one of New York City’s five boros. It draws a fairly down-to-earth student body from the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. Light on sports; low frat/sorority membership.</p>

9

<p>Cornell
UPenn
Colgate
Hamilton
Middlebury
Wesleyan
Tufts
University of Chicago
Vassar
Brandeis
Haverford
Swarthmore
Johns Hopkins
Smith</p>

10

<p>Thanks Johnwesley! I appreciate your suggestions! And, unfortunately I agree with you on the preppy thing, which sucks! I feel like in order to escape that and stay within driving distance of home, I have to get into a reach! </p>

<p>Kash money-- it would be nice if I could just apply to those schools, but there are no safeties there! I do NOT have the confidence to apply to just those schools. I could end up getting in NO WHERE, ha. :slight_smile: But thanks!</p>

11

<p>Check out Colby College in Maine. The students there are really friendly.</p>

12

<p>Allright, here is what I would do, if I was you.</p>

<p>UPenn - Reach
Middlebury - Low Reach
Wesleyan - Low Reach
University of Chicago - Low Reach
Brandeis - Match
Haverford - Match
Skidmore - Match
Villanova - Match
University of Vermont - Safety [both academically + financially]</p>

<p>9 Schools =]</p>

13

<p>thanks! i appreciate it! there are just so many schools that i like</p>

14

<p>bump… ?</p>

15

<p>I will chance back! Promise! :)</p>

16

<p>chicago and how come carnegie mellon seem like the best fit to me</p>

17

<p>and i would take out bc and villanova if you dont like too much parties lol </p>

<p>also the two ivys you have tend to be the ones with the largest greek scenes (besides dartmouth) and lots of parties/social life…
how about brown?</p>

18

<p>Thanks, but I don’t think I have a chance at Brown! I think Cornell and Penn are huge enough reaches! :slight_smile: The thing I like about Cornell and Penn, are that even though they do have greek life everyone still seems really down to earth, (brown seems like that too, in fact, I love Brown, I just don’t think I have a shot in hell!). Plus, since they are so big, even if 80% of the school was greek, there would STILL be a large group that wasn’t greek. I don’t hate greek life, I might even consider joining a sorority… I just don’t want to be at a school where greek life is dominant or where greek life is pretty much just the hottest people on campus… you know?</p>

19

<p>gotcha, yeah it is like 1/3 of the students at penn and cornell so it isn’t too bad.
and brown wouldn’t be such a huge reach IMO.</p>

20

<p>Really? Thanks! I still think it is a huge reach, but probably not too much more of a reach than Penn… and you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so hey! I just have so many reaches on my list, and my counselor is always wanting me to downsize my list in general. There are just so many great schools out there! And you never know who is going to accept or reject you, you know?</p>