Help me pick a school? please (:

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I would very much appreciate some input about schools that would be best suited for me. Here are some things to consider:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Diversity = major major major. I needddd diversity, so schools in the deep south are out as well as rural places</p></li>
<li><p>Should be reasonably priced, and if not offer generous grants to deserving students. i can pay around 15,000 - 20,000 a year.</p></li>
<li><p>Should have academic focus... and not OVERLY focused on athletics</p></li>
<li><p>Being in NJ, close to NJ, or atleast on the east coast is a plus, but not a requirement</p></li>
<li><p>social scene should not automatically equal drinking and drugs (lol, i am a little straight-edged)</p></li>
<li><p>i am undecided in terms of a major, so i would like a school that offers a broad range of interesting majors/areas of study. something like brown, where course selection is pretty open, is ideal. some potential areas of study that i am particularly interested in: philosophy, history, international relations, environmental science</p></li>
<li><p>i should be able to get in! so i guess you need to know my stats... they are as follows:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>middle class
indian american female
suburban NJ
kind of good public school</p>

<p>gpa - don't know. (haha sorry) in terms of final grades, i have all A's except one high B.
rank - probably in top 20 or 30 out of 400 students
courseload - all honors. 4 AP's junior year. 6 (planned) AP's senior year.
SAT - 2210 (without studying, so i'll study a bit and retake to see if i can do better)
SAT II - dunno haha, haven't taken them.
PSAT - 225</p>

<p>In School:</p>

<p>Class office - VP (soph) and President (junior)
Model UN - secretary (junior)
GSA - VP (junior) have already been appointed president for next year
Environmental Action Club - VP (junior) already decided for prez next year
Academic Team - will most likely be one of three captains next year
Mathletes - captain (junior)
Key Club - VP (junior) will maybe be prez next year
Youth and Govt. - member (soph and junior)
Science League - member (soph and junior)
Student Council - member (soph and junior)
Literary Magazine - editor (junior)
Art Club - Secretary (junior)
Peer Leader - in peer leadership program (junior)
junior nominee and attendee to HOBY program</p>

<p>Out of School:</p>

<ul>
<li>editor (of about 20 kids in america) for national literary magazine</li>
<li>member of temple's youth commitee</li>
<li>writer for temple's youth newspaper</li>
<li>counselor (volunteer) at temple's summer camps</li>
<li>volunteer at march of dimes offices (150-ish hours so far) </li>
<li>member of march of dimes chain reaction youth board (junior)</li>
<li>founder and director of volunteer tutoring corps in town (junior) *** this is a major thing for me, i tutor a bunch of kids, which led me to form this volunteer org and if i had to focus on one volunteering aspect of my app, this would be it. ***</li>
<li>member of student board of indian cultural association - junior</li>
<li>dancer (classical indian, several years)</li>
<li>sole student rep to public library board - junior</li>
</ul>

<p>Likely additions in near future:
- intern at law office (just have to send in my resume, will most likely get it)
- job at ice cream place (its my dream job, maybe will get it)
- internship with state senator (will deff. get it, everyone who applies does haha)
- self-study 4 more AP courses and take test (i know this sounds like a lot, but i can do it, trust me)
- start youth coalition in town for political advocacy
- start dance school (will be easy)</p>

<p>any input would be really great! i would absolutely love if you could prod me in the right direction as to where i should apply next year and perhaps a little explanation as to why. </p>

<p>lol i asked a friend who is extremely college-savvy and she replied "just apply to every school you know" ---> not very helpful lololol. her sister did this however, and it kind of worked out for her, (she now goes to brown, pre-med) but i can't really afford to apply to 40 schools.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>bumppppppp. </p>

<p>common, help a girl.</p>

3

<p>OK, your stats are a match to schools in the USNWR 8-25 range, more or less. However, unless you get into one of the 1-7, maybe one or two more out of the 8-25 schools, neither MERIT nor Financial Aid is likely to get you to your target.</p>

<p>For private colleges, to get 3/4 or full tuition granted, you will need to be in the top 3-5% of the current enrolled students in terms of your stats. This would be schools in the USNWR 40-90 National Universities range, or LAC 15-35 range, approximately. And some schools are generous, some are not.</p>

<p>So, if you’re not excited about Rutgers, and don’t want to do one of the SUNYs, or UMinn, or a Service Academy, I think you’re going to need big scholarship/merit money. Full pricing of schools for next year is about $55,000.</p>

4

<p>out of a class of 400 students, i’m probably in the top 20 i’m estimating. so that’s the top 5%… erm i’m not really familiar with USNWR… what is that? can you name some specific schools maybe?</p>

5

<p>OP – This is the ranking to which I referred 1-7, 8-25, etc.</p>

<p><a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings[/url]”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings[/url]”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>okay, thanks!</p>

7

<p>I don’t think there are any near NJ… I think USC or UCLA fits your descriptions perfectly, I could be wrong though :)</p>

8

<p>UPenn as a reach, maybe? Case Western (a bit far from NJ, though) and University of Rochester could be matches, because they are very academically oriented and give significant merit aid. Rochester’s curriculum requirements are flexible which you might like as an undecided major.</p>

9

<p>When you say “diversity” …what do you mean? </p>

<p>When people say that they want “diversity” they usually mean that they want their ethnic, religious, or political group well-represented.</p>

10

<p>Most people have missed this important requirement:

Nritya, go to the Financial Aid forum and look up Keilexandra’s thread on good merit aid for National Merit. With that PSAT score you should make it to Finalist. There are many good schools which will offer you merit aid.</p>

11

<p>Rutgers/ Rutgers honors program
TCNJ</p>

12

<p>when i say diversity, i think of something like UC Berkeley, where the ethnic population is like 50% white and 50% asians, hispanics, blacks and others. I’m looking for ethnic diversity, then, i guess.</p>

13

<p>bringing up my post…</p>

14

<p>LOL…</p>

<p>Berkeley isn’t very diverse, but I guess it would feel that way to someone who is Asian. </p>

<p>Berkeley only has about 3% African American…which doesn’t reflect America. Berkeley has 42% Asians, which doesn’t reflect America.</p>

<p>Diversity is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why I always ask. :)</p>

15

<p>lol. asians = diversity imo.</p>

16

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>I know…but </p>

<p>when an AA person asks this question, then many AA kids on campus = diversity
when a Jewish person asks this question, then many Jewish kids on campus = diversity
when a Muslim person asks this question, then many Muslim kids on campus = diversity
when a Hispanic person asks this question, then many Hispanic kids on campus = diversity
etc, etc.</p>

<p>That’s why I always ask! :)</p>

17

<p>I guess i will just have to bump again mwahaha</p>

18

<p>You’re going to have to be smart about where you apply if cost is a concern. I’d look into honors colleges at public schools, which are eager to lure the best and brightest away from the Ivy Leagues and other top schools. You need to find a school that wants to have you.</p>

19

<p>thanks… but i still have little idea of where to apply…</p>

<p>perhaps specific names of schools would help? could anyone name specific schools?</p>

20

<p>I said TCNJ/Rutgers Honors</p>