Help me pick colleges to apply to

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I like (these are just loose guidelines):
-urban colleges that have an actual (hopefully pretty) campus. I don't like rural/suburban settings as much.
-East Coast/ CA colleges that are LACs/colleges that give a lot attention to students.
-students that are creative, laid back, and down-to-earth.
-a diverse student body (a mostly white, flamboyantly rich student body is offputting for me)
-I don't really care for a huge sports school/ party school (have fair share of it in high school)
-good FA
-a core, since I have no idea what I'm doing and would be really indecisive about picking classes</p>

<p>Other info:
I'm a humanities (undecided major). I really love writing & reading, but probably won't major in English. </p>

<p>My stats/ ECs are good enough that I have a chance at schools I mention below:</p>

<p>Colleges I know I'm applying to:
Barnard, UPenn, UCLA, Berkeley, UC Irvine, Scripps, Pomona. </p>

<p>Colleges that I thought I'd like but didn't for some reason (maybe this will be helpful--hope I don't rub anyone the wrong way with my judgements):
-Georgetown (didn't fit in with preppy students--did love beautiful buildings though)
-NYU (campus too fragmented)
-Swarthmore (didn't fit in with intense/ somewhat err, strange, students--nice campus though)
-Columbia (I recently decided not to apply--I kinda liked it, but didn't like the fact there were no trees on campus. I know, prob not a good reason, haha)</p>

<p>Colleges I'm iffy about and am wondering if they are what I'm really looking for:</p>

<p>-UChicago (city location and quirkiness really appealing--plus awesome apps.)
-Reed (location and good grad school chances)
-Wellesley (woman's school near boston, yay)
-Brown University (friend said I should apply since everyone she knows loves it at Brown, but I'm kinda hesitant to apply)
-Bryn Mawr (castle campus! near philly, a city I luuurve.)
-Boston University (good scholarships, nice location)
-Boston College (good scholarships, nice location)
-Tufts University (heard only good things, really like their application)
-Bowdoin College (recommended to me by friend, don't know much about)</p>

<p>I'm probably not going to get a chance to visit any of the ones I'm not sure about, sadly.</p>

<p>Any help about what students are like/ campus vibe/ anything else you know about these colleges is appreciated. </p>

<p>And if you have any other suggestions that would fit me well, that'd be great too :)</p>

2

<p>What are your stats?</p>

<p>Having stats good enough to get accepted is NOT the same as having stats high enough for the merit aid that you desire. </p>

<p>I have not known BC to have the reputation of being generous with merit scholarships. </p>

<p>You mention needing FA and merit. Would you qualify for aid? Even if a school is known to be “generous” with aid, it doesn’t give aid to those who don’t qualify.</p>

<p>Do you know what your likely “expected family contribution” will be? </p>

<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>

3

<p>Boston college does have nice merit scholarships, though I definitely don’t expect (or am counting) on getting scholarships. </p>

<p>As for stats (I knew particulars would be asked for, sigh): I’m ranked in the top 1% of my class, SAT subjects are 800 and 760, ACT 33. I’m really dedicated to my ECs as well, with several major leadership positions. As I said, stats that are good enough that I’ll at least have a chance. </p>

<p>We definitely can’t afford sticker price private colleges–income is around $100k, but my sister who has gone to a small LAC has gotten very generous FA. I think we paid something that averages to around $15k a year. </p>

<p>$30k a year would probably be the limit.</p>

4

<p>I’m confused. You’re definitely applying to Barnard, but you don’t want to apply to the university directly across the street (Columbia) because it has no trees?</p>

5

<p>^ I was about to say the exact same thing.</p>

<p>I would also look into Boston University.</p>

6

<p>What about Santa Clara? You seem like a match for it with a 33 ACT. The campus is beautiful and the students are down-to-earth without being preppy. Plus, it is more diverse than many of the east coast Jesuit schools. Many of the colleges you mention are all reaches for you. Not that you won’t get in, but there are no guarantees. UC Irvine is a match, and you have a good shot at Scripps, but the rest not so sure.</p>

7

<p>If you thought the kids at Swarthmore were strange, you probably won’t like Reedies too much either…</p>

8

<p>Might look at Bates and Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious). Boston College is very big sports atmosphere. Both Holy Cross and Bates focus only on undergraduate learning with small class sizes.</p>

9

<p>Where are you seeing that BC has good merit scholarships for undergrads? Can you provide a link?</p>

<p>*We definitely can’t afford sticker price private colleges–income is around $100k, but my sister who has gone to a small LAC has gotten very generous FA. I think we paid something that averages to around $15k a year. $30k a year would probably be the limit. *</p>

<p>Did your parents give you that figure or are you estimating that? The reason I’m asking is that few families with an income of $100k can pay $30k per year for 4 straight years unless they’ve saved a lot for college. $30k per year is a big chunk of your family’s take home (net) income. </p>

<p>If you haven’t asked your parents how much they will pay each year, please do. You really need a more exact figure otherwise you may find yourself very short of money. </p>

<p>Your parents may say that they’re only willing to pay the same as they did for your sister. </p>

<p>Which schools will be your financial safety schools?.…these are schools that you know you’ll get accepted to AND you know FOR SURE that you can afford to attend because you can pay for it with ASSURED scholarships and/or assured family funds.</p>

10

<p>Apply to a school where:</p>

<p>The plane is taking off whether the seats are filled or not.</p>