<p>Okay, I've made two threads before and I got a few schools left. </p>
<p>I've read what I can about the schools on different sites but this forum is in a class of itself.
Here's the short background:</p>
<p>Sat is 1200, but I had no practice. With practice I should get close to 1300. 1250 minimum(counting only reading + math). GPA is 3.5, again I slacked a little in school. I've changed my ways, though. I am going for law eventually, but right now I am well into my undergraduate college search.</p>
<p>These universities, most of them are my safeties, are under display:</p>
<p>Temple University
University of Alabama
SUNY New Paltz
Sonoma State University
Bellarmine University</p>
<hr>
<p>Liberal arts colleges below:</p>
<p>Belmont Abbey College
Wooster College
Evergreen State College</p>
<hr>
<p>Can any of you comment on any of these universities if you know anything? The plan is get get a very good GPA without sacrificing too much of the education quality. Also, do remember almost all of these are my safety choices.</p>
<p>Sonoma is still fine for internationals.
And yes, the budget is around 30,000 dollars. I can go up 5,000 more if it’s a great, great, great school. But I prefer go down 5,000 instead (I am counting financial aid, as some LACs cost over 45 k dollars but have an average financial aid package for ALL students of around 25 k)</p>
<p>I’ve read different things about sonoma. Part of it centers around, what a lot of students feel, are the good academics but some also talk about an ‘unresponsive faculty’. Some complain about an underambitious student body whilst others say it’s ‘balanced’. Would want an opinion, whether you attended or not, on several or at least one of the schools in the list by people in the forums if it’s possible :)</p>
<p>I applied to The College of Wooster as well. Wooster has a great reputation with graduate school admissions; a smart, determined person could easily go from Wooster to a place like Yale Law. Also, it’s just an excellent place to get an education - you will have tough but manageable classes, lots of individual attention from professors, and a wonderful environment in which to study. The formidable senior independent study requirement could sink your GPA, though. PS: Wooster is trying to diversify, and being an international is a huge plus admissions-wise. </p>
<p>Wooster costs about $44,000 a year ($34,000 of that is tuition), but there are merit scholarships and work-study programs available.</p>
<p>I think it’s waaaaayyyyy too early to be “weeding out” colleges. You might accidentally weed out a school that will give you a great scholarship or something. </p>
<p>Once you get all the financial info from these colleges, some will obviously be weeded out because price won’t justify attendance. </p>
<p>BTW…have you signed up to take the SAT (and/or ACT) again?</p>
<p>Temple would NOT be that cheap. The OP is an int’l student. He’s not a resident of PA. Actually, it wouldn’t likely be that cheap for an instate student either.</p>
<p>How intelligent does the student body tend to be? And how ambitious? I’d want a good environment for work and study but as I said, for safety schools I want a way to get a really good GPA too.</p>
<p>Also, how does the social scene look? I’d be entering as a 20 year old, and I’ll be turning 21 late this year in November. Being around a lot of 17-year olds won’t be, eh, ideal. Since I’m very focused. I’ve sort of had my failings and wanderings about already a few years ago. I’ve read some on studentre*views.com that a lot of people complain that it’s cliquey, too.</p>
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<p>Yeah, the aid package seems really good. Wooster generally is a great school, but just like you say, a good intellectual environment comes with a price if you’re someone like me; smart but no semi-genius. </p>
<p>As for the reputation. I’ve phoned Yale Law, Harvard Law, Vanderbilt Law as well as UNC Law and a few others. And I asked them: do you look at prestige/reputation. They all said no, basically, except if it’s a very, very unknown school or an online school. </p>
<p>So I asked them all directly: say that I get a GPA of… 3.7 at a school. And a Princeton Bachelor grad gets a 3.4. We get a very similar LSAT score(I’m looking to get into law school eventually) and we both have well-rounded applications in other areas. Who gets in? They all said that it depends, but I should have the better chance as ‘they don’t look at school name as a general rule’ and they all added that they look more at how you did compared to your fellow students at the school than against other schools’ students. Now should I take their word for it or was it just politically correct talk? Everybody talks about prestige but the law schools themselves don’t.</p>
<p>The student body seems pretty intelligent and creative. The standards for acceptance have risen each year so much more competitive than it used to be. However, they are also more laid back and down to earth so give the impression of being relaxed. My son transferred here from UMiami where the students were more type A. </p>
<p>The bars in town are 21, so you don’t see many under 21 except for those with fake ID’s. My son has not found it cliquey at all. The students are mostly really friendly and the small class sizes allow for lots of interaction in class. He gets to know the students and his professors pretty well.</p>
<p>I don’t have any statistics, but from what I hear fom my son, there are many older sudents and older transfers. He has met some people in his classes only to find out they are a few years older than he is but he never realized it.</p>
<p>Wooster costs about $44,000 a year ($34,000 of that is tuition), but there are merit scholarships and work-study programs available.</p>
<p>How hard is it for an int’l to get a scholarship? What stats are typically needed?</p>
<p>Work-study is a federal program, so int’ls aren’t given that.</p>
<p>*
As for the reputation. I’ve phoned Yale Law, Harvard Law, Vanderbilt Law as well as UNC Law and a few others. **And I asked them: do you look at prestige/reputation. They all said no, basically, except if it’s a very, very unknown school or an online school. **</p>
<p>**So I asked them all directly: say that I get a GPA of… 3.7 at a school. And a Princeton Bachelor grad gets a 3.4. We get a very similar LSAT score(I’m looking to get into law school eventually) and we both have well-rounded applications in other areas. Who gets in? They all said that it depends, but I should have the better chance as ‘they don’t look at school name as a general rule’ **and they all added that they look more at how you did compared to your fellow students at the school than against other schools’ students. Now should I take their word for it or was it just politically correct talk? Everybody talks about prestige but the law schools themselves don’t.
*</p>
<p>I would take their word for it. It’s not that simple… similar LSATs and different GPAs doesn’t tell the whole story. One person may have had a more difficult major. One person may have been raising a family at the same time or working full-time. They look at the “whole person”.</p>
(I am counting financial aid, as some LACs cost over 45 k dollars but have an average financial aid package for ALL students of around 25 k)</p>