<p>So far I have way too many colleges I am interested in and most of them are distant reaches. I prefer an urban or suburban setting and I like the west coast but am open to pretty much anything near any body of water ( I live in a very landlocked place and hate it). I don't have a preference for student body size and am not sure about my major but am leaning towards Econ or poli sci.</p>
<p>My stats are as follows
Gpa: 3.9 unweighted
4.3 weighted
Sat: 2070 composite
Math 700
Reading 750
Writing 620</p>
<p>Four EC's that show long term commitment and leadership
Various other EC's that show some of my interests </p>
<p>Rec's from math and English teachers and if allowed from my band teacher</p>
<p>Common app essay would be about a mentor that passed away and how that affected my work ethic and motivation </p>
<p>The schools on my list so far are:
Stanford
UPenn
UChicago
Berkeley
Columbia*
Claremont McKenna
Pitzer
Lewis and Clark
University of San Diego
Rice
Emory
UCLA
USC
Whitman
UT (a safety due to guaranteed acceptance)
Puget Sound
Loyola marymount
Pepperdine
Tulane
Loyola new Orleans
Georgetown*
Colorado college
Willamette</p>
<p>I would like to narrow my list to two or three reaches and five matches. Any input at all would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators on each school to see what they will offer for financial aid.</p>
<p>UT Austin does cost more than $20,000 per year, though it should be within Stafford loan reach even if you get no non-loan financial aid. Some other Texas publics like Texas A&M cost less.</p>
<p>Colorado College is the one that stands out for me cause it is not on either coast. But these schools are a huge range of sports focused, academic powerhouses, liberal arts colleges, and most of these schools have much different feels and different environments and locations from large cities to smaller suburbs.</p>
<p>Oh and I can almost guarantee Puget Sound, Willamette and Lewis & Clark will cost much more than 20,000</p>
<p>At L&C those stats MIGHT get a 1/2 tuition scholarship which would leave $17K of tuition plus $10K of room and board (+ other expenses like books).</p>
<p>You should definitely apply to Stanford. I can’t say you’ll get in, but I’m positive you’ll love it if you did. I think it’s the best on the list in terms of education, location, and experience.</p>
<p>My brother just graduated from Stanford. He majored in Public Policy and minored in Economics, very similar to your choices. He was originally going to study Political Science. (He also just got a job working for some financial company -$75,000 a year. They have great job retention).</p>
<p>The campus is beautiful and there are so many things to do and see in that part of California. The student body is extremely intelligent and hard working, but also play hard. </p>
<p>He loved it there, loved every class and teacher. Made life-long connections. It’s an extremely personal place for such a big school. He studied in Moscow, Oxford, and India. </p>
<p>One thing to be concerned of is the price. $50,000 a year. My brother is going to be in debt for a while…</p>
<p>For your other schools, you might want to narrow it down by category. Location, size, cost, student body, reputation, curriculum, opportunities, etc. </p>
<p>It’s very difficult for me to do so because I’m not you and I don’t have the time to research every school.</p>
<p>If it were my choice, I’d want something in California or another nice place (Stanford has perfect weather). Or I’d want to live in like NYC.</p>
<p>Apart from the beach location, Pepperdine doesn’t seem to fit on that list – someone who likes Univ Chicago, Columbia or Pitzer doesn’t sound like somene who would also like Pepperdine</p>
<p>In addition the finance conversation with your parents, think about what type of curriculum are you interested in. Chicago and Columbia have a core curriculum with lots of requirements. Chicago is also on a quarter system which students report makes for very intense academics. Colorado is the block plan, where you take one course at a time for 3 weeks. It is perfectly appropriate to be undecided at this point about what type of curriculum you are looking for, but knowing which schools follow which format will help you select match, reach and safeties for various types of programs.</p>
<p>Really any of these schools will give you a good education. </p>
<p>You should start to narrow down schools based on smaller, more personalized requirements. What kind of social scene do you want? Greek life or none? I see Whitman and Pepperdine as complete and polar opposites when it comes to the type of students that attend. </p>
<p>Also look at the money. I’d throw UCLA out. If you can’t afford 50k+ a year, don’t bother applying.</p>
<p>Where have you visited? Things that look like a match on paper sometimes have a whole different feel in person. I have visited a bunch of the schools on your list and I’ll tell you that one in particular went from a fairly good-looking-on-paper match to an I’d-rather-go-to-community-college-than-go-here during the visit, but another one I didn’t even want to go visit (my parents forced me to) and it ended up being one of my top choices. I know that it isn’t feasible to go visit all of them, but any that you can get to can help you narrow down your choices.</p>