Help needed on selecting colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm lost on where to apply. There are so many great schools out there, and I can't seem to be able to come up with a reasonable amount to apply to. </p>

<p>Colleges I'm definitely applying to: Michigan, Safety schools (Umich-Dearborn, Wayne State, Oakland, Mich. State) </p>

<p>My goal is to apply to about 7-10 schools excluding my safety. </p>

<p>I'm not entirely sure on what I want to major in; I have some general idea but nothing set in stone. </p>

<p>Likely majors (Ranked) 1. Economics/Business 2. Computer science or an Engineering major (leaning more towards CS right now) 3. Pre-med 4. Political Science 5. Atmospheric Science </p>

<p>Ideally, I would like to double major. #1 and #2 are my top choices right now, but I still find the other options interesting. </p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 3.97(UW) 4.62 (W)
ACT: 30 (29E, 30M, 27R, 32S, 9W) Retaking in September aiming for a 32 +
AP's: AP Chem: 4 AP Lit:3 (I might drop that score) </p>

<p>Coursework:
Junior year: AP chem, Honors Gov, Honors Econ, Honors Physics, Honors English (Pretty much an AP class, we practiced for the exam all year long), Honors Pre-calc, and Honors Spanish 4</p>

<p>Senior year: AP Bio, AP Macro and Micro Econ, Spanish 5 honors, Calculus 1 honors, Eng. 119&120 through an in-school dual enrollment program, and some random elective </p>

<p>I'm taking the most difficult classes offered in my school.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Pretty good
Essays: Should be solid. I'm an awesome writer if I am given an appropriate amount of time to write something.
Recommendations: Should be decent</p>

<p>I'm looking for about 3-4 reaches, 3-4 matches, and maybe 1 or 2 out of state safety schools. </p>

<p>Thank you for the help!</p>

2

<p>What type of school appeals to you - LAC/Research U? Urban/rural? Secular/religious?</p>

<p>How far from home would you consider (or preferred regions) and what’s your ideal weather?</p>

<p>What are your college finances like? Is your EFC affordable to your family? This last one could be the biggest issue, but all are helpful for offering suggestions?</p>

<p>MANY colleges could work, so it’s time to start the actual selection process by some of the biggies as listed above.</p>

3

<p>I’m leaning towards research universities more so, but I have been considering exploring LAC more lately. </p>

<p>As for Urban vs. Rural, I wouldn’t want too urban of a school like NYU. I prefer more “suburban” type schools; schools that have a nice college town feel, like Ann Arbor. I’m really okay with most schools as long as they have a nice campus. </p>

<p>I’d prefer a non-religious school or a religious school that isn’t strongly affiliated. </p>

<p>I would consider going anywhere in the country for school. I’m fine with various types of weather. I’m used to harsh Michigan winters. I do like having four distinct seasons, but I could see myself living in a warm environment too. </p>

<p>Finances look okay, but not great. I don’t want to really rule any schools off based on cost yet, unless they are known for not giving much financial aid.</p>

4

<p>Some that come to mind to research more would be:</p>

<p>Virginia Tech (more rural, but GREAT college town and tons of opportunities)
Carnegie Mellon (urban, but with a campus - great for CS)
Northeastern (haven’t been here, but have heard good things - someone else will have to compare to location, etc)
U of Miami (still need to visit this one too - will likely do so this fall)
Bucknell (again, more rural, but a nice college town)
Clemson</p>

<p>I’m sure there are more I’m not thinking of - and not all of these will have all your possible majors, but they are schools to consider if UMich doesn’t work out for you.</p>

5

<p>CollegeBoard has a college search program called “Big Future” that will ask you most of this information and help you narrow down your search. It’s easy to figure out and has a lot of information for comparisons.</p>

<p><a href=“https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search[/url]”>https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Unfortunately, that search is not very accurate. When I searched for schools with computer science programs, Michigan did not even show up.</p>

7

<p>Ah, sorry, I wasn’t aware. You still might be able to use it as a place to start looking though?</p>

8

<p>Did you take the PSAT? Any chance at National Merit Finalist?</p>

9

<p>I did not take the PSAT</p>

10

<p>Unfortunately the state of Michigan does not have reciprocity with any other states (at least not significant agreements). Except maybe with University of Toledo in Ohio there is something.</p>

<p>The good news about evaluating cost is that you can now do that BEFORE you apply. So you don’t waste your applications on schools that don’t give good aid or don’t meet your need. You really should be considering costs right now as you look at schools – and not just taking people’s word for whether the aid is good. For every school on your list and every school you consider, you should run the Net Price Calculator available on the school’s website. It should give you a ballpark idea of what kind of FA you could expect. There is just no point in applying to schools you can’t afford, and the NPC tools give you a chance to figure that out now. So that is something you should work with your parents and do ASAP.</p>

11

<p>What do you want to do in college besides study? (sports, greek life, clubs, etc)</p>

12

<p>Intramural and club sports would be nice. I probably won’t get into greek life much, I might join a professional fraternity such as a business one. A variety of clubs would be nice to have. Also, research opportunities would be cool.</p>

13

<p>You could also consider U Rochester… it’s where my middle son goes and he likes it - VERY research based. It’s urban with a campus.</p>

14

<p>I was considering U Rochester! It seems like a good fit for me. </p>

<p>So now I am definitely applying to Umich and U Rochester</p>