Help pick and chance colleges for the socially adept but nerd at heart :p

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, so I'll post my stats and give a summary of my personality afterwards.</p>

<p>Male
American, White
Class of 2009 (currently a Junior)
High School GPA
Weighted: 3.65 (w/o Junior year; may drop to around 3.5 - this year wasn't the best for me)
Unweighted: 3.49 (w/o Junior year; won't go down much if at all)
School does not rank, but I would think I'm in the top quartile.
School sends students to top schools often</p>

<p>All three years I've taken Honors English, History, and Science, with Math and Spanish at Advanced levels (not AP, more like college prep), with the exception of the integrated history/english course for gifted students in 10th grade. </p>

<p>Senior year classes include, AP Economics, AP Calc AB, AP Physics B, AP Music Theory, Spanish 5, Contemporary American Studies Honors, College Prep Brit/Eng Lit. (my school doesn't offer honors english senior year, only CP and AP)</p>

<p>Standardized Test Scores:
SAT Reasoning Test 1 1320 Single / 1370 Superscored
2020 Single / 2080 Superscored
Taking Physics and Math II SAT II's in June.</p>

<p>EC's: Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic Volunteer Work >150 hours
Member of MAR (Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers) We basically accept donated PC's that no longer work, bring them back to working order, and give them to people who can't afford them on their own.<br>
Worked as camp jr. counselor for two years; I also took over 500 photos for the camp
Engineering Internship in the Navy Yard Phila.(where old Navy ships are kept)
Two week business camp at Drexel University this summer
Spring (Junior/Senior) and Winter (Senior) Track</p>

<p>And finally, my passion is music. I have played piano for almost twelve years, and I am currently engrossed in electronic music. I have a musical keyboard connected to my computer, and I work on songs, both original and arranged, every day. I have worked on at least 25 musical projects, of which a quarter I fully developed into songs; each of the 7 or so I have invested at least 20 hours of time in EACH. I do it because I love it. Enough said. </p>

<p>I'm leaning towards majoring in business administration and/or economics, with the extremely small possibility of double majoring in engineering. I also plan to minor in music. I am by no means socially secluded; I hang out with friends a lot, BUT I do not drink or do drugs and never plan to. I'm not one to break the law, so I may have a drink or two when I'm 21, but I obviously don't want to go to a party school. I'm a nice person. That being said, I wouldn't mind being around at least relatively attractive people of the opposite sex.</p>

<p>Which brings me to my dilemma. I have visited Carnegie Mellon, Brandeis, and Pitt, all of which I liked a lot, with Carnegie probably being my favorite right now. However, the Boy/Girl ratio is 39/61 <em>shudder</em>. When I visited, it didn't seem that skewed, but it seemed like there were many socially awkward people. I feel awkward around socially awkward people ;) I can handle them, but I wouldn't mind having a variety. I'm into computers and video games big time, though. </p>

<p>College name recognition is extremely important to me. I just want people to have heard of the school I'm going to (as in, I'd go to Pitt if I had to because everyone has heard of it) I DON'T want to go to an IVY League school, with the extremely small and totally not happening exception of Penn (Wharton :p, and my mom's legacy). I don't really want to go there, though. I want to go to a college in the Northeast, although I have been looking at WUSTL, but that is probably the only school I'd go that far for; my dad went there, so I'm legacy. Preferably a school with 3,000-8,000 students would be nice. NOT a fan of Greek life, as you could probably tell. Safety is somewhat important to me. I'd rather not be smack dab in the middle of a city like NYC or Philly, but I'd definitely live in a city like Pittsburgh.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long speech, but I'm really having trouble finding some other choices besides the 3 or 4 listed above. Thank you for your time.</p>

2

<p>Seems like Carnegie Mellon, its in its own college setting but is a 10 min walk to downtown.</p>

<p>The boy/girl ratio has gotten better and the Tepper Busines School right now is amazing. Look at the post grad surveys and it is definitely just as good if not better than Ross/Stern/Haas/Sloan,etc. Basically just as good as anything that isn’t Wharton.</p>

3

<p>The University of chicago seems to fit your criteria nicely, with the exception of being in the midwest. If you’d be willing to consider going out that far, they have a fabulous economics program (though no engineering major), a social scene that doesn’t revolve around drinking, moderate Greek life, and about 5000 undergrads. Rather than being right in the middle of downtown, its also in the more residential Hyde Park neighborhood.</p>

<p>I’m not sure how you felt about Brandeis, but I almost went there over Chicago. The people are friendly, there is no Greek life on campus, its the size you’re looking for, and accessible to Boston without being in the city.</p>

4

<p>I was thinking about Chicago, but it seems to me that it’s a hardcore study school. If I’m wrong, please feel free to correct me, but I do want to do something other than study sometimes. As for Brandeis, I did really like it a lot; it was my top choice before I looked at CMU (and I’m Jewish- big bonus for Brandeis). But, yeah, Chicago is probably a little far for me. </p>

<p>Thanks for the replies so far.</p>

5

<p>After reading your profile, I think I was very much like you back in high school. I think you need a school with a good jewish population, a well rounded student body, you sound like someone who could be happy at:</p>

<p>CMU, Chicago, Cornell, Michigan, Rochester, CWRU, RPI. </p>

<p>Don’t be afraid to apply to some reaches, you have some unique ECs.</p>

6

<p>Suny Binghamton might be worth a look.</p>

7

<p>Oberlin and Reed (maybe, although it might be too hardcore study-y for you) came to mind for me, but they’re … not exactly in the northeast :slight_smile: Just in case you’re still considering other places, I thought I’d put them out there.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, a little too far :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>But another thought, do I have a decent chance of getting into schools like CMU, Chicago, Cornell, Rochester, etc…? I know my GPA isn’t the greatest.
Yeah, you could say a sizable Jewish population would be a good thing. (And before anyone suggests it, I’m not even considering Yeshiva. NO WAY haha)</p>

9

<p>NYU Stern, and Boston College?
I loved both.</p>

10

<p>I may look at NYU, although I don’t like NYC <em>holds up shield</em>
And BC, well, it’s Catholic affiliated, which could be irritating.</p>

11

<p>Any other suggestions?</p>

12

<p>take a look at Tufts. great academics, wonderful music program and facilities</p>

13

<p>UVA
Lehigh
Franklin and Marshall
Davidson
UNC</p>

14

<p>The University of Miami is known to have an interesting music program. I would assume that they also have a reasonable business/economics program. When you say “engineering,” do you mean computer sicence/software engineering, or an engineering field such as mechanical, civil, or chemical engineering?</p>

15

<p>Johns Hopkins University sounds possible. Rochester and Binghamton sound good- I definitely agree with those. Rice sounds good, because of its atmosphere and music opportunities, but geographically, it probably won’t work. U Maryland College Park may work, due to its array of honor programs, good Jewish life, and a pretty good location.</p>

16

<p>All good suggestions; I’ll check some of those out. As to what type of engineering, I’m honestly leaning away from it all together, but probably more electrical/communications engineering. However, like I said, I doubt I’m going anywhere with that. </p>

<p>Just to clarify, does a student with my credentials have a shot at places like JHU, Cornell, CMU, Brandeis? My GPA is a little low, I think, but I’m wondering whether my EC’s and test scores will help offset it a bit…</p>

17

<p>Mike, abandon your irrational WASP contempt for Catholicism.
Besides, it’s not a Roman Catholic school, it’s a Jesuit school.
Haven’t you learned about the Jesuits when you were studying European History?</p>

<p>With your scores, all of the schools you would be applying to would be considered reaches.</p>

18

<p>Hah, that’s kind of funny. We’re in roughly the same boat.
I’m looking at UChicago. It has a bad rep. People are focused there, but all that I’ve spoken to have been socially adequate and awesomely nerdy at the same time. Plus, they have a kick ass physics program. I live in the Midwest, so I’m a little closer though.
Finding a balance is pretty rough. Best of luck to you.</p>

19

<p>From: kwu
Mike, abandon your irrational WASP contempt for Catholicism.
Besides, it’s not a Roman Catholic school, it’s a Jesuit school.
Haven’t you learned about the Jesuits when you were studying European History?</p>

<h2>With your scores, all of the schools you would be applying to would be considered reaches.</h2>

<p>When did I imply I had a contempt for Catholicism? My train of thought on the matter is as follows: it would be nice to be surrounded by some people of my religious faith. The bottom line is that it can be difficult to be Jewish and go to a school affiliated with a different religion. Is that such a crime? It’s really that simple. I have no dislike for any religion. And, no, sorry, I did not learn about the Jesuits. Thank you for the honesty in the last part of your post, though.</p>

<p>From: AuroraInTheShade
Hah, that’s kind of funny. We’re in roughly the same boat.
I’m looking at UChicago. It has a bad rep. People are focused there, but all that I’ve spoken to have been socially adequate and awesomely nerdy at the same time. Plus, they have a kick ass physics program. I live in the Midwest, so I’m a little closer though.</p>

<h2>Finding a balance is pretty rough. Best of luck to you.</h2>

<p>Hey, nice, I’m glad you found a school you like! I’m not even sure I could get in there, but it’s probably further west than I would like. Good luck to you as well! Eh, you never know if where you end up is right until you go, so there’s no sure thing. That’s one of the reasons this can be fun… and stressful :P</p>

20

<p>How about Case Western in Cleveland? You’re up there with your scores (near 75%). They have a great engineering program, have a music school (the Cleveland Symphony plays on campus) and a business school.</p>