<p>I am a rising senior trying to narrow down my college list, which I'll admit is ambitious. In no particular order...</p>
<p>Stanford
Dartmouth
Yale
Brown
Northwestern
Washington University in St. Louis
Duke
Williams
Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UC Davis
MIT
University of Rochester
Rice</p>
<p>My stats: 4.8 weighted GPA, 4.0 unweighted GPA
Honors and AP classes throughout, 5s on all APs (EHAP, APUSH, Eng Lang, Chem)
2250 SAT (720 math, 750 reading, 780 writing)
SAT Subjects: 800 Math 2, 780 Chem, 760 US History
4 years soccer (varsity senior year)
MUN 4 years, Sec. Gen. Senior Year
Science Olympiad, awards at county and state
Youth Soccer Volunteer Coach
Boys State delegate
UCLA Summer Internship in Chem Engineering
National Honor Society, treasurer senior year
at least National Merit Commended (227 PSAT)</p>
<p>There are 15 schools listed, and I'm looking to cut 3-5 of them. I am primarily interested in physical sciences/engineering, and would preferably like a change from the Southern California weather I've had for 17 years of my life. Does anyone have any suggestions?</p>
<p>also...what i want in a school (ideally) is 3000-10000 students...a broad-based education with a possible engineering major...and a low-key social scene...if all of that helps at all</p>
<p>Schools you should cut:</p>
<p>Williams
Dartmouth
2 UC's
Brown</p>
<p>The rest will give you a strong/challenging/worthwhile program in the sciences and engineering</p>
<p>thanks for the advice...out of curiosity why would you cut dartmouth, brown, williams, 2 UCs? i think i know why but i want to hear your reasons...</p>
<p>if weather is an issue:
Stanford and the UC schools will all have that similar weather. Rice gets hotter than CA during the fall (it's usually in the high 80s up until november) but essentially you won't have a big change of weather if you go to these schools.
The ones you listed in the New England area, on the other hand, get snow in the winter so it's probably a change from what you're used to.</p>
<p>oh also Berkeley is bigger than the size you requested and Rice is smaller. Duke, WUSL, Yale, and Northwestern all fit the size you requested.</p>
<p>thanks for all the advice...anyone know anything about houston? im not gonna lie, rice would be a lot higher on my list if it wasnt in houston...ive never been but ive heard some not great things about it</p>
<p>The description of what you're looking for ("3000-10000 students...a broad-based education with a possible engineering major...and a low-key social scene") sounds exactly like Rice. (Just to be clear, I'm a Rice student and therefore totally biased in my opinion)</p>
<p>As for Houston:
If you're looking for a college town feel, Houston should probably be last on your list of cities. With about 3000 students in a city of 4 million, Rice doesn't lead to that much of a college-town feel for the city - and the other colleges in Houston don't add much either. That said, Houston is actually pretty cool. Most of the typical Texas stereotypes aren't that true, especially for the down-town area that Rice is in (well, there is a lot of tex-mex, but there are other dining options besides that, don't worry). It's a really diverse area that always has a lot of things going on. Sorry if I'm not being very specific .... ask any specific questions and I'll try to help out.</p>
<p>Duke and Dartmouth have pretty intense party scenes. Frats and sororities are big at Northwestern and Rochester, but they're big enough so that you can find your niche if you aren't into that. Rochester and WashU seem like good fits for you.</p>
<p>This worked for me.... Get a piece of paper and make two columns... one for "things I like about College X" and "things I less-than-like and would have to live with if I went to College X." If you find yourself with a list that's has more on the negative side than the positive, then you should probably consider crossing it off your list.</p>
<p>Another one a friend of mine used to narrow down her list goes as follows... Make bullet points to answer the question "Why do I want to go to X College?" If you can't come up with more than four or five good reasons, rethink the college's inclusion on your list. This also helps with beginning the "Why do you want to go to X College?" essay that several of your schools almost certainly require.</p>
<p>thanks every one. thelonius, where are you from orginially? just so i can get an idea of what the change was for you going to houston. and what are you majoring at rice? what you said is right...if rice was anywhere besides houston it would probably be top 3 on my list. but houston has me a bit worried...glad to hear you like it though.</p>
<p>also, to anyone, which of those schools do you think i could call a target (if any...like i said it's an ambitious list and i realize that)</p>
<p>one more thing...im reluctant to add any more possible schools to the list, but if anyone has any that i just have to check out ill take it into consideration. the number of apps i want to fill out though is 10-12</p>
<p>I'm originally from Alabama, which, I know, makes it sound like that great of a comparison (I seem to have this habit of living in little bubbles of cosmopolitan liberals in the middle of conservative states, but living in NYC at the moment, so maybe I've broken that trend). I've discussed it with a lot of my friends (from New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania) and most agree with me on Houston though.</p>
<p>You have really good stats, but I'm concerned that your list seems very top heavy. Half of your list accepts fewer than 20% of their applicants, and most of the others aren't exactly schools that one can just walk into. I guess it's okay if you don't mind going to one of the UC's for cheap if you don't fair well at the privates, but personally I favored a more balanced list. Your's is basically reach/high match with a few low match/safeties thrown in. (Not the worst I've ever seen in this respect, though). That's just me though...and I would keep all of the UC's, since they are strong schools where you are very likely to be admitted (and don't you just send one application off to as many of the UC's as you like? I don't know a lot about UC admissions, but besides the app fee (I guess?) is there any disadvantage to applying to 4 instead of 2 UC's?). </p>
<p>If I was going to pick out a few to cut, I would probably choose Brown and Williams (not known for their engineering, as far as I know), and Dartmouth seems to be an odd-man out location wise, as well. Also, maybe it's a dream school for you or something, but Stanford seems like it would be really really tough to get into from your location and would also not offer you the location change you said you wanted. I like most of the rest of the list, though...if you cut those first three at least, you would have 8 individual apps plus the 4 UC's, which doesn't seem TOO bad (I applied to 9 schools, and it was a lot of work, but not overwhelmingly so). Just be sure to start your apps early. Also, I highly recommend going for EA at the schools that have it...I know that MIT and Rice have unrestricted EA, at least. Good Luck!</p>
<p>thanks advantagious...yeah im definitely keeping all the UCs, I have the same perspective you do on them. that is how the application process works...im keeping those 4 b/c those are the only 4 id consider going to</p>
<p>i realize my list is top heavy, its something i want to change. i was having a hard time finding targets though..am i wrong in calling uroch a target school? other than that, probly ucsd and davis are my safetys/targets, which isnt that many...but all those others i really like (and yes, stanford is enough of a change for me...400 miles will do the trick)</p>
<p>Yeah, I would consider URochester a match for you as well. I can think of plenty of good schools that would be match/safeties for you, but they don't really fit your criteria! Hmmm...what about Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins?</p>
<p>Yale does not have a very strong engineering program. Nor do Dartmouth and Brown although they are excellent in the sciences. LACs are not strong in engineering.</p>
<p>You should consider Cornell, which has a very good engineering program.</p>
<p>What is it about Houston that worries you? The southern atmosphere is stronger where Duke is located, although the weather is a little cooler. Rice is its own little bubble anyway. Houston is not a huge part of the experience at Rice except unless you go to a concert at the Summit or go to the symphony. Stanford sounds like your best bet, unless you really want to get out of state.</p>
<p>advantagious: i looked at carnegie, but i don't think it's quite the college experience i was looking for. and the hop...same deal i think.</p>
<p>collegehelp: i visited both dartmouth and brown and thought they had decent engineering schools, especially dartmouth...what have you heard? and i looked at cornell, but i was afraid it would not give me the best broad based education that i am looking for</p>
<p>ricegal: well, i have never been to houston so i should not pass judgement...but i have heard that its just not a great city weather-wise...altho i am heartened to hear that the southern atmosphere is not prevalent. i think i have ruled out duke from the list for a few reasons...</p>