<p>Hey!</p>
<p>Although the title sounds a little (a lot!) dramatic, I really am having trouble finding good colleges to suit my taste. I feel like there are so many colleges/universities out there and I am having a hard time feeling satisfied that I looked through enough to be confident in my college decisions.</p>
<p>What I want out of a school (The school doesn't have to have all of these):
-Sports are popular, if not important (I do not play sports but would like the school to have them, especially a good basketball team. BASKETBALL!)
-Campus is somewhat structured around gothic architecture
- Mid-sized school (undergrad+postgrad= <20,000)
-Political Science/ International Studies major
-Fashion club or organization
-Academics aren't the most important thing, but should be top 3
-Study Abroad opportunities (preferably S. Korea)</p>
<p>What I have to give a college (A school can have better or worse averages than mine):
-3.9 weighted GPA cumulative (1st semester of junior year was hard! All Bs, 1 A)
-Top 20% of my school
-SAT: 1830
-AP EURO: 3, AP LANG: 4, APUSH: 4
-Honors classes where possible
-Expected to take 6 AP classes for senior year
-5 years of hospitality/leadership club FHA HERO (I have been Historian for 2 years, Reporter for 1)</p>
<p>My Top Schools: (I know I am too good for most of these, but a girl can take a chance right)
[United States]
-UChicago
-Yale? (Not sure, if I want to do the supplements)
-Bryn Mawr
-University of Washington
-Illinois Wesleyan
-Chapman
-UC Riverside
-Puget Sound</p>
<p>[International] (these are all for my interest in fashion and I am not using the same school specs as mentioned above for international schools
-Seoul National University
-Ewha Womans University
-Kyung Hee University
-Sungkyunkwan University
-Istituto Marangoni
-Hogeschool van Amsterdam (AMFI)</p>
<p>I am mainly interested in looking for US schools, but wouldnt mind seeing other suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post.</p>
<p>What is your financial situation like? Are you full pay or do you need aid? This will greatly impact your college search. </p>
<p>I will definitely need aid. I already have two sisters in college and a brother going to college two years after me. I forgot to add Duke to the list. The problem I am having is that I want to go to a school that challenges me a little, but haven’t found that good academic balance. I feel like my schools are too “hard” or too “easy”</p>
<p>Hmmmm, ok, well you should be aware that none of the schools on your list except for Yale and UChicago promise to meet your need, and both are huge, huge reaches for you, especially as an international. You need to run the NPCs on a few of these other schools to see if they are affordable for you. If you can’t afford the EFC (and know that most schools will probably expect you to pay more), there is no way it will be an affordable option for you. What can your parents afford each year, and what were the results of the NPCs?</p>
<p>Your SAT score is not competitive. UC Riverside will be full fee because it is a California public school funded by state taxpayers. Expect to pay $55k per year. </p>
<p>Are you an international student?</p>
<p>Honestly, what some Americans do to stay away from the competition (if it eats you up) is simply apply ED to a school like Grinnell.</p>
<p>What country are you a citizen of? </p>
<p>If you are a US citizen, what state do you live in? What is your parents yearly income and how much / year can you afford for college? affordability needs to be addressed before any other things about a school can be considered.</p>
<p>Chicago and Yale are out of reach for your scores and class rank. With 2200+, top 5%, they still would be reaches. </p>
<p>Bryn Mawr would be a reach. Bryn Mawr is relatively generous with need-based aid to international students. However, like all but 6 super selective schools, it is need-aware in international admissions (which probably means your chances are lower than the overall admission statistics suggest). Illinois Wesleyan is a bit less selective than Bryn Mawr. According to its 2013-14 CDS, section H6, it granted financial aid to 94 international students last year, averaging $22,746 each. Use BMC’s and IW’s online net price calculators to estimate your own costs. </p>
<p>The University of Washington (like many state universities) does not grant need-based aid to international students. According to UC Riverside’s Common Data Set, Section H6, it does offer some need-based aid to international students. Use UCR’s online Net Price Calculator to estimate your own costs. If you have significant financial need, you may not get enough aid from UCR or any other state university. </p>
<p>Holy cow, guys!</p>
<p>UC Riverside spends about $11m on international student aid every year, and the average award is $32k! I can’t believe this. This is AMAZING!!!</p>
<p>EDIT: Santa Cruz offers need-based as well as non-need based aid too, and the average aid awarded to internationals nears the cost of tuition.</p>
<p>This is amazing!</p>
<p>I AM NOT AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT. I AM FROM CALIFORNIA. I AM JUST INTERESTED IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS FOR THEIR FASHION PROGRAMS.</p>
<p>Please don’t worry about the money in your suggestions. That is something I can worry about on my own. I am just looking for suggestions of schools that fit my criteria so I can satisfied that I looked at as many schools as possible. Most of the schools I want to apply to because I really like the school and am eligible for a fee waiver, so all it takes is my effort and no money. I am also interested in applying to Duke ED. </p>
<p>OP, don’t shout. How was anyone here supposed to know you weren’t international. You never supplied a home state as is recommended for these kinds of threads.</p>
<p>@ErinsDad I am so sorry if you took as yelling or shouting. I wasn’t aiming for the emotion that comes behind shouting at all. I now realize that the all caps could be construed as anger or shouting. No offense, I would appreciate if you would just give me some advice instead of commenting on my words. So far, no has done what I initially posted this for. Some schools suggestions would be perfect. Thank you.</p>
<p>Your stats make Duke a very high reach.</p>
<p>@ooohcollege I am not looking for chances or anything like that. I know a lot of the schools on my list are reaches, which is why I need advice for other colleges that would be a better match. Please just give me some suggestions!</p>
<p>You don’t seem to care if your stats make schools totally inappropriate for you, nor do you seem to have any interest in evaluating cost. Unless you come from a top 1% family, you are wasting our time and yours by casting about blindly for schools to add to your list. </p>
<p>@intparent Is it so bad to want to try a little? If I didnt try, I would extremely regretful. It is no one’s business what I can afford. All I need is suggestions and from there, I can weed out what fits and what doesn’t. I am quite offended by the amount of rude comments I have received. All I wanted was a little help from the helpful people on here so i can feel satisfied that I have adequately looked at enough colleges to make a good decision. Please, SOMEONE, give me a list of schools I should check out? Would it make anyone feel better if I suddenly said that I don’t want to apply to Chicago, Bryn Mawr, Yale, or Duke even though I would love to go to those schools? I just want some help. If you aren’t going to bother helping me, please don’t make rude comments in place of aid.</p>
<p>I want suggestions, not opinions of what isn’t that important. Finances are so subjective. </p>
<p>Please. Help me. Don’t fight me.</p>
<p>Did you try SuperMatch on the left side of the CC screen? That could be a starting point.</p>
<p>You could probably start by looking at colleges close to big cities for your interest in PoliSci/International Studies and Fashion. You’ll want access to international cultural centers and fashion events.</p>
<p>I googled “minor in Fashion” and one of the schools that popped up is Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Seems to be a small Catholic univ, but it’s proximity to Washington DC should make you look at it (I have no idea if it’s an appropriate school for you, by the way. Just showing how I would do it.)</p>
<p>What do you see yourself doing after college? Because that would be another way to approach your search - work backwards and see what will get you where you want to be.</p>
<p>@scholarme That is so HELPFUL! Finally, someone willing to help! I didn’t know Supermatch was a thing. I will definitely look at that school. I am willing to look anywhere. Your advice is really great. I have never thought about working backwards. Thank you!</p>
<p>If you ever need help, I’m here.</p>
<p>OP, when you are ready (and it something you should do early iin the process), you should run the net price calculators available on each US college website on the financial aid page. Your parents can help with this. You put in information on income and assets, and it tells you what your likely cost of attendance it. It can keep you from spending a lot of time on colleges that are not affordable. Affordability is the number one reason students out here can’t attend colleges on their initial lists. Some of the colleges you are looking at cost about a quarter of a million dollars to attend for four years. You may think it is nobody’s business what you can afford, but you are sort of wasting people’s time who give advice out there if you haven’t considered this aspect. If you really can afford anything, it would be helpful for you to tell us. You want us to be respectful of your request, but remember that people out here answering questions are generally volunteering their time based on hard-won experience in this process. If you don’t give complete information, they can’t give you workable college suggestions, and you waste both your time and theirs.</p>