Help with college list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, I'm an Indian-American male in Michigan looking for colleges to which to apply, and I would be very grateful if any of you have recommendations. Here is some basic info about me (less important part - skip down if you want to preferences):</p>

<p>Prospective major: Probably Biology, although it could change. I'm especially interested in ecology, evolutionary bio, and developmental bio.
GPA: ~4.0 UW/??? W
ACT: 36
SAT: 2280
SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 Bio (E), 800 U.S. History
APs: Bio, U.S. Gov, Chem, Stats, U.S. History, Physics C (both), English (both), Spanish Language, and Calc AB (all 5s) (National AP Scholar)
ECs: Science Olympiad (4 years, many medals at regionals and a couple at states)
Model UN (best delegate last year at a major conference)
Quiz Bowl (Varsity team regional champions, individual 28th at NAQT championship)
A lot of orchestra related stuff - first chair violist for two years, did pit orchestra for a musical</p>

<p>~120 hrs community service
I've won a few miscellaneous awards, but none are extremely notable.
Attended the Clark Scholars program this summer; wrote a paper in evolutionary bio) that my lab is likely going to try to publish in expanded form (with me as second author)
I also did research the summer after sophomore year in ecology - it was fascinating, but not much came of it.</p>

<p>Yeah, I think that's the extent of my accomplishments...</p>

<p>College Preferences:
-Size isn't too important - I have a slight preference for smaller schools
-Location also isn't too important, but preferably within the continental U.S., and there should at least be some sign of civilization nearby, even if it's a town 1/5 the size of the college.
-Lots of research opportunities!
-Preferably no religious affiliation, and preferably not an extremely conservative college
-Something a little liberal-artsy, because I have a lot of diverse interests, and I want to be able to explore a little. Strong science (especially bio) is a must, but strong social studies/humanities certainly wouldn't hurt.
-Preferably also a nerdier school known
-I want to continue playing viola in college, so it'd be nice if the orchestras and facilities were decent without causing me to be overwhelmed by music performance majors
-My family is pretty middle-class, so extremely expensive colleges are probably not a good choice unless I could get a lot of aid.</p>

<h2>-A pretty campus would be nice! (not required, of course)</h2>

<p>I can't think of anything else, but please ask if you have any more questions or if I missed something important!</p>

<p>Thank you from taking time out of your day to help; if you'd like suggestions or chances, please link your thread and I'll try to reciprocate.</p>

<p>Here are some colleges I am currently considering:
Current list of colleges I will definitely apply to:
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan State</p>

<p>Colleges I've seriously thought about applying to:
University of Chicago, Cornell, Swarthmore, Carleton, Pomona
(I know not all of these are the best fits for me, which is why I need help...)</p>

<p>Colleges others have recommended for me:
Grinnell, Kenyon, Case Western Reserve, Northwestern, Washington in St. Louis, Oberlin (yeah, these are kind of all over the place)</p>

2

<p>Any chance you’re a NMF? That would give you a number of merit aid choices.</p>

3

<p>As of right now, I’m a likely semifinalist (235 PSAT), so I’ll probably be a finalist.</p>

4

<p>Bump! It would be extremely helpful if I could get some responses. :D</p>

5

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>LACs that are strong in science that you don’t already have on your list: Grinnell (very rural, though), Wesleyan, Reed.</p>

7

<p>I do have Grinnell on my list of colleges others have recommended for me; I’ve been trying to do more research on it recently, and I think I might add it to the second list. As for Wesleyan and Reed, based on what I’ve heard and read and what they’ve sent me, I just think I’d really like them (for different reasons, of course). Thanks for the help!</p>

8

<p>Why aren’t you applying to Stanford or Brown or Rice? All 3 have superb science programs with lots of research opportunities. With your stats you have as good a chance of acceptance at those universities as any other well qualified student. All have all you want in a college. My advise is to apply to Stanford SCEA and see what happens. But have your other applications all done and ready to send in if you don’t get into Stanford early.</p>

9

<p>I was considering Brown for the longest time, but for some reason which I can’t remember, I dropped it from my mental list. Back when I was planning on going to med school, I wanted to go just for PLME. As for Stanford, I never really considered it in the first place. I’ll do more research on it and see if there’s anything that really catches my attention. Thank you!</p>

10

<p>Well, you should be aware that Chicago has a well deserved reputation for very spotty financial aid for middle class families.[ we learned that the hard way] Other than that issue, Chicago ,when compared to S,B and Rice does offer the best opportunities for student musicians to participate in performance opportunities around campus. Rice does have a great school of music [Shepard] but of course the students there dominate the musical scene . Stanford has a very so-and-so music program, and relatively few venues for students to perform. So all other factors being even- and looking only at opportunities for non music majors students to perform , Chicago is your best “fit”. But you may find their FA comes up short.
So, since you mentioned the need for FA, and the fact that you are a NMF, and are applying to Michigan[which is a hugeschool] , you should also consider U Southern California[ ranked 25 in USNWR] As a NMF you would automatically receive a 1/2 tuition scholarship for 4 years. With your stats you would most likely be considered for a full tuition scholarship, IF you apply by the Dec 1 deadline. USC has a diverse student population- less than 45% of students are white, there are incredible research opportunites for top students, you can take viola lessons from great teachers at the Thorton school of Music</p>

11

<p>USC continued, and why my son, who was accepted at Dartmouth, Brown, Chicago, Pomona, Carleton, Wash U, Swarthmore and others is a Sr at USC. He did win a full tuition Trustee scholarship[ approx 200 are offered each year, compared to Chicago’s 30 full tuition scholarships], which was a big factor financially. But there are many other opportunities at USC which helped tip the balance for him- their Honors Science program, the Thematic Options honors Humanities program[ both of which have small classes and are taught by the best profs], the Thorton school of Music[ he has played classical piano for 14 years], and the fact that there are a lot of other really smart students at USC. In fact USC has as many NMF’s as Chicago.
As much as my son thought he would love Chicago, it is harder academically than almost any other U in the US [ save MIT and Caltech] and harder to have a life outside of class.</p>

12

<p>bump! (10 char)</p>

13

<p>Bump! I’m still a bit lost in the maze of colleges out there…</p>

14

<p>I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’ve looked at the link provided you now have dozens of schools to consider. Have you narrowed those down? How about coming up with some that you think you may be interested in and providing those. Then we can see what kind of other matches may be out there.</p>

15

<p>Pick one of HYP to apply to, with those stats, you have a shot.</p>

<p>Brown, Brown, Brown (it seems to fit the criteria you list extremely well), Amherst, UPenn, JHU, Northwestern, Columbia.</p>

16

<p>If quiz bowl is important to you, Carleton and Chicago both have great programs. I sense the academics are similar at both, although the Carleton folks may tend to have a bit more fun…</p>