Help With College Search

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Alright, so I'm nowhere near as smart as most of the people on here, so please don't laugh... </p>

<p>I'd really like a medium to large liberal arts school in a city. Hopefully something affordable. I love writing, art, and video editing and would like to major in something related to one of those.</p>

<p>As for my high school career, I'm around 70-80 out of 800 something students in a pretty competitive school. Not very good, I know, but I've had a lot of stuff go down in my junior and senior year that didn't exactly help my GPA. Too bad colleges won't know that. </p>

<p>APS:
World History, Psychology - 4
APUSH, AP English Language, AP Spanish Language - 5</p>

<p>This year, I'll be taking the exams for AP Government, AP Statistics, AP Physics B, and AP English Literature.</p>

<p>I got National Merit Scholar on my Junior PSAT, if that helps any.</p>

<p>SAT Scores:
First time:
CR - 710
Math - 680
Writing - 750
Total: 2150</p>

<p>Second Time:
CR - 720
Math - 670
Writing - 780
Total: 2170</p>

<p>So I guess my superscore is a 2180. Meh, that's all I can do.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Student Council, Key Club, Spanish National Honour Society, yada yada yada. I'm Committee Chair of HOSA. Joy! I've competed in HOSA last year and will do so again this year, hopefully going to state (my team kinda sucked last year... though I don't wanna blame them.)
I worked at a real estate office as a secretary for 3 months. Joy. Weak, I know. </p>

<p>Parents are divorced, abusive **** going on, blah blah. Will college knows about that kind of stuff? Do they even care?</p>

<p>Well, whatever, if you could recommend me some colleges I could get into, that'd be awesome. I live in Texas, so I'll be applying to UT just by default. I really wanted to go to Rice, but there's no chance for me. I'll just be applying there to flatten my ego when I get rejected. :)</p>

2

<p>SMU strikes me within reason. University of Tulsa would be a safety school. (Just throwing out a few). Both of those would likely have some academic money for a National Merit Scholar. You could likely get a lot of money at UNT which doesn’t have the credentials of Rice, but if money is an issue, it is a great school and not far from Dallas for quick outings. Tulane is an acquired taste but probably worth a visit. (New Orleans is as close to being a foreign country as anywhere in the United States, but a great place just the same) Saint Louis University would be a heck of a drive, but a great school with great credentials. I wouldn’t write of Rice that easily as you do have a chance there. Just speaking off the top of my head.</p>

3

<p>Thank you! I actually would prefer something out of state, but tuition… argh. Really? There’s maybe a .000001% chance of me getting into Rice? That’s honestly the only school I want to go to in Texas… :*</p>

4

<p>

Do you mean National Merit Semifinalist? Or Commended? (It’s not Scholar)</p>

<p>If it’s NMSF you’ll probably become a finalist. Go to the Financial Aid forum and look for the thread on NMF scholarships for some out of state options.</p>

5

<p>Art/journalism is a very wishy-washy field. I wouldn’t recommend the humanities to be quite honest. </p>

<p>You better go to a well-regarded university, so you can make use of networking and available resources for graduate school.</p>

<p>I’d say UT-Austin. In-state tuition>all.</p>

<p>Top “artsy” schools that come to mind:
NYU
Julliard
Berklee
Rhode Island School of Art</p>

<p>Unless you want to go into academia… I would stay away from this field. Keep it as a hobby and incorporate it into something else like computational media, computer programming, architecture etc.</p>

<p>Here are some rankings that may give you an idea of where schools stand:</p>

<p>[Top</a> Fine Arts Schools | Best Fine Arts Programs | US News](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-fine-arts-schools]Top”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-fine-arts-schools)
[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: History of Art, Architecture and Archaeology - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: History of Art, Architecture and Archaeology”>NRC Rankings Overview: History of Art, Architecture and Archaeology)</p>

<p>Art is a weird field where you should just go to graduate school forums and ask. Honestly, they’re the only ones who will truly know which programs are good for what. If you’re getting a PhD in art history, you must be bats crazy…but also informed on the field’s programs. :P</p>

<p>[The</a> GradCafe Forums](<a href=“http://forum.thegradcafe.com/]The”>http://forum.thegradcafe.com/)</p>

<p>Good luck! Great stats btw</p>

6

<p>

@Halcyon, Berklee is a school of Music. Their writing and production majors all relate to Music.</p>

<p>And wanting a liberal arts education is not the same thing as wanting to go to art school.</p>

7

<p>Qualifying art and journalism as “wishy washy” is… not very scientific. And confusing art and liberal arts isn’t either.
:(</p>

<p>I do think you have a shot at Rice.</p>

<p>Liberal arts schools in cities:
Macalester (Twin Cities, and Grand Ave = one of the best neighborhoods in American cities in my humble opinion
<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/about/twincities/ourneighborhood/[/url]”>About Macalester - About)
Agnes Scott (Atlanta; small, but part of a consortium so it doesn’t feel “restrictive”)
Trinity U in San Antonio!
Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut
Lewis&Clark in Portland, OR
Occidental in LA
Scripps and Pitzer in LA (part of a consortium)
St Mary’s of California, in San Francisco</p>

<p>Also, look into smallish colleges in college towns: college towns can actually be better than cities because they’re devoted to college students. They’re easier to navigate and provide everything you need. Check out if they have a “semester away” program like semester in DC, semester in Chicago… if you want to experience life in the big city before graduation.
Ithaca College, in Ithaca, is one of those - and it has everything you’re looking for re: art and video etc</p>

<p>Not in a city but great if you love writing, art, etc: Skidmore.
Probably Sarah Lawrence, too (30mn train ride into NYC)
Great for writing: Kenyon (see the film “Liberal Arts”, with/by alumnus HIMYM JOsh Radnor? It’s shot there.) Also, Hamilton. Both would be reaches.
Apparently Denison, Knox, and St Olaf all have good art depts but don’t know the specialties.</p>

8

<p>You should definitely apply to Rice if you really want to go there. I’m actually very similar to you academically, and people have told me I have a shot.</p>

<p>I’m also applying to Trinity and Southwestern. There’s Austin College, too, if you want to check that out.</p>

<p>Also please consider U of H.</p>

9

<p>I, too, think you have a shot at Rice and i would discourage you from giving too much credit to what halcyontimes has said about a career in art or the arts. I’m sure nonetheless that it was well-intentioned, and so are the family members who will tell you much the same thing: “what are you going to do with a degree in that?”. There is an element of truth in it. I heard the same things about majoring in English, and I’m paying the bills and quite happy and about to send the last of my children off to college. Now about going to law school I would be much more hesitant, but let’s stay on topic. The advice you’re getting about schools is good. There are many schools where you would be welcome and able to pursue your interests. My advice is to try to have that talk with your parents about their contributing to your education when it’s safe to do so. It might take a few attempts, but do try, and run the net price calculator on each school. Then try to visit some nearby colleges in TX to get a feel for what you do and don’t like before you spend bigger money to travel a thousand miles. Tag along with a classmate who’s only interested in going locally, something like that. You’ve done quite well during some trying family times. You can get into a good college, too.</p>