Help with the beginning of the college search? :)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've been reading postings on CC for quite some time now but I have just now made an account and decided to start my own post.
I've been researching colleges and trying to figure out which ones would be good for me to go and visit. </p>

<p>Just some info about me.. I'm a high school junior from california. </p>

<p>Here are some of my basic stats
Overall W GPA: 4.6
Unweighted GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>I've taken as many honors classes available to me in freshman (3 H) and sophomore (3 H) years (no APs available for freshman or sophomores). And this year, Junior year I am taking 4 AP classes (Calc AB, Physics C, English Language, and APES), Spanish and Leadership (ASB). I am hoping to get National Merit, as well as an AP Scholar award because I have no notable awards as of now.</p>

<p>I'm involved in extracurriculars such as:
-Varsity Tennis
-Varsity Lacrosse
-Leadership (Position: ASB Spirit. I run spirit week, from the hallway decorating to lunch time games to the spirit rally.)
-Started/running a horse rescue with my Mom. (I'm very passionate about horses, and we save horses from slaughterhouses. I spend a lot of volunteer time with this)
-Internship with local movie theater (running their website, planning the renovation, learning about economics and business and speaking/interviewing with the local paper, P.R. work)
-Founded the Women in Technology club at my school.
-Started a program for the town which raises money for the school, provides more traffic for the local businesses, and gives discounts to local residents.
-Student contact for the school's fundraising program. (Earned this after starting the program mentioned above)
-Tutor struggling kids in math and science after school twice a week for community service.
-Involved in clubs such as Key Club, NSHS.</p>

<p>Anyways, I was hoping some of you could give me some advice on what I could do to improve my current involvement and increase my chances for being admitted to schools such as Stanford or Duke. I know schools like that may be a reach, but I'm really hoping because they both seem really great :) I'm a legacy at Stanford as well, but I don't think they really care too much about that. </p>

<p>Also, I know this is incredibly long (sorry haha) but I was also wondering if anyone had any ideas for colleges I may want to check out as I begin my college search.
Ones Im interested in as of now:</p>

<p>Reach:
Stanford
Duke
Columbia? </p>

<p>Target:
USC
Boston College
Notre Dame
UC Berkley </p>

<p>Safety:
UC SB
Cal Poly SLO Engineering</p>

<p>I'm only a junior btw, so i really dont have that much of an idea. But I want a school with A SOCIAL LIFE. I am someone who is naturally gifted in school, but I don't want to go to a school where I will be bored. I love to socialize and I'm naturally really extroverted. I want to go to a top school that also has some really fun aspects of it. I am really looking for a school with a good college town OR in a city. I need action and excitement, so I also am looking for a school with greek life if possible and also hopefully a football team because I enjoy fb games, but that's not a determining factor. Also, I'm from california and I really can't stand cold weather so states like Michigan or Illinois probably won't be where I wanna end up. Anyway, If you have any suggestions of schools that are well rounded as well as great academics feel free to let me know :)</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this and sorry for the super long post.</p>

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<p>Feel free to only answer one of my questions :slight_smile: any help is appreciated! Thanks</p>

3

<p>You ruined it with the second to last sentence in your big paragraph… I was going to say Northwestern. GREAT academics (#12 on USNWR), decent football team (bowl eligible this year), greek life is pretty big (but not fratty like a Southern school is), very social, right next to Chicago… I’d think about it, despite the weather.</p>

4

<p>@crimsonstained7
Thanks so much for the advice! I’ll definitely check out Northwestern, regardless of the weather. I can’t have everything on my list… such a college doesn’t exist! Thanks for the tip.</p>

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<p>(If I get in) I’m going from South Carolina to Chicago, so I’ll be freezing too, haha. Granted, I like the cold, but…</p>

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<p>Well if you really can’t stand the cold you should probably cross off Columbia and Boston College. Winter + the east = extremely cold for California kids</p>

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<p>Your target schools seem fine… with your reach schools, it’s pretty much a crapshoot, so… don’t worry about your safeties, haha. Your EC’s are solid, too. I think you’re pretty much set.</p>

8

<p>Since you mention engineering, note that Boston College does not have engineering, and Duke has fewer engineering majors than most of the others.</p>

<p>Boston College, Columbia, and Notre Dame would likely be too cold for you if the state of Illinois is too cold for you.</p>

<p>Be sure that you have some safeties, though you may want to take the SAT and/or ACT before you can make a good guess at that. Remember that safeties must be affordable as well as assured for admission.</p>

<p>How much does cost and financial aid come into play? I.e. have you talked to your parents about what they are able and willing to contribute, and to get some basic financial parameters to put in to the colleges’ net price calculators?</p>

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<p>Can we assume you are a potential engineering or STEM major?</p>

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<p>Have you had the Big Money Talk yet with your parents? You need to find out just exactly how much they are ready, willing, and able to chip in every year. Ask how they feel about you taking on some student loans, and how much they expect you to cover with your own savings and earnings. Until you have this information, and until you’ve run the Net Price Calculators at the college/university websites, your entire list is moot.</p>

<p>Since you are a girl, you can also take a look at the women’s colleges. Some of them offer excellent need and/or merit-based aid. For the full list, see [The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://womenscolleges.org/)</p>

11

<p>Vanderbilt is worth looking at based upon your criteria.</p>

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<p>vanderbilt 100% match</p>

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<p>Rice University</p>

14

<p>HappyMom is right, you need to know your finances. As for schools, I don’t usually suggest state schools for out of state students but they might be worth a look because of your location and socialization requirements: UT Austin, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech. SMU might also be a consideration.</p>