@aquapt Thanks for your advice, you’re right, I’ll look deeper into my current colleges. I know this may sound ridiculous but I have attended catholic school all my life and I really don’t want to attend schools associated with religion. Maybe that sounds picky…
Did you look at Ohio State?
Have you or can you visit the ones you’ve been accepted to? It sounds like you haven’t yet. Temple has Owl Days for accepted students and you can get there by train or bus from the city. The others probably have accepted student events going on as well. Surely you’ve been getting emails about them? Are you not planning to visit the ones you haven’t seen?
I have visited UConn and UMass. I am researching Stony brook right now, but I am concerned because many people say it is boring. Anyone know anything about this? Yea, I am packed with visits actually, this entire month. I am trying to do one of those days at UMass where people hangout with students and go to class with them for a day. @OHMomof2
Stonybrook is the easiest one for you to get to though, probably should see if it boring or not for yourself 
@CalinAmry
Maybe you’ll have a better idea about what suits you after the visits. They can really help.
Average SAT is actually like 1350+ so it is a reach for me but I got in anyway. I like the diversity and the size a lot, but I heard it’s a ghost town on the weekends and it’s in an empty area which is a total let down @OHMomof2
Congratulations on getting in - it’s quite difficult.
Yes, it’s a suitcase college, lots of students go ‘home’ to the city for the weekend.
Try to find a Fiske Guide and read up on each university to get an idea of the atmosphere, student life…
@CalinAmry FWIW my youngest D attends Temple, is in the honors program, is doing great and absolutely loves being in Philly. There is so much to do, great historic sites, museums, awesome restaurants.
Her high school stats were high for Temple, 1480SAT, 32 ACT, 3.9 GPA, but Temple is a large Uni and has many high stats students. She has been challenged academically, with wonderful professors, and had a great internship last summer.
Temple was one of her safety schools, but after an awesome accepted students day visit, where she met and talked with many smart, accomplished Temple students, it rose to the top of her list.
Your college experience will be whatever you choose to make of it.
@CalinAmry my daughter received a full tuition scholarship to Pitt, an invitation to interview for room and board, an invitation to interview for their medical school program, invited to the honors program, etc. This school was considered a safety for her…as is evidenced by these invites. I don’t see Temple as being this level of safety for you…not at all. And… many of the schools on your list will have students who are similar to my D…schools that you consider to be safeties.
When D walked out of the R/B interview, she told us that she just met some incredibly brilliant students. These kids were involved in many activities, research, etc …and for the first time…ever… she learned that there was a whole world of superstars out there beyond her HS bubble. She didn’t take the offer at Pitt, but it wasn’t because of these students in the honors program or her inability to find her people. She knew that if she attended Pitt she would be surrounded by smart, motivated students and would be challenged.
I am telling you this to show you that you will find smart kids …brilliant kids…at every school on your list. While I do think that you are a strong, solid student…you are wrong to think that you will be at the very very top at Temple, or at many of the other safeties on your list…unable to find your people. It just isn’t true. My daughter attends a strong state school now, and although her stats do place her at the top…she is always surrounded by brilliant students and has easily found many who are just like her.
Congratulations on SB…it is a very good school. Yes it does have a reputation for being a suitcase school…I know quite a few students who attend, and many ( not all) leave on the weekends. Is it boring? That’s for you to decide. It’s in a town out on Long Island…and while you can get into the city, it’s not a short ride. You will need to do your research.
Best of luck to you as you try and find your niche. If you happen to get into BU, please make sure that you ( actually your parents) won’t be saddled with over $100,000 in loans for an undergrad degree.
I think if you research your acceptances, you will find that you can be happy at several of them. And remember…college is what you make of it. Building an impressive resume while in college falls on you, only you, and not the name of the school. Good luck!
I wanted to add that I have friends whose kids received merit awards and honors to Buffalo and UMass. These kids are very smart, accomplished, passionate etc… and they will be your peers if you attend one of these schools. They got into some of their reach schools, but finances did not allow them to go. This strategy is not uncommon.
^ Guys, OP doesn’t qualify for Honors at either Pitt nor Temple. She’s talking about “regular” Pitt or “regular” Temple.
Some students want to be in the top 10% of a school so they can get all the benefits from the Honors College. Other students want to be average for a school so that higher stats kids will motivate and inspire them. There’s no need to be in the top 25% admits unless one is aiming at premed or a weedout major.
Another issue is “prestigiosity”. At OP’s school, Temple may have a bad reputation, whereas at other schools it may seem more desirable than Stony Brook.
I would encourage OP to apply to SUNY Albany and Albany Honors, since it’s in a city and one of the top 5 SUNYs.
@MYOS1634, I think people were responding about information on honors colleges at the schools to which the OP has been accepted because s/he was complaining that s/he would not have enough smart, accomplished classmates and those in the know are pointing out that these honors college classmates are plenty bright enough to challenge the OP.
Yes, you’re right. Also, we know how to read the 25-75 spread. But… trying to be positive for OP.
Hopefully OP can visit and decide to cross out some universities that admitted her, keeping her favorite in the mix. Personally, I’d pick Amherst over Temple, and Temple over Stony Brook. But that’s me and as many adults here I always see university through the lens of their Honors Colleges ;-)… which wouldn’t work for OP.
@Sue22 that is not what I am “complaining” about. I have only applied to Stony Brook’s honors college, I am referring to the general college population. I am not saying intelligence is based off grades, in fact if it had a good name and stereotypically stupid student body, I would still consider going because big names come with benefits. I just feel that my hard work into my grades would be in vain if I go to school that averagely acceof peopls with lower stats.
Harvard may “ come with benefits.” BU, while a good school, will not “come with benefits” over a school like UMass etc. and I know kids at Cornell who received zero benefits … because they did not take advantage of anything. So… those kids had no internships etc.
I will repeat… you will get out of college what you put into college. This means working to get internships etc… nothing is handed to you because you have BU credentials. What benefits do you mean, exactly?
I do understand your desire to be with strong peers, and I do get that you don’t want to be at the top of a non honors peer group. I don’t think that will be the case at many of your schools.
So my kid with similar stats had this attitude in his senior year. Waitlisted at reach school. Got in to his first choice but not directly to the major at another school. The place he got into directly to the major, well, that was beneath him, he claimed. His stats were in the middle for that university. Lots of honors college kids. He said yes after visiting accepted students day, figuring he can always transfer to a "prestigious " school later.
Fast forward two years: Sophomore now in a demanding major, not a cakewalk, and no shortage of bright peers or challenge. Don’t hear any complaints now. Or any mention of a transfer.
The colleges you listed all have top faculty and many resources to take advantage of. Others here have already told you that. Just wanted to share experience of my kid who went through the same thoughts.
@CalinAmry Although my Temple D is in the honors program, she typically takes 2 Honors level classes per semester, and the remainder are non-honors…there are still many smart students in the non-honors classes, and as @twogirls and other posters have stated, your college experience is what you choose to make of it - you will get out what you put in. Try to separate yourself from the peer pressure of the college “prestige” factor, and consider how each college fits what is most important to you - costs, academic interests, extra-curricular activities, diversity, location, environment, size, etc.
Have you and family decided what your annual college budget is? You can only borrow $5500 for freshman year yourself ($6500 year 2, $7500 years 3 and 4). You would need a qualified co-signor for any additional loans. I agree with others, including your sister, who have cautioned you about taking on a lot of debt to finance college. If you borrow just the federal loans for all 4 years, your loan balance after you graduate would be roughly $30K with interest. Even that amount is significant when you consider that you would be paying roughly $300/month for 10 years. You would have the equivalent of a car payment (and not a new fancy one, either!) for TEN years, without actually having the car.
Back in the dinosaur era, I attended UMASS. I had a great experience and Amherst is a fun college town, but it is definitely not an urban city environment. I also have a kiddo who lives in Boston, and with so many colleges in the area, rents are very high, so be sure to consider future housing costs as you figure out your college budget.
“I just feel that my hard work into my grades would be in vain if I go to school that averagely acceof peopls with lower stats.”
So I think what I’m hearing from OP is that they worked super hard in HS to achieve a certain level of success, and they’d feel very disappointed if they ended up going to the same college that they would have gotten into even if they hadn’t worked so hard. I think it’s critically important that OP know that all that hard work in HS does NOT go to waste. That hard work in HS sets you up for doing really well in college and if you keep working so hard, your grades will reflect your work and your training.
OP may be worried about how college will impact their career prospects upon graduation, and therefor want to go to the best college they can get into. OP, graduate schools and employers know that a lot of kids end up going to less prestigious schools than they could have gone to, for a wide variety of reasons. There are financial reasons and family reasons (religious affiliation, alma maters, distance limitations etc). Also, with holistic admissions some kids with top stats won’t get into the higher prestige schools because they didn’t have enough (or the right kind) of ECs, wrote a horrible essay, didn’t meet institutional needs, or some other reason. It seems like every year on CC there are some real shockers of kids with top stats not getting into any schools. There are plenty of top performing kids who end up at their safety school. For all of these reasons a lot of the schools on your list will have very high performing students, and really, employers and grad schools know this. I also think that these schools have been doing a much better job than they had in the past with providing internships, research opportunities, and career support. I do think that there may be less hand holding at the bigger universities so that you will have to take a more active role in your education and initiate the process to take advantage of these opportunities.
I just want to circle back again to the fact that OP’s hard work in HS has merit and value, even if they don’t get the prize (prestige college) that they wanted. They have a better prize which is the underlying knowledge that sets them up better for whatever college they go to.
Now that you put it that way, I am thinking about if I were to get into BU, I don’t think I want to take on that payment. Especially considering I want to go to another country and I’m not sure how that would work. UMass and UConn are looking appealing, so are SB and Temple, my chances of going to temple are still low though. They gave me a small scholarship and I don’t think I want to pay all the money and also I want to be in the science college and I chose the wrong major, which brought me into the liberal arts college.
Thanks for that @melvin123 I appreciate the advice and words of motivation a lot.