I have no idea where I want to go! Where will I fit and be happy?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>hey guys. these deadlines are coming up and im getting really worried.
all my friends know where they want to go, but im just applying to colleges because of rowing.</p>

<p>Please help/ suggest a school for me that you think i would fit in at.
here are a few things about me:</p>

<p>-i want to go to a place like Columbia, because its in a city and requires maturity.
- i want to not be surrounded by lazy, non- ambitious students who only party.
- i dont want to go to school in the West or the South
- a place where students know how to mix study with party
- i want stuff to do outside of college. ex- being in the city, not just parties at dorms.
- centralized campus (not like Boston U)
- i am interested in psychology and biology. hopefully will pre-med major with interest in behavioral neuroscience.
-not highly religious
-not too preppy, rich, and white (colgate)
- i love music, am introspective, and love to write
- not huge state school (preferably medium to small sized)</p>

<p>i am ambitious. I am the president of multiple service groups, the captain of my crew team, and participate in several projects where i meet and talk with homeless and needy.</p>

<p>gpa - 3.1 ( never had anything close to that though.) (2.6 frosh year, 2.8 soph. 3.5 junior, 3.65 now)</p>

<p>highly rigorous schedule at top 5 in state private school.
3 APS
5 honors</p>

<p>1990 sat
740 CR
570 M
680 reading</p>

<p>recs from school president who i went on a mission trip to Hungary with
and honors english teacher</p>

<p>as of right now, my rowing has granted me recruiting from some pretty competitive schools. but im not sure if im interested in any of them, and I feel im being pushed to attend them. (BC, Holy Cross, Columbia, Colgate) by my parents.</p>

<p>please suggest a school that matches me. </p>

<p>i just want to be happy and excited for college - cuz right now i am certainly not. </p>

<p>i know there are some of you out there who want to help a struggling kid.</p>

<p>---thanks</p>

2

<p>How about Connecticut College, University of Rochester and Marist. There is also George Washington but I don't know if their campus is too much like BU's. Hope this helps. Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Have you considered Macalester College? When I read that you are the president of multiple service groups, participate in many projects to help the homeless and needy, and went on a mission trip, you reminded me of Macalester in that Macalester tries to attract people who care about the outside world and who are involved in service to the community. </p>

<p>Macalester is quite competitive, but I think it meets most of your criteria.</p>

<p>You might also want to look at Tufts University for good measure.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Also, I don't really know too much about the recruiting, but would it be possible for you to contact the Georgetown coach? A couple of other schools that have crew are Manhattan (very good school located in a nice area of the Bronx) and Syracuse. I think Wisconsin Madison would be an excellent choice for you if you wouldn't mind looking at a bigger school. The colleges I suggested in post #2 are either in a city or near a city. Marist does have a train station nearby which takes you into the city.</p>

5

<p>Wow.....a low avg gpa, a good but not stellar SAT.....and you seem a bit picky. Fordham fits you to some extent...but that gpa is going to hurt. Their avg gpa is 3.7 UW. They arent that religious....its a Jesuit college, but only two theology courses are required and you have LOTS of choices in that regard...and they are really more like philosophy classes anyway. Its a Gorgeous campus in New York...the bronx...tight student body....diverse ethnically and socially....and a very rigorous school.....they work really hard....</p>

<p>here is my suggestion.....pick a match and safety school and count on them.....and then go and work you rear end off.....as in straight A's your freshmen year and then transfer up the ladder if you want something more rigorous.</p>

<p>I think Tufts is OUT of the question. A clear reach. But Marist is an EXCELLENT choice as well...also Manhattan College....Christian Brothers School that is highly regarded in the city. Strong math/science/engineering school. Smallish...but very rigorous academically....and your stats are PERFECT. its also in nice section of bronx called Riverdale. If you go there and do well...then transfer to Columbia or NYU as a soph.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>hey thanks a lot everybody.
thanks swansong for being honest.. i dont think i have a chance at tufts.
i like the idea of transferring from a smaller school like a few of you suggested. </p>

<p>i have looked at macalester, it fits alot of what i want to do, are they out of the question to?</p>

<p>but my big problem right now is that colgate rowing wants me to do ED II, which they seem to think i have a pretty good chance of getting in. and im just not sure if the fact is that i have no chance to get into these other schools that dont have rowing... (macalester,).</p>

<p>am i fooling myself by applying to
columbia
macalester
colgate
holy name</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>thanks so much guys</p>

7

<p>Clark U. Also, Oberlin and Lawrence, excellent LACs with strong music conservatories but I'm not sure about rowing. Oberlin is land-locked but Lawrence is on the Fox River.</p>

8

<p>one more thing: I have a week to decide if I want Colgate ED...
minor point haha</p>

9

<p>Hehe..this is where the common app comes in handy.</p>

10

<p>I would unequivocally recommend Brown University, but not just because I go there. It truly fits ALL of your criteria to a T (except being in a large city -- Provi is a small city but a city nonetheless, and there is a lot to do). </p>

<p>Your GPA may be preclusive, however, unless your class rank is stellar. What's your class rank? I don't want to go gaga here if it's a moot point. But you can ALWAYS apply and see. Would you like me to tell you more about it?</p>

<p>I also second Macalaster and Oberlin, but those schools too may require a higher GPA as well (everyone is just getting more and more selective these days) -- of course your class rank will be a defining factor because it will show just how good your GPA actually is (it can be so relative. My school had 14 valedictorians with 4.0's). </p>

<p>A school I don't recommend, having attended it for a year, is Tulane, in case that crosses your path incidentally, as it did mine.</p>

11

<p>Yeah i would love to hear more about brown if u have the time.
My class rank is probably top 25%, but my school doesn't rank because of the amount of kids that are really smart. For example, a bunch of students in our class are already accepted to ivies. Does not having a class rank hurt me?</p>

12

<p>?bump? ?</p>

13

<p>northwestern is a school exactly like what you are looking for, although i'm afraid i would put all the previous recommendations of northwestern, brown, and columbia into the "extreme reach" category, however it never hurts to apply, the only way to ensure rejection is to not apply.</p>

14

<p>sorry dude, i typed out a big long response about brown but then my computer wacked out and it got deleted...i'll type it again sometime soon.</p>

15

<p>haha thanks alot guys.
ur suggestions have been great so far,
but are there any places that meet my standards that i DO have a snowballs chance in hell of getting into?</p>

16

<p>university of puget sound would definitely be worth looking at!!! You would have a good shot there. </p>

<p>Occidental</p>

<p>Willamette or Lewis and Clark</p>

<p>(i know of these because i'm from the west coast. i honestly don't know many for your credentials in other regions)</p>

17

<p>Unless you are a URM, a god of rowing, or have a heck of a life story, the three Ivies that would seem good for you (Columbia, Brown, Penn) are definitely a big reach.</p>

<p>What about JHU? is Baltimore big enough?</p>

18

<p>JHU is also hugely hard to get into. It has a higher acceptance rate but the applicant pool tends to self-select. </p>

<p>With a 3.1 your options are quite limited (in terms of top teir schools) considering there is no class rank to show that it actually is "higher" than it seems.</p>

19

<p>I would say that Columbia, Brown, Northwestern, Tufts, JHU, Oberlin and even Macalester are out of the picture (due to grades and scores). </p>

<p>Better matches would include:</p>

<p>University of Rochester
Lawrence University
University of Pittsburgh
Case Western Reserve
Clark University
George Washington University</p>

<p>You are not fooling yourself in applying to Colgate or Holy Cross, if you are being recruited as an athlete. Typically though, as you said, this is dependent on ED.</p>

20

<p>How about Emerson?</p>