<p>I am almost at the end of my sophomore year and I feel like I should have at least a good idea of what schools I want to go to, but I only have a few vague ideas. Help me find schools that would work for me?</p>
<p>Temperate weather is a plus, though anywhere in the US will do. Safety is important. As is being close to a quality art museum, symphony, ballet, etc., it doesn't have to be right out my back door, but not over an hour or so.</p>
<p>I want a school that is small enough that I am not just a number and large enough that I am not in a fish bowl. A beautiful campus would be nice, but not necessary. I would prefer a academically inclined student body. I don't like party schools. It must be coed. </p>
<p>I would like an overall academically strong school, but it is especially important that they have a good philosophy department. Prestige isn't important to me, but I would prefer somewhere with a history of placement into good grad schools.</p>
<p>Good financial aid is definitely a bonus. As is low cost to begin with. I would strongly prefer that I didn't have to live on campus and certainly not for more than one year.</p>
<p>I am home schooled, so obviously a school that is homeschool friendly is important. I have no ECs or volunteering (I may start the latter). I have no idea what my SAT scores will look like.</p>
<p>If you can think of anything I would be most appreciative.</p>
<p>Without grades and SATs it’s almost impossible to forecast what a good school might be. If Financial Aid is important google meeting full need college and you’ll get the colleges that provide good FA. You’ll also need to know what your EFC is (because many people who WANT FA don’t qualify) and what your family will pay.</p>
<p>Well there isn’t a lot to work with, but I will try my best. Keep in mind that the book called “40 colleges that change lives” would be a great resource for you.</p>
<p>Without knowing your numbers I would say that Wooster is a good start for you. The school is prestigious internationally and in the US. They were honestly going to be my top choice if I didn’t get into St. John’s College.</p>
<p>As a future Johnnie I view most college’s philosophy departments as rubbish. If you really want to develop the way you think and express yourself you should look at a Great Books College like SJC and Shimer. Both schools have a great reputation for getting into students into any graduate school they want. Since there are not alot of Great Books students, and since they are so unique, graduate schools (especially medicine oddly) tend to snatch them up when they can. In one of these programs you will have to make a lot of sacrifices, but I can tell you from being around current students and alumni that it certainly pays of in spades. </p>
<p>Outside of that look at state colleges. More importantly look at their programs. For example, UMD is known as a party school and big for your standards but they have a program called College Park Scholars. In this program you will find a smaller school feel and a sub program inside of it called “arts & humanities” is well known for their unique perspectives on standard philosophical texts. I visited UMD thinking I would hate the student body, but actually found that the classmates in the program I might go to were very intelligent and interesting. Other state colleges have programs a lot like this.</p>
<p>Either way, your not late to the party. In fact, your very early. I did not even start THINKING about college until I was beginning my senior year. By your age though, I was applying to a semester school in colorado for honors students, performing on stage (jazz guitar) and doing some community work as a live in performer at a a retirement home and working as an intern at a law-firm called WFB. I had already held two jobs, and all this led to me getting two internships (one at the maryland state attorneys office and one at pheonix consulting), auditing and completing a college course on performance guitar and holding a job as the youngest business manager at Apple. My point is stop thinking about which colleges you want to go to and start getting busy on the extracurriculars that will let you get into wherever you want to go. Building a list of prospective colleges is easy, building a good resume is not.</p>
<p>We always stay on a topic until I master it, so I guess I have a 4.0. I have never took a real standardized test, so I expect my SAT to be lower than my actual knowledge, but if I were to guess I would say around 500-550 for math and around 700-750 for each critical reading and writing. I have taken one timed practice test, but there was no pressure, so I am not sure what to expect.</p>
<p>I know I need to do something, but I am not sure what to do. For volunteering I was thinking of tutoring kids, but the only thing I can think of for an EC would be a book club.</p>
<p>If you live near a city, there is probably some youth program for those who want to be involved with the fire department or EMT services. Those are great places to work at because they are usually very low pressure (unlike a law firm) and you walk away with some certifications that can help you land summer jobs.</p>
<p>Outside of that there are retirement homes (easy) soup kitchens (pain in the ass) homeless shelters (the absolute worst) and community clean up events (a good place to meet potential dates). Actual jobs are there but you have to look hard for them. If you’re any kind of competent with computers you can usually land a job or even just start fixing other peoples **** for money. I don’t know if you’re religious or not (it will be assumed in the college admissions process that you are, so christian clubs will start sending you literature FYI) but if you ask your church or synagog they will have something for you to do.</p>
<p>Any kind of grades coming out of your homeschool won’t matter, of course you’re an A student, no offense but you have no real competition. Try not to guess your SAT scores without any proper psat testing or having taken the real test. You can’t gauge your score honestly, the test isn’t about knowledge its about how well you can take the test. Still, scoring in the 700’s is doing better than 90% of the country, and most people who assume they are better than 90% of the country are not better than 90% of the country. I’m not saying you won’t score that high, I’m just saying that some prep courses can’t hurt and when you do get your scores back keep in mind what they mean, for better or for worse.</p>
<p>I think that [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimer_College]Shimer”>Shimer Great Books School - Wikipedia]Shimer</a> College<a href=“mentioned%20above”>/url</a>, comes pretty close to what you’re looking for.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Shimer is in Chicago, which means there are excellent art museums, symphonies, ballets, etc., all within a few minutes’ ride on the el. (Whether Chicago’s weather counts as temperate or not probably depends on your background, but in general the severity of Chicago winters is greatly overstated.) </p></li>
<li><p>Shimer shares a campus with the Illinois Institute of Technology, which provides very good campus security. The IIT campus is quite striking architecturally, with many buildings by Mies van der Rohe; there is also an abundance of green space. Many historical areas and buildings are close by, and of course Lake Michigan is barely a mile away.</p></li>
<li><p>What Shimer lacks in prestige it makes up for in academic rigor and graduate placement. Shimer consistently ranks among the top schools in the country on metrics like GRE scores and graduates who successfully complete Ph.D. programs. Shimer’s student body is extremely academically serious – everybody does the reading, comes to class prepared, etc. – but at the same time, the Shimer atmosphere is very laid back and welcoming compared to any other school of comparable rigor. Competing for top grades is virtually unheard of; everybody works together to help one another understand the (very) difficult concepts presented in the readings. (I think this aspect is one of the things that Shimerians miss the most when they go into postgraduate programs.)</p></li>
<li><p>Because Shimer is in the middle of Chicago, it’s easy to live off-campus; many students opt to rent housing in the nearby Bridgeport neighborhood. In fact, while on-campus housing is available, the off-campus option is generally cheaper.</p></li>
<li><p>Like St. John’s, with which Shimer shares much of its curriculum, Shimer does not have a philosophy department per se, but it provides as strong a background in the history, foundations and development of Western thought as you are likely to find anywhere. </p></li>
<li><p>Shimer’s tuition is only a little more than half the tuition of comparable schools like St. John’s, and it’s probably for that reason that Barron’s has recently ranked Shimer as a “best buy in higher education.” Most students also receive financial aid.</p></li>
<li><p>Shimer is definitely not a party school, though Shimerians do throw some awesome parties. </p></li>
<li><p>Shimer is extremely welcoming of home-schooled students, and students with unusual educational backgrounds in general. SAT scores are not required for admission. </p></li>
<li><p>Shimer is coed.</p></li>
<li><p>Shimer’s one handicap from your perspective might be size; currently at ~128 students, it is among the smallest colleges in the nation. On the other hand, because it is in Chicago and in the middle of a very large university campus, it’s easy enough to disappear when you’re not in class.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>For Boston College, OP probably should have higher SAT scores than she expects - this is the average for BC:
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 610 - 700
Math Middle 50%: 640 - 730
Writing Middle 50%: 630 - 720</p>
<p>OP, since you need strong FA, you need to start researching schools that are generous with merit $ and/or FA. To that end, you will need to really study for, and do well on, the SATs or ACTs. Those scores will be important since, as a homeschooler, colleges will have a harder time evaluating the rigor of your education. In that situation, the SATs or ACTs will be a clearer indication of how you might perform in college. </p>
<p>Another issue is your desire not to live on campus. This may be a problem: many of the schools that give generous aid are smaller liberal arts colleges, often in remote part of the country, where living off campus is not much of an option. Do check out the book, Colleges that Change Lives, and look closely at the public state universities where you live. Odds are, that may be your best bet financially and in terms of your desire to live off campus.</p>
<p>Villanova is sort of Boston College Lite.</p>