<p>I'm 1st in a class of around 150 or so students, got a 2250 on the SATs the first time I took them, am a female Colombian, and I'm involved in visual art-based extracurriculars. Just as a quick overview.</p>
<p>I used to be really interested in shooting for schools like Yale and such just because I thought I might have a shot, but I'm starting to get a big confused about what I want out of college. I'm trying to find a school with the following criteria but I feel a bit lost:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lots of scheduling flexibility with a very wide range of classes</li>
<li>Midsized (3000-9000)</li>
<li>In the northeast</li>
<li>Not in an isolated location, preferably within an hour of a large city (Boston, for example)</li>
<li>Coed</li>
<li>Good academic reputation</li>
<li>Pleasant local atmosphere: I don't want to be in a school that's so academically focused that the social life is dead. I still want to be able to go to parties, have lots of fun places to go in the surrounding town, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>And that's basically all I know I'm sure I'm looking for. Obviously that's all extremely vague, so when I use college search websites like the one on college board I just get hundreds of schools as a result and it would be impossible to look through all of them.</p>
<p>I'm definitely applying to Brown as a reach, but if anyone has any suggestions on what I can look at as a safety or target school that would be great.</p>
<p>I am financially secure, although schools that have enough funds to offer a decent amount of financial aid would be preferable since I’m the 3rd child my parents will be sending to college.</p>
<p>If you look at lightly smaller schools, there’s tons of options. Similarly with slightly larger schools, though I prefer the smaller ones. Just something to consider.</p>
<p>Edit: Ithaca comes to mind…perhaps a SUNY school…University of Vermont.</p>
<p>BUT: If Brown appeals to you, and you do look at the slightly smaller liberal arts schools, consider at Vassar, Bard, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Williams…</p>
<p>Hmm. At the moment I’m mostly interested in Biology as a major, although I’m also considering art and philosophy, possibly as minors. I’m not dead-set on any major which is why I’d like a school that has a very wide range of majors (as opposed to mostly business based majors, for example) and that is small enough to offer career guidance to its students.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I don’t know any financial statistics and I don’t have the information I need to calculate the EFC, but for now my parents would prefer that I look at schools based on my interest as opposed to financial factors. So basically I’ll worry about finances later, because we will probably be able to pay for it some way or another.</p>
<p>You need to start with this issue. The schools on your list need to fit both academically and financially. If you doubt this, search for the many NYU threads by admitted students who just can’t believe their financial aid package.</p>
<p>i think you’d have a shot at some ivies. Brown (especially w/ the open curriculum) comes to mind. Definitely Vassar as well. Mayyyyyyybe Columbia even. Don’t underestimate yourself, you could really hit big ones, especially as a URM/female science major. Have some safeties of course, but don’t be afraid to go big :)</p>
<p>That sounds like a recipe for getting to April of your senior year with acceptance in hand only for colleges that you cannot afford to attend.</p>
<p>Do your parents realize that full pay for a private or out-of-state public school can cost up to $60,000 per year? Do you know how much they are able and willing to pay?</p>
<p>Remember that your most important schools are your safeties, which you must be certain of being admitted to, certain of being able to afford, and certain that they will be schools that you will like attending. The cost considerations are important in determining what schools can be safeties.</p>
<p>Top Universities and LACs that meet your criteria (several other possible fits if you expand your geographical region…ie emory, davidson,rice,w&m)</p>
<p>Yale
UPenn
Brown
Tufts
Brandeis
BC
Rochester
Holy Cross
Conn College
Trinity</p>
<p>Ahhh thank you for all the lists, this was really helpful. I have a decent sized list of targets and reaches, but now I’m kind of unsure as to how to find safeties. In terms of SAT scores, how much lower would be considered a probably safety?</p>
<p>Is there any specific reason that the school has to be in the Northeast? There are plenty of great schools located in other regions of the country that fit your criteria: Vanderbilt, Emory, Duke, and Rice come to mind. All of those are in the mid-sized range, are large enough schools to have a range of classes and majors, have great academic reputations, are located in or nearby large cities (Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh/Durham and Houston respectively), and are coed. Vanderbilt and Duke especially are known for the social life of their students and the Greek life on campus.</p>
<p>Other schools (ran through College Board’s Quickfinder):</p>
<p>American (DC)
Boston College
Brandeis (Waltham, nearby Boston)
Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh)
College of the Holy Cross (near Boston)
George Washington (DC - but they have terrible aid, from what I hear), Georgetown (DC)
Lehigh (somewhat near Philadelphia)
Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, which isn’t that far from NYC)
Syracuse (Syracuse is a good-sized city in its own right)
Tufts (close to Boston)
Trinity College (Hartford, CT)
University of Rochester (Rochester is another major city in New York)
Villanova (close to Philadelphia)</p>
<p>I don’t know where you are in-state, but you might also consider some CUNY and SUNY schools. Both are affordable for OOS students and many are located in or near major cities. All of the CUNY campuses are in NYC - you might consider Hunter College, Lehman College, Queens College, or Brooklyn College, and there is an honors program you can pursue at any campus.</p>
<p>There are two SUNY campuses on Long Island - Old Westbury and Stony Brook. Stony Brook, in particular, is a great school a short train ride away from NYC, even though it’s a little bigger than you’d want (15K undergrads). Old Westbury is more in your range, and is also a train ride away from NYC.</p>
<p>SUNY New Paltz is about 1.5 hours north of NYC and the city is reachable on Metro-North. SUNY-Purchase is also about an hour from NYC.</p>
Just something to consider.</p>