I need advice with my college search. All help is APPRECIATED!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a Junior in high school and I've been searching for colleges since my FRESHMAN year.
Not too much luck. UT - Austin has always been a "dream" school for me, along with NYU, being in New York City, where I dreamed (Literally) of living and holding a career in some form of Media type job. This is all before I came to a realistic view point of my "dreams."
Things have changed (I am the most indecisive and mood-swinging person I know... besides my mum!) and with research on those schools, NYU was knocked off COMPLETELY and UT - Austin is still at a stand by. Here's some things I want in a college and some stats to help ya out!</p>

<p>Priorities:
-Outdoor activities/location (beach or lake, mountains, woods, SCENIC things)
-Great/well known athletics program for ENTERTAINMENT rather that actual involvement (preferably Division 1, being from Texas, sports is a big one)
-Medium-sized student body (about 8k-20k students. one reason UT-Austin is iffy. 50k+ people?!)
-Variety of Student Organizations (I'm active in community, school pride, entertainment shtuff!)
-Great financial aid opportunities (WOW! Parental help?! Pffft. What is that? Really though, no help from parent's, they make about $30k a year TOGETHER!)
-Good academics with smaller classes so I know my professor well (I like to talk to them and get help when I need it, and I'm not afraid to ask for it)
-Location: Again, I live in Texas. I'm not afraid to work a little harder to go OOS, but something on the other side of the country is no bueno!</p>

<p>Career choices/thoughts:
-Active
-Not 9-5 at a desk
-Social
-Travel is not a vacation in my life, it is a GOAL. I MUST travel to new sights around the world, it is a necessity.
-Flexible schedule
-If you couldn't tell, I love nature, the environment, the WORLD, animals, I would call myself a wanna - be BEACH hippie. (Haha.)</p>

<p>-I really still have to think a lot about this one.</p>

<p>School achievements:
Again, I'm a Junior in high school.
-Studying for SAT, haven't taken it yet.
-Top %10
-National Honor Society
-Honor roll every year
-United States Achievement Academy Award
-An abundance of smaller achievements</p>

<p>ECs:
-Cross Country, Track, Power lifting
-PALs program (Peer Assistance and Leadership)
-Student Council
-Key Club
-Band
-Spanish Club
-MAPD (Making A Positive Difference)
-Winter guard
-Involved in church (volunteer hours for Mission Trips, neighborhood clean-ups, etc.)</p>

<p>A lot of information, but with as much help as I need, I could give you so much more. Ask me anything else that could possibly be useful if you need to; down to the tiniest detail PLEASE!
I want an amazing college experience like the movies, but better! :)
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!</p>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>Honestly, this is quite difficult to find in a college with 8K-20K students, and also a big time sports program (although a few smaller schools have strong sports). But you can’t really have it both ways on class sizes and school size, IMHO.</p>

<p>I also think you need to do some work to narrow down your major. It does sound like you want to be a beach hippie… and that does not really match up well with spending the money to get a college degree. I would suggest that you get a copy of the Book of Majors (I think it is a College Board book, but your library or high school counselor might have a copy). Go through and read up on the majors, and put some post its on the ones that interest you (green for GREAT, yellow for “maybe”). Then see what patterns or ideas emerge from this. You might not pin down one major, but a grouping or area that interests you. Or a couple of areas. Then you can make sure the colleges you apply to offer good programs in this/these areas. It is okay to have 2-3 in mind to try out when you get there. Take a couple classes in a couple different areas, then settle on your major.</p>

<p>You can also run the Net Price Calculator for any schools that come up on your radar. Your parents will have to help, as you will need their financial information. But do this FIRST when you start looking at a school. No point in getting excited about something you can’t afford and that doesn’t meet your need. Also… if you pick a major that doesn’t pay a lot (say, flight attendant), you need to attend a school where you will not end up with a lot of loans.</p>

<p>Finally, get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. You can read up on a lot of schools there to get some ideas. But also explore your state university system. Not sure if Texas has any reciprocity with other states (don’t remember seeing any info out here in the past, so probably not). But worth checking on. Remember that other state’s public schools won’t usually offer good aid. Don’t just write private schools off as too expensive, because sometimes their aid is better than an OOS public.</p>

<p>Finally… college just isn’t “like the movies”. Ditch that idea now. College is about spending time in classes and labs, studying a lot outside of class, working at internships to beef up your chances to get a good job after graduation, and working at some kind of campus job to make money to pay the college expenses. Sure, you will have fun (but don’t expect a million new friends right away). As I remember it (from attending a big time sports school, too), there is more work than fun at college. Don’t waste your time and money without thinking that through and making sure your focus is on the most important things. You’ll feel like an idiot later if you take out loans and use up savings just to go to good parties and sports events.</p>

3

<p>What majors are you considering?</p>

<p>Do you have an unweighted GPA and SAT or ACT score to report? Top 10% rank should get you into Texas public universities other than Austin (top 7% there), but paying for them may be a different story.</p>

<p>You likely need a school with generous non-loan financial aid, or a near-full-ride merit scholarship.</p>

<p>For need-based financial aid, go to each college’s web site and search for the net price calculator to get an estimate. If it is not enough to allow you to attend without more loans than Stafford loans, see if there are large enough merit scholarships you can get at the school.</p>

<p>If your GPA and test scores are high enough, there are some <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250&lt;/a&gt; .</p>

<p>(I agree with the previous poster that the priority list you gave does not give top priority to what should be the primary priorities in choosing a college: suitable academics to study at an affordable cost.)</p>

4

<p>intparent - I understand some of my wishes are difficult and I’m taking that in mind more than ever atm, but do you happen to know of any smaller schools that may have stronger sports?</p>

<p>Thanks for the Net Price Calculator hint, I’m going to try that and see what I get!</p>

<p>And for majors, I really do not know what I want to do yet. I have THOUGHT of majors like International Relations, Communications, Pre - Vet, Pre - Physical Therapy, Entrepreneurship, things from ALL sorts of different random categories. It’s a mess!</p>

5

<p>ucbalumnus - My GPA as of now is a 4.9 out of 6 I think? The valedictorian at my school has a 5.2 so I’m not totally sure.
And I haven’t taken the SAT or ACT just yet.
I am number 6 out of 120. Last year, we had 169 students and I was number 8.
Students in the Top %10 of my class have always been the same people, so I haven’t moved up due to people leaving, but rather actual improvement. THANKS!</p>