I need some good matches.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I need some good matches. I seem to not be able to find one that I'm interested in! Please help me!</p>

<p>I'm looking primarily for a smaller school, under 5000, under 10000 if I'm highly interested. If it's a really great school, then I can push the number up a little. But I'd like a smaller school mostly. And I'd like to go to college in or near an urban area; no rural areas please. If there's a college that has good programs all around, then that'd be great. And I'm interested in colleges primarily on the west coast. But I'd consider east coast if I liked the college and the area.</p>

<p>I also would need some pretty good financial aid and merit aid. My parents aren't willing to pay much unless it can get down to equivalent costs to in-state tuition at UWashington or incredibly near it. They're already paying for my brother's tuition at UW.</p>

<p>Prestige is also kind of important, especially for my parents.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>current asian junior at a Washington public school
from a middle class family
first two years of high school were in an Oregon public school</p>

<p>GRADES
3.917 unweighted cumulative GPA
40/503 class rank
3 B's so far:
1 in Health freshman year
2/3 trimesters of AP US History sophomore year (was B, B, then A)</p>

<p>3/6 AP classes currently
AP Calculus AB
AP English Literature
AP Psychology
French III
Yearbook
Human Anatomy/Physiology</p>

<p>taking 5/6 AP classes senior year
AP English Language
AP Biology
AP Environmental Sciences or AP Physics
AP Statistics
AP Economics
Yearbook</p>

<p>ACTIVITIES
cross country jv (2 years) - most inspirational
swimming jv (2 years) - stopped due to change in schools and state
Key Club (3 years) - historian last year, vice president next year
Diversity Committee (2 years) - secretary this year, possible vice president
NHS (1 year) - will be for senior year most likely. I couldn't do it junior year because since I changed schools, it was a policy that I had to be at my current school for at least one semester.</p>

<p>I also am trying to start up a STAND chapter at my school. If it goes through, I'll be running that for its first year in my senior year.</p>

<p>I really don't have a strew of activities because for me, I just don't believe in doing every single thing possible. All of the things that I actually do, I'm committed to and I think that's most important for me rather than having specifications and requirements to fill for countless clubs and activities.</p>

<p>TESTING</p>

<p>610 critical reading, 660 writing, 700 math
(I'm really trying to work on these. I seem to never be able to get over 700)
640 on SAT U.S. History subject test
4 on AP US History exam
5 (predicted) on AP Calculus AB exam
4/5 (predicted) on AP Psychology exam</p>

<p>WORK/VOLUNTEERING
I haven't done any continuous, regular volunteering. Usually my volunteering is through Key Club. I recently moved right before junior year so adjusting to the change has been difficult and it's been a slow process. I am going to start volunteering at the hospital this summer and through my senior year. And I will try and get a job this summer. The last time I worked was in middle school and freshman year (2003 - August 2005) at Kumon, being a tutor for math and reading. I stopped because of time conflicts with sports.</p>

<p>The colleges I've looked at and am considering are</p>

<p>University of Washington - (safety. I don't have an urge to go here.)
Evergreen State College - (I should get in, but I'm not sure if I'd go here)
Scripps - (I don't know if I'd get in? I like the area and that it's part of the Claremont colleges, meaning I have a lot more choices and opportunities than say Evergreen. I'd have to up my SAT scores though I think to have a better chance)
UC schools - (not sure which one though. Berkeley would satisfy my parents the most, but the chances aren't as great to be accepted, and the daunting amount of students there frightens me.)
Stanford - (out of sheer hope, I 99.999999% doubt it though)</p>

2

<p>
[quote]
I'm looking primarily for a smaller school, under 5000, under 10000 if I'm highly interested. If it's a really great school, then I can push the number up a little. But I'd like a smaller school mostly.

[/quote]

Yet you are applying to UW and UC's? That doesn't make any sense.</p>

<p>Check out Reed College.</p>

3

<p>Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
Mills College, outside Oakland, CA (although it's all women)
Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, CA
Connecticut College, New London, CT</p>

<p>Sorry I don't know more about west coast colleges, but these may be a place to start.</p>

4

<p>If you want a liberal arts major then you have many options. If you might want a business or technical degree then I would consider one of the Jesuit schools. The Jesuit schools all have good teachers and loyal alumni (think job offers - which should please your parents), and they offer all the majors of a big university. The west coast ones that come to mind are: Seattle Univ, Gonzaga Univ, Univ of Santa Clara, Univ of San Diego, Loyola Marymount. Check the SAT scores of admitted freshman to find out how these schools rank with regard to each other. I suspect USD and SCU have the highest ranking. HOWEVER, if you need merit aid you should consider one of the lower ranked schools. My son has a friend going to Seattle on a full scholarship. As far as general liberal arts you might consider Occidental, Pepperdine, Chapman, or Whitman as well as Reed and Mills which were already mentioned. I also suggest that you look at the merit aid statistics at the schools you are considering. On other threads, people have pointed out that websites for the schools often have data about number and amount of merit aid awards. You can then do a cross comparison.</p>

5

<p>The UCs are very expensive for out of state students, about what you'd pay for a good private college, and financial aid for out of state students is fairly limited. There are some merit scholarships available, but they won't put the cost for an out of state student in line with UW in state. So, if cost really is a concern, they probably aren't going to be the best bets.</p>

<p>Some additional recommendations for liberal arts colleges in the PNW: University of Puget Sound, Willamette, Lewis & Clark. In California, also look into: Pitzer, as well as the University of Redlands and the University of the Pacific for merit money possibilities. If you're open to larger schools, I'd also suggest you check out the Honors Colleges at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State. And, take a look at the University of Oregon - you'd be in line for some merit money there. </p>

<p>But, I'd also suggest that you not limit yourself to just the west coast -- spread out just a bit. Some other possibilities you may want to look at: University of Denver, Colorado College, Trinity University (Texas), Southwestern College (TX), Rice University, Southern Methodist University, University of Tulsa, DePaul University (Chicago), Lake Forest College (IL), University of Chicago, Macalester College (MN), Carleton (MN), St. Olaf (MN), etc. You can get to most of these schools in under 4 hours flying time. Most are either in or close to cities as well.</p>

6

<p>Great list of colleges. To help with your CR/Writing scores, try a couple of books: the classic Strunk&White, Elements of Style, and Grammatically Correct by Stilman.</p>

<p>for math, although every test is different - the Types of Questions are perennially exactly the same. (OK - the last one or two in a section are often some funny little Mensa brainteasers where you have to know some obscure secret like if the digits of an 18-digit number add up to a multiple of 3 then it is diivisible by 9 or something.) </p>

<p>So there must be 4 or 5 Types of Questions that you are struggling with. Probably with setting up the "winning equation" or set relationships, BEFORE plugging in the given numbers. Take the practice test math sections enough to find the ones that challenge you. Look at the explanantory answers, then rework that same problem from scratch at least 5 times in a row. Then find other examples like it and repeat 5 times. Make up some of your own. They will become automatic instead of wrestling with one question for 3 or 4 minutes.</p>

7

<p>Reed would be a reach unless those SATs go way up. Also, they offer NO merit aid (financial need only). Some good schools in the mid-west offer merit aid - Ohio Wesleyan, Denison, Earlham, Wooster. You might want to check out the flat part of the country.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
Reed would be a reach unless those SATs go way up

[/quote]

Not true at all. Reed doesn't just look at the numbers like most schools. I know someone who got into Reed with a 12 something on the SAT.</p>

<p>Average GPA/SAT at Reed
3.9 1352
The original poster
3.9 1310</p>

<p>This person isn't far off, plus they have solid EC's. With a few excellent essays, I think they'd have a shot.</p>

9

<p>Most schools here in the West Coast that are in the size range you mention are Catholic universities - Jesuit and others. If that's suitable for you, then look at St. Mary's, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Loyola-Marymount, University of San Diego (not UC-San Diego) and Dominican College.</p>

10

<p>Not out west, but I'm wondering about Kalamazoo College(Michigan). Grad Schools like it more than Michigan, and I think you could get in pretty well. Very interesting school and if you did want to party Western is in the same city, so KZoo is decent college town. Certainly not rural, but not 'urban'(didn't notice that part at first).</p>

<p>Some other schools that came to mind:
Reed
USC(big, but 10/1 S:F, so not quite like your classic big school)
Trinity (San Antonio)
St. John's (Sante Fe, New Mexico)</p>

<p>Noticed that I'm listing a lot of more expensive schools. Fordham and Pitt are good schools that would offer a lot of aid.</p>

11

<p>Holy Cross-very good LAC-with 2800 students, might be a good choice. HC has beautiful campus in a mid-size city(Worcester) located 1 hour from Boston. Holy Cross offers good combination academics and athletics as member of the Patriot League and HC is also SAT optional.</p>

12

<p>I'd recommend Rice University in Houston. It's a really cool and fun school with strong programs in a lot of areas. :)</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
I'd recommend Rice University in Houston. It's a really cool and fun school with strong programs in a lot of areas.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I've looked at Rice before, and I went to an informational meeting a few weeks ago, and I loved it. I've never been to Texas, so that's one thing that I'm kind of iffy about, especially the intense weather which I'm not used to all-year round but I think I could handle. It's a school I'm strongly considering.</p>

<p>But I think it wouldn't be a good match, and would be a really high reach. My test scores aren't up to par and considering the caliber of the other students, it's going to be rough. And I won't have time to visit Texas before applying in the fall, so we'll see what happens.</p>

14

<p>I believe that Willamette and Lewis and Clark in Portland give good merit aid, if you like Portland. Whitman is a great college, but not urban, and I wouldn't consider it a safety unless your test scores improve. </p>

<p>In LA, Occidental is worth considering, along with all the Claremont Colleges. Occidental is more likely to be a match for your numbers.</p>

<p>If you really need merit aid - as opposed to need-based financial aid - you should look for schools that can benefit from the boost your stats will give them. For example, the chance of getting merit aid supposedly goes up if you have test scores that are on the high end of test scores for their recently admitted students. You can find the ranges of scores and GPA by going on each college's website and searching for "common data set", then look at the section for incoming freshman. It's a very good way to gauge whether you would be competitive for a particular school.</p>