<p>um im looking for a college, have no idea where to apply</p>
<p>want to major in chemistry i think, and am 100% sure i want to do some sort of grad school, whether it be a masters/phd in chem or engineering or law school or med school</p>
<p>im willing to go to any time zone/ climate in the US</p>
<p>social scene is very important to me</p>
<p>have decent stats (4.0/2200/5's on APs)</p>
<p>what colleges should i be looking at? I'm just wondering so i can go visit them soon.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>oh yea and im urm</p>
<p>Mmm well based on your interests I'd say Harvey Mudd (engineering) though I don't know about the social scene there. UC Berkeley (chemistry) and Columbia are also strong in the sciences, and you could try for MIT. U Penn might also be a good fit. This is based on academic strength though, you might need to ask around to find out what the partying scene is like at the colleges.</p>
<p>If the social scene is very important to you then I think you should never include MIT on your list and don't even think of CalTech. Carnegie Mellon might be a good one for you.</p>
<p>If you took the SAT the first time and got a 2200 I'd say prepare and try for like 2250-2300. That will increase your chances at ivies alot. But, if you are happy with a 2200 that's an excellent score.</p>
<p>A little more information about who you are and what you like would help. Schools have personalities and some 'matches' are a better fit than others.</p>
<p>Here are a few questions that might help you:</p>
<p>1) Size: Do you like to participate a lot in class, know your professors, know all the other students? Or is it more important to you to have variety, depth and breadth in coursework, activities and people?</p>
<p>2) Does money matter? Are you going to need financial aid? Merit money?</p>
<p>3) Do you care about urban/suburban/rural? Some people twitch if a city isn't within reach...others could care less if there's lots of action on campus.</p>
<p>4) Campus/residential vs. a 'non-campus' urban school</p>
<p>5) Frats/athletics/religious life/artsy/quirky/intense: Do any of these things evoke strong positive or negative reactions?</p>
<p>6) Weather: Some people get depressed if the winters are long and dark. Some people love skiing and sleep with their snow boards and skates.</p>
<p>Happily, chemistry is offered everywhere, so the real question is 'Who are you?'</p>
<p>M's Mom thanks for that comprehensive reply</p>
<p>i realize that my initial post was a bit broad, so let me make it more clear so u guys can help me out more, thanks!</p>
<p>1) Class size, i would prefer more of high school sized classes, but this isnt at the top of my priorities</p>
<p>2)Money does matter to me. Dad's income is slightly over 100k, but he said he will only give me 10k per year. (Ivy FA makes them attractive, same with state college)</p>
<p>3) Dont care about a city being nearby as long as there is action on campus (well said M's Mom)</p>
<p>4)Campus/residential preferred</p>
<p>5) I'm impartial to all these things, dont see myself joining a frat or playing a varsity sport or drooling over a football game, but not opposed to it</p>
<p>6) I live in the desert now, but ive lived in the north before, so weather isnt a big deal</p>
<p>prestige matters to me, but i want to find a college that is the best overall fit for me</p>
<p>oh and UC's are out the question due to money and crowding</p>
<p>thanks for all the replies guys, i really need to figure this out haha</p>
<p>Sounds like you should be looking at the top small liberal arts colleges (LACS), as a starting point.</p>
<p>1) Classes are small and all taught exclusively by faculty, not TAs, even at the intro level (as compared to private and state universities). There are no graduate students at most LACs, so you aren't competing for faculty attention or for research opportunities either.</p>
<p>2) Some offer excellent financial aid and even merit-your grades and test scores are good enough.</p>
<p>3) Many, but not all LACs, are rural or suburban in location-usually an hour or more away from a city. (Macalester and Vassar are exceptions).</p>
<p>4) Most are residential-small and cohesive-with most of the action on campus: Which means that finding a fit is especially important, unlike at a large school where you can always find a group.</p>
<p>5) Frats are usually a minimal presence if they exist at all. They really aren't as appealing to students at small schools as they are at huge schools, because its so easy to meet like-minded peers. And you probably won't find Division I sports for football and basketball-which means that you may actually be able to play on the team instead of just watch.</p>
<p>My S has a similar profile to yours. He is attending Grinnell in the fall with generous merit aid. Pick up a list of the USNWR for a list of the top 20 or so LACS and do some reading (and don't forget Reed, which doesn't cooperate with USNWR but is a great school for a certain kind of person.)</p>
<p>alright thanks i will look into LAC strengths/merit aid.</p>
<p>now lets say i did want a bigger school, one that participated in some Div I sports (not necessarily football). What schools should i look at then?</p>
<p>I don't think i want to end up somewhere too rural, as i've lived my whole life in atlanta/phoenix </p>
<p>i want somewhere that has a good/varied party scene, and i don't know that a small lac could offer that.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies :D</p>
<p>I'm a Chemistry major at UMiami and, so far, I only have good things to say about the program. It seems to fit the things you're looking for (sports, urban, party scene). With your stats, it would probably be a low match. I'm sure you would qualify for some merit scholarships, too.</p>
<p>beachbabee thanks for your reply
the thing that pushes me off of schools like UMaima and such though, is money. I see it this way:
I can find the party scene/ decent chem program for free at asu, and
my financial goals are to graduate college with less than 20k debt( so if its 200k i would get 40 from dad, 20 from loans, and would need 140 from FA)</p>
<p>that seems like a stretch, and it is. I need some schools with rly strong FA that offer research opportunites but at the same time remember that we are just students who like to have a good time.</p>
<p>True, and totally understandable. But before you rule it out, check out this link to see which scholarship you would qualify for:
Academic</a> Scholarships for 2008-2009 | University of Miami</p>
<p>The best part about those merit scholarships is that there is no separate application for them -- every applicant is automatically considered upon submission of a regular application to the school.</p>
<p>wow that is some generous aid, i could qualify for 24k/yr it looks like, but that still leaves me short unfortunately.
its cool to know that you dont need to have a god-like app to get merit aid there though. Does anyone know of any other places like this, with generous need based or merit based aid?</p>
<p>UW-Madison? maybe an honors program there would be good for you.</p>
<p>not too sure about the FA, but it definitely has the party scene and some prestige.</p>
<p>UW-Madison, University of Michigan, and Michigan State all come to mind when I think great social scene with Div. I sports and good academics. Michigan state in particular is fantastic with the merit aid from my experience, especially with your stats and URM status (they are actively searching for URM's and I know they give additional scholarships out geared for this also). The best thing about Michigan state is that if you apply by Nov. 1 you are considered for all the major scholarships; you don't have to submit a separate application. Research-wise, if you have a 1500 m/v SAT or 33+ ACT you are automatically qualified to get in-state tuition rates and a professorial assistantship which is paid research with a professor starting out your freshman year. There is also the Lyman briggs residential college for science majors (including chemistry) that is very reputable</p>
<p>i need to try my luck with ACT in spetember lol</p>
<p>im 770m/660cr atm, but i just cant read sat CR well for s***</p>
<p>ok adding MichState to list of colleges to look at, i really like how you can do research fr year (i want to do undergrad research)
im gona do some deep research and then from there decide like 5 colleges that im gona visit during fall break.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the suggestions guys, and keep em coming please!</p>