I need to start thinking about where to visit.. help

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I'm a white male junior in a massachusetts private high school currently, and I need to start planning trips to look at some countries around the country, and I wanted to get some thoughts from you lot on where I should be visiting. To get it out of the way, my family is a dartmouth family. Both my parents went as does my sister.</p>

<p>As far as grades go, my gpa for my first tow years of school is a 2.75. However, my school is very very hardcore about grading. It's a very challenging school, but it sends students to GREAT schools. Last year, about 15 percent of the graduating class ended up at Harvard. This was not even that rare of a feat either. Testing wise, I've taken two sat 2's. I took the latin sat 2 in 9th grade and got a 670. i took the math 2 sat 2 my sophomore year and got a 650. My Psat score was in the 92nd percentile when i took it last fall as a 10th grader. Also, I took AP stats last year and got a 4 on the ap. </p>

<p>As far as extracurriculars go, I'm a three sport athlete. 4 years of soccer, hockey and baseball. 2 of the soccer will be on varsity when i graduate, 3 for hockey, and 1-2 for baseball. Also, I'm pretty deeply involved in Model United Nations. This year I am my class's representative to the schools MUN executive committee. Additionally, I've been a school tour guid throughout my 4 years of high school. Also, this year I am one of the leader's of my class's community service initiative.</p>

<p>My summers were as follows. After 9th grade, I went to William and Mary and did a college History course for a 3 week period and CIT'ed at a ymca camp. The one after my sophomore year I went back to the same camp at which I cit'ed to be a full fledged counselor. I was there working for 8 weeks.</p>

<p>Next, what I'm looking for: I wouuld prefer to be in a suburban environment, and after that rural would be preferable to a city. I would also prefer to have a sports scene. I would like to be able to go to basketball and or football games and cheer on a d1 team. That said, I dont want to be somewhere with just an absolutely massive student body. Location matters very little to me. Also, financial aid means little as a deciding factor. </p>

<p>some schools ive thought about so far are: BC, Wake, UVA, USC, UNC, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, William and Mary, Villanova</p>

<p>any more ideas you can give me would be much appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Rather impressive that if you had a graduating class of only 100 that Harvard would take about 15. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I also considered some of the same schools as you. I currently go to Wake Forest, which I think would be a prefect fit. It is an intimate setting with ACC athletics (next year’s basketball recruiting class will be top 5 again, as we just got another top 10 center today). Really there aren’t any other schools that provide a liberal-arts education and have big division 1 sports. Wake Forest’s motto is “Pro Humanitate” so obviously service is very big. Lastly, we are located in a more suburban setting on the outskirts of Winston-Salem. I am not a city person, so I like that very much as it creates a very nice community (75% of students live on campus). I would definitely visit and schedule a tour! If you have any specific questions, PM me.</p>

<p>You have a great list of schools, but I would suggest also looking at Richmond, Elon, and Furman as they seem like they would also fit (and were schools I considered). </p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA is a major obstacle.
Your priority at this point is a solid junior year. Worry about the road trip later.</p>

5

<p>Yeah, as good as your school might be, getting into BC, Wake, UVA, USC, UNC, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, William and Mary, Villanova with a sub 3.0 is going to be very difficult.</p>

6

<p>bball_guy - Any HS that sends 15% of its graduating class to Harvard is certain to have GREAT GCs. You should make an appointment and ask what level schools the GC would recommend for you. Your GPA is enough of a hurdle … that plus a lackluster GC recommendation is certain death.</p>

<p>I think you’re right to start planning trips now. Your list of PRIORITY colleges already involves eight states. No way you’re going to get to all of them unless you start planning now. (Yeah I know, it’s just a plane ride. But how are you going to get around once the plane lands? And how are you going to convince your parents that a particular school is “right” for you if they haven’t seen the place too?)</p>

<p>My other suggestion is to find a “companion college” for each one already on your list. Maybe Vanderbilt won’t take you … but Rhodes might. Notre Dame may be out, but Purdue wouldn’t be. How about URichmond along with W&M? Tulane or Miami with USC? JMU with UVa? Elon or NC State with UNC? Fordham with Villanova?</p>