<p>Every time I eliminate a college, more seem to pop up. :( Any help narrowing this down (or suggesting other schools I may be overlooking) would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Stats
GPA: 3.47uw 3.49w (No typo; weighted grades here are pretty much a joke)
Rank: Top 25%
Curriculum: 2/6 APS; 1/7 Honors (# Taken/# Offered)
Scores: ACT: 31 (35CR, 34E, 30S, 26M, 8 Essay); SAT: 1330 (670R, 660M)
Location: Northern Minnesota Public
EC: Nothing worth mentioning (This hurts, I know.)</p>
<p>Major: Business</p>
<p>Safety
North Dakota State (Accepted)</p>
<p>Matches
Fairfield
Minnesota - TC
Marquette
Penn State
Ohio State</p>
<p>Reaches (With a 3.49 should I even bother or are these way out of my league?)
Fordham
Villanova</p>
<p>Criteria: (Nothing set in stone, this is all just the ideals)</p>
<p>-Schools preferably located in the Midwest or Northeast (I like the cold.)</p>
<p>-Schools that preferably don't require recommendations. (Changed teachers frequently so none really know me.)</p>
<p>-Schools that look at ACT > GPA/Rank (Obvious Reasons)</p>
<p>-Schools with a good business program</p>
<p>-Size doesn't matter much</p>
<p>-School spirit is always nice</p>
<p>Any recommendations of colleges (preferably matches) that I could add? Any I should eliminate (Especially the reaches)?</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to read/reply.</p>
<p>you might want to apply to vanderbilt</p>
<p>Wisconsin makes more sense than either OSU or Penn St., I would think. It is a more highly regarded university and you would be shelling out only about one-third of the tuition with the reciprocity agreement. </p>
<p>Also, have you ever been up around Fairfield County, Connecticut? It is a vastly different world than northern MN, and I wouldn't exactly put Fairfield near the top of the list when thinking of "school spirit." Places like Syracuse or Northeastern U. in Boston might be better options and more in line with your other application targets as far as demographics, school size, etc. Northeastern is well known for its co-op program.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is out of the OP's reach. OP: Would you truly be happy to attend North Dakota State?</p>
<p>no he has a 31 act he would love vandy itd be a reach but with his 31 act hes got a shot.</p>
<p>a 31 is tough to get</p>
<p>Keilexandra is right. OPs composite ACT is just above the 25%ile at Vandy, and his math is well below 25%ile. Also, 84% of freshmen were in the top 10% of their classes. I agree that Wisconsin makes a lot of sense over Ohio State and Penn State. That would be a good match with Minnesota for the OP.</p>
<p>vanderbilt doesnt even require a supplemental essay so theres no harm in having a good reach hed probably really like it</p>
<p>who knows maybethe op goes to a tough high school I think he should apply</p>
<p>@Wisconsin: Oops. Wisconsin is DEFINITELY on my list, I just accidentally left it off. Great location/price/etc.</p>
<p>@Fairfield: No I actually haven't visited there. In what way is it different? (Obviously more people, warmer...anything else majorly different?) I know the school spirit isn't the best either. It's not my first choice of a school but I do like the Jesuit education.</p>
<p>@Northeastern: Northeasten has probably moved on/off my list more than any other school. I think the coop program sounds excellent but I've heard that the students there aren't as close because of it. Anyone know if there's truth in that?</p>
<p>@Syracuse: To be honest, I didn't think Syracuse is as good at it appears to be. I'll have to look into this one, thanks.</p>
<p>@NDSU: Out of all my choices for safeties (both financial and admission) this seemed like the best choice. (Compared to St. Cloud St., Mankato St., UMD, a smaller University of Wisconsin campus, etc.) Ideally I won't have to go there, but if I had to I think I would still find it enjoyable.</p>
<p>@Vanderbilt: Obviously a great school and I think it would fit me really well. But with my scores and grades it's just not going to happen. (My HS is just average, not really competitive at all.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone, I really do appreciate it. (I will be so glad when this process is over.)</p>
<p>Let's put it this way... Fairfield County has the 6th-highest per capita income of any county in the U.S. (even counting a few rough places like Bridgeport), and the student population at Fairfield U. tends to reflect this demographic (white, wealthy, very preppy). Could be a massive culture shock, I would think.</p>
<p>In addition to Marquette, a couple of Jesuit institutions that may be of interest in the midwest are Creighton and Xavier (especially if you like watching basketball). I think you have a good shot at getting into Fordham and a decent chance at Villanova - they definitely are not long reaches with your numbers. If you are interested in a Catholic-affiliated school near NYC but not right in the city, maybe take a look at Marist College, which has an excellent business program for its size. I went to a few lacrosse camps in upstate NY this past summer and was really impressed by Marist's campus.</p>
<p>[yeah, not much help in narrowing down your list, I know]</p>
<p>What about Purdue and UIUC? </p>
<p>University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign has a Great business school, that you'd probably have to transfer in to after a year or so.</p>
<p>WHAT ABOUT EMORY?!?!?</p>
<p>WHAT ABOUT INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON? (Kelly School of Business)</p>
<p>(and UIUC gets mad if you send recs. They HATE recs!)</p>