Ideal College for Me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a rising junior, and I've heard so many opinions from my parents and teachers that I'm not quite sure what to do. If anyone can provide me with a list of colleges that "fit" for me, I'd really appreciate it.</p>

<p>I'm a male living in Louisiana. I definitely want to go out-of-state for college.</p>

<p>2180 SAT (800 Writing, 690 Reading, 690 Math)
215 PSAT (75 Writing, 70 Reading, 70 Math)</p>

<p>My favorite activity, by far, is Debate. I'm captain of my team, and I'm state runner-up for Advanced Lincoln Douglas. I'd definitely want to do debate in college.</p>

<p>I'm also captain of the Swimming team, and President of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) for my school. </p>

<p>Many things interest me, although I think I'm leaning more towards a standard Liberal Arts Education (English, History, Humanities, etc.) as of now. I do like science as well though, mainly Biology (I dislike Chemistry and Physics).</p>

<p>I'm reasonably good at math, but I don't enjoy it at all. Once again, the humanities are definitely what I love most.</p>

<p>I'm a "nerd" in a way, but I'm also athletic. It's kind of ironic, because I'm the Harry Potter-fanatic type, yet I still enjoy swimming and playing tennis on weekends.</p>

<p>I'm 50% Hispanic, and I come from a middle-class family.</p>

<p>To be honest, I don't want either extreme out of a student body (jocks or complete study-a-holics), just people who are passionate about what they're studying and enjoy a variety of things.</p>

<p>...So, with all that, any suggestions? Some of the schools I've considered are Rice University, College of William & Mary, Brown University, and Stanford University (Brown and Stanford may be way out of my league though).</p>

2

<p>Well I would need more information to sugest schools, though base off information given you should look into The University of Iowa. You will not feel alone due to half of their students are out of state. Also The University of Iowa has one of the most elite debate teams.
Here is an article: [Press</a> Releases - Division of Continuing Education - The University of Iowa](<a href=“http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/ccp/whatsnew/news/Apr42010.html]Press”>http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/ccp/whatsnew/news/Apr42010.html)</p>

<p>Article quote

</p>

3

<p>Hmm… well, it has 20,000 undergrads, which is way bigger than I’m looking for. And I’m not sure my parents would send me there unless I got a fairly large scholarship. I’ll look into it, though. Thanks.</p>

4

<p>Well The University of Iowa seems to be a great school for you to look into. Also if your looking for a small school that’s near your home try looking at Tulane and Rice ( do not know anything about their debate teams though), not sure how fit it is for you due to little information given.</p>

5

<p>Decrescendo, There are a lot of liberal arts colleges or small state schools in your region of the US that might be a good fit for you. I’ll also put in a shameless plug for the University of Arkansas since we offer in-state tuition to Louisiana residents (and your SAT is in the proper range, I just don’t know your GPA) and being a state flagship, offer all the fields of study and activities you’re looking for. However, we have a total student body of about 20,000 students so we may be way too large for your needs.
I’d also like to suggest you look at Hendrix College in Conway, AR. It is a small, private, residential liberal-arts college of around 1,300-1,500 students. It is also known for generous student aid packages. I had friends attend there who loved it, and it was featured as one of the “40 Colleges That Change Lives”. I’ve included a link to their visit piece so you can see a little about the school: <a href=“http://www.hendrix.edu/uploadedFiles/Admission/Campus_Visit/CampusVisit_Brochure0910.pdf[/url]”>http://www.hendrix.edu/uploadedFiles/Admission/Campus_Visit/CampusVisit_Brochure0910.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
(So you know, Hendrix is in no way affiliated with the University of Arkansas and my boss would likely not be pleased I am suggesting it…)
-Matt</p>

6

<p>If you definitely wish to continue with Lincoln-Douglas debate in college, you should research which colleges offer Lincoln-Douglas. As you probably know, there are several types of debate. Many, many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I attended college on a debate scholarship for policy debate (with two-person teams, multiple file drawers of evidence, one resolution for the year and cross-examination). My college did well in policy debate but didn’t compete in Lincoln-Douglas. It is unclear from the information about the University of Iowa which type of debate it offers.</p>

7

<p>What is your GPA?
What can you afford? Will you need Fin aid?
Do you prefer an urban or rural setting?</p>

8

<p>From what I know, colleges don’t offer LD debate. If you’re interested in continuing debate, and like classic LD-style debate (as in, talking to an audience, making valued arguments, etc.), look at APDA (American Parliamentary Debate Association) schools. I’m a former LDer myself (although I taught it better than I competed at it). Parli Tournaments are a lot of fun, and every round is a different case, because the government (aff) has to create a case that the opposition (neg) has to rebut without any prep time.</p>

<p>The other choices for continuing debate: Mock Trial, Model UN, Policy, or NPDA (National Parli Debate Assoc., not nearly as cool as us because they don’t come up with cases on their own, and get prep time to prepare).</p>

<p>Some APDA schools you might consider:
Brown, Boston University, Duke, Dartmouth, Stanford, UChicago, Tufts, Yale (though their team has competitive try-outs), Penn (competitive tryouts and doesn’t do any better than Brown), Fordham, Wellesley, Amherst, William & Mary, NYU</p>

9

<p>OK, this one will strike you as “what the hell is he talking about” but at least look into it. Truman State University in Missouri. Liberal Arts school, with your stats will be very inexpensive, smart and serious students without being overboard, and the forensics team is a top campus point of pride. It is very rural, I won’t kid you about that, but at least worth a look.</p>

10

<p>missninx3 - My GPA is a 3.9 out of 4.0, I can afford anything thats not ridiculously pricey, but I may need student loans. I’m doubtful that I would be eligible for a large amount of financial aid, though. And… I would probably prefer a mid-sized city. Not New York, but not extremely isolated.</p>

<p>chsowlflax17 - Thank you, that was very helpful! I’ll definitely look into APDA and find out more about that. And I am a Lincoln-Douglas Debater, equally good at teaching it and competing I think. Model UN was also something I was considering.</p>

11

<p>It looks like you’ll make NMF. Take a look at this thread for some options: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html?highlight=keilexandra[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html?highlight=keilexandra&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>Sounds like a fit for WashU or Northwestern to me.</p>

13

<p>You have great stats, and I’m going to try to suggest some schools although I know nothing about debate. I agree that WashU should be a good fit, how about: Amherst, Emory, Vanderbilt, and Davidson as slight reaches?
And maybe some safety and match schools could be Tulane, Colorado College, University of Richmond and Sewanee (University of the South) as well as LSU as safety?</p>

14

<p>FallenChemist- good suggestion-I always hear nice things about Truman State and it’s a nice little campus. However, Kirksville Missouri is quite small, I don’t know if he’d be comfortable there since he’s wanting a midsize city.
MSauce is right- WashU or Northwestern would be excellent choices to add to the list(once again, friends at both, almost went to one of them myself) for someone of your interests desiring an urban setting. I still think Hendrix would be a very nice fit. Conway is only 40-50,000, but it’s right outside of Little Rock so you’d still have options for entertainment and activities (you’ll also likely get some sort of merit aid there). Are you compiling a list of places to tour? It might help everyone providing suggestions if they knew just how far from home you were willing to go and if there were places you’re already scheduling visits to.</p>

15

<p>missninx3 - Thanks, you’ve been very helpful. Of the four reaches you listed, I think Amherst appeals to me most. I’m not interested in Tulane and LSU, however, because I’m really eager to leave the Deep South (Rice is the exception to me because it’s liberal and I enjoyed it alot when I visited campus). Thanks again!</p>

<p>Erin’s Dad - Thanks for that. If I get that PSAT score again next year, I will most likely be eligible for NMF, so that list was very helpful.</p>

16

<p>mmcnell - I was interested in Northwestern. My parents said I’ll take one college trip next summer (before senior year) that will be by car, up the East Coast and not very far inland, so I doubt I could visit either WashU or Northwestern.</p>

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18

<p>Debate should be a small part of your consideration. Take a look at Carnegie Mellon; Penn; Johns Hopkins; Haverford; Swarthmore; Georgetown; Michigan; Northwestern. Your geographic and ethnic diversity should yield some very good aid.</p>

19

<p>yabeyabe2- I do realize that debate isn’t the most important factor in selecting a college, it was just an added bonus. Of the ones you listed, Northwestern and Penn are the ones I’d most likely apply to. Thanks for your help.</p>

20

<p>HI , I m planning to do my masters in Biofuels & bioenergy in RES(school for renewable energy sciences,Iceland).I jus wanna know is the degree provided thr is worth of getting job.I also wanna know any other universities in USA ,UK offer the same course with good job oppurtunities.Is there anyone doing or did tat course in iceland present here please reply soon. I m waitin…
thank you</p>