Im lost: Choose a School For Me!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, I have no idea of what college I would like to attend, so any input would be appreciated...</p>

<p>What I'm looking for...</p>

<p>*An "intellectual" school were ideas are important</p>

<ul>
<li>a school were I walk by and students are discussing politics,philosophy, biology or religion and this isn't weird-- its the norm.</li>
</ul>

<p>*student body: 1500-8,000</p>

<p>*somewhat liberal/moderate student body</p>

<p>*laid-back social scene.. </p>

<p>*a school were there is not much academic competition, rather students help one another</p>

<p>*gay-friendly school</p>

<p>*strong academic reputation</p>

<p>*preferably rural setting</p>

<p>MY STATS:
ACT: 25 (I know.. im workin on it..)
Rank:25/406
GPA:3.67
-Male
-Rank: top 10% of class
-Academic rigor: tough--six AP classes after senior year
-I've taken four courses at a local community college</p>

<p>ECS: Work 20+ hrs a week, cross country, gsa, school newspaper, i volunteer at the hospital...</p>

<p>Where should i go??</p>

<p>I know the obvious schools to look at are Oberlin, Macalester. Kenyon, Etc, but what im looking for is the same idea, just less competitive... A safety school I would suppose.. have any ideas??</p>

2

<p>Well, if you can take a pretty liberal student body, your criteria screams Vassar College. </p>

<p>And they don’t have a core curriculum there either which is pretty cool (unless you really like cores, which i do not)</p>

<p>You are definitely going to have to raise your test scores to have a chance tho. Ide say a 31-32 should give you a good shot assuming your 3.67 is your unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>I think Macalester college is pretty similar too, but a little easier to get into</p>

3

<p>local cc,man.</p>

4

<p>Macalester isn’t rural though…far from it. It has a majorly urban location.</p>

<p>I’m going to suggest Hampshire in MA.</p>

5

<p>Skidmore
Bates
Hobart and William Smith
Pitzer
Muhlenberg
Earlham
Grinnell
Guilford
Sarah Lawrence
Lawrence</p>

<p>A school you would probably love would be Carleton, but your scores would have to go up by a lot to have a chance.</p>

6

<p>Also Goucher and St Marys College (both in Maryland), Drew in NJ and Bennington (VT).</p>

7

<p>Look at swathmore and wesleyan. They are what you describe</p>

8

<p>Look at Bates. You do not need SAT or ACT scores there. It sounds like a great fit.</p>

9

<p>RE Post #6…</p>

<p>I think Poi means St. Mary’s College of Maryland. </p>

<p>Do not confuse this with Mount St. Mary’s University.</p>

<p>Both are in Maryland.</p>

10

<p>The only thing Rice doesn’t fulfill completely is the rural setting… It’s smack in the middle of Houston. Still, beautiful campus, and doesn’t at all feel like you’re in the middle of a metropolis.</p>

<p>I decided to go to Rice because I visited a class and the prof threw a graph up on the screen and everybody went “woaaaahhhh…”</p>

<p>Rigorous academic programs, but the feeling of isn’t-this-just-the-coolest-thing-ever permeates the entire university. Very collaborative. Nobody would think twice about loaning their notes to the person next to them. I never encountered any competition whatsoever. Very open GLBT community.</p>

11

<p>College of Wooster or Ohio Wesleyan.</p>

12

<p>I think Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Drew U., and Goucher, perhaps maybe even Ithaca would be good fits. There are a lot of schools that would accept you with the stats you have now so do not get down on yourself. Good luck!</p>

13

<p>Drew is test score optional, I think.</p>

14

<p>I agree with collegebound that Swarthmore and Wes would be great schools for you (as would Vassar), but youd need to work on getting your scores up a lot to have a realy shot at either of them (though, they’re both not entirley #s driven, so it might be worth apply to one or more if you’ve really got a great essay, who knows?).</p>

<p>If you don’t mind the cold, Bowdoin is anotehr that you might really like, and it is scores optional.</p>

15

<p>Thank you DougBetsy. I should of done a better job of clarifying which school it was.</p>

16

<p>I second Goucher, but I think that if you want a safety, Grinnell, Swarthmore, and Vassar are NOT safeties by any stetch of the imagination. REALLY. </p>

<p>I had higher stats (if you really want to know, you can search my history or PM me- I don’t want to list them just to make this stupid point) and decent ECs and was rejected at Swat and waitlisted at Grinnell and Vassar- All of them, especially Swat, are very hard to get in to.</p>

17

<p>thanks for all the ideas! I will start researching some of these schools, and luckily a “fit” will emerge..</p>

<p>My stats are good, but like many of you noted, my ACT score needs to go up… Yay for a summer filled with studying!!</p>

18

<p>hey pauly>>> check out BARD!!! sounds like a perfect match.
tell me what you think about it after you check it out</p>

19

<p>I suggest Beloit - I think it fits all your criteria.</p>

20

<p>Ohio Wesleyan and Pitzer sound like good choices, and within your reach even if a huge ACT score increase does not happen.</p>