<p>Hi everyone, after some research I got the schools that I'm interested in to 11. However, that's still too many I feel and I'd like to get it down to 8 at least. Sending in test scores and apps are expensive, plus I don't have so much time to spend on a lot of apps. I have a 3.91 GPA, 34 on the ACT, don't have class rank yet. So far here's my college list:</p>
<p>Amherst C
Boston C
Carleton C
Claremont McKenna C
Colgate U
Northwestern U IL
Swarthmore C
U Chicago
U Washington
Washington U St. L.
Western Washington U</p>
<p>Now out of those, the ones I'm going to have to keep are the University of Washington and Western Washington, since those are going to be my 2 instate schools. Otherwise, I want to keep on Boston, Carleton, and Swarthmore for sure. But for everything else it can be a little iffy for me. </p>
<p>If there's any other schools that could be exchanged instead that could work too. I'm thinking either Business, Law, or Poly Sci but really it could go anywhere except strictly math and lit.</p>
<p>Law is not an undergraduate major. To prepare for law school, you can choose any number of majors including Poli Sci or Philosophy, or anything else. Business isn’t offered as an undergraduate major at many top schools, and not at many on your list. U Chicago has a famous Business School, but not an undergraduate business major. Students interested in business careers would study Econ usually. Many consulting firms and wall street firms recruit at schools that do not offer business major, like Brown University (Brown has Econ and COE.) So I guess you have a little more thinking to do.</p>
<p>What attracted you to Swarthmore, Carleton and BU?</p>
<p>Sorry I meant Pre-Law maybe. Swarthmore and Carleton are 2 schools that are recruiting me for tennis, and I really like what they have to offer. Did you mean Boston College instead of University?</p>
<p>If you’re thinking about business, why not try for UPenn Wharton?</p>
<p>Also, if you’re concerned about narrowing it down, try this exercise:
Answer this question for every school you have on there: “Why University _____?” If you find that you’re having a hard time coming up with a convincing list of reasons, then it might be good to reconsider that school. Maybe browse through the website again, see if anything catches your attention, but do remember that if you can’t actually WRITE DOWN your reasons (I think this is different from just thinking about a school) in a concrete manner, then it might be a sign. Plus this type of question appears on most supplements, so it should be good practice.</p>
<p>Trueblue thanks, I think I’ll run through that exercise. I did think about UPenn, knowing that it has Wharton. The whole college list thing is still up in the air.</p>
<p>If money is important, keep Washington University in St. Louis on your list. They are very generous with merit and financial aid. Also, have you spoken with their tennis coach? You originally said that you wanted to keep Boston College on your list, so keep it. I think the biggest reach on your list is probably Amherst. The acceptance rate is only about 14% there. I would probably remove it, and leave the other 4 - unless Amherst has been recruiting you for tennis. Also, did you know that there is no application fee at Carleton? If you remove Northwestern, Colgate and Amherst, you are left with only 9 colleges - one having a free application. That seems reasonable.</p>
<p>Oh, I had actually heard that Wash U wasn’t the best with financial aid. While I’ve been in contact with some of the college coaches I haven’t with the Amherst coach. You’re right that it is the biggest reach though. </p>
<p>I think I’ll take a look at how big each schools’ supplements are as well.</p>
<p>Might look at Notre Dame and Holy Cross-both similar to Boston College. ND and Holy Cross have 2 of the best alumni networks. BC, ND, and HC are 3 of the best Catholic schools.</p>
<p>It’s gotta be weird to be from the state of Washington and be a student at Wash. U in St. Louis. Then you graduate and go to DC for job interviews…</p>