I've looked at so many schools I'm going insane... match me?

College Search & Selection
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<p><em>sings</em> Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match.</p>

<p>Here are my stats.</p>

<p>white female, graduated May '05 (doing the year break thing)
public high school in Indiana
ranked 17th out of 172 (top 10%)
GPA: 3.971 unweighted (school does not do weighted)
old SAT scores: 690v, 570m (blah, I hate math!)
received Indiana Honors Diploma
lettered in academics</p>

<p>AP/Honors classes:
Humanites (technically called English 9 GT) freshman year
World History Honors, sophomore year
American Lit. (technically English 11 GT) junior year
US History Honors, junior year
AP English Lit., senior year (offered 1 semester)
AP Economics, senior year (offered 1 semester)
AP Comp, senior year (offered 1 semester)</p>

<p>Other classes considered challenging (at least where I went):
Chem I and II
French, 3 1/2 years</p>

<p>College Credit in Trig., received an A</p>

<p>ECs:
Freshman year- track, foreign language club
Sophomore year- national art honor society member
Junior year & senior year- national honor society member</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
bell ringing for Salvation Army for NHS (only 1 hour, but it was seriously 20 degrees outside!)
worked with children at a preschool for NHS (I think like... 20 hours)
Australian cafe for the experience... I don't know if that would really count. (3 months)</p>

<p>Jobs:
Arby's (over 1 year)
Pre-K teaching assistant (9 months)
Hotel desk clerk (current)</p>

<p>What I'm looking for:
*a university with a strong English major with a concentration on creative writing, good journalism classes
*a university with a variety of courses, not just a liberal arts college
*preferably a small-medium sized school
*one in a big city or near a big city
*a somewhat competitive, academically challenging school
*my family earns a very low income, so one with a nice financial aid package, so I wouldn't be paying off student loans for the rest of my life.</p>

<p>Also, this might sound shallow to some but I'd like to go to a college where my boyfriend could get in as well, or even two schools near each other would be fine. He is an international student from Australia studying for two years at the community college in my hometown. He is majoring in Graphic Design/Commerical Art, 3.8-3.9 GPA. Top of his class in his field, could get great recommendations, made the dean's list last year. ECs are Commerical Art Club and the school paper. However, he is very weak in some subject areas, like math. He is taking Pre-Algebra at the moment, without college credit, just to get him up to college level Algebra. He scored a 910 on his SAT, but I've read that a lot of places do not need SATs for internationals. His high school records are shocking because he did not try at all in high school.</p>

<p>I really have no idea what colleges would be reaches/matches for us. I've looked at so many, my brain is fried. Northeastern, U of Chicago is what I've been considering, but who knows what I'll think tomorrow.</p>

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<p>First - "Not Just a LAC" is kind of a silly thing to say, as that is where some of the very best education and learning takes place....you should not rule them out completely.</p>

<p>Second - Please don't make a descision to go to a school where your BF can also get in. You have a very good academic record. DO NOT sell yourself short. You should attempt to get into the very best college or university you can, not one where you can also get a BF admitted into as well.</p>

<p>Third - Northeastern is in Boston...did you mean Northwestern? Like the University of Chicago, Northwestern is one of the very best universities in the country. If you can get into either of these schools, you'll have your mind made up for you as they are both superb....and extremely difficult to get into. You also might want to consider the University of Wisconsin (Madison)...a very good school too. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>Linking your admission to your boyfriend's admission is extraordinarily problematic. . .credentials-wise you two are in two completely different leagues and this would not be a good idea academically or socially. If you insist on looking together, look at urban areas where there are some good commercial art and advertising art schools (for him) and a range of options for you. </p>

<p>If you were going to be an engineer or had some specific program in mind I could see avoiding liberal arts schools. With an English major you'd be wise to keep them on your list. You will only take a small number of college courses. . .32-40?. The fact that school A offers 1000 and school B offers 2000 may not make any difference to you.</p>

<p>As for schools. . .small/med unis to look at in the Midwest include Marquette, St. Louis University, University of Denver and Xavier (OH).</p>

<p>For LACs, definitely look at Hamline, Occidental, Lake Forest, Lewis and Clark, and Goucher (MD). </p>

<p>Decoupling your search from your boyfriend opens up may more options, including some superb LACs in small cities and rural areas.</p>

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<p>Ok, I am not going to sell myself short just for the sake of my bf. I just don't want to be so far away that we would only communicate by phone most of the time. I know we are different, but I was just curious if there was a school out there for both of us or close together. We've been together for a long, long time.</p>

<p>When I said no LACs, my reasons were that I am not exactly sure I'd want to do English. I would want a college where I could switch if I decided upon it. I'd want to be able to explore electives and interact with people studying all different majors. I love creative writing, but for now it's a hobby and I'm not sure how far I'd want to go career wise. I'm also interested in business, psych, and even forensic science.</p>

<p>I love to travel. Love the big cities. I've lived in a rural area my whole life. That's just my preference.</p>

<p>So at which schools do you think I have a shot or should consider? Also, if you could suggest something for my boyfriend, although it may be completely different from me, he is interested to. Reach schools, match schools, safeties... I have no clue.</p>

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<p>Some things I would consider as well: good social scene, school pride, small classes, not too liberal or conservative. I would like a school where I'm academically challenged but not too in over my head.</p>

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<p>I will still take a look and apply to some LACs, so if you want to suggest some that would be fine.</p>

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<p>I think it is ok that being near your boyfriend is part of your decision. Most of the folks on this board are very practical and goal oriented. I remember a thread about the boyfriend factor from a few months ago. Finding a partner in life is more important than finding a college. Absence does not normally make the heart grow fonder. So, first, I want to go on record as the only person on College Confidential who believes in Romance!</p>

<p>As for your question:
Syracuse U
Creighton
North Carolina State
American U
CCNY
Ursuline
Arizona State
U Delaware
Indiana U Bloomington
U Illinois UC
U Tampa
U Evansville
U Maryland (Baltimore Co for Art, College Park for writing)
U Minnesota Twin Cities
U of Michigan
Long Island U Southhampton
Ashland U
Ohio Northern
U of Houston
U of Washington</p>

<p>some of the above do not offer a bachelors in "creative writing" but I think they are strong in creative writing in the English dept or offer a masters in creative writing.</p>

<p>Good luck!!! I hope the relationship turns out to be "the one".</p>

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<p>In Chicago, the Chicago Art Institute is a solid art school.</p>

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<p>Thanks, collegehelp for thinking it's okay to want to go to the same place as your boyfriend/girlfriend. I know it wouldn't matter for me where I got in if I were miserable while being there. </p>

<p>Also, it doesn't really matter to me if I get an official "creative writing" degree. I think a strong English degree would benefit me more in the long run.</p>

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<p>City schools usually have much worse "social scenes" than rural schools simply because the students run into the city and ocal bars rather than party/ hang out on campus. I think you are mistaken about LACs, they have plenty of major options ranging from neuroscience to anthropology. I think you might like the social envoronment much more. Check out places like Boston College, Bucknell, GW, University of Miami (florida), Lafayette, American, NYU, BU. And don;t choose based on your bf, that is silly. He might be able to find an easier school in the area.</p>

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<p>As far as the schools suggested/ones I've been thinking about:</p>

<p>U of Evansville: Too close to home for my liking.
Indiana U: Maybe. I think I'd rather go with IUPUI because it's in Indy. Same degree, just a different school. Does not require freshman to live on campus. Can transfer to IU if I decided on going to the main campus.
Butler U: In Indy, seems like a nice school. That's all I really know about it.
Xavier: I actually remember getting a lot of mail from them my senior year, which I promptly threw in the trash. I think I was just getting annoyed by all the college mail, but now that I'm serious about college, I'll have a look.
U of Chicago: A bit too rigorous for me academically.
Chicago Art Institute (for him): Nice. I'm thinking more and more that my bf would actually benefit more at an art school, seeming that art is his strong point while everything else is.... just a "bother" to him. That's his attitude on core classes.
U of Maryland: Will check into that.
U of Michigan: Will check that one as well.
The others need some researching.</p>

<p>I LOVE Chicago, so maybe there's a good school, besides U of Chicago for me. I've heard of DePaul. Does anyone know anything about it?</p>

<p>I'm also liking the idea of living in Boston. I know there's a lot of colleges around there. Northeastern looks nice. Emerson is one a lot of people have suggested for me, but I'm not sure. I know some people think it's a bad idea to not consider LACs since I'm an English major, but like I said before, I'm not 100% sure I'd want to do creative writing. I like a lot of different things.</p>

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<p>If you would have read my message closely, I said it would be fine if we went to separate schools close together. </p>

<p>I realize rural areas would have better social scenes, but there's always exceptions, right? </p>

<p>I would love to live in a big city, but if a college is located in a city that has a mall, I would consider that a fairly big city. Evansville is considered a big city where I live.</p>

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<p>Look at Loyola in Chicago too.</p>

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<p>Why not BC and BU in Boston?</p>

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<p>try ohio-university-athens they have strong programs in both visual communications and journalism.. the town is amazing and less than an hour away from columbus,OH the school has less than 17,000 students so its pretty small for a state school and they also have a great international community</p>

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<p>I honestly can't offer suggestions because the boyfriend thing is to burdensome, if you are going to get into a school that offers a great financial aid package, and want other schools around you for boyfriend try your state college. Schools are looking for people who are ready to focus on their academic life not love life. Cold and heartless as I am. you could look at cities where there are lots of school options but frankly...good schools will need you focused on them.</p>

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<p>Chantilly,</p>

<p>Butler sounds good! Its a very good school and likely better than IUPUI in english, they have a creative writing track and seems to be active in internship placement which is great for an english program for practical reasons...</p>

<p>Also if you decide to change your mind, IUPUI has a lot of programs and you could transfer there easily and also Butler has a fine tradition of teaching educators...most of the females in the previous generations of my family attended Butler for teaching...</p>

<p>Additionally, I love the city of Indy and it does have a lot to offer...</p>

<p>thats my 2 cents</p>

<p>Pitt alum. '04
UNC-CH grad student</p>

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<p>Look...</p>

<p>People on this site might think I'm stupid for considering someplace where my boyfriend and I can be together/be close to each other. We have been together for a long time. We live together. My family life is horrible and he's the one that has helped me get through it. I've done the long distance thing before, for a year and a half we did not see each other, and it was very very hard. I would not go through that again for anything.</p>

<p>For me, I'm not going to college merely for academics. I want to have the time of my life with someone who I deeply care for. I want to be academically challenged, but not burdened. I want to experience city life. I want to meet people interested in different things. I want to party. I want to explore different fields. I do not want to be stuck in something I may not like, never seeing the person I love, burdened and overwhelmed and in debt for the next 50 years... all in the name of prestige. There, I said it. Judge me however you want, but I want to be happy.</p>

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<p>I really like Butler since it's a small school and for the reasons you've mentioned, ophiolite.
University of Indy has my bf's major, gives need and non-need based international aid, and SATs are not required for internationals. Perfect!
City life, good schools, not too far away from home but not too close either. I'm liking it.</p>

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<p>Chantilly-you don't need to explain yourself to anybody. There are lots of emotionally dead (or at least comatose) individuals in the world, especially among overachievers. I don't think there have been any studies on it, but my sense is that college students in a committed relationship do better academically. They party less, don't have to worry about meeting someone. Its a part of their life that is satisfied and they can then focus more on their work. I am certain this is true. The same is true of married students...they tend to be more serious about school.</p>