<p>Long story short, two recent deaths in my family have prevented me from spending time doing the good ol' college search and I am clueless at this point.</p>
<p>White female; top 100 US school; <$35,000 income (financial aid will be needed); North Carolina
UW GPA: 3.94
Not sure about my weighted GPA.
Class rank: Again, unsure. I'm pretty sure I'm in the top 5%.
Nine APs total, with seven 5s and two 4s.
SAT: 2310
ACT: 34
SAT IIs: Haven't taken yet, but I'm supposed to in November. Will be taking Literature (~750+), German (unsure w/ or w/o listening) (~780+), and US History (~740). Those are just estimated scores.</p>
<p>As far as ECs go, nothing spectacular. This is mostly because I work 50ish hours a week and have been working for two years now to help support my family. I'm hoping this will show some dedication and responsibility and make up for my lack of real ECs.
Besides that, I am the editor in chief of the school newspaper and co-teach a remedial writing class. Last summer I was a camp counselor for 8 weeks.</p>
<p>The recommendations are going to be great and the essays are going to be my strongest point.</p>
<p>In terms of what I'm looking for, I'm versatile. I'm good to go in extremely urban areas or out in the middle of nowhere, but I want a place with a campus, as in no places like NYU. I'd prefer a school that is on the medium to small side (<9000 undergrads). I'm not sure what I want to major in -- probably something humanities oriented. East coast preferred but I'm willing to go out west.</p>
<p>I'm center politically but I don't mind a place that will challenge my ideas and beliefs; heck, I even welcome it. I want a place where people love to learn and aren't going to school only to get a $100k+ job. I'm not really into parties and I would prefer a school where the Greek culture is small to nonexistent and the party scene does not rule the social life. I'm a person that likes debate and discussion, so a school with a lot of that would be fantastic.</p>
<p>Richmond strikes me as a possibility, though I don’t know about their Greek scene. Davidson is another possibility, same caveat. Davidson I believe covers 100% of need, and your numbers should get you good merit aid at Richmond.</p>
<p>I haven’t been on this site long, but I’ve spent many hours “lurking”</p>
<p>You may want to come at this from a different view – Rather than size of school, you may want to look at it from best merit. I assume with you working that $ will be an issue. I was against “huge” schools before l came here, but then I learned of “Honors College” within the large universities. These Honors Colleges at most Univerisities have a Liberal Arts feel with small classes, special housing, etc. For example, you would auto receive full tuition from the U of Alabama under the Presidential Sch.</p>
<p>Be Aware – many scholarships have “priority” due dates (12/1). For many privates the CSS financial aid forms are due by then as well.</p>
<p>I suggest looking at the AID sub-forum and post on the PARENT forum – those folks really have a lot of great knowledge. </p>
<p>Your stats are high - use this to apply to schools with a “no loan” policy in order to avoid debt & to schools where you will be on the top end in order to get merit. </p>
<p>AND ONE MORE THING – WORKING IS A REAL EC. Especially at the number of hours you reported.</p>
<p>I think you’re competitive at pretty much any school that you could possible look at – including Ivy League schools. In other words, take your pick. :)</p>
<p>You are one of the most amazing applicants I have seen! Working 50 hours a week and still maintaining a near 4.0 and insane test scores! How can that be possible?</p>
<p>I’d say you have at least a shot almost anywhere. </p>
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<p>I hope I’m not going out on a limb too far to say, colleges like this. They like it more than a big raft full of ECs suggesting someone may be more of more of a “joiner” than a leader. The work, in addition to being EIC of the school newspaper, is very respectable in my opinion.</p>
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<p>Sounds like the University of Chicago (in every respect). The honors college suggestion is good, too. On the east coast … Yale is especially strong in the humanities (in addition to the social sciences, physical and life sciences :)). Or a LAC. Davidson, if you want to stay in the south. The LAC analog of Chicago might be Swarthmore or Reed but there are many good options. Run down the US News list, starting from the top, to get some initial ideas.</p>
<p>I’m curious, though … how does any full time student manage working “50ish hours a week” while pulling a 3.94 average with AP courses and editing the school newspaper?</p>
<p>From reading your description, University of Chicago sounds like a good fit. Lots of debate and discussion, no Greek life (or partying at all), strong in humanities. Princeton and Yale might sound good, too, or maybe one of the top LACs like Swarthmore. </p>
<p>I really recommend you look at some Ivies and other similar caliber schools because they will have very generous financial aid for someone with low income.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys. I’m looking into all the schools mentioned, as well as honor colleges and such.</p>
<p>“I’m curious, though … how does any full time student manage working “50ish hours a week” while pulling a 3.94 average with AP courses and editing the school newspaper?”</p>
<p>I work as a receptionist/phone answerer, so I study/bring homework with me and do it whenever I have some free time. My other job is at the grocery store where it tends to be very slow at night, so I do homework there during break or sometimes I get some time. I do things concerning the paper whenever I can, and usually I find a way to squeeze it in. Bosses are very giving to say the least, lol. Then I finish everything at home before bed. Plus I generally have no social life at all. And I will definitely take some cheese with that whine. :P</p>
<p>Also, I’m not going to have the chance to visit any campuses except maybe some NC schools. Anyone think this will be a major detriment? I’m worrying a bit over it.</p>
<p>If you’re serious about a school but cannot visit, consider ordering a DVD from Collegiate Choice Walking Tours. They typically are about an hour long and are similar to the experience you’d get on a college tour.</p>
<p>They are $15 each plus S&H. Maybe you can work out a deal with your school guidance office to place a group order, then swap disks among kids interested in similar schools.</p>
<p>If you’re undecided about large vs. small, public v. private etc., visit local schools that represent a range. Such as UNC, Davidson, and Duke.</p>
<p>I’m open to women’s colleges. I haven’t really been looking into them as of yet. A huge plus would be if one was open to collaboration (not sure of the correct word) with other colleges since, as trivial as it is, I would like some male interaction. But if they offer good financial aid and merit money, I’m all for them.</p>
<p>I’m going to pick up a guide today so hopefully I can do some more research and I’m going to ask my counselor about the DVDs after school. Thanks for the advice on that.</p>
<p>With college visits, is there a strict scheduling or can you show up whenever? I’m clueless, but I have a day off tomorrow and was wondering if I could visit Duke and UNC then.</p>
<p>I’ve also made a list of colleges of interest so far, hopefully representing a nice range.
UChicago
Swarthmore
Yale
Brown
Amherst
Haverford
Carleton
Any input on that? It seems like a reach heavy list, so anyone know of any schools that would be definite safeties? I’m going to ask my counselor about a waiver, so at the moment I’m not concerned about how many schools I’m considering.</p>
<p>SAT 2310 puts you in the top 6000 students in the country. With your high level of responsibility and ability to both work and successfully maintain a rigorous academic workload I think you are “in the ballpark” for almost any school in the country. </p>
<p>Possible safeties for you might include Tufts, U Rochester, U Richmond, Skidmore and Macalester. One strategy is to use UNC Chapel Hill as your one true safety and concentrate on your “reaches” and “possibles”.</p>
<p>See if you can get a copy of the Fiske Guide and just read through the descriptions. Other schools that might be interesting to your acdemcially serious/center personality are Grinnell, Wellesley, and Wash U St.Louis.</p>
<p>Best wishes!!!</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>P.S. For visiting the web sites usually have their times and date for tours and admissions sessions; most all let you just drop in (I think UNC required a reservation). A tip: if you find yourself really liking that school head to the Admin office after the tour and get the name of the admissions rep so you can follow up with him or her.</p>
<p>If you are open to Carleton, then you should definitely consider Grinnell, which offers very generous merit and financial aid, for which you almost certainly qualify and a higher admission rate. (Check the “Why Grinnell” thread under Grinnell on CC). </p>
<p>And I agree with prior posters that working 50 hrs/wk to support your family while maintaining your grades is very impressive. It’s more a question of where you want to go. And don’t worry about not visiting until after you are admitted-the admissions staff understands that most kids (especially those working 50 hrs/wk) can’t afford to fly around the country checking out schools.</p>
<p>canary, It’s never too late. Don’t be afraid of reaching for the top schools. As many have already mentioned your academics are solid and working 50 hours a week is a real asset when it comes to applying to college. Make sure you take the SAT IIs and ace them since colleges definitely require them.</p>
<p>As for the schools you should apply to, you should check out some of the Ivies since many of them will challenge you on many levels (including politics) and the high caliber of students really does make the experience worthwhile. Make sure to look at schools that are strong in what you think you might want to study, BUT also are big enough to be good in other subjects just in case you want to change your mind once you get there. As for paying for it, many Ivies can let you go for free if your family does not earn much money (check with individual schools). Even with this economy they aren’t cutting back on their financial aid like other schools.</p>
<p>All I can say is Wow! If you can handle family stress and all those work hours and still have top stats - you can handle anything. Don’t forget those SAT IIs as someone mentioned if you haven’t taken any yet. 50 hours of work a week still averages out to about 7 hours a day/ 7 days a week - still don’t know how you manage + full time school. Very impressive.</p>
<p>With regards to women’s colleges, most top ones are in consortiums with other, coed schools. Smith and Mount Holyoke, both of which I think you should look into, are in a consortium with Amherst, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Hampshire. Bryn Mawr has Haverford and Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with Bryn Mawr, so I won’t chance you for it, but I think Mount Holyoke could be a good safety and Smith a good low match for you. I agree that you’re a very impressive candidate.</p>