Just Starting College List

College Search & Selection
1

I am a rising HS junior, and have begun putting together a college list. Areas of interest include Chemistry, Biology and Math. As of now, I am planning to go to med school.

I live in the Midwest, and like the idea of going to college in the Midwest or Mideast, but am open to other areas. I am planning visits to Carleton, St. Olaf, Oberlin, Case Western, Northwestern, U.Chicago and UW-Madison this summer. I am hoping that mix will give me a good idea of types of schools/campuses.

Other schools on my initial list of interest include Pomona, Vassar, MIT, Harvey Mudd, Amherst, Grinnell, Haverford, and Wooster.

I realize I am very early in the process, and that this list of schools is mostly, if not all, reaches. Most of the colleges I have been interested in are LACs, because I really like the idea of gaining a strong relationship with my professors and gaining research opportunities.

My PSAT scores from sophomore year were Reading: 620/760 Math: 760/760. I am working to get my Reading scores up for PSAT/NMSQT and SAT for this coming year. I have a 4.25 weighted GPA with many AP (Human – 4, Euro – 4, Stats – 5) and Honors (English, Math, Science) courses. This coming year will include AP Chem, AP Calc BC, Honors Physics and Honors Spanish 4. Some of my ECs include Varsity hockey, JV water polo, math team, future medical professionals club, weekly volunteering at a hospital, and volunteering as a youth hockey mentor. I also work as a hockey referee and as a life guard.

Ideally I would get merit aid and other scholarships wherever I can, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. If I could get input on what else I need to add to my resume and some other colleges that I should start to consider (including matches and safeties), that would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading through my long post.

2

Mideast?

Edited to acknowledge clarification below.

3

Sorry…was thinking states like KY, OH, PA etc. I don’t want to open my list up to everything on the East Coast or Northeast, but will absolutely consider those that make sense.

4

Carleton, Grinnell, Swarthmore, Haverford, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Reed and Kenyon represent highly selective LACs that I would have suggested for your academic interests without reading your own tentative inclusions and all the details of your post. As it appears, these suggestions correspond to a fair extent with the tentative choices you actually listed. With respect to some of the safer admits you mentioned (St. Olaf, Wooster), you might also want to consider Macalester.

5

Is college hockey a possibility? You’re not mentioning D1 recruitment so I’ll assume that’s not a factor, but St. Olaf and SUNY Buffalo have D3 teams, in addition to all of the NESCAC schools; and Carleton, Northwestern, CWRU and UChicago have club teams, as does URochester which would be a worthy “mideast-adjacent” addition to your list.

Sounds like you will have many great options, and you’re doing your research early, so I’m sure you will have a well-crafted list by the time you’re ready to apply!

6

@merc81 thank you, I am definitely going to add Macalester to my list. I appreciate the input.

7

SUNY Buffalo is D1. I believe they also have club teams.

8

@aquapt correct, no NCAA hockey recruitment. Club hockey would be great, and an added bonus to any school I am considering. I will begin to look into all those that you listed. Thank you.

9

Drop Harvey Mudd if you are serious about med school. Grade deflation is a reality there. It is an amazing education, but med schools aren’t very forgiving on the grade issue.

10

@twoinanddone SUNY Buffalo is D1 in general but they don’t have a D1 hockey team. It seems as if their team is really a club team (?), but it competes in the D3 SUNY Athletic Conference. And it’s an excellent STEM school which isn’t that far from the midwest, so… just mentioned fwiw.

(Not that I know much of anything about college hockey, but I looked at the list of D3 teams and Buffalo was on it.)

11

Hockey is different, and in the upstate NY area gets even stranger. Blame it on the Canadians. A few D3 schools play D1 because they were playing that when the divisions happened in the early 1970s (RPI, Union, St. Lawrence). D2 schools play all over because there are only a few, and there are tournament rules too.

A D3 school can play up, but a D1 school can’t play down. Well, except Holy Cross women play down, but then can’t play in the tournaments so it is sort of like a club team.

Anyway, OP said he’s not looking for a scholarship or help getting into a D3 school.

12

Gustavus Adolphus, Lawrence, Augustana, Beloit Kalamazoo, Wooster, Allegheny would be safeties if you show interest. Read about them and pick a couple.

Centre? Denison?

Your list is pretty good as is though.