Just starting to check out colleges, and looking for a bunch of suggestions to get things rolling.
About me: White female from SF, CA.
Unweighted GPA 3.85, with a weighted of 4.25- almost the highest possible for my schedule. Plenty of AP courses. ACT 34, SAT 2100. Solid ECs.
College selection info-
I’d like a college in or near new England, Florida, Louisiana, or Washington State.
Not sure of major, perhaps pre med.
Would prefer a smaller school.
Cost shouldn’t be a problem.
Prefer liberal, non religious with not too much Greek life, though not a super important factor. No preference for small town or big city.
As a presumed junior in San Francisco, my advice to you is to start touring various schools so you can get an idea of what you like and don’t like. These don’t have to be schools that you’re necessarily going to attend, but rather the spectrum of sizes and environments which you might want to consider.
When you have the time check out UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz (two schools near the Bay Area in college towns or small college focused communities), St. Mary’s College of California, Mills College (gives an idea of what a LAC will emphasize), UC Berkeley, Stanford, and if you’re ever down in SoCal some of the schools there. Again, these aren’t schools you need to like, but they can be representative of various types of colleges and the broad experiences therein.
Will you need FA or merit aid? If you qualify for decent FA there are many excellent need blind schools that you could pursue. If you don’t qualify for need based aid but need merit aid there are many options out there as well. As a rule of thumb you want to aim for being in the top 25% stats wise (based on incoming freshman class profile) to receive the most merit aid from colleges that give merit aid.
Some ideas:
PNW: Whitman is an excellent small LAC. Awesome school (some merit aid). Other less selective options include Willamette, Lewis and Clark, Puget Sound, Western Washington. All of those give merit aid.
Colorado: Check out Colorado College. If the block plan appeals to you definitely consider CC. Some merit aid.
NE- soooo many excellent schools to consider. Hard to name any in particular. Are you looking for more outdoorsy? If so Middlebury, Williams, Bates, Colby, Bowdoin (none offer merit aid). More artsy? Bard, Skidmore, perhaps even Vassar.
I really don’t know much about the schools near Louisiana.
You might also want to consider the WUE schools based in the western states of Oregon/Washington/Arizona/Alaska/Nevada/Wyoming/Montana/Colorado/Hawaii etc… You will receive reduced tuition at these schools. Here is the link to the school list website: http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all
New England has a wealth of liberal arts colleges that sound like the kind of vibe you want (small, liberal, little greek life or religiousness). Ir4550 named a lot of good ones. Some others to consider: Amherst, Wesleyan, Connecticut College, as well as Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, and Barnard since you’re female. Some slightly less selective ones (it’s good to have a balanced list) include Bennington, Hampshire, and Sarah Lawrence.
Brandeis, while not an LAC, is a small school with a similar type of vibe.
Another thread in this forum, “Accepted to 15 Colleges …,” includes colleges and comments that may be of interest to you. You should find at least four or five in that group that might be appropriate for you and that you might like. You have clearly worked hard and will have a lot of options as a result.
You can also experiment with the search, “Colleges With Great Pre-med Programs.” A list of colleges will come up. Not sure about that site’s methodology, though.
