<p>I'm looking for a couple of good safety and match schools that I really love, and I need some suggestions because I'm having a really hard time with it. My parents and my school counselor have helped me find a lot of great schools, but all of them have acceptance rates of below 40% and I'd like to have a choice where I go to school (and to get into a school:P).</p>
<p>So far, I know for sure I'm applying to Princeton, Georgetown, UChicago (all reaches) and University of Maryland (match, and I'm a MD resident so instate tuition:))
I'm an incoming senior.
Cost is only kind of a factor; my parents say my job is to get into the best school I can and we'll find some way to pay for it.</p>
<p>Stats-
GPA- 4.0 unweighted, around 4.5 weighted
Rank- top 5%
SAT- 2320; CR 760; M 800; W 760
PSAT- 232 (hoping for NMS)
APs- 2010- Calc BC (5, subscore 5); World Hist (5)
2011- USH (5); Lang (5); Physics C: Mech (4)
Senior Schedule inc. 4 APs and a math course at local college
ECs- nothing special, a lot of involvement and some leadership in choir and music; 10 yrs piano; model UN Vice pres.; NHS; academic team</p>
<p>Preferences-
I don't plan on majoring in music, but I'd like a school with a good music program (especially choir). I like cold weather, rain and mountains. I don't want to go to school in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia or SC. I think I'd prefer an urban school with a lot of opportunities for work/internships, and I'm looking for schools with good study abroad programs. Good scholarships/financial aid (especially safety schools where I'd have a good shot at academic or music scholarships) is a plus:). Right now I'm looking at international relations or economics, but I've also been looking at majoring in math too. I found I like big and small schools, but I'm looking for schools with really diverse student bodies. A beautiful campus with some nearby hiking trails would be nice. I prefer liberal arts schools; I'd rather not apply directly into a concentration because I'm still not sure.</p>
<p>I know that's a lot, but I'm flexible on almost everything which makes deciding which schools to look at really hard. If any of you saw anything in my preferences and thought instantly of a school that would be awesome:) Thanks for your help (or at least taking the time to read this) and good luck to everyone else too. College searching is crazy!</p>
<p>Look at University of Rochester. Their Eastman school of music is very well-regarded and they offer merit scholarships, which you’d have a good shot at. </p>
<p>St. Olaf is known for its very good music program, is urban as far as LAC’s go, and would probably be a safety for you.</p>
<p>University of Rochester (good for music and merit aid), Tufts, Macalester (Minny/St. Paul) and Johns Hopkins are all strong in IR. Best of luck!</p>
<p>“Cost is only kind of a factor; my parents say my job is to get into the best school I can and we’ll find some way to pay for it.”</p>
<p>Go back to your parents and get a firm minimum budget out of them. Can they pay the full Cost of Attendance (COA) for UMD-CP without taking out any loans? What is their FAFSA EFC likely to be? How much more than the EFC can they pay?</p>
<p>Macaulay Honors College at CUNY is not a safety, but it might meet your other criteria. In addition to a tuition and fees scholarship, the housing is free for two years. [Macaulay</a> Honors College - About Macaulay](<a href=“http://www.macaulay.cuny.edu/about/]Macaulay”>http://www.macaulay.cuny.edu/about/) Students can take coursework at any of the CUNY campuses, and can choose any of the majors offered by CUNY.</p>
<p>If you’re happy going to Maryland, I would honestly just bump that down to a safety - especially since you’re in-state. As good a public school as it is, I think you’re a virtual lock.</p>
<p>St. Mary’s College of MD - the public LAC is a bargain for in-states like you, beautiful campus right on the Chesapeake, study abroad options (the same ones exist at virtually all the schools on semester systems), and a good music program. Not urban - so the internships will have to be over the summer - but you’ll be too busy on campus to care.</p>
<p>If you have completed calculus BC as a high school junior and will major in math, give priority to schools with a graduate program in math. A student two years ahead in math is likely to want to take graduate level math courses as an undergraduate, so an undergraduate-only school may be too limiting.</p>
<p>Note that since a math major program typically does not have a huge number of courses, and tends not to have time consuming lab courses, there should be plenty of schedule space for electives, a minor, or a second major in economics, international relations, etc. around a math major, especially since you are likely to be three or four courses ahead before entering university.</p>
<p>And yes, UMCP is an excellent school for math (and some of the related subjects that math is commonly applied to). If it is safe for both admissions and cost purposes, you can trim the list of schools to apply to down to only those you would prefer over UMCP.</p>
<p>Might look at Holy Cross-very good LAC with very nice campus 1 hour from Boston. HC has very good alumni network and is need-blind for admissions-same as Ivies.</p>
<p>Ask your GC, and/or look at your school’s Naviance, but I think Maryland should be a safety for you. Be sure to apply early.</p>
<p>The other schools are all reaches for everyone, so you could use more match schools. GW. American as a safety. Northeastern is good with internships. Johns Hopkins is good in IR.</p>
<p>WashU as another reach school meets most of your criteria. (no mountains nearby, but right next to Forest Park)</p>
<p>While Rochester is a wonderful school I would look very closely at how easy it is for students on the main campus to take classes at Eastman. You might want to look at Brandeis and Wesleyan. I wouldn’t worry too much about running out of math classes at the more competative LAC. Most kids come in with at least Calc 1, many with much more than that. My son is a double major, Math/Physics, at a LAC and his biggest problem is choosing which classes to take because there are more options than he can fit in (he had completed Calc 2 when he entered college).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!
I looked up Rochester and I really like the school. It doesn’t seem much of a safety though; it’s acceptance rates are lower than Maryland’s. Would it be more of a match school? I like St. Olaf’s too, and I’m definitely considering applying there.
I’d never heard of St. Mary’s before, but I think I will apply there for the in-state tuition (it really is a bargain:)). The campus also looks very nice.</p>
<p>Happymomof1- thanks for the advice about the financial part of this, I did ask my Dad and he said he’d get the information for me. I’m not in Montgomery county, so is Montgomery college not an option then? I’d never heard of Macaulay before, but it seems like an interesting program.</p>
<p>Some of the scholarships offered by Montgomery College are restricted to in-county residents. I don’t know if the Montgomery Scholars Honors Program, Macklin Business Institute, or Renaissance Scholars Honors Program require in-county residence. You would need to check the website and contact the college about that. Any student who meets HS GPA and SAT score requirements can enroll in the Honors sections of classes that offer Honors sections in their first semester. Students who meet GPA requirements later in their program of studies will be invited to enroll in Honors sections. Those classes are not restricted to members of the various honors programs.</p>
<p>If MC is too far for you to commute, look at your own county’s community college, and the CCs in adjacent counties. One of those campuses may work as your rock-bottom safety.</p>
<p>My oldest dd will be a Freshman this coming year at college. We did all the searches for Maryland. You best choices for the state is UMCP, St Mary’s, and John Hopkins. With your stats you can get into any of them. I don’t recommend the private LACs in Maryland with your ability. No doubt you get some merit aid from them but not sure it if will be better than what you get from a state school. </p>
<p>Since St Mary’s is the only LAC in this group you should apply. Go visit the campus this summer and check it out. It is on the water so no mountains around. You are a good candidate for Nitze progam. You get full or close to full tuition scholarship at St Mary’s when your are a Nitze student. </p>
<p>With your stats you will more than likely get into the honors college at UMCP. You may or may not get any scholarship money but you look like a good candidate for something. </p>
<p>I am sad that they did away will the Maryland Distinguish Scholar Award for the upcoming years. You would more than likely been a person to recieve some kind of benefit from that scholarship with your stats. Not sure if being a National Merit finalist will get you some fee applications for Maryland state schools like the Maryland Distinguish Scholar Award did but I would check and apply to all the state schools that give you a free application. All the state schools will give you some kind of merit aid with your stats. I am pretty sure because my dd had lower stats and got into all our higher tiered schools and all of them gave her money. UMCP was the only one that did not give her money becuase she was only admitted to the scholars program and not Honors. St Mary’s didn’t wave the fee for applying but I think you will do well there for merit aid and it will be worth your while. </p>
<p>Im also a Maryland Resident with similar stats to you, I’ve looked into St. Mary’s before and Ive had a sibling attend there and I must say that you will not be disappointed. It is an incredible school especially for your interests. For me personally, I’m keeping UMD-CP as a safety and not applying to St. Mary’s because I think if it came down to just the two I’d go to UMD. For my college list, I have only one safety and several reaches. This is because I would love to attend UMD and I love every program that they offer there so I dont think there’s much need for any other options.
I’m sorry this probably didnt help much but in essence, both St. Mary’s and UMD are great schools and I think you’ll do great at either considering your stats.</p>
<p>Oh and in regards to tuition fees, my sister was a nitze scholar and she loved it so it’d be a great opportunity and as for UMD, they offer hundreds of scholarships that you simply have to apply for and they can all be found online. Unfortunately, I will most likely be applying against you for most of them haha.</p>
<p>Hobart & William Smith (NY)
Skidmore College (NY)
Wheaton College (MA)
Connecticut College (CT) Free Music Lessons!
St. Lawrence University (NY)
Drew University (NJ)
Alfred University (NY) (Regional University) </p>
<p>Check these out, see if anything interests you!
Best of luck in your college search!</p>
<p>Thanks Happymom, that’s a big help!
momof3- I was so upset when they did away with the Distinguished Scholar program after everyone had already applied; I’d been hoping for some kind of money from that. But what happens happens I guess:) Thank you for the advice on St. Mary’s and UMCP. I’m pretty sure I’ll be applying to both, but I was told I’d want to visit St. Mary’s first to see if I’d be comfortable at a more rural campus. Which school did your daughter end up attending?
Aiminghigher- Haha, well I look forward to competing with you for scholarships then;) It’s comforting to know there are other kids in MD in the same kind of situation I am. I mean, I knew there were other students who scored high on the sat, but there aren’t many at my school and it gets kind of scary when everyone thinks you’re going to go to Harvard or something (thank you CC for the perspective). I know that’s not exactly relevant to anything, but reading the posts on this site freaks me out sometimes and yours made me feel a little better for some reason, so i guess thanks?
SLUMom- wow, thanks for the list! I’d already looked at Alfred earlier because I read somewhere they offer great scholarships for national merit, but I’ll definitely check it out again!</p>
<p>I don’t know why Tufts isn’t on your list. It’s arguably one of the best for IR, has a really good study abroad program, and is near a city (Boston). But it’s a reach like G-town, JHU, and U of Chicago (Which are on your list).</p>
<p>haha yeah i mean for me i go to a magnet high school where im at the lower end of my class and where most people end up going to top 10 schools so its not exactly easy to compete. Thats why Ive been trying to excite myself over going to UMD because most likely thats all im going to get. Oh and the montgomery college scholars program is insanely good so id check that out if possible, what county are you from?</p>
