<p>I'm a Junior in high school, just got done visiting two colleges during my trip to New Orleans- LSU and Tulane. Some stats:</p>
<p>4.29 GPA weighted, 3.89 unweighted
2190 SAT
Class Rank 23/550 (Top 5%)
Took AP World History last year, only got a 3 :( This year I'm taking 5 AP's and next year I've signed up for 4 so I'll have taken 10 total.
I don't know if its important, but I've taken 4 years of Spanish, and I'll be finishing that journey with AP Spanish Lit. next year.</p>
<p>I go to a basic public high school in Maryland. I have average community service/clubs/leadership, nothing important enough to mention. Part-time job during the winters refereeing basketball games.</p>
<p>I don't really know what I want to study, I'm thinking maybe business or law eventually, but I really want to keep my option open. I'm really undecided. My parents love Stanford, but I know I have no shot at going there.</p>
<p>I enjoyed visiting both LSU and Tulane. My interest in both is still there. I love New Orleans and both those colleges are close, so that's a plus. </p>
<p>I really just want to know what your opinions are as far as, which colleges I should look into and which other nice schools I have a chance to get into.
If you have any questions, or want any additional info, let me know!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much :)</p>
<p>Georgetown, Tufts, Vanderbilt. Duke and some of the ivies would be good reaches for you. Any idea of what kind of college you want to go to? (i.e. large/small, location)</p>
<p>Actually you have a shot at Stanford. The odds are less than 50-50, but everyones odds are less than that. Seriously, don’t rule it out.</p>
<p>Lifekiwi had some nice suggestions, and I agree you should narrow the list by defining some criteria in terms of size, weather, sports, things like that. Also, Tulane isn’t close to New Orleans, it is in New Orleans, lol. I would add Washington University in St. Louis, University of Chicago, Berkeley (although the California budget issue give me pause there), Emory, and Rice. At the same time, don’t forget to pick 2-3 absolute slam dunks. While I think you would get into more than one of those schools, you always have to have some schools where your odds are about 95% that you will get accepted. A student’s state school is usually one of those, and in your case that is a good school too. You can find a couple of others I am sure.</p>
<p>Oh right sorry! I was thinking something mid-sized to large. I think I go to a pretty big high school- 2,300 people. Location, location…I must admit I like the south, but honestly if the school is quality with a nice campus and friendly people, I’ll go anywhere. I really appreciate your response lifekiwi, it’s nice to see I have a chance at some of these, in my mind, higher-end schools!</p>
<p>Thanks fallenchemist! It’s kind of exciting thinking about having a chance at some of these places. As far as safety school, I’m pretty sure University of Maryland or even LSU are pretty sure bets.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree LSU is another safety, absolutely.</p>
<p>Not to be a downer after pumping you up, lol, but just keep in mind that while you absolutely have a good chance at many of these schools, they are very selective and the whole thing is mysterious sometimes. So a year from now when the time comes and answers are rolling in, just don’t let your ego be dictated to by these decisions. Either way actually. You might get into most and it doesn’t say anything different than if you only get into a couple (besides the safties I mean). The process is just what it is, and usually incomprehensible.</p>
<p>Right, right I definitely understand. Thanks for being very helpful. What do you think about Wake Forest or UNC?</p>
<p>JMHO, but I like UNC better. Wake is good, don’t get me wrong. But Winston-Salem is a small, pretty quiet place. Not that Chapel Hill isn’t, but UNC is a bigger school. Lovely place. Academically Wake is just a smidge below Tulane for example. UNC is about the same as Tulane, and offers the larger school experience. Just a matter of what you are looking for I think. Certainly both viable options for you. UNC is tough for OOS though. I think by charter they have to take something like 80% instate. At least I believe I read that on here somewhere. You would have to verify that.</p>
<p>I have no idea what role finances might play, but that will be another interesting thing for you to see what happens. At Tulane and some of these other schools you are very likely to be offered a sizable merit scholarship. Others, like Stanford, don’t do that at all. And inbetween there are ones that offer merit scholarships but you have to apply separately for them, such as Wash U and Chicago. Very competitive for any merit scholarships at those schools.</p>
<p>Very interesting information. Yeah it was interesting seeing that Tulane has 86% of students coming from out of state. I’m not sure of how this compare to most other schools, but yeah 80% instate from UNC is quite high.</p>
<p>UNC is extremely difficult to get into from out of state - not saying you don’t have a shot, just that they must take a particularly large % from in-state. Wake Forest is a great choice although a little on the small size of mid-large. Still, it has big sports and we loved our visit there. Son came very close to choosing it, but opted for a bigger University setting. </p>
<p>If you like the idea of UNC, some other big U’s in nice college towns (and with varying levels of selectivity) might be U of Michigan, UVA, University of Wisconsin- Madison, University of Georgia (Athens in a great college town, south which you say you like - should be fairly safe for you, perhaps the honors program?), Penn State…</p>
<p>A school somewhat similar in size and feel to Wake (although sports not quite as big) would be William and Mary. </p>
<p>Hope this helps. Good luck</p>
<p>It definitely does help travelfan! Options are exactly what I wanted from this thread :)</p>
<p>Tulane has more students from 500+ miles away than any university in the country, apparently. Something like 75%.</p>
<p>Good suggestions from travelfun too, although personally I am not that keen on UW Madison. I know it is a good school but I never liked the “vibe” there. Obviously that is just me though. As far as Georgia, Athens is a great college town, and certainly the Honors Program is a step up from the overall university population, but I think you can do better. Penn State Honors, on the other hand, is almost Ivy in quality of students. Penn State in general, though, is really huge and pretty crazy a lot of the time. Look up <a href=“http://www.thisamericanlife.org%5B/url%5D”>www.thisamericanlife.org</a> and find the segment about Penn State. It agrees with what I heard about it living in Pittsburgh for 10 years.</p>
<p>I have heard a lot of great things about W&M.</p>
<p>As you can see you can get tons of suggestions. Hence the need to set a few criteria and then apply to a reasonable number. Depending on how much you want/need merit scholarships, I always thought 10-12 with 2-4 safeties was a good target, but some kids do 18 or even more. It can get kind of nuts.</p>
<p>Once I narrow my choices down by the Fall, how many applications do you all suggest?</p>
<p>I do have to say that I may be biased…I went to W&M. I have a son at UW- Madison. No school is for everyone - he loves the “vibe” there; that is where “fit” really comes into play. </p>
<p>I agree with Fallenchemist that some of these schools are “better” than others, but I tried to give a range of choices, not just reaches. Also, not everyone wants the most “prestige and competitiveness” they can find…my NMF niece turned down some top schools for a good solid U with a scholarship and honors opportunities and is super happy. </p>
<p>Re: Penn State - I think Athens, Ann Arbor and Madison are better true college towns, but Happy Valley has its strengths - not only is the honors program at Penn State excellent, but their undergrad business program is very well-respected (since you mentioned a business interest).</p>
<p>And I agree with you completely travelfun. There really is no “better”. After all, Harvard would be a terrible place for someone that didn’t have the intellectual capacity to fit in there, if they somehow got in. And to be fair, the year I spent at Madison it was under 5 feet of snow for months, lol. After New Orleans that was just too hard to take. Probably contributes to my negative opnion, although I also found it to be very impersonal after the “intimacy” of Tulane, at least relatively speaking. The fact of the matter is the schools mentioned so far represent a really excellent variety of choices, once the OP starts figuring out the general atmosphere he wants.</p>
<p>I know Tulane’s campus is really nice, but I have heard W&M’s is also one of the most gorgeous around. True?</p>
<p>NOLA - is money an issue? If so, how much of an issue? Why I ask is that if merit scholarships will influence the decision, it impacts where you apply potentially, and how many you send out.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist, why do you think Tulane is above Wake in academics?</p>
<p>Only slightly, but I say that based on average test scores and other statistical qualifications of the incoming classes. Especially the last few years, Tulane’s have been very strong. So if you believe (as I do) that a huge part of the academic experience is the strength of your peers and the competition you face, then you might draw the same conclusion as I do.</p>
<p>It is a close call, I would be willing to concede they are very similar. All top 100 schools can provide an excellent education, it is really more about the other factors (size, location, weather, sports, many other things) once you know you have a decent fit academically. And clearly someone that is a decent fit academically at Wake is also one at Tulane, they are so close in that regard.</p>