<p>I may be just a freshman in HS, but I'm already extremely involved in trying to figure out where I will go to college, however I'm a bit lost in the sea of possibilities.</p>
<p>I am a fairly good student, and should be sporting a 3.8 GPA or high by the end of senior year if I keep at my current pace, more if I improve, which I should as I did poorly my first two weeks of school, something I'm still playing catch up with. No idea for SAT or ACT.</p>
<p>I take all honors courses and should have all A's by end of semester, except perhaps in Biology depending on how I manage the next test. My biology teacher is famed for having some of the hardest test and it's showing.</p>
<p>This year I am also self-studying APUSH, AP Psychology and AP Euro, so I can all of my History graduation requirements out of the way and leave room for what I love most: Science and Math classes.</p>
<p>I pretty much plan to take all the science courses offered, which includes everything except Anatomy, as i don't care for anatomy. Same with Math.</p>
<p>I am looking to do something with research in the field of either chemistry or physics, astrophysics being a particular interest. So access to research facilities and connections are important to me.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? I don't need to make any decisions yet, obviously, but I want to get thinking. Right now my only ideas are MIT (Yeah, right. Let's see how THAT one goes.) and Missouri S&T which I am 95% sure i can get into.</p>
<p>As a HS frosh, it is a bit early to be selecting colleges. But some things to consider:</p>
<p>All years: Do the best you can in the most rigorous courses you can choose in high school.</p>
<p>Sophomore year: Optionally take PSAT, does not count for anything, but can give you an idea of what the PSAT/SAT is like.</p>
<p>Junior year: Take PSAT, counts for real in qualifying for National Merit status, which can lead to potentially large scholarships. Take SAT and ACT, since some students do better on one versus the other. Use released real old tests as practice tests for preparation. If you might consider colleges that use SAT subject tests (mainly super-selective ones), take them at the end of the year for courses you are just completing. Talk to your parents about what the price limit of their contribution to your college costs will be, if you have not done so already.</p>
<p>Senior year: If necessary, retake with additional practice the higher of SAT or ACT. Look for colleges and scholarships (check net price calculators to get financial aid estimates). Start the application list with at least one safety that you are certain to be admitted to and certain that you can afford.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. However I’ve heard it all a thousand times, and I’m not looking for advice for what to during high school. I’m looking for colleges to look at, even if I’m not at the stage to be seriously considering them.</p>
<p>Not sure how it works where you live, but taking these AP tests won’t get you out of your state social studies requirements for graduation. You actually have to sit through the class for an entire year to get 1 social studies requirement out of the way. And you’ll need 3 or 4 of those.</p>
<p>I’m currently talking to my counselor about the AP classes. I have not received an answer, if he says ‘no’ then I will simply still do these three and simply take AP Governent within a class for the graduation requirement. If my counselor says “yes” then I will probably take AP Government and AP World History self-studying this year or the next, depending on how US, Euro and Psych go.</p>
<p>I repeat, I appreciate the help and advice, but that’s not what I’m asking for. Please answer the question I asked and please don’t simply repeat advice I’ve heard many times over already.</p>
<p>Check out Harvey Mudd, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve, Stanford, Olin, rit, wpi, rennselaer, rose hulman.
If you’re a girl, all the “prestigious” women’s colleges are excellent for science and overall women’s colleges are good for stem fields.
Check out Scripps, Wellesley, Smith, Barnard, Bryn Mawr…
If you live in California: CalTech and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Similar to Missouri S&T: NM school of mining&tech, Colorado school of mines & tech.
For physics: Lawrence University (WI).</p>
<p>You should go to your school library and borrow these books: Fiske Guide, Insider’s guide to the colleges, Princeton review’s best colleges. Then write down names of ALL colleges that sound interesting, go to the colleges’ website, fill out the “request info” or “join our mailing list” form: you’ll get lots of brochures and start reading critically -which will help you down the road for your college search and help you figure out what you want or don’t want. For example, some colleges are proud of their or 1:20 (or even1:24!) student:faculty ratio, whereas others have 1:15 or even 1:11. After a while you figure out what’s good or not, what you like or not, etc and you get very good at critical reading. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions! I hardly know where to start :P. I will make sure to check them all.</p>
<p>On the all-women’s colleges, yes I am a girl and I would definitely consider them, however to be honest the idea of an all-women college isn’t very appealing! They’ll have to catch my eye pretty well to be considered, </p>
<p>re: women’s colleges - Wellesley is in Boston and there are literally 50 other colleges in town; Scripps is part of the Claremont Consortium so you’re actually on a campus with 5 colleges; Bryn Mawr is in a consortium with Haverford, Swarthmore, and UPenn (a bit father away in Philadelphia); Barnard is in a consortium with Columbia and it’s in New York City… so essentially if your fear is to be with no one to date, don’t worry :p.
The atmosphere tends to be less partying/getting drunk, true, and the students tend to be very driven, but if you’re a freshman thinking about college, that shouldn’t really sound like “problems” to you. In short, they’re not for everybody, but they’re too good not to be checked out.</p>
<p>For now, you have a lot of reading to do Good luck and come back when you’ve read a bunch and have a clearer idea of what looks good to you, what you totally don’t want, etc.
(Added bonus: when you fill out those “request info” forms, you get on the college’s radar, and for a college that tracks “interest”, you have a 4-year lead over most other applicants.)</p>
<p>If you care about class sizes, check the on-line schedule for each college to see what actual class sizes are. Many smaller colleges have smaller frosh/soph level courses as a selling point, but may have a smaller selection and less frequent offering of (generally smaller) junior/senior level courses. If you prefer small classes but also a large course selection, a small college with a convenient cross-registration agreement with a big university (e.g. Barnard/Columbia) may allow you to get the best of both (but be careful of commuting and scheduling logistics with some cross-registration agreements).</p>
<p>Hehe, yeah I’m definitely not extremely interested in drinking or partying ;). Maybe a little would be fun, just for the social scene, but not every other day! Nice to know I can find a boy if need be :P. The driven atmosphere does sound appealing, so I will definitely look into it.</p>
<p>Like that bonus.</p>
<p>Class size, I do prefer smaller. Small schools are great too, as long as I’d have a way to reach out to more students if I wanted. The small-college with cross-registration sounds really appealing, I’ll have to look into that.</p>
<p>Look into Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. A great small liberal arts school with a number of cross agreements with schools like Duke, U of Wash and Cal Tech (I think). Kids are driven, but very collaborative and in general it is a very happy place. It is not a big city scene, so much of what happens is on campus or in the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. But if you are o.k. with being in a beautiful but somewhat remote area, it is a fantastic place to check out.</p>
<p>More unsolicited advice - You’re in 9th grade. Check the condescending attitude, or it’s going to be a very long three years until you’re ready to apply. Have that attitude with your teachers at school, and your rec letters won’t exactly be glowing.</p>
<p>Please explain how else I could have responded. I do not want to come across as condescending in anyway, and I apologize if that is how it sounded. However, how else am I to explain that I simply do not want to be given the same advice over and over and never learn something new?</p>
<p>I don’t think commuting from Walla Walla, WA to Durham, NC or Pasadena, CA is realistic, if a cross-registration agreement even exists between Whitman and Duke or Caltech. Seattle, WA is not all that close either.</p>
<p>Maybe if you’re hearing the same thing over and over again from different people, you should start listening to what they are saying. Especially if random strangers on the internet say same things you hear from people in your life</p>
<p>I never said I wasn’t listening to the advice. Of course I do all I can in school and plan to take all the necessary standardized tests and I am thankful for your good intentions. However I’ve already heard it, and I already plan to be doing the things I am being advised to do. Hearing it again and again gets old, and I simply ask that we stop diverging from the actual question of this thread.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, the arrangements between Whitman and Duke, Caltech, UW, etc. are for 3/2 programs in engineering, and other things I can’t remember.</p>
essentially if your fear is to be with no one to date, don’t worry :p.
Good luck and come back when you’ve read a bunch and have a clearer idea of what looks good to you, what you totally don’t want, etc.