Match Me! Undecided senior who doesn't know where to go at all [FL resident, 3.8 GPA, 34 ACT, 1450 SAT, top 31% rank in selective magnet school]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics
US Citizen

  • State/Location of residency: Central Florida
  • Type of high school: Extremely selective stem magnet high school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: White male
  • Other special factors: Median - High income (100k - 300k), Track/Cross country athlete

Intended Major(s)
Completely undecided

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8
  • Weighted HS GPA : 4.28 (AP is equivalent to 5.0, Honors is 4.5, Reg is 4.0)
  • Class Rank: 31/100
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34, 1450

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
7 AP classes, currently taking 6 more. AP scores: 3 5s (Physics C Mechanics, Us History, Calculus AB), 3 4s (World History, AP Lang, Physics 1), 1 3 (Seminar).

Awards
Academic letter
Track and Field Varsity Letter
Pin Award
AP scholar with Distinction

Extracurriculars
Odyssey of the Mind (Performer and Prop construction)
Varsity Track and Field
Varsity Cross Country
Volunteering
Tutor Club

Essays/LORs/Other
I’m still trying to figure out my essay, it will mainly about my various passions in academic subjects outside of school e.g. linguistics, geography, history, and athletics.
I’m getting LORs from my AP physics and AP Lang/Lit teachers.
Both of them are really good, they discuss how I can grasp concepts easily and I can get deep into them easily

Cost Constraints / Budget: Any budget

Schools

  • Safety: USF
  • Likely: UCF
  • Match: UF
  • Reach: idk

I would be really grateful if you could recommend something that would match my interests. The school I’m looking for:
A school with a mostly academic focus, not a “party college” or a school with a huge focus on sports. I want a school with a diverse selection of clubs/societies that I can explore my interests in. I value a community with diverse viewpoints, not all a likeminded population.

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I would probably say that, based on what you want, WIlliams/Amherst would be an intersting choice. The campus is very well diversed when it comes into ideologies, and just similarly to other LACs, you can explore a lot of aspects of yourself. Have in mind the school location.
In FLorida, maybe you can look into new college, in your case, I would probaby say that you will either love it or hate it. Be aware of the housing situation.

University of Chicago might be another school that might interest you. The student population is very academic, and at the same time diverse when it comes into politics. Be aware that the admission criteria is very selective. Good Luck

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So I want to start by noting the really good public colleges like Florida can be great for kids like you. That is a boring answer in some respects, and can seem too easy, but seriously, they can be exciting in detail once you get started and realize what a vast array of different good departments and interesting activities they have available. I’d also hesitate to recommend you look OOS anywhere, because Florida is such a great option in-state.

There are then like a million private colleges I could recommend, but I will just throw out some to maybe consider that I personally think fit your description. Again, there are more, a lot more, but these are the ones that come to my mind.

I think for the reachiest schools, maybe look at Yale, Stanford, Penn, Chicago, and Northwestern. For mildly less reachy but still very reachy, maybe look at Georgetown and WUSTL. And then finally, you might take a look at Rochester and William & Mary (the last is a public, but actually feels a lot like a private).

You could also check out at least a couple LACs, and see what you think. Maybe they will be too small for you, maybe they will sound great. My main reservation at this point is I think you would really want to visit before applying, and that could be tricky.

But you could also just visit after getting acceptances. Again, there are so many, but based on your description, I’d look at Carleton, Grinnell, and Macalester, Vassar, Swarthmore, and Haverford, and Pomona and Claremont McKenna. You could also look at NESCAC LACs like Williams and Amherst, but sports is a very big deal there.

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Complete undecided across all subjects, or among STEM subjects (given that you attend a “stem magnet school”)?

Are there any subjects that are unlikely for you to choose a major in?

Main suggestion is to check whether any majors of possible interest to you are limited access or capacity limited at each college. Such majors can require competitive admission to change into after enrolling, or not allow entry to current students at all.

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I think that you will find this at the University of Florida, where there is probably going to be something for everybody.

As for “[a] school with a mostly academic focus, not a ‘party college’ or a school with a huge focus on sport,” a couple of observations: (1) any school will be as academically focussed or not based on how focussed you are on academics; and for some students, every school is going to be a “party school” whether they are at an Ivy League school or at a third-rate public university. If you are able to get into an honors program, then you should be able to find sufficient academic focus to suit you. (2) Insofar as avoiding a school that doesn’t have a huge focus on sports, no one will force you to go to a single football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, or other game if you don’t want to. I spent quite a few football Saturdays in the library, notwithstanding the football focus of my undergraduate university. Any college or university is what you make of it, really.

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In my opinion, UChicago would be a waste of time, especially since you’d be applying RD. Very tough admit in RD. If you are looking for a reach school, maybe look at Brown. Their open curriculum would be good for someone undecided on majors. And they get more female applicants than male so the admission rate is slightly better for you.

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For reachier schools, you might see if you like:

Washington University in St Louis
NYU

I say that because you expressed an interest in linguistics and schools with less of a party school reputation.

For public schools, I agree it would be hard to justify the cost of one outside Florida considering the Florida options available to you. Maybe look at the merit available at University of Arizona but I am not sure you would find it superior to schools already listed.

What are your preferences for location? Geographic? Urban/rural?

Preferred size of school?

What major(s) are of most interest?

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No FSU ? UCF is safet too. UF - I’d say low reach.

What is your budget? You are high income but how much is your family willing to spend? Are you ok staying in state because you can go cheap OOS too.

Do you have a size preference (you chose big) or weather, etc. There’s lots of names thrown out of different sizes and geographies.

I think your schools have what you want - clubs, diversity, etc. and what you don’t want - huge and a focus on sports.

Given you likely have free tuition - tell us what’s realistic budget wise - and we could open up some more ideas.

Thanks

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If you would like to explore diverse academic areas before choosing a major, you might benefit from looking into colleges with open curricula.

Btw, regarding your application itself, it seems that your ACT score represents you better than your SAT score (perhaps depending on your section scores).

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That web page has a very flexible definition of “open curriculum”.

Examples:

But students still need to take a major, minor, or 3-course cluster in each of humanities, social sciences, and natural science + engineering.

The above looks a lot like general education requirements.

For some reason, The Evergreen State College, which is the archetype of open curriculum (for its BA degree, 180 quarter credits are required, but no specific courses or subject areas or types of courses are required), is not listed on that web page.

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The site suggests a broader set of colleges from those I would recommend for notably flexible curricula. However, with, for example, the University of Rochester, the site indirectly recognizes accessibility. That is, UR does not have multiple internal divisions that might prevent students from exploring across academic disciplines. Regarding Evergreen State, I believe it is not included because the site apparently screens initially based upon general academic aspects.

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Based on what you say you want, I’ve listed some schools that come to mind and classified them by my guesses as to your chances for acceptance. Some possible schools that come to mind for you include:

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Gustavus Adolphus (MN): About 2100 undergrads
  • Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 5100 undergrads at this Jesuit school

Likely (60-79%)

  • Binghamton (NY): About 14k undergrads and they’re usually more generous with merit aid for out-of-state students
  • St. Olaf (MN): About 3k undergrads and students can also take classes at Carleton
  • Truman State (MO): About 3600 undergrads, and perhaps what New College was originally intended to be. This is a great liberal arts college option (public) that really punches above its weight. It does not have the ideological connotations that either the previous or newly instituted New College does.

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Brandeis (MA): About 3700 undergrads, and leaning towards the toss-up category, too.
  • College of William & Mary (VA): About 6800 undergrads. For male applicants, this would lean towards a toss-up.
  • U. of Rochester (NY): About 6800 undergrads
  • Villanova (PA ): About 7k undergrads

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Carleton (MN): About 2100 undergrads and students can also take classes at St. Olaf
  • Emory (GA): About 7100 undergrads and students can also take classes at other Atlanta area schools like Morehouse, Georgia Tech, SCAD, etc.
  • Rice (TX): About 4500 undergrads
  • Washington U. (MO): About 8100 undergrads
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One would hope!

(I am sure Austen meant St Olaf.)

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Yep! Thankfully, Carleton students can take classes at both Carleton and St. Olaf! :joy:

I’ve now corrected the original text. Thanks for letting me know!

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Try and get a book like “Fiske guide to the colleges”.

Perhaps colleges like Lafayette, Kenyon, Grinnell, Macalester, Skidmore, and Brandeis would be of interest? “Join the mailing list” at those you find interesting (open the emails and click on any link you’re curious about, since they track “interest”), see if you can apply EA to maximize your odds.

Have you run the NPC and talked with your parents?
100K income means a LOT of financial aid at the above colleges, whereas 300K means being almost full pay. What budget did your parents indicate? If they haven’t, can you run the NPC on colleges you like and see what they say?

If you’re full pay and they’re okay with it, what about Georgia Tech? William&Mary?

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