<p>Hello,
I want to begin by apologizing if I do anything wrong, I just joined the site after reading so many helpful comments, but I had a question of my own.
I will be graduating in the class of 2014 and have applied to 9 colleges and am now having trouble deciding which I like best. Out of the 9 I've narrowed it down to University of Michigan, Boston University, University of Chicago, Cornell University, Notre Dame, and Duke University. I have not been accepted to these yet, but I feel somewhat confident I will get in to at least a couple maybe. I was hoping that you may be able to tell me what you think my chances of getting in are and which of these I should pick to attend.
Now for my attributes. I attend a small Catholic High school in Michigan with roughly 500 kids. We have a slightly more difficult GPA scale than other schools I have heard and are a "College Preparatory High School." Here I have taken 4-5 honors classes every year out of the 7 classes. I have also taken all three AP courses offered at my school. I have a 4.18 weighted GPA and a 3.6 unweighted. I received a 33 on the ACT with a 9 on the writing portion. As for extracurriculars I am very involved. I am an Eagle Scout, captain the soccer team, played lacrosse since sophomore year, played club soccer outside of school, have over 300 hours of community service, involved in numerous school clubs including art club, and book club. I am treasurer for Interact Rotary Club. I am also a part of NHS. I can't think of what else would be important to know about me.
As for the colleges, University of Michigan has also been where I imagined myself going, but now that I have seen these other colleges, I'm starting to have second thoughts. I like the idea of living in a big city, but I somewhat prefer to live slightly outside of the city if it is a huge one (like Chicago). The school MUST have stuff to do on campus and I would love a great nightlife. I like cool architecture on campus but it doesn't necessarily have to have it. Ok this is getting way too long. Any feedback is appreciated and if you need to know anything else just let me know. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Really now. Wait and see and then decide. They are all great places to study so you cannot go wrong. Good luck!</p>
<p>Forget Chicago if you don’t want to live on/near campus. BU is not academically in the same league as the other schools mentioned. Your UW GPA is probably going to make you a reach for most of the schools you mentioned. You are a match for Michigan, although not a high match. If you get into U-M, be glad that your state flagship is so well regarded and academically strong.</p>
<p>Agreed, BU should be removed. I smell under-matching. Remember, buildings and bars are nice and all, but your peers should be your biggest non-academic factor. Birds of a feather flock together. Not to say BU isn’t a great school with tons of success, but it’s not best for you in my opinion.</p>
<p>If you are a Michigan resident and do not receive financial aid, then Michigan will be much cheaper than the others. In that case, then unless your family is quite affluent, you ought to have a good justification for choosing any of the others (assuming they accept you). </p>
<p>If you do qualify for FA, all bets are off. Depending on your circumstances, one or more of the private schools might wind up cheaper out-of-pocket than Michigan. You just need to wait and see what offers you get. You may not wind up with more than a couple of competitively-priced alternatives.</p>
<p>We can’t really give you solid advice until you receive both admissions decisions and financial aid packages. For example, we might tell you that Notre Dame is a great university for you. But that won’t really be of much value to you if you get rejected by it. Or we might tell you that Chicago is a close second, but that may not be of much value if Chicago gives you significantly weaker financial aid than the other universities. </p>
<p>Once you get both admissions decisions and financial aid packages from the universities you’re admitted to, it should make the overall decision significantly easier. And from there, visiting the universities and determining fit should narrow it even further.</p>
<p>I agree that it will be much easier to decide after hearing whether I am admitted or not. I was just thinking that if some of you said that Cornell for example was not a good fit for me and I didn’t get in, I wouldn’t have been as heartbroken. Thank you again for the responses.</p>
<p>Where is your safety school? There is a realistic chance that none of these schools you listed will admit you.</p>
<p>Cut BU. You wouldn’t want to go there</p>