Need help cutting schools off my list...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Background - I'm a white male from St. Louis, Missouri. I got to an elite college prep school, that is ranked #25 in the nation. My sophomore year in high school I was suspended for a drinking incident with my wrestling team (near death experience), but since then I have proved through academics, athletics, and by starting a club to promote a sober student body, I have shown that I have grown past this incident. </p>

<p>Grades - My GPA has a huge upward curve. It started off low freshman year (2.9) and has grown to a 3.72. I have taken all honors and AP courses. My teachers harp on the fact that I am a great debater, and a driving force in class discussions. My two recommendations are going to come from my adviser, who has taught me in World History I and AP European History. (He is a graduate of Kenyon College). My other rec is from my Drama teacher, who has directed me in numerous plays and has watched me become one of the school's strongest actors.</p>

<p>Test Scores - On the ACT I got a 28 (31 reading, 29 English, 28 Science, 24 Math). I have also taken two subject tests. On Literature I scored a 680, and on US History I scored an 800. (I plan on majoring in History)</p>

<p>Common Application Essay - I am an extremely talented writer, and the topic of my essay is going to be about my transformation. The summer in between my Sophomore and Junior year I lost 105 lbs., and this change on the outside masked the metamorphosis that occurred on the inside. </p>

<pre><code> Extracurriculars
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<p>Sports - Two years of Football (had to quit due to concussions), two years of Wrestling (had to quit due to concussions, and for earlier mentioned reasons), two years of Cross Country (two varsity letters), and four years of Track and Field (2 varsity letters)</p>

<p>Theater - By the time I have sent out my application I will have been in 7 productions. I have had my share of small ensemble parts, but I have also been able to play some large roles in plays such as The Elephant Man, The Curious Savage, and soon to be The Tempest. </p>

<p>Clubs - I am the founder of Campus Libertarians. I am also a co-founder of the Dream team (the student body sobriety group I talked about earlier). I serve as the school's newspaper Sports Editor, and I also am a member of the school news station and the Debate team. </p>

<p>Summer Activities - The summer in between my Sophomore and Junior year I worked at film making camp for elementary school aged kids for several weeks. This summer I am going to a screenwriting camp at the University of Tulsa.</p>

<p>Colleges I am looking at</p>

<p>Kenyon College (#1 choice, hoping that my rec from a graduate will help)
Illinois Wesleyan University
Truman State University
Earlham College
The College of Wooster
Colorado College
Whitman College
Occidental College
Claremont McKenna College
American University
Wesleyan University
Emerson College
Rice University
Trinity University
Rhodes College
Tulane University </p>

<p>I plan on applying to 9 or 10 schools, so any help would be appreciated cutting down the list. I want a school with a strong intellectual community. I don't care that much about location. I would really prefer not going to a school where Greek life dominates the social scene. In the future I would love to be a filmmaker/screenwriter, but there is no way my parents would ever let me go to college for that. I'm very good at history, and enjoy it quite a bit. Maybe I'll get a PhD in that and become a professor? My parents really want me to go to law school, but I don't think I wan to.</p>

2

<p>I forgot to put McGill on the list</p>

3

<p>If Kenyon is your #1 choice then you should probably take out Wesleyan, Rice, and Claremont McKenna because I think they’re all a bit reachy for you.</p>

4

<p>You can take Emerson off your list… Emerson is devoted exclusively to the study of communication and performing arts, but you can get a minor in history. </p>

<p>To add to your confusion - You might want to look into UNCW (UNC-Wilmington).</p>

5

<p>I was thinking about taking Rice and Wesleyan off. I still really like Claremont McKenna though.</p>

<p>I’ll look up UnC Wilmington. Thanks for the rec.</p>

6

<p>Claremont McKenna College. While there is not a Greek system there is a dominant culture of heavy-drinking and partying, which it sounds like you don’t want. Also, a 3.7 and a 28 ACT would make it a heavy reach for you.</p>

<p>Rice-Your scores as they stand today make Rice a big reach.</p>

<p>Occidental looks like a good match.</p>

7

<p>I looked up UNC Wilmington, and I don’t think it’s for me. I’m going to axe Rice off my list.</p>

8

<p>I’m thinking about replacing Claremont McKenna with Pomona. Would this be advisable?</p>

9

<p>Pomona fits in with your other choices better. CMC has a preprofessional vibe as opposed to LAC vibe Pomona. But Pomona’s even harder to get into.</p>

10

<p>You are all over the locational board here. Being from St. Louis, culturally, Kenyon, Illinois Wesleyan, and Rhodes may make sense.</p>

11

<p>Nothing wrong with having some geographic diversity. In fact, I think college is an excellent opportunity to move beyond one’s region of rearing, so to speak.</p>

12

<p>If you like Pomona but would like something a little less reachy, try Pitzer. But, even Pitzer is just as reachy as Kenyon, your first-choice.</p>

13

<p>If you’re in Missouri, Truman State is a (safe) match and should be affordable. It should definitely stay on the list.</p>

<p>As Kenyon is your first choice, it too obviously stays on the list. That leaves you with room for 7 or 8 more schools. My suggestions:</p>

<p>Keep
– American
– Colorado College
– Earlham
– Whitman
– Wooster</p>

<p>Consider
– Oberlin - If you like Kenyon, Oberlin is an obvious choice. Any reason it’s not on your list? It’d be a bit of a reach but not impossible.
– Knox - Great school, gives $. A little easier to get into than some of your other options.
– Hendrix - Same as Knox.
– Lewis & Clark</p>

<p>Reconsider
– Rhodes and Trinity are a little different from the others - more mainstream and less quirky.
– Rice would be a big reach. Wesleyan would also be a reach.
– Emerson is specialized, as was mentioned.</p>

14

<p>I did consider Oberlin, but my parents made me take off my list. They heard some horror story from one of the parents at my school. I visited Knox, and I was not a fan. I’m not crazy about Hendrix’s location. Lewis and Clark was on my list at some point, and it just kind of fell off it somehow.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any thoughts on Tulane or McGill?</p>

15

<p>You should first decide if you want a large research university of a small LAC. That would help you whittle down your list. </p>

<p>New Orleans and Montreal are incredible cities. Montreal is safer, New Orleans is warmer! Tulane is medium sized while McGill is large. Both would give you a great education but the campus environments would be quite different from a LAC.</p>

16

<p>I am a little biased, but definitely keep Wooster. The Independent Study requirement sounds like it would definitely meet your needs for grad school plans, particularly for the filmmaking/screenwriting goal.</p>

<p>Attached is a link about a Wooster alum and his first feature film (BTW, he is otherwise known as Zowie Bowie)</p>

<p>[Duncan</a> Jones - College of Wooster](<a href=“Duncan Jones '95 WoWs fans (again) - The College of Wooster The College of Wooster”>Duncan Jones '95 WoWs fans (again) - The College of Wooster The College of Wooster)</p>

<p>I’d keep Kenyon and Rhodes as well, don’t know enough about any of the others.</p>

<p>GOOD LUCK!</p>

17

<p>Well I don’t want to go to a big school, I just really liked Montreal. Tulane doesn’t seem all that big (5,200 undergrads), but who know maybe that is too big for me? So far I have cut off</p>

<p>Rice
McGill
Wesleyan</p>

18

<p>Hi country day. FWIW, my D felt exactly the same way about McGill. I took her to Montreal and she absolutely fell in love with the city, and why not? It is a wonderful place. Before we saw the campus and went on the McGill tour, we went to some of the local places within a few blocks of campus and she really enjoyed that vibe. She speaks reasonably fluent French and the whole thing excited her, to the point where she said “I really want to like this school”. She didn’t at all. She felt like the campus was way too “concrete”, it really didn’t feel like a campus at all. Too many of the class sizes were the impersonal lectures of hundreds at a time, and in the end it just did not fit her. It was a shame in some ways, of course. But that is why it is great there are so many choices. The two schools she liked best were WUSTL and Tulane. She felt like they had the best balance of all the factors she was looking for. Smart students but with a “grounded” feel, which I think translates into kids that really liked being there, nice campuses, good academics, etc. Of course New Orleans had its own pull on her.</p>

<p>Tulane definitely does not feel big. The campus is rather compact for a school its size, but still lots of quads and green. You will see what I mean when you go to visit.</p>

19

<p>So wait, why aren’t you going into filmmaking/screenwriting? That’s what you want to do and that’s what you love. I personally think you should go to college to learn and to find what you love. So unless you’re dead set on majoring in History, I would say go talk to your parents and tell them you want to go into the film industry.</p>

20

<p>5pencer - that sounds lovely, but I have seen enough posts on here to know that in some caseswhen the parents are paying, they feel they get high levels of input (read “they get to pick”) into the decision of what school and what major. Now only a small minority would forbid a second major or a minor in an area of interest to the student, but they want to at least see a major they feel will lead to some more stable career, or at least provide a fallback. Not sure how history does that, lol, but hey. Frankly I think a double major of history and film would be an outstanding combination.</p>

<p>When I was an undergrad, I was in a music group that had a couple of students from the med school and law school. One of the law school students never wound up practicing law, but instead became a playwright/screenwriter and has been immensely successful. His name is Robert Harling and he wrote Steel Magnolias, Soapdish, the First Wives Club (screenplay only on that one), and others. So there are other paths into that career in any case.</p>