Need Help Developing my List: Suggestions Appreciated

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello! I'm a HS junior and I've been developing my college list since this past June. I'm looking for suggestions for colleges that I would be a good fit for that I may have missed, as well as insight on any of the schools that I'm currently looking at.</p>

<p>Objectively, my stats are:
Current GPA: 4.0 unweighted; HS does not weight
School: Decent mid-sized public
Race/Gender: Hispanic female; my name is clearly Spanish and I speak fluently
Prospective Major: Environmental Science/Studies/Policy, Political Science, Spanish (?)
Class Rank: 2 out of about 500
State: CO</p>

<p>ACT: 35, 10 essay
PSAT/SAT: Took PSAT in October, awaiting scores. Planning to take SAT in March.
AP: Spanish Lang and Culture (5)</p>

<p>Current Courseload: IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Theatre Arts HL, IB Environmental Science SL, IB French SL, IB TOK (semester), AP Calculus BC, Economics (semester), Auditioned Chamber Orchestra (credit given; not regularly scheduled class but appears on my transcript)</p>

<p>Planned Senior Courseload: IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Theatre Arts, IB Mathematics HL, IB TOK (semester), AP Biology, AP Government, Art and Design (semester), Auditioned Chamber Orchestra</p>

<p>I plan to take the exams in all AP and IB subjects; schools that take these credits are a plus, but not a necessity.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars and Work:
Violin (12 years; I take private lessons, teach my teacher's younger students, have participated in/interned for a few different chamber music programs); Technical Theatre (4 years; participated in 16 school, community, and professional shows, worked as designer/technical director/stage manager, designs have won awards at state level); Environmental work (4 years; teaching and volunteering at local Environmental Learning Center, trail work in local state and national parks, summer internship in Lake Clark National Park with the Student Conservation Association); Tutoring (I aide in an ESL guided study hall and also tutor Spanish-speaking peers in my spare time; I am fluent in Spanish)</p>

<p>Financial aid is not an issue; my parents and grandparents have saved 270k for my education, both parents make sizable salaries, and I have enough savings of my own to cover most incidental costs.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a smaller college (<7000 undergrad), preferably undergrad-focused or exclusive.Near a large urban area is a plus, but not a necessity (schools like Bowdoin, etc. are fine). I'd like to be in the Pacific Northwest (north of the Bay Area) or the Northeast (New England or Mid-Atlantic). A liberal-arts school with an artsy vibe and good music and theatre opportunities for non-majors is ideal. Good-to-outstanding environmental policy/studies/science and political science programs are important. Friendly to lesbians / nice gay dating scene is a plus.</p>

<p>So far, my list (ranked in order of preference) is as follows:
1. Barnard
2. Bowdoin
3. Colby
4. Lewis and Clark
5. Wellesley
6. Muhlenberg
7. Bryn Mawr
8. Mount Holyoke
10. CU Boulder (super-safety; guaranteed admission, in-state)</p>

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<p>Also, if submitting ACT with writing, do any of these schools require SATIIs, and if so, how many/what subjects? I thought I had looked over the testing requirements pretty thoroughly, but reading some threads on individual college forums makes it sound like some schools require SATII regardless of ACT with writing.</p>

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<p>Nice job, OP. That’s a great resumé. Love in particular your work with Student Conservation Association; I know the good work those crew teams do. Did you have a good time in Lake Clark? My D did one in Katmai and another in Jellystone and loved them; wants to be a crew chief after college.</p>

<p>You could if you wanted to attract a lot of financial aid. I know you don’t need it, but why not save that 270K or a large part of it for some other use. The best schools who offer to meet 100% of need-based aid would like to read your application. And there are lots of other schools that would consider offering you full tuition or full ride. Did either of your parents graduate from a 4yr college?</p>

<p>You should think about applying for programs that would fly you in to some of the nation’s best schools for interviews and campus tours. Pomona for instance does this, and so do many ivies. Take advantage of these opportunities. The fly-ins are usually in early fall of senior year.</p>

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<p>@jkeil911‌
Thanks for your response! Lake Clark was fantastic; beautiful landscape, fascinating local community, very engaging work. I love what the SCA does, and definitely made some long-term friendships on that trip. For sure contributed to my interest in Environmental Science/Policy.</p>

<p>My parents both went to Yale for undergrad, and both have terminal degrees in their professions, so I am by no means first-gen. My family makes enough money (and my father has generous enough parents) that applying for need-based financial aid is most likely pointless. However, I will happily take any merit scholarships available, and do plan on applying for the Boettcher (a full ride for Colorado students to any Colorado undergraduate institution). </p>

<p>I wasn’t familiar with those fly-out programs - I’ll take a look, thanks for the suggestion! I’ve visited a few MA and ME schools. Loved Wellesley, Colby, and Bowdoin, and liked Mount Holyoke. Took Tufts (didn’t like the neighborhood, but impressed with theatre department) and BU (just too big) off my list. I plan on visiting NY/PA schools over spring break.</p>

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<p>@claryco, you will be a person of interest to many colleges and universities, and as @jkeil911 says a candidate for merit aid as well. </p>

<p>I would definitely add Williams to your list. Excellent environmental and political science programs (including environmental policy) plus an outstanding arts focus. Williams offers multiple performance opportunities in music and theater – even for non-majors – superb facilities, and extensive support for the arts.</p>

<p>I would also look at Smith, Wesleyan.</p>

<p>Be sure to submit a music performance supplement with your applications. Since you are prepared to pay full tuition you should consider applying ED to your top choice, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve visited. </p>

<p>I believe Williams requires 2 SATIIs. If you’re in doubt, call the colleges and double check.</p>

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<p>Definitely check out Swarthmore, and possibly Ursinus (one the CTCL schools) and Franklin and Marshall on your PA tour. Also William and Mary in VA, if looking that far south.</p>

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<p>@momrath‌
Thanks! I hadn’t given Williams much thought, but after browsing the website, I think I’m in love - it looks like a wonderful environment that hits on a lot of my academic and artistic interests, not to mention a beautiful campus. I walked through the Smith’s campus when I visited Holyoke, but had no time for an official visit. It’s definitely on the “pending” list, although applying to all five of the single-sex Seven Sisters might be a little overkill.</p>

<p>@mamag2855‌
Thanks for your suggestion of Ursinus - wasn’t even on my radar! Env. Studies course offerings look great, nice location, and the rolling (?) EA option is very attractive (I like to plan ahead).</p>

<p>In the interest of geographic diversity and pleasing the paternal relatives (who are Washingtonians through and through), does anyone have any suggestions in the Pacific NW (WA, OR, Northern CA)? I love the natural beauty and generally laid-back culture of the region. I’ve looked at Whitman, which is attractive academically and in terms of school culture, but is a little isolated.</p>

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<p>With your stats, Ursinus might also offer you their big merit scholarship - 30K/yr, I think. They offered it to DD1 with similar stats, she chose a different school in the end, though. Nice campus and the admissions folks went above and beyond to answer our questions. A family friend’s daughter attends and really loves the school.</p>

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<p>Definitely apply to Yale EA. Even if you absolutely decide not to attend should you are accepted you’ll have the option of comparing the Yale academic program with that of the LACs that accept you. There’s a long conversation that you need to have with yourself regarding the merits of a university with a graduate program and dedicated research focused faculty over a LAC. This is especially the case if your final goal is to become a practioner in a scientific discipline.</p>

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<p>The Boettcher sounds like a terrific deal. Me, I’d take it and run to CSU and fish the Park and St. Vrain, Big Thompson, and Cache la Poudre every day; probably flunk out. I went to Boulder a long time ago, and it was a great academic experience. Terrific profs in English, anthro, art history, history, and archaeology. I still pine for Boulder but returned to the northeast a long time ago. </p>

<p>I’m glad you could enjoy those northeastern schools. They are beautiful in their own right and terrific schools. I found I actually missed the forests, lakes, and rivers of the east when I lived out west. So much water and green. A different aesthetic than the West and one I love, but there’s nothing back here quite like the Maroon Bells just before sunrise or the greenback cutthroat of RMNP. </p>

<p>When you come to PA to see Muhlenberg, where I also went to school, jump across to see Princeton (my D’s idea of the college campus equivalent of the “Maroon Bells”) and UPenn (I notice you had only one city school on your list). Muhlenberg was quite provincial when I went there in the 70s, with a lot of locals from the Lehigh Valley and Lancaster area, some barely a generation removed from the farm. That has changed, but I don’t know how much. There was good theatre even back then, and we tried to keep the folk nights going but a critical mass of hipsters was wanting. Frats still ruled as they do now, although all the LACs are struggling to get them in hand. I’ve taught at Haverford and loved the campus (in an old wealthy Philly suburb near Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, all of which form a consortium). Terrific students and professors; great faculty lunchroom discussions; serious collegiality and intellectuality. Still, there was some student groupthink there; seemed all the students had bought into what they thought the Quaker tradition would provide them in the way of noncompetitive intellectual behavior. There will be something of this at Bryn Mawr. The lesbian scene at Bryn Mawr is genuine and some freshmen have found it a bit intense. Beautiful like Wellesley, which is to die for, like Princeton and Haverford. Wrote a lot of grad papers at Wellesley just because the library was soo good and the campus so beautiful.</p>

<p>The net price calculators that determine what your parents will have to pay won’t look at your grandparents’ wealth but at your parents’ income and assets. You should definitely run the npc at each school and talk to your parents about costs and their savings. Make it part of your planning now and you won’t have any hiccups when the FA packages come in March.</p>

<p>I would encourage you to consider Pomona, Claremont McKenna (and the Claremont Consortium–Scripps has enviro science), and WashU. And you do know that Vassar was where the founder of SCA got her start, right? and that Vassar has a whole section of the campus set aside as a farm and preserve? Vassar alum Liz Putnam and the Brewers planted 1100 trees on the farm just a year ago. Unless you’re a trust fund baby, I’d suggest environmental science rather than policy or studies, or a double major in ES and Polisci. You won’t regret the science background if you want to do advocacy or conservation work.</p>

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<p>@fogcity‌
I like Yale a lot (of all the Ivies, it’s probably my favorite), and I definitely don’t want to give the impression that I’d turn up my nose at it. However, I have the suspicion (accurate or not) that if I ended up attending, I would to some degree feel like I hadn’t gotten in on my own merit. The grad school consideration is one of the reasons Barnard is so attractive to me - top-notch graduate university resources with small, liberal arts community. This early in the game schools with graduate schools definitely aren’t out of the running, though. The availability of research opportunities at undergrad-only vs. graduate-and-undergrad institutions is definitely a consideration.</p>

<p>@jkeil911‌
Thank you for your in-depth response! My HS has, historically, had about 4-5 students offered the Boettcher, with 3-4 accepting; if I did receive it, I would most likely attend either CU Boulder or Colorado College (which I forgot to mention in my original post). Colorado State is an excellent school, but is unfortunately a little too close to home, since I’ve grown up about ten blocks from the Oval, and one parent is a professor. CSU is, in my opinion, very overlooked in a variety of fields. Several good friends I know have turned down Top 40 offers get a comparable education on a fraction of a Top 40 budget. </p>

<p>I’ll admit that Princeton and UPenn get a little bit of a negative knee-jerk reaction from me, although I’m unsure how justified that is. I’m a little turned off by colleges that appear to be saturated with East Coast private school students, and I don’t mind a bit of a provincial feel, as long as cities are accessible. My impression has been that Muhlenberg is less than an hour and a half from both Philly and NYC; growing up about an hour from Denver, those appear fairly accessible.</p>

<p>Financially, my parents and I have had several in-depth conversations. Financial concerns almost prevented both of them from attending Yale way back in the 80s, so they definitely want to make sure that there are no issues for me. They have assured my that the 270k is in a 529 and is set aside entirely for my undergraduate and graduate studies. However, I’ll run the NPCs now and next fall to be sure.</p>

<p>The Claremont Consortium, especially Pomona and Scripps, have almost everything I’m looking for save location, which I’m willing to compromise on. I like seasons and real fall, but I don’t mind the desert, and I suppose that there are always visits back home and trips to the Sierra if I get sick of the mid-70s. Will definitely add those to the list.</p>

<p>Your comment on Env. Science vs. Studies is definitely seconded by my mom (an academic and researcher with a PhD in Range and Watershed Management). My thought at the moment is that, if I attend a school where Environmental Studies or Policy is offered but NOT Environmental Science, I’ll minor in a hard science, most likely bio.</p>

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<p>Being from the Pacific Northwest, I can give you a good scope on the most well-known colleges up here :smile: </p>

<p>Lewis & Clark: Great school if you want to be in the city. It is actually a school I am applying to so I can give you why I like it. It is a gorgeous school with a very small student body and class sizes. Everyone I know who goes there loves it! The only cons I can find are these:

  1. It does not seem to career focused. It seems more about the academic experience.
  2. There is a high drug use on campus. (Lots of Cannabis)
  3. Since it is a small campus, I have heard many rumors about the ‘LC Bubble’. It is very cliquey apparently and there is a big divide between the preps, hippies, and jocks.</p>

<p>University of Puget Sound: It looks very appealing if you are out of state but being from in-state I can tell you that Tacoma is NOT a college town. It seems almost necessary from visiting the campus that you would need a car to get to any type of urban destination. I don’t know about the transit system so I could be wrong about this. My uncle is an alumni and has a solid job and its reputation has improved drastically over the years.</p>

<p>Reed: I have visited the campus once so I can only give you what I know and have heard from people up here. It is a gorgeous campus with a great reputation. It is the most rigorous academically out of all the liberal arts colleges up here. Therefore, the drug scene is very prevalent here. Also, it is the most liberal out of all the Pacific Northwest Colleges with the exception of Evergreen State.</p>

<p>Whitman: It is the best liberal arts college in Washington State. Every person I know who has attended this school has loved it. It is in the small town of Walla Walla which is nowhere like a city but I have only heard good things from it.</p>

<p>Please let me know if you have any more questions about the colleges above or any Pacific Northwest College. I would be happy to give you the most detailed local information I know. Best of luck! :)</p>

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<p>OP, there is also a major called ecology and another called environmental biology, so you don’t have to do necessarily a straight bio degree. Having gone to Boulder, there’s just something about flip-flops throughout the academic year. And the Consortium has nearby skiing, hiking, and climbing in cool-to-cold mountain weather. I just think the advantages of the consortium are quite remarkable and that science at the consortium is very very good. Between Pomona and Mudd, and Claremont’s growing investment in science, there’re remarkable opps for undergraduates there that can only be rivaled by ivies. I spent a lot of time investigating neuroscience resources at Pomona and walked away more impressed with their opps than anywhere else I researched. Superb. And then there’s Mudd right across the quad! Only Harvard and MIT can surpass that duo, methinks.</p>

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<p>@tenstudent‌
Thanks for your recs and good luck in your upcoming applications! I come from a liberal college town in CO, so drug use, while not a selling point, is not a deal breaker either. I’ve sent you a message with a couple more questions, if you don’t mind!</p>

<p>@jkeil911‌
Ecology is the field that I would say is closest to what I want to study, but I haven’t had much luck finding schools that fit my other interests and offer degrees in ecology specifically. I think that I’d probably by happier pursuing Env. Sci at a school that fits really well rather than pursuing Ecology at a school that I otherwise don’t love as much, but that cost-benefit is still under consideration. If I do pursue graduate work, which I most likely will, it will probably be in Ecology.</p>

<p>Regarding the Claremont consortium: thanks for bringing that to my attention. It appears to be a lot more cohesive than the other major consortium I’ve considered, which is Smith/Holyoke/UMass/etc. Five Colleges. I also just called a prospective theatre major friend who visited Pomona in August, and she said that the campus is gorgeous and the performing arts are excellent (she saw a show), which is definitely another vote in favor.</p>

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<p>you’ve seen this, right? </p>

<p><a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and one of the schools I named has an ecology rather than an enviro major, but I cannot remember which one now.</p>

<p>the third consortium that’s well known is the one I mentioned, the Quaker Consortium of Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swat, and Penn, with the first two about 5 minutes apart by school van, Swat a good 30 minutes away from them, and Penn upto 45 minutes away by car. I don’t remember if Penn is an official member of the consortium, but students from the consortium do take classes at Penn. It’s just harder to get to. Claremont schools have contiguous campuses with lots of courses taken at other schools. In that sense, Scripps isn’t as all-women as Bryn Mawr let alone Wellesley.</p>

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<p>You may want to pick up some geology, atmospheric science, natural resources, and economics along the way as well.</p>

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<p>biostats couldn’t hurt, either, and, if possible, maybe some EnvE courses. I don’t know if that’s the appropriate abbreviation, but I like the looks of it.</p>

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<p>@jkeil911 @ucbalumnus‌
Looking at the College Board match results, it looks like Colby has both an Env. Sci major and an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology concentration in their Biology major. </p>

<p>My ideal undergraduate Env. Sci program would be highly interdisciplinary but maintain strong hard science, writing-heavy, provide solid research opportunities, and be good prep for graduate work / an eventual career in policymaking, advocacy/lobbying, and conservation work. At this point, I don’t want to count on any particular career (I could fall in love with research and academia). Some course offerings in hydrology are a plus (almost nobody is more employable than a hydrologist) but that’s not a make it or break it deal. I don’t see myself going into engineering, but math is a strong suit, so playing to that couldn’t hurt.</p>

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<p>I don’t know how much longer hydrologists will be in demand, OP, but I’m saying this from a hands dirty position. There’s only so much engineering you can do to a watershed. Impervious surfaces just pass the buck downstream, and SWM devices just pass the buck into the future. Your mom, is it?, would know more about this than me, no doubt. A strong understanding of the math and economics aspects of conservation would be a very good skill to have.</p>

<p>I was re-reading something I said about Wellesley, and I did want to point out that Wellesley students do take courses at MIT, so there are some men in some Wellesley women’s educational experiences.</p>