Need help narrowing down the list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have a very long college search list and I need help narrowing it down so I can focus on schools to visit for the rest of the summer and fall.
I go to a private school in the Northeast.
GPA: 94-95
CR: 740
Math: 700
Writing: 770
Language SAT: 740
Science SAT: 770
I've taken 6 classes (the maximum number) each year, with 2 honors sophomore year and 3 honors/1 AP junior year. </p>

<p>EC:
Varsity Lacrosse: 10th-12th
Cross country: 11th-12th
Leader/Founder of a club: 11th-12th
Leader of another club: 12th
Two private music lessons a week
Volunteer at a farm, take riding lessons</p>

<p>I love Middlebury, but that's the only school I'm definitely applying to. The rest of the schools I may be interested in are:
Bates, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Connecticut, Tufts, Amherst, Trinity, Wesleyan, Colgate, Union, Hamilton, Wake Forest, Davidson, Duke?, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Kenyon, Carleton, Vanderbilt, Tulane, William & Mary, Washington U St.Louis, Georgetown, Bucknell, Whitman, Rice?</p>

<p>What I'm looking for:
Size: preferably 2000-6000, but I'm willing to go a bit bigger or smaller
Mostly small classes, accessible professors
Good community, happy and friendly students
Nice dorms, pretty campus
I'd rather not go somewhere with an overwhelming party scene. I'm not really into the party scene, but I would like to go somewhere where people work hard, but have fun too.
I would like to stay in the Eastern half of the country</p>

<p>I know this is a long list and that I'm looking for a lot in a school, so any advice is greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>You have some great colleges on your list. To help narrow it down, do you have any idea what you might want to major in?</p>

3

<p>I don’t know what I want to major in yet, as I am interested in almost all of my high school classes! If I had to narrow it down, I would say I like languages, English, anthropology/sociology, and math the most. I guess I should add that I want a college that has a good advising system.</p>

4

<p>I have to respectfully disagree with BobbyCT, unless you had wanted a very unusual major, any of the schools you mention will have fine programs. Now that you have speculated on some possibilities, that is definitely the case. It is usually far more important to find a place you want to live for 4 years regarding all aspects of life, not just your major. At the undergrad level they don’t really vary that much and besides, 75% r so of your classes will not be in your major.</p>

<p>You do have a good list of the “usual” suspects for a student of your caliber; i.e. a very very good student. Based on your list and the fact that many don’t offer merit scholarships, can we assume cost is not a factor? Because if it is and you might end up with significant debt, the recommendations could change. So that is important.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you will have to state some preferences with regard to urban vs. rural, warm weather vs. colder, sports, greek life, anything you think might influence you. It likely won’t be a deciding factor, but what you would prefer everything else being equal. Some of the schools on your list are a bit less than 2,000 I think, and some are a bit more than 6,000 but probably not enough to matter much in either case. Also, are you male or female, and in either case does the current ratio at these schools matter to you?</p>

5

<p>^ fallenchemist, I am not sure what you mean when you say you disagree with me. I had not offered the OP any advice. Perhaps I should have rephrased my question to ask what were his area of interests rather than major. I think knowing certain areas that the OP might be interested in might help to narrow down his list, just like knowing some of the influences you asked regarding urban vs. rural, etc. </p>

<p>I agree with you 100% that generally you should not pick a college solely based upon your intended major unless it is a unique one. It is just another slection criteria that needs to be weighed.</p>

6

<p>AH, OK. That does make quite a difference. You say major, I think you mean major, so shouldn’t have been a mystery why I disagreed, lol.</p>

7

<p>You have quite a number of liberal arts colleges that are safety-ish for people interested in Middlebury…Bates, Connecticutt College, Trinity, Union, Kenyon, Hamilton. Can you narrow those down? Maybe check out some of the X vs. Y threads on CC to get an idea which suits you more. Another way to possibly narrow down, I always see Wesleyan identified as more “hipster” than Bowdoin and Middlebury, so you might want to think whether that is you. Last note—I don’t think Rice is in the eastern half of the US. Re: great advising system…Middlebury assigns your first year seminar professor to you as your advisor so the advisor really gets to know you. You might want to check out what other schools do but I expect that other LACs, although they don’t have that particular excellent system, will provide a lot of attention.</p>

8

<p>fallenchemist: Cost actually is a bit of an issue. As for other preferences, I would rather be in a warmer climate but that is not a huge concern. I’d like intramural sports to be popular (involved student body) and it would be nice for there to be school spirit. I don’t want Greek life to completely dominate the social scene. I’m a female, and gender ratio does not matter much to me as long as it’s relatively even. I think a suburban environment would be best- I’d like to be in a safe area.</p>

<p>Hitch123: That’s a good idea to look at comparison threads- I will definitely try that. And I think I might cross out Wesleyan as well. As for Rice, that’s why I had a question mark by it- it is the right size for me and the academics/classes sound great, but the only issue is that it’s across the country.</p>

9

<p>NEmac93 - Thanks for that info. It does make a difference. Middlebury is a wonderful school, both my kids looked at it. Although neither chose it, the kids from their high school that do go there like it very much. However, it is very expensive and there are no mertit scholarships, I don’t believe. Therefore, for this or any other school, if you would come out of 4 years with more than about $25K in debt, I would discourage you from doing it. There have been a number of stories in the papers and on NPR about students that come out with large debt (although admittedly most of these are near or over 6 figures) and it is such an onerous burden they are facing years of tough times. Something to keep in mind. I know it is tempting when you love a school to think you can deal with debt somehow, it is far off. Just consider it carefully.</p>

<p>Having said that, since you have an excellent high school record so far and strong SAT scores, there are a number of schools that do have merit scholarships. I would go to the web sites of each one on your list and see what their offerings are, and how feasible it is. Notre Dame has no merit scholarships. Some top schools do. For example, WUSTL has merit scholarships, as does Duke, but you have to apply for them separately and they are very hard to get. Tulane, on the other hand, is very generous with them and you are automatically considered upon applying and being accepted, except for their full tuition scholarship (DHS) which is a separate application. So with your stats yoou would most likely get the $25K scholarship, shich is about 2/3 of tuition and about 1/2 total cost of attending. You would certainly have a shot at the DHS, although it is very competitive.</p>

<p>I am not sure about the merit scholarships at a lot of the LAC’s you name. But that might be a way of narrowing the list, or adding schools that have generous merit policies that are also good academically and meet your other criteria.</p>

10

<p>Might look at Holy Cross-similar to Colgate and Bucknell.</p>

11

<p>When you say cost is an issue do you mean you need merit aid or qualify for need based aid? Needing merit money would not work well with this list and the safeties on it do not meet need.</p>