Need help searching for a college

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>My name is Matt and I am a Junior student attending a high school near Boston. I am having trouble finding a college that best suits me so I thought you guys had helpful advice to offer me. I tried using searches but they do not look for most of the stuff I am interested in. In addition, I have visited and shown interest in a lot of colleges but none of them have the "whole package" that I am looking for.</p>

<p>I have my transcript in a PDF if anyone can direct me on how to post it here. Although my GPA is somewhat low at 3.23 (this is unweighted, my weighed is probably around 3.7 but I don't know since my school does not give weighted GPA's to colleges), I have been challenging myself by taking as much honors and AP classes as possible. There are no rankings in my class, as far as I am aware. My grades have been rising rapidly. Freshman year I took only one honors course in math and the rest were regular classes with grades averaging around the B to B- range. Last year as a sophomore I had three honors courses averaging a B, and this year I take three honors courses and one AP averaging a B+. For what it's worth, the one thing that has affected my grades is depression. I have struggled with it for a long time and see counseling so I have come a long way.</p>

<p>The high school I attend is very prestigious. We are ranked in the top 10 for best schools in the state of Massachusetts and had #1 High School MCAS scores in the state not too long ago. </p>

<p>Last year I took the PSAT and my scores were pretty high. I got a 63 for critical reading, 70 for mathematics, and a 63 for writing skills. The College Board I looked at projects a 590 to 680 for critical reading, 650 to 750 for math, and 570 to 690 for writing skills on the SAT's. I took the ACT with writing a few weeks ago but I have not received my score back yet. I do plan on taking the SAT in May and retaking both SAT and ACT as soon as possible. Last year's MCAS I got the maximum score for Math (I forget what that was but it was 100%) which makes me eligible for scholarships.</p>

<p>Outside the classroom, I play football and basketball while last year I did cross country. Football I play for my school this year and next year, then I play basketball for the local church organization. One thing I may be lacking is volunteer work as I've done only about 24 hours since my Freshman year. This time was spent at a house for the elderly but I am planning on spending as much time there as I can leading up to the application process. I spend a bunch of time mowing lawns and snow plowing for the community. As of now I do eleven houses and residencies year round.</p>

<p>I am looking for the following in my college search:</p>

<p>-Private universities with small government funding. I have considered few alternatives (those being Auburn and UCLA). </p>

<p>-Little to no teacher assistants and high quality teachers. I want to be taught by people who really know what they are talking about. For example, I visited Ithaca College this past week and 94% of the professors at the school have a doctorate. The school doesn't necessarily have to have 94% PHD teachers, but at least somewhat high.</p>

<p>-Good and diverse economics and history programs. What I mean by “diverse” is that I want as many sides of the subject to be taught as possible. Different viewpoints are discussed and debated while there is no “one” correct answer, it's more about how well you present your viewpoints on issues. By “good” I mean something that would help me do well in graduate school and make life easier as a worker.</p>

<p>-Clubs. I know pretty much all colleges have clubs, but I want to make sure I want one where I can easily start my own club. I plan on creating an internet forum for economics discussion, so if the colleges has many undergraduates majoring in economics, then that would help. </p>

<p>-Size does not matter as much to me, I am not much of a party-er. However I do pay close attention to the size of the classes. As long as the class size is somewhat small, then I am fine. </p>

<p>-Little to no religious affiliations. </p>

<p>-A writing center.</p>

<p>-Minimal focus on research so professors are geared towards teaching their students. Also to minimize federal funding the school receives.</p>

<p>-Some place where I can do stand up comedy OR if there is a comedy program at the school where I can study. Something like what they have at UCLA. I am told that I am a funny person and I do standup for the football team the day before games. </p>

<p>-Tutoring opportunities. I could probably be a math tutor since I am fairly good at math. </p>

<p>-I do not care where the university is, but preferably in the South since I hate winter weather in the North. </p>

<p>-I don't really care about housing either</p>

<p>-I understand that there are likely no colleges that have all of the above I am looking for, but the more the merrier. I might have one or two other things in my search I am forgetting, if so I will add them later.</p>

<pre><code>So far I have visited Syracuse University, Ithaca College and Cornell University. I found these schools pretty distinct from each other so they had some things I liked and others I did not. One thing I found lacking at Syracuse was that their economics program was not as outstanding as I may like. Ithaca was a little too easy to get into as I think I can get into a better college. I do not believe I can get into Cornell (except for maybe engineering but I don't want to do that), I only visited because my dad wants me to consider going there. According to him, “you could get any job you want with a certificate from Cornell.” However I did kind of like it for various reasons.
</code></pre>

<p>Within the next few weeks I am visiting Boston College and Colgate University. I have plenty of other colleges I want to visit but I will be unable to until the summer. Some of those include Elon, Auburn, Chicago (my stretch school), UCLA, California Riverside, and NYU. If you can add my chances for all the colleges I visited/am interested in that would be appreciated. Thank you for any advice!</p>

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<p>Matt, I like the way you are going about your search. Sounds very thoughtful.</p>

<p>Because you want good teaching and not teaching assistants, I recommend that you look more into colleges the size of Ithaca College (but I agree that it is too easy to get into). Elon is a good choice, and is southern. Also, look into Rhodes College in Memphis which might give you the comedy and math tutor opportunities you want.</p>

<p>Other ideas:</p>

<p>Tulane University (New Orleans) - full of students from the East Coast, so you would be culturally comfortable. Great school in the most unique city in America. Wish I had gone here.
Davidson College (North Carolina) - better than Elon, and maybe the best small school in the south
University of Richmond (Virginia)
Rollins College (Florida)
Sewanee/University of The South (Tennessee) - Marvelous, and challenging, small college. Very southern!</p>

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<p>Thank you, NROTCgrad. I know people who are going to Tulane and I am aware of Davidson. I will consider your other recommendations too. I am told that I am a “toss-up” for BC, Colgate and UCLA while a “stretch” for Chicago, NYU and Cornell. The rest are within reach. Are these accurate assessments?</p>

<p>I do have one teacher who I am looking into getting a recommendation from. He is a law student who passed the bar exam and graduated from Colgate. Since he really liked me as a student, would he really help my chances in getting into Colgate?</p>

<p>Another thing is that my dad grew up around Syracuse so I have family from around most of the NY colleges I am looking at. Could that strengthen my applications?</p>

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<p>I’m wondering if there are any schools in Washington, D.C., or Baltimore that would be a good match for you. Anyone know? </p>

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<p>The one big piece that’s missing from your thinking, OP, is money. Have you run the net price calculators at any of these schools? What will your family be expected to pay, do your parents know of the expectations, and what have they said about their willingness to meet that expectation?</p>

<p>I’d recommend you take a look at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and in Washington/Baltimore I’d suggest investigating GWU, American, Goucher, and UMD-CP. </p>

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<p>If you don’t want TAs then Cornell is not for you. I would suggest looking at some of the LAC in Pennsylvania - Lafayette and Bucknell come to mind and I agree with Tulane, GWU, and American as possibilities also.</p>

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<p>I would edit the post to remove your name. You give out far too much personal information here. You sound like a very reasonable and mature student. Good luck to you!</p>

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<p>Thank you all! As far as money, all of the schools I’ve looked at are need based. My parents told me that, out of the colleges I get accepted to, I would most attend the one that offers the best financial aid package. Not the one I want to attend the most.</p>

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<p>Are you aware of the cost of UCLA for OOS students? There is a $22,000 additional cost to the instate tuition. Also that you would want to calculate your gpa the UC way and make sure you meet the minimum of 3.4 as well as meet all the a - g required courses. It would be very hard to get in if your weighted isn’t quite high, the 3.4 to 3.7 wouldn’t do the job.</p>

<p>Can you clarify what this federal money issue is all about and why that would be any concern for you? The large research universities almost all have federal funds for research, especially Cornell and UCLA. </p>

<p>It is very good that you are visiting colleges, even if you aren’t going to apply there it will give you an idea of the features you like/dislike. You should look at more LAC’s and small research universities to get most of your list covered. Publics like UCLA are going to have very large intro classes.</p>

<p>I don’t think the teacher being an alumnus will have too much bearing but a good recommendation is important, so that is valuable. Someone who passed the bar is no longer a law student, btw. The colleges will not care if you have relatives in the area or not. For some southern colleges that attract mostly southern students, a student from Mass may add diversity.</p>

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<p>“Can you clarify what this federal money issue is all about and why that would be any concern for you?”</p>

<p>Yes. I want little federal funding because the government encourages a method of education I do not like. For me, education should be about learning how to learn, like what they have at British universities. The government only encourages learning, which will not totally help me develop skills needed to get a job. </p>

<p>Would the California Instate tuition also apply for Riverside? And would it be much cheaper to attend Riverside than UCLA?</p>

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<p>^ Well, where to start… First federal aid for students is limited to a $5.5K loan and, if very low income, ~$6K in a Pell Grant. That’s pretty much it. Does that sound like the gov’t is “encouraging a method of education you do not like”?</p>

<p>And yes, Riverside will have the same (or similar) OOS premium that will have to be paid. Very few public universities provide their own aid to OOS students. BTW, NYU is generally considered among the worst Us for FA.</p>

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<p>I was not referring to federal loans, but rather how universities get their funding from government.</p>

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<p>You’ll have to explain that to me. Public Us are supported by funding from the State, not the federal gov’t (except for certain research). Here is Ohio State’s funding statement as an example. <a href=“http://www.rpia.ohio-state.edu/cfb/docs/cfb-2012.pdf”>http://www.rpia.ohio-state.edu/cfb/docs/cfb-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hope College in Michigan does not accept funding from the federal government. </p>

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<p>Ok thank you for those figures. I thought state schools got funding from their state, and public universities got funding from the federal government. Am I wrong? I got my impressions from an article I read some time ago, I will try to search and find it if that would help. Wouldn’t federal schools also get tax exemptions from the government?</p>

<p>I will look into Hope College. I also heard of Hillsdale and Grove City receiving no federal funds, but they did not really appeal to me as they seemed a little extreme. The funding and cost issues aside, are the colleges I am looking at realistic for me to get into?</p>

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<p>You have it slightly wrong, I have gone through the British high schooling system and given the O/A Level exams. Moreover I know several, in fact a majority of my class went to all kinds of British universities. So I say with some authority that the British system of higher education isn’t what you think it is. They don’t really teach you how to learn, they just tell you to learn what they tell you to learn. I’m not saying that it’s bad since I kind of loved it, but put it this way, I have completed 13 years of schooling (yes British is 13 years not 12), and I have never written a research paper or any paper as a matter of fact! My classes were text book through and through. No material from the “real world” was incorporated. You study the text book all year long and then give the exams at the end. And these exams are for 100% of your final grade. That is all there is to it. You don’t do “projects” or apply what you learn. You just learn. Period. And the same goes on in a majority of the universities.</p>

<p>The grass always looks greener on the other side. :)</p>

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<p>Public universities and state universities are the same thing. Also… if you don’t want any government subsidy of your education, then be sure you turn down the following items in your financial aid package:</p>

<ul>
<li>Work study</li>
<li>Pell grants</li>
<li>Subsidized student loans</li>
</ul>

<p>As someone else has mentioned, you need to go to the website of each college you are interested in and look for the Net Price Calculator. Run it and print out the results for each school so you have some idea what your need based financial aid might look like. (Most will also break out those items I just listed, so you can conveniently see what you will have to come up additionally with out of pocket to cover those items, since the schools consider those items part of the financial aid package and won’t substitute for them in any other grants or scholarships). This should help you decide whether to even keep a school on your list.</p>

<p>Regarding schools on your list, I don’t know why you would think Cornell engineering would be in reach (you mentioned it above). Doesn’t look to me like your stats would get you into Cornell. You also mentioned Chicago; I assume you mean University of Chicago. Your stats are also very low for Chicago as well.</p>

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<p>Maybe I should’ve rephrased “British universities of some time ago” because I am aware of the educational reforms in Britain that changed the curriculum. One of the educational goals at the local British-American school here is “to learn how to learn.” </p>

<p>My knowledge comes from someone who taught in both Britain and the United States. He’s in his 50’s so may have learned in a different era than you. I am not sure, but do colleges there base their grades on the merits of coursework or just exams?</p>

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<p>@intparent: I thought I could get into Cornell engineering because of my math grades. I currently have an A- in Honors Math Analysis and I’m in Top 10 highest in my class for my math grade. Although I don’t know what else would be taken into consideration when engineering is mostly math.</p>

<p>I also currently take AP Physics B with a B for the class. Hence my thoughts, but I don’t think I would be a guarantee.</p>

<p>I will look at the net price calculator as soon as possible.</p>

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<p>OP, you certainly have a lot to learn about colleges and college education, but in this you are akin to most applicants and their parents. </p>

<p>Please allow me to make a different kind of observation about your education: that you attempt to learn to read well. Fine distinctions seem to get by you. Subordination you tend to ignore. You also don’t do a very good job interrogating what you read. These weaknesses in your reading lead to the mistakes you’ve uttered about British and American educational systems and how colleges are financed. Getting some tutoring in the Critical Reading section of the SAT could not only raise that score but improve the quality of all your reading comprehension.</p>