Need Help Selecting my Reaches, Safeties, and Matches.

College Search & Selection
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<p>You have a lot of interests, OP. There’s nothing wrong with that, but what your list doesn’t show is an abiding interest in any one activity. The most interesting of these is the Wildlife Club activities and your leadership in it. Writing grants is hard to do. Winning them is even harder, so if your Club has success in that regard do not omit it from your essays. The Science Olympiad may be also of interest, and if you could flesh that out as part of an essay that might prove helpful. The multiplicity of interests seems, however, to work against the places where your excitement comes through, so I might not mention each of these activities. After mentioning the veterans’ home and math tutoring volunteering, perhaps coming up with a total number of h.s. volunteer hours would be enough.</p>

<p>Look at the post by northstarmom on this page. Try not to laugh. She’s a former ivy admissions counselor, as I understand it:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-are-weak-so-what-s-good-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-are-weak-so-what-s-good-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Actually I like the link between the interest in aquascaping and the business. </p>

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<p>I, do, too. I hadn’t seen that in my response above. If the aquascaping/Wildlife Club/entrepreneurship continues to blossom (ugh!) I’d have more to say about that in an essay. </p>

<p>My assessment of your list is based on the info I have before me. Until the SAT improves or the ECs develop a focus, I think it’s a fair one for someone who aspires to the ivies. Lots can change in a few months.</p>

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<p>hey, when did we get the numbered posts back? have I been missing something?</p>

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<p>Post numbers came back with the software update today.</p>

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<p>Phew! I’m glad it hadn’t happened a couple of weeks ago and I’d missed observing it all that time. I welcome the return. Any other goodies the update brought?</p>

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Yes. </p>

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<p>No NMF.</p>

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<p>@jkeil911, there’s a Reply button at the bottom of posts, continuous date and time stamp shown, and an indicator for which threads you’ve posted on.</p>

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<p>using reply now. the continuous date and time stamp is most welcome. most. and the green check is helpful. thanks, @Erin’s Dad.</p>

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<p>If that was your first sitting, yes by all means, retake. :)</p>

<p>What you need to do is “craft” the story that your EC’s tell about you: group them in different manners, explain them, see which way shows coherence and consistency with a clear profile emerging, and can be identified with a couple words (“the kid who…”)beside internal consistency in the narrative, there should be some consistency with the rest of your application. But the hardest part will be crafting that “story” your EC’s tell so that you stand out in your adcom readers’ minds.</p>

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<p>My parents say I should (based on my personality and skills) go into business school, and they know me best. I also think this is a good idea. Keeping all other options open but with business school also in mind, and all of y’all’s suggestions, this is what I have so far. I still need to do financial research to do but here’s a very rough list. </p>

<p>Criteria:

  1. Should be big school so there are more departments to choose from
  2. Affordable tuition: a little more than 12k/year
  3. Has business school</p>

<p>Spectrum:</p>

<p>Super Reach
Princeton
Stanford
Johns Hopkins (has Carey Business School)
Duke
Vanderbilt
Alabama and sister branches
Tulane (LA… interesting setting.)
Clark (SAT optional now?!)
Safety</p>

<p>I’m reading that “vibe” and “atmosphere” are important. I want a place where I am comfortable… but are different schools really that different in student culture and ambiance? Can an entire student body really have the same attitude? I’ve lived in many places and I never immediately disliked any of those places at sight. I can’t imagine forgoing a school because of its specific location or climate either. </p>

<p>My considerations right know is the size of the campus. At larger schools, are classes so far away that I have to drive/bike between classrooms?</p>

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<p>@humbugs‌ You that Princeton, Stanford, JHU, Duke, Vandy, do not have business schools for undergraduates?
Look into Penn Wharton, WUSTL, Cornell, and UVA</p>

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<p>Not really for students who aren’t low income or hooked in some way. Occasionally a school will offer a flight voucher after acceptance (D2 got two of them to attend accepted student days, only took one school up on the offer). I like the aquascaping angle and business, too. It is interesting and shows entrepreneurial skills. I agree with @RugbySingh 's suggestions, too.</p>

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<p>heck, the students at Bard (pop. 2000) bike between classes! But I know what you mean about buses. There is such a thing as too spread out. </p>

<p>You have the right temperament, it seems, for just about any college. Schools may have vibes, but a student like you ought to be able to find enough like-minded people to be comfortable. Doing so gets less likely, of course, the smaller the school. You won’t get to know or like all the students at any school, but the ones you do get to know and like will become your group of like-minders. </p>

<p>re: business school: 1) @RugbySingh‌ not only makes a valid point but raises the question of why you didn’t know that if you’re so interested in business school or you think business so fits your personality. Do you agree with your parents about yourself? do you want to be a business person? do you know what it means to be one? If not, why would you apply to business school? 2) your first criteria is that the school be big enough to have other departments. Is that in case you change your mind about business school? Surely you didn’t mean "other departments within the business school; so what did you mean? </p>

<p>I don’t mean to go all AP Psych on you. Just sayin’.</p>

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<p>@RugbySingh‌ Okay, thanks for telling me. I’m deciding on my path right now, and I just did some more research: undergrad business classes aren’t required for business graduate school. regular undergrad+ business graduate school then maybe. </p>

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<p>@jkeil911‌ You parent posters sure tell it like it is!</p>

<p>I never pictured myself as a business person before. I always thought of myself as a science or medical person. But i’m beginning to realize that it is an expectation foisted on by other people. My parents never pressured me into any field, but they feel that I am a people person who needs constant challenges and surprises. I also talked to a lady I met today. She said that her daughter loves business work because of the constant chaos, negotiations and risk, and i have to say, THAT sounds very appealing to me.</p>

<p>I’m in the process of discovering paths and that is why I would like to keep all doors open until I do. I’m trying to solidify some sort of path- keeping business a possibility. For business, it seems like it’s all in or all out; either a business undergrad school or no just a well-rounded school entirely. I’m new to all of this and that’s why appreciate all you posters here.</p>

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<p>Do you and your parents know that business school, outside of the top 20 programs (Stern, Wharton, Notre Dame, Goizueta…), is considered a “weak” major? Studies have shown that students in business majors learn less, are asked to write fewer papers and of shorter length, read less, etc. Representative of this, the ivies don’t have a “business” degree - students who want to go into business (and especially IBanking) major in economics, math, etc. You don’t need an undergraduate degree to work in business and actually top MBA programs prefer “traditional” majors, especially in math, engineering, economics, or any other field, including humanities, of strength at your college.</p>

<p>Alabama Honors (with afferent Honors College, Honors Dorm, and Presidential Scholarship) is a safety since it’s guaranteed for your stats; you’d also be a competitive applicant to CBHP (40 students chosen among the best of the Honors College applicants).</p>

<p>Just in case it wasn’t a typo: Tulane is not in LA, but in New Orleans. In/near LA you have USC, Occidental, the Claremonts (Harveymudd, Pomona, McKenna, Scripps, Pitzer), Chapman, Whittier, Loyola Marymount. (LMU would be a safety, Whittier is unnecessary, Occidental and Chapman a match to safety, and you’d be competitive for USC, Occidental, and the Claremonts).</p>

<p>BTW, you bring to mind the type of students this college is trying to attract:
<a href=“http://academics.usc.edu/artstechbusiness/”>http://academics.usc.edu/artstechbusiness/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/05/dr-dre-usc-institute/65255/”>http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/05/dr-dre-usc-institute/65255/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yes, “vibe” is very different depending on the college, especially at LACs but also at private universities. This can mean the place of faith in students’ lives, their political leanings, what they defend and what they protest (if they do), whether drugs are acceptable/habitual and which ones (typically, pot vs. cocaine vs. ectasy), how common drinking is (how common drinking led to the police or campus security being involved, how often drinking led to rapes or accidents such as falling off sleeping porches/windows or hospitalization including for alcohol-induced coma), the place of partying (“what do you do on Wednesday night” is a good question to ask when you tour, along with “what do you do on Saturday night”), prevalence of Greek life, acceptance for the LGBTQ community (and how this is demonstrated on campus: gender neutral bathrooms? gender neutral upperclass room choice?), what constitutes “fun” (sledding down the hill, puking on someone else, looking at girls/guys by the pool in March, watching a football game with 100,000 other fans, going to an indie concert, going to a protest, going to a lecture by a Nobel-Prize winner), what the big sports are (football/basketball/hockey? Horseback riding? whatever’s winning for intramural? Quidditch? Surfing? Sailing? …) , whether you’ d rather wear shorts/flipflops to class or suit/tie or bermudas and pastel polos… </p>

<p>On a large campus, you’ll have 15mn to get to class and it’s recommended you don’t schedule classes back to back if they’re not in the same area (or even the same building). There will be shuttles on most campuses and, depending on weather, you’ll be able to bike. Some campuses are compact: UPitt and Macalester are two different examples of this.</p>

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<p>Just to clarify, the Carey Business School at JHU does have an undergraduate program. However, it probably is not nearly as good as Wharton.</p>

<p><a href=“Home | Johns Hopkins University”>Home | Johns Hopkins University;

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<p>MYOS1634, LA is Louisiana as in TX is Texas. Confusing, I know.</p>

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<p>@MYOS1634‌ That’s valuable advice! I don’t want to limit myself to a business specific undergrad school at all. Seems like major at undergrad + MBA program is a good flexible plan. </p>

<p>Yes, I meant Louisiana but the colleges you listed sound very interesting also. </p>

<p>Now I have some preferences THERE! No outright drugs or alcohol culture for me. that would make me uncomfortable. I’m glad you brought that up. I don’t have a preference for political leanings. I don’t think religion will be a big presence in larger universities (i think). </p>

<p>Not a partier. Snowboarding and Nobel-Prize lectures sound like my idea of fun. I’ve never tried surfing or sailing but I would certainly do it if I had the chance! I don’t have a preferences for huge sport culture. Fine by me if football/basketball is a big presence, even though I don’t watch it. Maybe I’ll even start liking watching sports if I’m surrounded by it. No preference for Greek life. No puking for fun, please.</p>

<p>Wow, I would feel the most comfortable in a t-shirt. No suit attire! (Do some schools really have a student body of suit-wearers? I would not go to those schools.)</p>

<p>I wouldn’t mind taking the shuttle or biking if I had to, but I wouldn’t really like it either. </p>

<p>I hope that narrows it down some. </p>

<p>Also, thanks for the link. Designing, entrepreneurship… sounds very interesting. </p>