Need school list; Junior

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Politically active<a href="moderately%20liberal">obsessed</a> male Junior attending a small public school in rural NY, (about 90 in my class). Help getting ahead in the college search is appreciated
GPA: 3.7 (un weighted)
Rank: 18/95 - Worse than I'd like, very competitive/smart class, but it will improve when weighted GPAs come out.
Course Rigor/AceCourses- I've taken every ace(similar to AP, less recognized)/honors offerings the school has, and have taken close to the most rigorous schedule possible, which comparing to many private/prestigious schools is not nearly as rigorous.
Global Honors: 9-10
English Honors: 11
Ace Spanish-4: 11
Ace U.S History: 11
Precalc: 11
Ace Spanish-5: 12 (planning on it)
Ace Stats/Calculus (will be offered as one course): 12 (planning on it)
Ace English: 12 (planning on it)
Ace Government/Economics: 12 (planning on it)
*How, if at all, understanding will colleges in general be that my smaller school has less offerings as others (not to sound elitist, I love my school, just being honest)?</p>

<p>ECs: JV Soccer 9-10, Varsity track 10-12, Varsity soccer 12, I will be a cast member of 4 school musicals by the time I apply, academic allstar member 9-12, working as an indoor lifeguard at a local retreat center 9-12 (during the school year), working as a lifeguard (summer), Chamber Singers, Impressionists (dance and singing group), National Honor Society, parent-teacher-student-organization Member, volunteer for district congressional candidate campaign (Eric Massa), 50+ hours volunteer work by application time. </p>

<p>SAT: I obviously haven't taken it yet, but I have been reviewing a guidebook and will be signing up for a SAT review class. My goal is: CR 650, Math 600, Writing 650+.</p>

<p>Schools: I'm interested in small to medium sized schools, with less than 10,000 undergrads. I'd like a college with a real campus (preferred not to be within the city, but not off limits) but with a city within very close proximity for major internship opportunities. If the college is not nearby a city I expect high internship opportunities so I can get started early with connections. I'm also planning on applying to atleast 2 SUNY schools. I'd like to stay in the Northeast, but Virginia, Ohio, ID, IL, MI are all considerable. </p>

<p>Major is one area I'm unsure of, whether to major in a liberal arts subject(poli sci., history, english) or to take on a career oriented major(journalism/communication or public relations). My dream would be to work in journalism; especially writing about politics, lobby for an honorable cause (education, healthcare, etc.) or work in Public Relations. I'm also interested in attending a school offering secondary education certification/major, but it is not a requirement by any means, but considered a bonus to the school I'm looking at. </p>

<p>Social: As for politics I'm looking for something moderate, I consider myself mainly liberal but I've been around more conservatives than liberals in my life living in rural NY, so any political scene could be considered except for strictly conservative schools (no Texas A&M :p). Complete party schools and greek-dominated social lives are out of the question, but a school with a little greek life is fine, I may even consider joining. I'd also like to avoid schools that are overly pothead filled (Bard). I'm also interested in intramural sports, I want to try some fun things I never got a chance to, such as football that my school doesn't offer. I'm basically looking for a school with social options, but the school feels like a community and generally people are friendly to one another.
<em>Sorry if the following information was a ton, I just wanted to give the full picture.</em></p>

<p>My current list:
Safeties:
SUNY New Paltz</p>

<p>Matches:
American University
Allegheny College?
Hofstra University?</p>

<p>Reaches:
Kenyon College?
GWU?</p>

<p>So far from what I've read I'm in love with American, but my mom feels it is a reach where as I feel I match it. American seems like my dream school, a real campus, my favorite city at it's finger tips, great internships, great departments I'm interested with. I can't find anything I dislike about it now, and cannot wait to visit it this spring. I also plan on visiting GWU on my trip, but the school is a) more selective than AU, b) very expensive, I'd need tons of financial aid, and c) right in the city. I'll be able to confirm whether c is an issue on the trip, but the other two issues will remain. I also plan on visiting New Paltz this spring, and am content on having this as one of my safeties. I've read about Kenyon, Hofstra and Allegheny and like how they sound, I just need more information on how they fit me. Please, please, please give me more safeties, matches and reaches, I need more of all!</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this GIANT post and please give any advice you have!</p>

2

<p>Kenyon is in the middle of nowhere, so you won't like that. Depending on your scores American can be a match. A good reach for you is like Macalaster College (very liberal lac). Another school to look at would be University of Rochester.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the input, yeah I understand a lot of this depends on my scores on the SATs. I've read U. of Rochester is kind of a "sciency" school, is that true? Looking for more colleges!</p>

4

<p>If you do really well on SATs and your rank goes up once your gpa is weighted, then what about georgetown as a reach? It would be an awesome place for someone who is politically active since you would be in D. C.</p>

5

<p>Can't think of any schools in Michigan ( resident of Michigan) that would fit for what your looking for, due to your preference in number of undergraduates. Although if that doesn't bother you much, you may wan't to look into Michigan State University and University of Michigan- Ann Arbor. For Ohio I would say Ohio State University- Columbus, but that school may be rather large for you as well. Indiana and Illinios, I don't look at schools there, but they probably have small schools that your looking for... like Northwestern.
University of Virginia, very competitive.... Schools in North East, New York University Boston University.... You can find many small schools that are decent in the Washington D.C area.</p>

6

<p>Kenyon is out in the middle of the corn fields but is relatively close to Columbus for internships, and it is well known in OH. Denison is nearer to Columbus and similar in offerings (not quite so secluded). Miami OH matches your interests well.</p>

7

<p>peanutbutter- yeah, Georgetown would be my dream school, but I think it is too far of a shot to even be a reach. But I truly wish I could attend.
Coolbreeze- Thanks, a lot of those schools you mentioned are a little big for me though:(
Erin's Dad- Yeah I've read up more on Kenyon, the social life seems a lot like what I'm looking for, and the academics seem great, it is a bit of a distance from Columbus but that is fine. Kenyon is probably a reach, but reading about Denison that could be a great match for me.</p>

8

<p>have you looked at syracuse at all?</p>