Need some suggestions for schools!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have been reading threads on CC for a long time, but this is the first time I’m posting because I really need some advice as to where to apply. This is not a chance thread, I’m only giving my stats so that you can get an idea of what schools would be in the range of safeties, matches, and reaches for me.</p>

<p>I am a rising junior at a rigorous private school in California. The only college that I will definitely apply to is Stanford, where both my sisters go and both my parents went. I am applying there early action, although it is definitely not my top choice (my parents really want me to). All the other colleges are up in the air, as I haven't made any final decisions about any colleges.</p>

<p>My stats are as follows:
I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.3 weighted. I have taken all honors/AP classes.
SAT: 780 on math, 760 on reading, 770 on writing
SAT IIs: 800 Bio, 800 Math I; took Chem, US History, and Math II in June, still waiting for scores
AP scores: 5 on Bio, 5 on World History
I am full pay, so financial aid is not an issue.</p>

<p>What I want in a school:
Big sports scene (preferably DI)
At least 4,000 undergrads; probably no more than 15,000, but I am flexible about this
I would prefer a more rural area, although urban would be fine as long as it has a campus
A school very focused on tradition
Warm weather would be nice, but is not necessary
I want to have fun at college but I also want the student body to be intellectual (I want the school to have a work hard/play hard mentality)
I am interested in engineering, but do not want to go to a Georgia Tech/MIT/Caltech type school in case I change my mind and want to major in something else.</p>

<p>My tentative list so far is:
Stanford
Dartmouth
Duke
UPenn: I am tentative because this is right in a city, but I haven’t visited yet so I can’t say for sure.
Claremont McKenna: I know that it is not really an engineering school, but I am very interested in their economics and engineering program.
Note: I have visited Harvey Mudd and am uninterested. I also did not like Pomona or Scripps (I did not visit Pitzer, because it did not seem to fit what I was looking for at all). I do very much like the consortium as a whole, though, aside from the fact that sports are not as big as I would like.
UMiami
UCLA (in-state): I have visited UCLA, and I liked it, but a lot of people from my school go there, so I would probably rather go somewhere else. That being said, it is a really good school and it's big enough that I know I probably wouldn't see anyone I didn't want to.
UCSB (in-state): I visited UCSB and I loved it, although I know it's academically not where I want it to be, and the sports scene didn't seem to have as much attention as I want. However, I could definitely see myself attending if no other schools worked out.</p>

<p>I need some more match schools, since it seems that I really only have reaches and a safety (UCSB). I would also be open to hearing suggestions for reach schools, because if I get into Stanford EA, then I will only apply to a few schools that I really like.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>UMiami is very safe for you as well…</p>

3

<p>I think Duke sounds like a great fit for you. For safeties, you have all kinds of great options in CA --just apply to several of the UC’s (one app., you can’t beat that!).</p>

4

<p>Take a look at Vanderbilt.</p>

5

<p>

IMO, there are no match schools for you, only reaches and safeties.</p>

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<p>Just a side note, I LOVE UPenn and I wish I had stats high enough to go there, I’d highly recommend it to you.
Anyway, look at USC, Texas A&M, University of Texas, and University of Virginia.</p>

7

<p>Clemson, Wake Forest, UCONN, Penn State.
Best of luck!</p>

8

<p>It seem like you have a pretty good chance of getting into Stanford as a legacy with those stats. So you might actually want a few more reaches because I don’t really see turning down Stanford for some of the schools mentioned so far. Princeton and Cornell, for example. For something a little less selective, maybe Hopkins or Emory. Not sure about engineering at those places, though.</p>

9

<p>I would take a look at Rice. SAT II scores come out tomorrow! <em>anxious</em></p>

10

<p>Take a look at Clemson as a match or safety school!</p>

<p>“Big sports scene (preferably DI)”</p>

<p>Clemson has division I sports. Football is really popular, nothing like watching a game with 80,000 people in death valley. Our basketball team has made March Madness the last few years and our baseball team is always in competition for the College World Series.</p>

<p>“At least 4,000 undergrads; probably no more than 15,000, but I am flexible about this”</p>

<p>We have about 15-17,000 undergraduates but it doesn’t feel like a big school. Classes are 100 people max, professors will know your name and you will know a lot of people. The best thing I see about this is that its not a 30,000 person school so you don’t have to fight people for everything but it’s large enough to have the same resources as a large 30,000 person school.</p>

<p>“I would prefer a more rural area, although urban would be fine as long as it has a campus”</p>

<p>Clemson is in a rural area right next to the Blue Ridge Mountains and on Lake Hartwell. It’s a beautiful setting, lots of outdoors activities close by and the campus is goregeous. If you want an urban setting, Greenville, SC is an hour away and Atlanta/Charlotte are 2 hours away.</p>

<p>“A school very focused on tradition”</p>

<p>Clemson has many great traditions. Here are some of them: [Traditions</a> : Clemson University](<a href=“http://www.clemson.edu/about/traditions.html]Traditions”>Traditions | Clemson University, South Carolina)</p>

<p>“Warm weather would be nice, but is not necessary”</p>

<p>Clemson is in South Carolina, enough said. The admissions office has this description of the weather (fairly accurate): At Clemson, we experience all four seasons. Given that we are in the South, we have a short winter and extended spring and summer. If you have attended a summer orientation in July, you might know a little bit about our warm summers. However, about once every couple of years we get a little snow usually around early-February. Normally, the accumulation of snow is in the three or four inches range, which is about the only time class gets cancelled. As for the Fall, lots of Clemson people think it is the best season of the year. I don’t know whether that is because of the beauty of the leaves changing color or just the fun of football season. Either way it is a nice time to be on our campus."</p>

<p>“I want to have fun at college but I also want the student body to be intellectual (I want the school to have a work hard/play hard mentality)”</p>

<p>I think this is a great description of the people at Clemson. People at this school are the smartest people in South Carolina and around the US. 51% of students finished in the top 10% of their high school class, 76% in the top 20% but students also know how to have fun on the weekends or when they don’t have any work to do. </p>

<p>“I am interested in engineering, but do not want to go to a Georgia Tech/MIT/Caltech type school in case I change my mind and want to major in something else.”</p>

<p>Engineering is the most popular major at Clemson. However, we also have many other strong programs such as business, sciences, architecture, education, nursing, agriculture etc… Basically, if you want to major in anything other than liberal arts, this is the place to be!</p>

<p>Definitely let me know if you have any questions!
With your stats, you can definitely get an out-of-state tuition waiver (which means you pay in-state tuition) and you will definitely get into the Calhoun Honors Program. There is also a program called the National Scholars Program where you get free tuition, free study abroad programs and other benefits. (very selective though, only 10 people a year participate but I believe you have the stats)</p>

<p>Here are some links:
Calhoun Honors College - <a href=“http://www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/[/url]”>http://www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/&lt;/a&gt;
National Scholars Program - <a href=“http://www.clemson.edu/academics/programs/national-scholars/[/url]”>http://www.clemson.edu/academics/programs/national-scholars/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Let me know if you have anymore questions!</p>

11

<p>Georgetown, Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill,</p>

12

<p>Thanks for all the replies, everyone!</p>

<p>@hitch123, Stanford, although it’s an extremely good school, is very low on my list. I know I shouldn’t be applying there early, but it’s really only to please my parents. My oldest sister went there and my older sister is going there next year, and so I’ve spent enough time around there to know that I would rather go to a lot of places.</p>

<p>As for Rice, I’ve heard that it’s somewhat nerdy. Is that true? Maybe this isn’t the best criteria for picking a school, but I do want to go somewhere that has a very active party scene/nightlife.</p>

<p>I’m against UConn, Texas A&M, and Penn State because I’m pretty sure I can get into UMiami, and I would rather go to UMiami than them. I don’t want any schools that are too safe, since I like UCSB and UMiami. I guess that differs from my original post, but I am realizing more and more that what I want is to find schools that are good enough for me to be able to turn down Stanford for (if I am lucky enough to get into Stanford). Being a double legacy, it’s going to take a lot of convincing for my parents to let me go somewhere else if I am admitted.</p>

<p>These suggestions are great, any others?</p>

13

<p>Bumping this up because it hasn’t seen any responses in a few days…</p>

<p>To recap, I want a medium (4k-15k undergrads) sized school in a rural area with a good engineering program, a big sports scene, lots of traditions and a work hard/play hard atmosphere. Being from CA, warm weather is a plus but certainly not necessary.</p>

14

<p>Schools to consider: University of Illinois, maybe Caltech.</p>