<p>Hi, I am a highschool senior in California and besides UCs I have no idea where to apply to. I do not really like any of them except for UCLA and that is a reach for me. I would appreciate it if anyone had suggestions on a college that is strong academically but has a good social scene. A social life that is not dominated by the greek system and it is easy to meet new people. Since most of my highschool has been in New York we never used the 4.0 scale. My gpa is around 96 and my SAT score is 2060. SAT Math II 740, SAT Bio 690
National Honor Society, Key Club, Student Council, Crappy Community Service
Thank you for your time</p>
<p>Do you want to stay in CA?</p>
<p>If you do, you might want to look at Scripps, Pitzer, USC, Santa Clara, U of the Pacific, Occidental, and URedlands to start. Other colleges on the West Coast you may want to check out:</p>
<p>Reed
Whitman
Lewis & Clark
Willamette
UPuget Sound
UPortland
The Evergreen State College
Linfield
Pacific
UOregon</p>
<p>Please break down your 2060 SAT score; some schools don't use W. Do you need financial aid? What majors are you considering? UC Santa Cruz is perhaps the UC closest in style or feel to the schools IsleBoy mentioned (a good list, but Scripps is gender-challenged).</p>
<p>I got 760 on CR, 710 on Math, and 590 Writing
Lol I'd prefer that writing was omitted actually
And as for majors I'm considereing something in the science field, or computer field, still undecided</p>
<p>I don't think that UCLA is as much of a reach for you as you think it is. Other than your 590 on the writing section, your SAT scores are strong.</p>
<p>My guess is that your numbers make you a match at all the schools on IsleBoy's list except USC which may be a reach. There is lots of information available on all these schools. College Board has a Matchmaker at <a href="http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/adv_typeofschool.jsp%5B/url%5D">http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/adv_typeofschool.jsp</a> which could give you a rough idea of options.</p>
<p>I think my main concern is not getting the "college experience." I love the UCSD campus and I hear the UCI campus is quite nice, however they both have a reputation for being socially dead. For me the social aspect is equal to the academic one.</p>
<p>You want a balance between "college social experience" and "college academic experience." A place like Reed is relatively high re academic, UCSB (SB, not SD) is relatively high re social, people say. You need to read all you can about your possible choice of schools, then visit as many as you can fit in, in order to find those with the balance you want. This is quite subjective. If you're a California resident, UCs should save you some money.</p>