<p>Okay, here's my current list:
- Georgetown (I loovvee DC, and it's the best school in DC)
- Vanderbilt (I really don't know.. great academics and not too bad of an accept rate)
- Duke (Heard a lot good about it)
- WashU (Midwest, not too bad of a drive from here)
- University of Pennsylvania (token Ivy.. lol.. favorite Ivy because it's in the city, and it's not HYP.)
- Claremont McKenna (I like the consortium idea, and this seems like the best fit of the five</p>
<p>Must have:
- Good FinAid (parents make ~65k a year with 3 dependents, can't help me at all)</p>
<p>I prefer:
- Warmer weather
- In a fairly large city
- Not frat dominated or a huge party scene
- Intellectual environment
- Great academics
- Very involved student body, many EC opportunities
- Not obsessive over school work or grades
- Pretty campus, with grass, not concrete</p>
<p>Note: I want a good all-around university... as I am going in undecided ;)</p>
<p>^^ A school missing one or two of this isn't necessarily out of the running, these are just my ideals.</p>
<p>I'm a competitive applicant (34 ACT, ranked 1/30, 3.9 GPA, good/great ECs, ~8 APs by graduation, possible hook: rural Iowan who's pushed the limits of education).</p>
<p>I was rejected to Stanford EA... with 12% acceptance. So, I am not even going to try for HYP, or probably anything under 15% acceptance.</p>
<p>Help!! I am panicking because I have only 9 days to choose and apply to my colleges (I am vacationing over break)!!!
NealJ2K is online now</p>
<p>Duke has a HUGE party scene; I know you said a few criteria could be missing, but I don't know how important that is to you.
Also, you need to find a safety for that list. Maybe a lower tier college with a great honors program?</p>
<p>University of Iowa and Drake are my safeties -- I have already been accepted to both, and am in the running for their full ride scholarships. U of Iowa is instate tuition so it's definitely a financial safety too, even if I don't get a full scholarship.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest that Rice sounded like a good fit also. Not to mention that Rice just increased their financial aid policy to have no loans for students with parents' income under $80,000.</p>
<p>Duke, Vandy, WashU, Georgetown and Penn all have sizable (some would say very large) sorority/fraternity scenes and a very healthy party scene. They are also very academic schools so it takes discipline to stay out of trouble. Claremont McKenna is a wonderful school on the Oxford system with Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pomona and Pitzer. Claremont is more conservative from what I have heard. They all tend to be a bit obsessive about school work and grades. I have seen that personally and know people there. WashU was "frenetic" when we visited. Its a great school with some amazing profs and programs that really impressed us, but the culture is definitely highly competitive. </p>
<p>Your best bet, frankly, is a match school as that is where the HUGE scholarships will come from. And contrary to popular belief, is often where you will be happiest and thrive the best. </p>
<p>Its pretty hard to find a non party school. Further, you dont really want four years of nerdville do you? College is about growing and learning and balance, not just pure academics. So you may want to examine that closely. I have something good to say about all the schools you selected, though each is special in their own way, with a unique culture. Further they are all fierce rivals for top students, though a high percentage of their applicants cross apply to all of them. </p>
<p>But if money is an issue (and it certainly is with that income level) applying to very expensive private schools, you really need to examine some other match schools as well. These schools each have generous financial aid. </p>
<p>Did you look at Davidson College? They have a "no student loan" policy for kids like you, and will give you grants instead. Its about 25 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina and is a stellar school.</p>