Over 15 College Apps....help me narrow it down?

College Search & Selection
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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ While I don’t think running out of math courses will be a concern for me, cross-registration seems great. Since I won’t have a car on campus, I may apply to Barnard instead of the other women’s colleges.</p>

<p>@momrath‌ I understand that many applicants have weak points, but mine is pretty severe. It definitely is difficult to predict which schools would react positively to my situation, which is why I’m not giving up on my reaches-there’s always a chance that it will be one of those schools. I considered submitting a music supplement, but they only recommend that if one has ‘‘exceptional talent,’’ which I don’t think I have. If I add Bowdoin and Haverford, I’ll only be expanding my ‘‘Super Reach’’ list. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll look into Kenyon and Lawrence.</p>

<p>@NROTCgrad‌ Actually I applied to Hamilton’s overnight diversity program, but was rejected. While I do wish that I could apply to 15 schools, I simply cannot afford it. I was actually considering Oberlin back on my list, I most likely will.</p>

<p>@woogzmama‌ I had considered Whittier…until I ran their net price calculator. I think I need to keep the publics to have something to fall back on. Although I’d much prefer a small uni/LAC, I’ll make the best of whichever school I end up attending.</p>

<p>@intparent‌ I don’t have anything against religion, though I would prefer it to be to be separate from my education. Two classes isn’t a swaying factor, however.</p>

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<p>In terms of the commuting logistics of using the cross registration at those women’s colleges:</p>

<p>Barnard is across the street from Columbia.</p>

<p>Smith and Mount Holyoke are in the same town as University of Massachusetts - Amherst and two other colleges. There is a shuttle bus system to take students between the five colleges.</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr is a 20 minute train ride from University of Pennsylvania. There are two other nearby colleges with cross registration agreements as well.</p>

<p>Be sure also to check whether the cross registration schools have the same academic calendars (e.g. same class days and final exam days, etc.). If they differ, that may be less convenient.</p>

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<p>From your Chances thread, music appears to be your primary EC. If that’s the case, then I’d suggest that you put together a supplement.</p>

<p>For small non-conservatory LACs, music and other arts supplements are an indication of how you spend your time, what interests you and whether you might continue to pursue music as an EC in other words, a demonstration of how you could contribute to the campus community. Obviously, you don’t want to do this if you are mediocre, but on the other hand you don’t have to be exceptional, or professional, to benefit from a supplement.</p>

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<p>Okay, you will laugh I bet, but a really good look at UNC-Asheville. The town is about as cool and artsy as one can get. There is a ton of financial aid especially if you are identified as a Laurel scholar. Music is everywhere for non majors, both within the school and the town. And you will graduate published on several papers (likely) as there are no teaching assistants there. Look at their stats for kids getting into grad school out of there. This is an absolute hidden gem of a school…my friend’s daughter got into three medical schools out of there. You have got to see the town of asheville to get how cool it is. It is not a hard core party school at all, very environmental…very cool place.</p>

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<p>Just read this thread.</p>

<p>OP, you are getting very sound advice on St. Olaf. Yes, you do need to take two classes in Theology, but they can be on virtually any different theology.</p>

<p>Their Math program is top-notch. Their music program is literally world class, with terrific facilities.</p>

<p>A co-workers son went to St. Olaf as a Math/Physics double major, and is now at U of W working on building a fusion reactor. They produce a ton of PhD candidates out of that school.</p>

<p>I would also add that St. Olaf is actually on the bigger side for a LAC at about 3600, so there are simply more students and greater opportunities for some diverse connections.</p>

<p>They have a 4-1-4 academic calendar, with lots of opportunities for travel during “J-Term” if you want a break from Math studies, but still want to stay on track for your major. And January is when you want to get out of Minnesota, believe me.</p>

<p>St. Olaf would appear, on paper, to be a perfect match, and deserves strong consideration, and I say this as a Carleton alumn. ;)</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus The shuttle bus system sounds great! Do you know how many students take advantage of cross-registration or how easy it is to take classes at other campuses? </p>

<p>@momrath I suppose you’re right, but I bet they’ll be getting a lot of music supplements so I’ll be honest and say that I’m afraid that mine will be mediocre compared to the rest, since most are really accomplished (have taken lessons since they were 5, won competitions, etc.) I may ask my music history teacher for advice and see if she’ll help me put a supplement together since I don’t have a piano or a video camera.</p>

<p>@elle232 I don’t understand why you thought I would laugh. I looked into the school you mentioned and it seems really great, especially since it’s a public with a small student body. Also, the whole environment seems perfect for me, but I ran their NPC and had $20k in unmet need, and unless by some miracle I win a Gates Millenium scholarship, affording it is not possible.</p>

<p>@ColdinMinny Okay this is going to sound really creepy but I looked through all of St Olaf’s virtual tours, their course catalogs, art video archives, their facebook page, and live webcams and I think I had the wrong impression of it before. It appears to be pretty diverse and a place I can definitely see myself fitting in. I was surprised to see a lot of minorities and even some ‘‘rockers’’ so I know I’m confident that I’ll find my niche there. Of course, the academics are the most important, and it’s great to know that they have strong PhD program placement and that they have great math and music programs. Honestly, it seems so great, I really hope I get accepted.</p>

<p>Another plus: If your ACT and/or SAT scores are on your official high school transcript (sent from your high school), they will be considered official. (From St. Olaf’s website)</p>

<p>No financial burden applying there(:</p>

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<p>My own S has applied to St. Olaf, too. I play bridge with a young lady that is currently attending, and she is certainly a bit “alternative”. With that many kids, I think everyone can find their tribe.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Re music supplement: I agree it’s a good idea to get a professional opinion. I wouldn’t submit a supplement to Stanford and maybe not to Rice or Oberlin, but I would to some of the other LACs on your list. What they’ll be looking for is an indication that you’re serious about music as an EC and that you’ll continue to participate once you’re on campus. </p>

<p>I believe that the music supplements are audio only.</p>

<p>I’d pursue this option because it seems that music is your primary (possibly only?) consistent EC, so you need to expand and enhance your involvement.</p>

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<p>You may want to ask on the forum sections for the specific colleges about the commuting logistics with the shuttle bus, and other considerations with cross registration (e.g. academic calendar, final exam schedules, etc.). The four small colleges do have a career center sharing agreement with the University of Massachusetts - Amherst career center, so that may be of some help in getting internships and jobs.</p>

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<p>There is a lot of aid at UNC asheville…people tend to scoff when I mention it and I think it is quite the gem. I would look at your odds of being a Laurel scholar…my s was awarded almost a full ride from there upon acceptance into this group…</p>

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<p>Based on your stats, first-gen status, and your selectino criteria (not too preppy, not big drinking culture, etc), and strong math,
I would cross out Middlebury and keep only 3 out of your big reaches (you may want to add Williams, although it’s as competitive as the others, your first gen/URM status may help more at a LAC, its math dept is among the best in the country, and it’s as high in prestige as the others.)
Yale, WashU, Rice, Stanford, Swarthmore, = keep 3+ Williams, total 4 instead of 6</p>

<p>Others: Ohio State (Honors Program)= keep as financial safety
UMich= remove, unlikely to be doable financially unless you’re from MI
Case Western = keep, good match, but not sure it’ll be good financially (good FA if they want you though)
Carleton, Holy Cross, Connecticut College, Grinnell, Oberlin, Whitman, Occidental, Pitzer, Colby College = Carleton, Connecticut Coll, Grinnell, Oberlin, Occidental, Pitzer seem to match your requirements the best, so, 6 instead of 9. I second (third) St Olaf as a great fit for you and your hooks would play very well there. :slight_smile:
Total, 13. I’d add another financial safety and another match though.</p>

<p>Ask for fee waivers (NACAC or SAT)</p>

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<p>@momrath This weekend I broke out of my comfort zone and played at a talent show to see how others reacted and I received many compliments so that boosted my confidence a bit and I think I’ll go ahead and submit a supplement, but I’ll still ask my teacher for guidance just to be safe. Thank you for the suggestion, I never would have even considered submitting a supplement if you hadn’t mentioned it.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus I’ll definitely ask in other forums, thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>@elle232 Honestly, I find my odds of being a Laurel scholar very slim. I’ve heard that most publics don’t award generous aid to out of state applicants. Am I mistaken?</p>

<p>@MYOS1634 Thank you very much! I have to ask, however, why you eliminated Middlebury and Whitman. I feel like both of those fit my criteria better than do Pitzer and Occidental. Middlebury is strong in all areas, is in a beautiful rural town, has great resources and grad placement, etc. Another reason I wanted to apply to Middlebury was that they accept test scores on transcripts and don’t have supplemental essays, so it would be no trouble whatsoever to apply. What aspect about the school doesn’t suit my criteria? (Besides the selectivity)</p>

<p>Also, I’m not sure that Ohio State or Case Western would be financially feasible.</p>

<p>I was actually considering eliminating Rice. Although it has always been my dream school, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I practically have zero chance of getting in.</p>

<p>Taking everybody’s suggestions, here is my new list:</p>

<p>Huge reaches: Swarthmore, Williams, Middlebury, WashU</p>

<p>Reaches: Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin</p>

<p>Matches/ Low Reaches: St. Olaf, Conn. College, Whitman, UCR, UCI, Smith</p>

<p>I’m still undecided about the other 2 UCs. I’ve heard UCSC has a strong drug culture and UCSB has a prevalent party scene, so I’m still debating whether or not to apply to those.</p>

<p>That is about 12 applications total, with room for about 3 more. I understand I need more matches/safeties, but which schools qualify as such is difficult to predict given my circumstances.</p>

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<p>I think all that tweaking has really paid off. I would just make two suggestions:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Find an EA or Rolling admit school to apply to. This will relieve a lot of anxiety. Look at this list:
<a href=“List of Colleges with Early Action, Early Decision, and Rolling Admissions - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>List of Colleges with Early Action, Early Decision, and Rolling Admissions - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums;
<li><p>Apply to Rice. What difference, at this point, does it make? :slight_smile: You don’t want to regret it later.</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>I would second the suggestion to not give up on Rice just yet. My S is a freshman there and he was admitted with fairly good stats, but he tells me that he has met people there with a wide range of stats and that has convinced him that Rice is serious about “holistic.”</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone so much for your help! I added a couple matches to my list after looking through several forums and running multiple net price calculators. I also decided that
Reed is too great of a school not to apply to just because of one factor that I can avoid. Also, many of these schools accept test scores on transcripts as official so it won’t be a huge burden. </p>

<p>This is my new list:
Reach: Rice, WashU, Swarthmore, Carleton, Middlebury/Williams(still undecided)
Low Reach: Oberlin, Grinnell, Connecticut, Whitman, Skidmore, Reed
Match: St Olaf, Smith, Ohio Wes(EA), Saint Lawrence, UCR, UCI</p>

<p>I’d still like to know what about Connecticut and Middlebury don’t satisfy what I’m looking for in a college. I especially liked that Connecticut has free/reduced price music lessons if you participate in musical groups, and it seems pretty intellectual, but if there’s something I’m missing please let me know.</p>

<p>I may add Lewis and Clark or Willamette as low matches although in the NPCs I came out about $12k short, but, who knows, I may get some scholarships.</p>

<p>I may apply to UNC-Asheville EA if my counselor finishes my school report in time.</p>

<p>Also, I was considering applying to some CSUs like Cal Poly but since they don’t accept essays/LORs, does anyone know of any way I could explain that bad semester? </p>

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<p>DS had a 3.9 and a 34 ACT and received $0 merit from UNC Asheville. I don’t think it’s a given. </p>

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Update: I’ll be attending Carleton this upcoming fall! Thanks everyone for all of your help!

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Can you explain the way you made your choice? This would be interesting for current juniors who are wondering :slight_smile:

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That’s fantastic news, thanks for coming back. What a journey. That is one of the best in class.

Can you post your results?

Or if you get a minute do a writeup in the Hindsight forum for future applicants?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/admissions-hindsight-lessons-learned/

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I applied EDII, so I regret to say that I don’t have many results. I’m sorry!

Here are the few that I do have (accepted):
Cal Poly’s, CSULB, UCSD
Willamette and Earlham (EA)

It was a binding agreement so I can’t really explain why I chose this school over others, though if I had been accepted to the other schools I applied to I would have chosen Carleton. I can explain, if you think it would be helpful, why Carleton became my 1st-choice school.

I will certainly do a writeup, hopefully it will be of some help despite the fact that I don’t have many results to post.