Please Help Finding the Right Colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a rising senior beginning the process of figuring out which college I want to go to, and so I do not really know which colleges I should look at. I've done a little bit of research and compiled a list of some schools (below) which I think fit the profile of what I am looking for, but I feel the expertise here could help me add to and refine my list. I am looking for a smaller, secular college (either a liberal arts college or small university under 10,000 students), preferably located in the Northeast or western US. I am considering a wide variety of majors, so I would prefer to avoid institutions which specialize in certain strengths, such as a tech school.</p>

<p>Here is my list thus far:</p>

<p>Cornell University
Connecticut College
Brown University
Bates College
Vassar College</p>

<p>If anyone could suggest additions or removals to the list, it would be greatly appreciated, as would an assessment of their standing as a reach, match, or safety. Moreover, any information on their financial aid quality would be very helpful, as I would like to avoid applying to colleges that I cannot feasibly attend.</p>

<p>My stats are below, for reference:</p>

<p>Caucasian Female
Small public school in Oregon</p>

<p>Class Ranking: 10/140
GPA: 4.051 (All A's except 3 B's in Spanish)</p>

<p>SAT: 2020 (720 CR, 620 M, 680 W)</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<ul>
<li>I have volunteered to mentor young students (ranging from kindergarten to 6th grade) in biological field work and studies for two years.</li>
<li>I've done two sports in high school, swimming (two years JV, two years varsity) and tennis (three years varsity)</li>
<li>I am President of my school's astronomy club.</li>
<li>Two play productions (~100hrs of outside class rehearsal)</li>
<li>We the People constitutional law competition</li>
</ul>

<p>I am aware that my activities are relatively weak, but I really did not want to do the standard Sparrow and Key clubs that every high school offers.</p>

<p>AP classes taken/will take:
AP US History
AP Calculus AB
AP English Literature
AP Biology</p>

<p>My school doesn't offer more than four AP classes, so I assume the relative lack won't be an impediment. I took the hardest course load available, including a third year of Spanish.</p>

<p>Honors taken/will take:</p>

<p>Math 1 (Geometry)
Math 111/112 (precalc through community college)
English 10 and 11
We the People (honors government)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any assistance you provide.</p>

2

<p>Have you tried the SuperMatch feature available on this website? I did it after-the-fact and was pretty impressed with the schools it came up with - I ended up applying to about 7 of the top 10 it suggested.</p>

<p>Just looking at the schools you mentioned, I’ll add some:
Wesleyan
Tufts
Amherst
Bowdoin
Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer (Scripps if you’re female)
Chapman</p>

3

<p>Grinnell, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Carleton, etc. You look like you would fit very well at an LAC. There’s a subforum on this site called Top Liberal Arts Colleges where you could go look at all the best LACs. You probably won’t be competitive at some schools such as Amherst or Williams, but most other LACs will be right in your range, and many of them meet full financial need.</p>

4

<p>How about Georgetown? Or Washington U in St. Louis?</p>

5

<p>

I’m glad your considering this from the start. Do you know what your EFC is? Or how much your parents can afford to spend? Many people think they’ll get FA when their income is too high for what they can realistically come up with.</p>

6

<p>Please, does anyone else have any suggestions of colleges and universities that I should look at. Thanks also for the above suggestions, they were rather helpful.</p>

7

<p>I’ve been looking at some more colleges/universities and I have come up with a list of nine potential schools:
Colby College
Connecticut College
Haverford College
Pitzer College
Cornell University
Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
John Hopkins University
Middlebury College</p>

<p>I was wondering what yours thoughts are on these colleges and any other colleges/universities that I may have overlooked or didn’t think about. Also these are all matches and/or reaches and if anybody has any safty schools also that would be much appreciated. Thanks!</p>

8

<p>There’s Reed College in Portland. It might be too close to home for your liking, though, since you’re from Oregon.</p>

9

<p>

Any answers?</p>

10

<p>Erin’s Dad, Im sorry. I have no idea about either.</p>

11

<p>Hoopster77, yeah Reed is a little close for my taste.</p>

12

<p>Does any one have any other suggestions and/or insights about the schools I have listed?</p>

13

<p>You’d probably get some merit aid at Lewis and Clark but that’s as close as Reed. Reed doesn’t offer merit aid, only FA. If your family has good income you would probably not get much. Maybe Whitman? Some good merit at Denison, College of Wooster, Earlham in the mid-west.</p>

14

<p>Thanks you for the suggestions but as I mentioned above I am not looking to go to school in the midwest. Id prefer to go to school on either the west or the east coast.</p>

15

<p>If you like Bates, check out Colby (comparable) and Bowdoin (more of a reach). All three are quite preppy. If you like Brown and Vassar, take a look at Weslayan and Pomona.</p>

16

<p>*Do you know what your EFC is? Or how much your parents can afford to spend? *</p>

<p>*I have no idea about either. *</p>

<p>Ok…you need to find this info out FIRST… </p>

<p>Look at it this way…when you would make up your birthday list for your parents, do you do it with no idea of how much they’d be willing to spend? There would be no point to putting a new car on your birthday list if you knew that they only spend $200 on your birthday, right? </p>

<p>the same goes with making a college list. If you have no idea how much your parents will pay (or how much aid you might qualify for) then you could be wasting valuable time researching schools that will never be affordable. </p>

<p>first find out how much they’ll pay each year.</p>

<p>then find out your likely EFC…a rough estimate is about 23% of gross income (more if they have a lot of assets/savings.) Use a FA calculator to get a better idea.</p>

<p>Most schools do NOT meet need, therefore most families are expected to pay MORE than their EFCs.</p>

<p>If your family has an unaffordable EFC then that is another problem.</p>

<p>If you have a non-custodial parent, that can be a problem as well.</p>

17

<p>You really should consider Whitman. Walla Walla, WA is a very charming friendly small town and the school is excellent. Check out this link: [Walla</a> Walla ranked friendliest town in the country | KING5.com Seattle](<a href=“http://www.king5.com/home/Walla-Walla-ranked-best-towns-in-country-125967803.html]Walla”>http://www.king5.com/home/Walla-Walla-ranked-best-towns-in-country-125967803.html) My son liked it more than Colby because the campus is 2 blocks from downtown, you can walk or bike to shop or eat off campus. Colby is near Watertown but you really need a car to get there, so the campus feels pretty isolated. He liked it more than Bates because Walla Walla is in a much nicer town. The academics are rigorous, but Whitties tend to be active in all sorts of things, lots of music, theater, club and varsity sports, and an very active outdoor program. </p>

<p>Good luck with the search and be sure to have a talk with your parents about the money issue. If you’re applying to colleges who give need-based aid instead of merit aid, there is the possibility that you may get in and not be able to attend because they have decided you need less than you actually do. This happened to us.</p>