Real Men Don't Cry

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I guess I am not a real man.</p>

<p>After all the long nights spent studying for the SAT, all the months spent sifting through colleges, and all the dreams of sitting tight with my Ivy League acceptance letter, I have been brought to tears as a realize my true desires will never come to fruition. I knew it was a long shot, but I was a hard worker; and I figured enough hard work could get me anywhere. I was wrong, of course, and now I breeze through the list of dream colleges I made two years ago, crossing out each one; knowing I am hopeless. </p>

<p>Sorry for the dramatic intro, but I didn't really know how to start. </p>

<p>I'm making this thread for one simple reason: I don't know where to go to college. Every website reveals a twist in my search, and every family gathering suggests a new university that is "just perfect for me."</p>

<p>So now I come to you, deject and lost. More hours spent studying for any number of tests, and I still can't match the braniacs and natural intellectuals. My friends invite me here and there, nope sorry, I have work to do. "You said that yesterday!" That I did, and I will say it tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. Sometimes 9 or 10 hours with only a break for food, and still, I can't scratch a 700 or National Merit Scholarship.</p>

<p>It is the most frustrating thing I can imagine, so I am simply stopping now. I guess I am as smart as I will get, and need to apply where I can apply. I'll provide a brief resume, so you can get an idea and throw out some suggestions. So tell me, where should I apply?</p>

<p>PS: I dislike reading, and only do so when I have to. I thought I was good at math and loved the sciences until these tests told me otherwise. </p>

<p>SAT: 1870
Reading: 610
Math: 640
Writing: 620</p>

<p>ACT: 29
Reading: 36
Math: 25
Writing: 31 (8)
Science: 25</p>

<p>GPA: 4.3 Weighted, 3.8 Unweighted </p>

<p>Extracurricular:
Football: MVP, All-County, All-District, Black Lion Award
Track, Basketball, Soccer, Mentor Group, Missions Trip, National Honor Society</p>

<p>Also, I won Homecoming last year. Yale wasn't impressed.</p>

<p>Previous Dream List:</p>

<p>Swarthmore
Yale
RPI
Pomona
Pitzer
Brown
Cornell</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Why are you running after big names ?, there are thousands of uni’s which would accept you based just on your scores. Find the one that suits you and lead a beautiful life. </p>

<p>And, instead of posting your emotions, go talk with someone.</p>

<p>Good Luck !</p>

3

<p>Calm down, it’s just a test. The UCs (the best public university system in the world) have found that grades are a far better indicator of student success than SATs/ACTs. The reality is, plenty of great schools are “test optional”. Here’s a list of them: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”&gt;ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest]SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest<a href=“some%20are%20absolute%20stinkers,%20while%20others%20are%20EXTREMELY%20well%20regarded”>/url</a>.</p>

<p>Btw, a 29 ACT is actually really good. The reality is, only 10% of students who took the ACT scored higher than you, so calm down. The vast majority of schools will accept you, no need to worry about whether you’ll get in anywhere decent. </p>

<p>Your schools are so different, that it’s tough to know what you want out of a school. Pitzer and RPI in the same “dream school” list? First of all, how much can your parents afford? Ask them if you don’t have an exact dollar amount. And don’t allow them to give you some vague answer, make them tell you the exact amount. </p>

<p>Secondly, what type of school would you prefer? Liberal arts college, major research university, or medium sized school? Where would you like it to be? More specifically, urban, rural, or suburban, and do you care about which part of the country it’s in? Do you have any preferences as to what types of sciences its strong in? What type of environment would you like to be in? For instance, both BYU and UC Santa Cruz are good in engineering, but a student who would be happy at BYU would likely be miserable at Santa Cruz.</p>

<p>What’s your home state? I’m guessing you live in the Northeast, since you seem to be from an Ivy or bust neighborhood.</p>

<p>Are you a junior or senior right now?</p>

4

<p>stop worrying about the name, harvard has a name and then what? teaching assistants who barely speak english, hyper competitive students, arrogance and an elitist attitude!?!?!?
check out Colleges That Change Lives, they even have a free website. so many people obsess over school names, it causes so much unneeded stress and for those who make it into those handful of “elite” schools they are non the better for it! so relax and you will find the right school.</p>

5

<p>Like zobroward, I suggest the first step in the process is to stop fantasizing about the Ivies. The Ivies are hardly the be all, end all in the college world. I attended a big name university, and my boyfriend and sister attended lesser known LACs. They received fantastic educations and had every bit as good an experience as I did. In fact, I was sometimes a little envious of the pampering they received! There are MANY excellent colleges out there that would be happy to have you. </p>

<p>whenhen also gave good advice. The next step is to decide what you want in a college. More specifically, consider these factors:

[ul][<em>]What can you afford? Will you need a lot of financial or merit aid?
[</em>]Which part(s) of the country (northeast, southeast, west coast, midwest, etc.) are you interested in?
[<em>]What type of location - rural, suburb of a city, small city, big city…?
[</em>]What size college? Small (<2000), small-medium (3000-8000), medium (8000-15,000), medium-large (15-20,000), large (20,000+)?
[<em>]Greek life - love it, hate it, or no opinion?
[</em>]Do you care about athletics? Are you content to watch athletics (perhaps at a DI college) or would you prefer to play a sport (perhaps at a DIII college)?
[li]Do you have special needs in a college? LGBT friendly, LD friendly…?[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Running a financial aid calculator is a very good idea.</p>

<p><a href=“Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals”>Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals;

<p>If you’re not sure about the answers to these questions, visiting colleges close to you is a good idea. Even if you’re not interested in them, it will help you figure out how you feel about big colleges, rural colleges, etc. </p>

<p>The college search engine on this website, which has been tweaked and improved upon by the experiences of dozens of posters, is a fantastic resource.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Books like The Fiske Guide to Colleges and The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges are also extremely helpful. Check out your local library to see what books they have.</p>

<p>As a place to start, I would check out Tulane, Oxford-Emory, Miami, and most of the very good but not highly selective liberal arts colleges (LACs) – Grinnell, Oberlin, and Richmond are a few examples. The good news for you is that many LACs are starved for good male applicants and are willing to accept more of them to balance out their male:female ratios.</p>

6

<p>You have an excellent GPA, a perfect score on the ACT reading test, and you’re a successful HS athlete. Scores of selective colleges would be glad to have you.
Use the CC College Search tool (or browse the USNWR list of schools below the top 20 or so) to find more “match” schools. Test optional (/ test flexible) possibilities include:</p>

<p>American University
Bates
Clark University
College of the Holy Cross
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Dickinson
Franklin & Marshall
Gettysburg College
Hamilton
Juniata
Knox
Lawrence University
Muhlenberg
Trinity College (Hartford)
Ursinus
Wake Forest</p>

<p>Many of these schools offer pretty much the same academic programs as Swarthmore or Pomona in similar campus environments. Same small classes, old ivy-covered buildings, professors with PhDs from top grad schools, good aid, serious students, etc.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it. Sorry for being too emotional, it was my way of outpouring. As far as Ivies go, I gave up on them a while ago, I just came across all my goals from a few years back, and I hadn’t made a single one of them, hence the breakdown. </p>

<p>I live in Florida, but I want to go to a school hopefully in the northeast, because I have a lot of family there already, and my brother is attending college in New York. And as long as it’s not completely rural, any other location is fine, suburb of a city most preferably. When it comes to size and type, I don’t really know what I want. I suppose I’d like a smaller, liberal arts school; only because I feel like I own it to myself to explore a balance education. As you can see, while I love math and science, I have apparent skills in writing and reading, (got a 5 on AP Language also). So I feel like I’d be selling myself short if I attended a technical school. As far as a major goes I had originally planned something strong in math, engineering or architecture. I am also thinking perhaps environmental or biological sciences too.</p>

<p>Basically, my most important factor in choosing a school is its recognition. When I fill out a job application, or apply to graduate school, will they be saying, “o, he just went to school A.” or “O wow! He went to school B!”</p>

<p>As far as athletics goes, I have been given opportunities to play D3 football. I get a few calls from different schools every week, but nowhere that really interests me. I do, however, also have interest from places I know have merit, but I’m not sure I could get in. That’s a question I’ve always had that has never been answered by any forum or counselor. With D3 and all their rules, do I have a better chance of getting in as a student athlete compared to just a regular student? And anymore financial aid in the form of merit scholarships or grants? Because I hear a lot of stories of D3 schools saying, “Yes, we really want you! So let us know when you get in so we can throw you on the roster.” In essence, they are just like high school teams, recruiting from their own school. </p>

<p>At the bottom of the list, you’ll see some schools I’d love to go to, but have some requirements I don’t meet. I’d love to apply to all of them, but we simply can’t afford all the application fees.</p>

<p>List of schools with interest in football (In order of their interest in me as far as I can infer)</p>

<p>Alma College
Hanover College
Marietta College
Occidental College
Allegheny College
Hamilton College
Beloit College
Oberlin College
RPI
Pomona/Pitzer College
Williams</p>

<p>As far as my family’s affluence goes, we can pay about 10k. Maybe more if it’s someplace I REALLY want to go to. We’ve run some estimators, and have gotten doable numbers. </p>

<p>Again, thank you all so much, and sorry for the breakdown.</p>

<p>Edit: I’m a senior, forgot to mention that. I started all this late, so I’m cramming now.</p>

<p>Double Edit: I also have all of the Common App done. So, if the school accepts Common App, just need to take care of supplements over the next few weeks.</p>

8

<p>Have you been taking timed practice tests, then reviewing them in their entirety?</p>

<p>After fifty practice tests, you should be hitting 2300+ consistently.</p>

<p>The SAT doesn’t test intelligence–it tests how quickly and accurately you can do 8th grade reading and math.</p>

9

<p>Have you covered all the bases as far as being recruited for football? Did you fill out the recruiting form on all the school’s athletic page on their websites? Your GPA is very good and many/most schools view that as the benchmark against which to predict success in college. So, perhaps when you couple your athletic ability with your strong GPA, you might find yourself surprised at the results. I would re-configure your list to include some reach schools, some matches and some safeties. Does your High School use Naviance? That would be an excellent place to start.</p>

10

<p>No, I only ever took a few practice tests, I suppose that was a bad decision. I took SAT courses that relayed all the information I need to know. After I took the SAT, I knew I could get every question right if I had the time. But by that point it was too late.</p>

<p>And yes, I have covered everything to do for most schools interested in me. Filled out their questionnaires and send out emails periodically. But it’s hard to keep spending time on that when I don’t really know if it’s going to help me at all, no one has a clear cut answer. Because I really could care less whether or not I play in college, I just want a good education.</p>

<p>So as far as my list goes, what should be my match and safety schools? I figured most of matches would be places like Lawrence or Oberlin, does that sound about right? But I have no idea what my safety schools would be. I am applying to FSU and UF because I qualify for Bright Futures and have Florida Prepaid, thought I don’t really want to go to either of those schools.</p>

11

<p>Also, I planned on taking SAT II’s December 1st. For Physics, Literature, and Math I. Do you think I should take the regular SAT again instead? Will 5 or 6 practice tests over the next couple days make a difference? The only other option would be January 26th, but all apps are in by then, would they accept updates?</p>

12

<p>“As far as my family’s affluence goes, we can pay about 10k.”</p>

<p>Have you run the NPCs for the schools on your list? What is your family’s EFC? You are in FL… do you qualify for Bright Futures? Do you have in state schools on your list? </p>

<p>If you would prefer to go OOS you need to look for schools that will give significant merit for our stats and meet the application deadlines for the merit. Another option is to look for schools that meet full need IF demonstrated need is such that the school will make up the difference… You need to run NPCs on these schools websites to see what that calculate your need to be. </p>

<p>You are clearly very bright and talented… you will succeed at any school you choose to attend and at which you set your mind to succeeding. </p>

<p>:)</p>

13

<p>Nobody else has picked up on this, but you don’t like reading and don’t read unless you need to.</p>

<p>Well, college includes classes that feature lots of reading. Do you really understand how much you’ll need to do? Are you willing to do it? Otherwise, you should look at something different, like a career training program. You need to be smart to be an electrician, for example. There’s a shortage of machinist candidates who can do manufacturing work. Machines (cars, computers, copiers) break down and need people who can fix them.</p>

14

<p>What I meant by that was, I don’t read for recreation at all, as most of my other smart friends seem to. I’ve been through multiple APs that require loads of reading a night, Junior year I usually had 1 or 2 hours every night, upwards of 6 on the weekend. But thank you for the comment.</p>

<p>And KatMT, yes I qualify for Bright futures and I am applying to a few state schools. Also, NPCs have given us numbers that we can work with. What we really get remains to be seen.</p>

15

<p>How hard is it for you to do your class reading? Do you have any evidence that it takes longer to read things than it takes the others in those classes? If so, you may have a mild form of dyslexia or slow processing. As at your school about being evaluated for that. You may be eligible to take standardized exams with extended time. If thisis identified now, some of the accommodations can be sontinued in college where you are also likely to need them.</p>

<p>Why do you think you will need to go to grad school? Unless you are firmly committed to a career that requires an advanced degree, don’t base your choice of undergrad on that. And even if so, many grad programs don’t care about the name on your college diploma, but rather about your preparation for and your commitment to the field of study.</p>

16

<p>Numbers don`t tell how smart you are. Seriously.</p>