Hey everyone! I’m currently a high school senior who’s applying to schools, and I feel like I haven’t really connected with any of them in the way I see a lot of other students getting excited about colleges they’re applying to. I’m not looking for a “dream school”, just a school that I feel I’d be a good fit for academically and socially. This post is a bit long, so I’m sorry for the essay.
About Me:
1420 SAT (760 ER&W, 660 Math) (1410 when not superscored, 650 on math for that test)
100.53 W GPA, approx. 96.2 UW GPA.
I took 4 AP classes junior year (5 exams, as AP Physics included Physics 1 and 2), 1 sophmore year (that’s all my school allowed for sophomores, other than Comp. Sci), and I’m taking 4 my senior year as well (taking all exams).
I’m very involved with my school’s orchestra and playing the viola outside of school. I definitely want to be involved in some kind of symphony or chamber orchestra in college, and potentially minor in music.
I submitted to the Regeneron Science Talent Search, meaning I wrote a 20-page research paper on the UHI effect. I’m involved in my school’s newspaper (I’m Editor-In-Chief as well), in NHS and my school’s subject honor societies (treasurer of my school’s music honor society), senior student council member, and I’ve been dancing since I was 4 (not planning on joining a dance team though).
I live on Long Island (in NY), which is why my GPA is out of 100. I’m eligible for in-state tuition for SUNY schools.
What I’m looking for in a college:
I’m looking to major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and I’m planning on going into something related to Regenerative Medicine. I’ve been thinking about minoring or potentially double majoring in Neuroscience, depending on how much I enjoy the AP Psych class I’m taking right now. My backup plan of both of those fall through is going into Public Health (though I haven’t looked into the field nearly as much as I’ve looked into neuro or biochem).
I’ll definitely need a master’s program. I’m willing to go to one institution for my bachelor’s and a different one for my master’s, though I’d prefer to get them both from the same place (and, an accelerated master’s degree would be amazing, but I don’t know how possible that is with something like biochem).
5,000 to 16,000 undergrads. I’m willing to go a little outside of this if the school has everything else I’m looking for.
Strong Research Facilities! Internships and Co-Ops are also greatly appreciated. It doesn’t matter if the research is directly on campus or if the university has connections to internships outside of campus, as long as there is some kind of potential for research experience.
Smaller Class Sizes. I’m not totally against lectures, I’m very used to smaller class sizes (~20-25 students per class) because my high school is small (~220 kids in my graduating class).
I’m not comfortable with heavy drinking or going to big frat parties regularly. I want to be able to have a social life without joining a sorority or having to constantly go to parties. (Obv, I’m good with just going to parties and not drinking while I’m there, I just want other options to socialize beyond that and talking with people in my dorm). That means anywhere with dominant Greek life is a solid no (so anything like UGA is out — I think Wake Forest is also pretty heavy on Greek life?), but I’m not against having any Greek life on campus. This is one of my biggest limitations with finding a school I like, but I’m still adverse to going to a Greek-dominant campus.
Being more than 5/5.5 hours from home is a bit uncomfortable for me, but I’m willing to go up to 7 hours away if I really like the school (I applied to UNC and Pitt, which are both about a 7 hour drive from my home with the usual traffic). As much as I would love to be closer, going through the city adds about an hour to any drive with traffic (even Philly is typically a 3 hour drive).
I toured BU and I wasn’t a fan of how integrated into the city it was. I’m not 100 percent against an urban campus, but I’d prefer it if the campus felt like its own space rather than just a part of the city.
I’m not looking to apply ED to any school. Committing somewhere before I know how much aid I will get feels incredibly risky to me. However, any school which offered EA, I applied to EA.
Despite living near NYC, I don’t want to go to college in NYC. Honestly, I’ve seen so much of those schools and I’ve never had a desire to go, and the traffic is so bad I’d have to leave about an hour and a half before class starts depending on the time of day
My parents are contributing about 70,000 total (not per year). We likely won’t qualify for need-based aid (though my dad thinks we might qualify for a bit of need-based aid at BC, b/c it’s that expensive per year).
I’m perfectly fine with attending any LACs as long as they have a strong science program. I’m a bit hesitant to go to any school that’s an Institute of Technology like Georgia Tech or RPI, because if I do end up changing my major, I want to have a lot of options (even outside of STEM fields).
I’d be dorming at any school outside of Long Island, so dorm quality and safety is a big priority.
This is minor, but schools with lots of school spirit seem nice. There are schools that don’t meet any requirements I’ve briefly debated applying to just because everyone who goes there seems to love it (UMich is the one that crosses my mind the most — it’s just too far, too big, and too much of a reach for me to justify applying)
This is a much more vague ask, but I really don’t want to go a pressure-cooker of a college for four years. As much as I want an academic experience that’s going to make me think deeply and give me a comprehensive understanding of what I’m studying, I don’t want to be over-worked for the sake of being over-worked. I love to write short stories and music and I don’t want to be too exhausted or burnt-out to do that.
I applied to: UConn, UNC, Binghamton, Pitt (was accepted to Pitt, I’m waiting on scholarships and their honors college decision), Hofstra (I’d commute there so I don’t need to worry about dorm costs), Stonybrook (also a commute).
I’m applying to: BU, BC, URochester. (If you’re wondering why I’m applying to BU even though it doesn’t fit many of my requirements: it’s a good school academically, I love the city of Boston, and by the time I realized I didn’t like it as much as some other schools I was looking at, I had already written their Trustee Scholarship essay and filled out the questions of the application, so I may as well just submit it. It can’t hurt).
I was considering Lafayette, but after looking into it, I just never clicked with it and could never really be enthusiastic about it like I could for the others. Bucknell and Lehigh were also considered, but they seemed too Greek-dominant and I feel like I just wouldn’t fit in socially.
TYSM for getting this far in this post, jeez that was long.
You won’t qualify for need aid but your parents are giving you $70k.
You may qualify for some at BC which means you’ll qualify for some at U of Rochester, etc.
Know how you find out ? Fill in the net price calculator. See what it says.
If you get no aid and you have less than $20k per year, you need to go to a SUNY or a school like Alabama (and still take out a loan).
Otherwise you have no way to afford anywhere. A school like Pitt, if you’re lucky enough to get aid but your test is low for them and merit, you won’t come close to cost.
If your parents have just $70k, you need to forget the distance thing, apply for some Hail Mary scholarships like W&L Johnson Scholar or find the low cost colleges like Bama or Arizona.
I don’t love Hofstra for you in that I assume you want the college experience and living at home isn’t that.
What about women’s colleges like Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr or Smith? They’re smaller than your target but might be a fit. I have no idea what kind of merit aid you might get, however.
I’d be looking at schools which offer good merit aid. Some of the women’s colleges mentioned above (not Smith, but Mt. Holyoke and Bryn Mawr do offer merit.)
I’d suggest looking at Brandeis –– outside Boston, strong in sciences, and offers merit.
You seem to be very thoughtful about what it is you want, which is great. One question I have is, how will you afford most of the schools on your list? If your family’s budget is $70k for four years, that’s $17,500 per year. Once you add in the costs of room & board, and you pretty much need all of tuition covered. Although you’re a strong student, I seriously doubt that the schools on your list will get you there, with the possible exception of Binghamton.
As @tsbna44 said, your family needs to run the Net Price Calculator at each school to see what it says. If it’s not close to budget, then something needs to be reconsidered (either including the school or seeing whether your family can increase the budget).
Also, I would look at the offerings at in each college’s bio and chemistry offerings, as oftentimes colleges will simply list a biology major, but there are significant offerings in biochem or molecular biology (including a named concentration in one or the other). As far as research opportunities, if you ask for them, you will probably be provided opportunities, no matter where you go.
Some schools that I think you’d have a chance of getting in budget are:
Ohio U. (great honor program, too)
Salisbury (MD)
Slippery Rock (PA )
SUNYs - check out New Paltz, Geneseo, Albany, in particular
West Chester (PA )
It’s a bit smaller than you say you’re looking for, but I’d also run the NPC at College of Wooster in Ohio. It’s a really good school with lots of research opportunities and they tend to be very generous in merit aid as well.
Just because you say you haven’t clicked with the schools you are looking at, I’m going to through one out there that is quite different than what you’ve been looking at. WPI.
Learning at WPI is project-based and just has a different feel to it. It’s something you really have to go see to get the feeling for it. (Although the Youtube videos give you some idea, it’s really talking with the administration and seeing how responsive they are to students that make it special). It’s close enough to Boston (45 minutes) to enjoy every once in awhile while not being right in the city. You are in the city of Worcester, but with so many colleges there, it’s more like a big college town. Also, being a female that’s interested in music will get you a good amount of merit money.
It’s smaller than what you’ve looked at and doesn’t have any major sports teams but there is a lot of spirit just around being a close-knit community. There is a greek system, but it is small and VERY different than the traditional stereotypes.
WPI might not be high on anyone’s radar in LI, but it really has a stellar reputation in the Northeast.
Definitely worth a look to see if the reason schools aren’t clicking for you is because you’re looking at the wrong criteria.
Your budget is going to be a big constraint. You need to look very closely at what each university is likely to cost you.
You are likely to need to either stay with in-state public universities, or find a school that is very generous with merit based financial aid.
You should try to minimize your student loan debt. If you do, then you will be glad that you did somewhere around about 5 or 6 years from now. Mostly this means choosing a school that is affordable.
Rochester seems to me to be a perfect fit for you, so I’m glad to see you’re applying there. Don’t worry about not being excited. What’s there to be excited about when you really have no connection to the people or the place until you get there? I think the kids getting excited are lost in their illusions, which is okay.But you seem to have both feet on the ground and don’t need the illusions. It’s okay to be different from the other kids.
Sorry, but I meant to reply to the OP, not James West. My mistake.
I just checked it out and love everything academically (especially the opportunity for a free fifth year!) but I can’t find much on student life so far. Any ideas on where I could find info on that other than the school’s website?
$70k over for years; won’t qualify for need aid….according to the post. M
She’s limited to community college, SUNY or some dirt cheap schools….and all likely would still require loans.
One option would be to attend community college for two years, then try to find a merit-situation where the OP could attend for up to $35K/yr for the last two years.
This student is unlikely to get money from Northeastern, which is very stingy with merit awards these days.
OP, until I read you had applied to Bing, I was going to suggest it.
I agree with Brandeis and Clark.
I see a couple of women’s colleges have been mentioned, which are small. If you are disregarding LACs because you think you won’t be able to do research, you don’t have to worry about that. Many students at LACs do research and in fact, because they don’t compete with grad students for those positions, it can be easy. Given the rest of your description, an LAC seems a good fit for you.
You need money, so I suggest checking out schools such as Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Susquehanna, Juniata, and Goucher. Maybe run the NPC on schools such as Bates, Trinity College, and Connecticut College. The later two also offer scholarships.
Smaller than you want, but fits just about everything else is Washignton College in Maryland. They have are amazing in Sciences (bio, chem, enviro), pre-med, psychology, and writing. Their business program is really expanding. My daughter had a lot of your requirements and checked out the usuals (UNC, NC State, UD, BC, etc) and then she toured Washington and fell in love. She had no plans to go to small school and ended up there. The professors are the real draw here, they go above and beyond to get to know their students. They help guide and push their students. All classes taught by professors and have between 10-40 students. They really help with scheduling with those that want to double major. The career center is good about helping with internships. Undergrad students get to be paid student mentors (the equivalent of TA), great for resumes. My daughter applied for Cater society and now is on track to do undergrad research (mush easier to get research opps here due to no grad students) There are academic events on week nights (speakers, novel writing workshops, read-a-thons) (my science double major daughter attended the novel writing seminar for fun —loved thinking differently, and there was professor who wants to write a novel as well who showed up to attend! The professors are part of the community) as well as a ton of on campus fun events hosted by the various clubs (bingo night, karaoke, casino night, poetry slam, pumpkin Painting, etc). There are parties if you want them, but they are smaller and kids who don’t drink go to them as well and aren’t treated differently. They have a weekly ballet and modern dance class for fun (not credit) and they put on a dance performance each semester. Being a LAC, they do have music opportunities as well. One of her friends got paid to play sax for the new Washington president inauguration. They give amazing merit scholarships so don’t let the sticker price shock you. (Daughter had almost same stats as you, and got over 50% merit) The students are very diverse, it is just smaller than you suggested. The town attached is so cute—farmers market every Saturday and several festivals a year. Think of “star hollow” from Gilmore girls! My daughter has a favorite smoothie shop and they know her name. Books store, cat cafe, etc. But the town is quiet at night, so it’s not really there for night life for the kids. I suggest following the Washington (WAC) SEB, or SGA Instagram or any of the clubs to see what they are up to.
Everyone on this thread has been super helpful, so thank you so much to everyone who responded! I discussed the financial aspect with my parents, and there’s been a bit of a misinterpretation on my part — while 70K is the guideline, my parents have said that they’d be willing to give more if it came down to it (long story short, I’m getting the same amount as my older brother was given, and my parents are giving me roughly the same amount — my brother’s in law school right now and my dad’s trying to minimize his debt by giving him extra money, so I get extra money as well). Im super grateful for this, but I know I’d still need to take out loans. I have about 10,000 in savings
I ran the NPC for Pitt and UConn. Both were about 30,000 per year after need-aid, and I was hoping for merit from UConn. I need to wait for my dad to run the NPC for other schools, because those involve W-2 forms and information that I don’t know. Hofstra would be about 22,000 per year currently (my school has on-site admission and the merit aid reduces it to 22,000. The admissions officer said that the number may so up when I get the full acceptance letter.
U Conn typically doesn’t give merit to OOS students unless they are tippy top. You’re a great student, but I don’t know if they want test scores to give merit. Personally, I would not pay the OOS rate for U Conn when you are instate for Bing.
@EconPop has a good suggestion, but be aware that it is hard to get merit money as a transfer student.