Refining my list and appeasing my mother...

College Search & Selection
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<p>My parents are largely allowing me to create my own direction when I apply to college next fall, but my mother has stated that she wants me to apply to at least one Ivy. Because, on the vast off-chance I got in, I'd most likely have to matriculate there, I'd like to make sure that I apply to the one that is the best fit for me. I have some idea of where that would be, but I'd love any type of advice I could get.</p>

<p>What I'd Like in a College</p>

<p>--The ability to not have to adhere to a lot of general education requirements
--No more than about ~7,000 undergrads, preferably fewer
--A college town with more to do than drink and party, but not a huge city
--Strong programs in the sciences and in history
--A respected and reputable extracurricular choir and, optimally, some type of Quiz Bowl/College Bowl team, as well
--Good study abroad programs, especially in England
--An opportunity to have many classes that have fewer than 50 students
--A quirky, very intellectual culture</p>

<p>By the way, if you can also think of colleges that meet this criteria but aren't Ivies, I'd love to hear about them. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help!</p>

2

<p>Carnegie Mellon</p>

3

<p>Case Western Reserve University</p>

4

<p>Of the Ivies, I’d say Brown or Yale.</p>

<p>Also, outside of the Ivies, where (geographically) would you like to go? And can you tell us your list/your stats so that we can give you more pertinent advice?</p>

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<p>Brown fits your requirements, and it’s Ivy.</p>

6

<p>I would also say Brown.</p>

7

<p>I’d suggest you look at Carleton, but it does have some distribution requirements. Otherwise, it fits your criteria.</p>

8

<p>Thanks to all those who supplied advice. :)</p>

<p>@teenage_cliche: I’d thought of giving my list before, but decided against it unless someone asked for it. As per your request:</p>

<p>Smith
Mount Holyoke
Swarthmore
Wellesley
Carleton
Amherst
University of Chicago (despite the big-city aspect)
William and Mary
University of Michigan (another parental directive)</p>

<p>I also have some obscure safeties and other schools I’m considering.</p>

<p>Stats</p>

<p>Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
State: Michigan
School: Small but competitive Michigan public school that used to send many kids to top schools, but we haven’t done that to the same extent as of late (excluding the University of Michigan and one kid at the University of Chicago).</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.97; school does not weight
Rank: School doesn’t rank, but I’m pretty sure that I’m in the top 10%</p>

<p>Classes: I’ve taken a fairly demanding schedule, compared to others at my school. From eighth grade to tenth grade, I took an English class for students in the county who had the top SAT verbal scores in the county as middle schoolers (sixteen selected out of hundreds who took the test); it’s being audited right now as AP Lang. This year, I have three APs; next year, I’ll be taking two more and dual-enrolling for English at a local, but nationally respected, college.</p>

<p>My school doesn’t designate many classes as “honors,” but almost all classes that aren’t APs are generally held to be honors. My chem and physics classes were the only ones carrying the specific designation of “honors.” </p>

<p>Test Scores:
–**SAT<a href=“January%202009”>/b</a>: CR 750, M 640, W 720, Essay 10 (total: 2110)–will re-take
–**ACT<a href=“December%202008”>/b</a>: E 36, M 28, R 34, S 29, Essay 10 (composite: 32)–retook last week due to state laws
–**AP<a href=“May%202008”>/b</a>: AP Lit 5, AP Lang 5
Planned: APUSH, AP Euro, AP Bio, AP Gov
–SAT IIs: Haven’t taken yet, but I’m intending to do French and some kind of history</p>

<p>Extracurriculars–The Weak Part–my death knell for applications
–Professional choir (9, 10, 11, 12<em>)
–Almost 100 hours (3 summers) volunteering with an opera outreach education program for elementary school children; I’ll have about 140 hours by the time I apply.
–Student Congress (10, 11, 12</em>)–top tens at several competitions, presiding officer award, one of the co-captains
–Quiz Bowl (10, 11 [varsity], 12* [varsity])–going to state this year! My JV team was second-place in the JV league of the city last year.
–NHS and NJHS
–Work each summer for my father’s business, but it’s not major–like ~5 hours/week
–Interning with neuroscience unit of local hospital (12)*</p>

<p>*planned</p>

<p>Awards:
–Several writing awards–second-place in fiction contest of regional youth writing festival; third-place overall in same writing festival in freshman year; first place in state literature competition—piece represented Michigan at PTSA Reflections national competition sophomore year. I had a poem professionally published in a selective children’s writing magazine in freshman year, as well. </p>

<p>–School-wide awards for excellence in algebra II, geometry, French, English, creative writing (meh)</p>

<p></p>

<hr>

<p>@fireflyscout: I’m okay with some distribution requirements. Looks like we’re on the same wavelength with Carleton; I’m planning a visit there this summer. :)</p>

<p>@those who suggested Brown: Spectacular, because that’s the school toward which I was leaning.</p>

<p>Once again, I really appreciate everyone’s advice, and would welcome more from any future readers of this thread.</p>

9

<p>I forgot to add that I don’t have a geographic preference of where I attend college, so long as it’s not on the West Coast.</p>

10

<p>W&M definitely fits what you’re looking for. But its a bit hard for OOS females like you to get in but your stats look great</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>It sounds like you don’t want to go to an ivy. Apply to any of them and “forget” to include a personal statement. That should take care of that. It will appease your mother and you won’t “have” to go there.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Any specific reason why? Several good West-Coast schools come to mind with your stats and requirements: Pitzer (part of the 5-College Claremont Consortium), Lewis & Clark, Whitman, Reed.</p>

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<p>Chicago is a great school and certainly ivy equivalent. But note, Chicago does have a core curriculum which requires you to take courses in various areas such as math, science, sociology. So there is definitely some sort of general ed requirement. While Chicago is in a big city, it is not downtown and Hyde Park is more of a village or small city environment.</p>

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<p>johns hopkins</p>

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<p>A great list. You might want to add Vassar and Wesleyan for the quirky bit. If you visit Swarthmore (great choice along with Brown if you can get into either) you might visit Haverford and Bryn Mawr (since you have other women’s colleges on the list I assume you don’t object to them).</p>

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<p>UofMichigan is humongous, just FYI.</p>

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<p>@newenglandparent: You’ve precisely summarized my hesitation with the University of Chicago! :slight_smile: I love its quirky intellectualism (those essay topics are fantastic), but the core concerns me. I’d like a little more freedom with my schedule. </p>

<p>@Hope2getrice: Yes, I know. I’m trying to convince my parents that going to a school that has, iirc, 46,000 students has no appeal for me, but they’ve made the very valid point that it’s a financial safety, given the fact that I’m in-state. </p>

<p>@raelah: It’s hard for me to explain. Actually, I shouldn’t say that I’d completely exclude the West Coast, because I have considered Lewis and Clark during my search process. I should have said “California,” because most of the colleges that meet my criteria in that state are in the southern, sunny areas, and I kind of have a fixation with seasons. It’s trivial, I know, but I’d be more comfortable with a more varied climate.</p>

<p>@belevitt: Haha, yes, that could work. :smiley: But I don’t think I’d ever work up the nerve to do it!</p>

<p>@ctParent2006: Thank you for the advice. I’ve only looked into Wesleyan very briefly, and they probably deserve more attention than I’ve given them. I’ll definitely read up on them further. </p>

<p>@faggitis: It’s good to know that my stats are good for W&M! Now if only I weren’t both female and OOS… ah well.</p>

<p>Thanks again to everyone!</p>

18

<p>here is why I suggest JHU:</p>

<p>–The ability to not have to adhere to a lot of general education requirements
Check. JHU has no core curriculum and only requirements based on major.</p>

<p>–No more than about ~7,000 undergrads, preferably fewer
Less than 5,000 undergrads.</p>

<p>–A college town with more to do than drink and party, but not a huge city
Baltimore has the feel of a small town but the opportunities of a big city. There are, of course, shady areas to any city, but you get access to musuems (the Baltimore Museum of Art is actually ON the JHU campus), Peabody Conservatory (JHU’s own music school), business, JHU Hospital and institutes, research centers, all the other quirky restuarants and stores and markets, also Washington DC is a 45 min $7 train ride away.</p>

<p>–Strong programs in the sciences and in history
JHU is one of the Worldwide leaders in Sciences and has a top 10 program in History.</p>

<p>–A respected and reputable extracurricular choir and, optimally, some type of Quiz Bowl/College Bowl team, as well
Again, access to Peabody Music Conservatory, the third most reputable music school after Julliard and Curtiss probably. Many many acapella/choir groups on campus and at Peabody. The academics at JHU are always top notch, so I expect quiz bowl, etc to be very strong there.</p>

<p>–Good study abroad programs, especially in England
JHU has its own campuses in Italy, DC, and China, but does study abroad with hundreds of other schools in almost any country you can think of. I hear a lot of students take advantage of the study abroad.</p>

<p>–An opportunity to have many classes that have fewer than 50 students
Very few undergrads and even lesser grads on the main campus. Plenty of classes with even 25 students or less, and many humanities courses and upper level classes are capped to not exceed 40, 25, 20, 10, etc.</p>

<p>–A quirky, very intellectual culture
very intellectual. There is so quirk, but people here are just extremely interested in academics. The Baltimore and Charles Village atmosphere is extremely quirky and unique, with tuscany-canterbury, wealthy, to the north, and a everything in between.</p>

19

<p>Amherst College
Brown University (here’s your Ivy)
Haverford College
Johns Hopkins University
Kalamazoo College
Rice University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan (your parents are wise! hehe!)</p>

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<p>I like Alexandre’s list a lot, but I would like to add Wesleyan (pretty strong in the sciences and research for an LAC) and DUke</p>