Research done, dog on diet, college list complete! Please evaluate my LAC and 4season colleges list

[MyDogsNameIsFat]

Hi again College Confidential! A while has passed, I’ve been busy researching all of the recommendations plus more that I received on my previous thread. Again, a big thank you to everyone who had helped me out before!!! After taking into account many factors, especially finances, I have finally come up with what I hope is a well-balanced list of colleges to apply to. I’d love it if I could get all of your more experienced opinions on this new list and evaluations on whether these schools would be good fits for me. Thank you in advance!

Wants:
A place with actual seasons, college town feel, small/medium sized school, small class sizes, liberal arts education feel, access to good outside internships and opportunities, strong alumni system, relatively safe area, strong pre med and pre law.

My College List:

1. Yale (Applying SCEA)
2. Harvard
3. Princeton
4. Duke
5. Stanford
6. UChicago $
7. Vanderbilt $
8. Amherst
9. Tufts
10. Bates
11. WashU $$
12. UNC $$
13. St. Olaf $$
14. UCSD $$
15. UCI $$
    *Schools marked with the $ signs are schools that I hope to get financial aid from.
    *Those with $$ signs are schools I hope to get merit scholarships from. I’d like to also get an estimate of how much merit aid you guys think I could get from these schools. Thanks!

About Me…
-Asian (Vietnamese) female, upper middle class (I know, the odds are not in my favor)
-My financial situation is rather unique. My parents recently got divorced last year and my mom got sole custody of my sister and me. Though my mom is low income, my dad is high income so I won’t be able to qualify for need-based financial aid from schools that consider both parents. However, my dad is supportive of my education so finances should not be an issue. Ofc I’d welcome any aid I could receive nonetheless.
-Planning to major in biology/neuroscience for a pre med track or political science to pursue law
-GPA: Weighted=4.71, Unweighted=3.97
-Class Rank: 3/536. My school is academically competitive and well-known for sports.
-SAT: 1540 (1 attempt)
-ACT Highest Composite: 34, ACT Superscore: 35 (2 attempts)
-SAT Subject Tests: Literature=740, Math 2=690, Biology E=600; Scores pending for second attempts
-AP Tests: Calculus BC=5, Lang/Comp=5, Biology=4, Spanish=4, Physics 1=3; Currently taking AP Literature, AP Env Science, AP Chemistry, and AP Art History
-National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Student, AP Scholar with Distinction + More local awards
I know that my SAT II and AP scores are pretty low, but these tests were taken during the month of June when there was a lot of personal stuff going on. My counselor is aware about these things and has explained them for me in her LOR.

Extracurriculars…
-Research at U.C. Irvine Cancer Research Institute: 12
-Founder and President of Future Medical Leaders of America: 12
-Volunteer at Local Hospital: 10, 11, 12
-Traditional Vietnamese Dance Choreographer and Teacher: 9, 10, 11, 12
-Cox Communications Legal Team Intern: 12
-Head Captain of Speech and Debate: 10, 11, 12; State Qualifier
-Model United Nations: 9, 10, 11, 12; Merit Scholarship Recipient, Best Delegate at Rutgers University (+ more), At my school MUN is taken as a competitive class, only taking the top 30 students in the grade.
-Treasurer of Mu Alpha Theta: 11, 12
-Varsity Tennis + Frosh/Soph & JV Coaching Assistant: 9, 10, 11, 12; JV Captain
-Vice President of Key Club: 9, 10, 11; Key Leader Scholarship
-U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps: 9, 10; Fastest promoted cadet in battalion, Camp Pendleton NSCC Meritorious Ribbon Overall Honor Cadet

Please give me your thoughts on my current list, I’m good with criticism if necessary haha. I’d also welcome any other general advice you may have. Let me know if there is any more information I could give that would be helpful to you. Thank you in advance!!!

For reference, this is the link to my previous thread. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2019553-i-want-to-actually-experience-the-4-seasons-ca-senior-needing-help-to-make-college-list.html#latest

[arwarw]

If you’re looking for a “liberal arts education feel” you may want to look at more LAC’s. Your list is predominately universities.

[momrath]

Does “supportive of my education” mean that your father has confirmed that he can and will pay $65-70K per year for Yale and the other need-only schools on your list? Since about half of your choices will not offer merit, you need to be absolutely sure that you’re covered financially.

[gearmom]

It looks like a great list and you’re a strong candidate. Are USD and UCI your safeties?

[Mastadon]

Did you ask Fat for her/his opinion?

Tufts looks like the best fit.
It is the only school with an animal obesity clinic.
http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/tufts-obesity-clinic-for-animals/
http://www.tuftsyourdog.com/register/main.html?

Yale may not be a very good fit.

“Anytime the Yale shuttle would come by she would just stop and she would basically growl,” said Farrington.

http://wwlp.com/2016/02/29/yales-handsome-dan-is-a-doggone-nuisance-to-dog-owners/

[warblersrule]

@arwarw

If you’re looking for a “liberal arts education feel” you may want to look at more LAC’s. Your list is predominately universities.

Whether a college is a LAC or university has nothing to do with whether it has a “liberal arts feel.” An undergraduate feel, perhaps.

Your list seems pretty top-heavy. I’d drop a few of the more selective schools and add some places where merit aid is a strong possibility. (I wouldn’t count on merit aid from Carolina or Wash U.) Midwestern LACs like Ohio Wesleyan and Knox are a good place to start looking for merit aid.

[Veryapparent]

You have almost identical stats to my daughter and we also have a fat while poodlish dog. How about Carleton, Some of the Claremont colleges, Davidson (Belk scholar-you’d have a chance), Tulane (big merit, show interest, apply EA) and Case Western (also big merit interest etc).

[NEPatsGirl]

With the exception of Tufts, Bates and St. Olaf (I’m not familiar with 11/12/14/15 though) all appear to be reaches. I think you need a more balanced list.

[rosered55]

@MyDogsNameIsFat , I just sent you a personal message.

[arwarw]

@warblersrule: said

Whether a college is a LAC or university has nothing to do with whether it has a “liberal arts feel.” An undergraduate feel, perhaps.

I’m afraid you lost me.

I guess it depends on what the OP consider’s a “liberal arts feel”

from Wiki, which is consistent with what I’d consider a “liberal arts feel” :

Liberal arts colleges are distinguished from other types of higher education chiefly by their generalist curricula and small size. These attributes have various secondary effects in terms of administration as well as student experience.[6]

From a student perspective, a liberal arts college typically differs from other forms of higher education in the following areas: higher overall student satisfaction, a general feeling that professors take a personal interest in the student’s education, and perception of encouragement to participate in discussion.[8] Many students select liberal arts colleges with precisely this sense of personal connection in mind

Also a recent book that addresses LAC’s vs Universities.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/books/review/campus-confidential-jacques-berlinerblau.html

Prospective students may be drawn to schools because of their esteemed faculty, but once they arrive on campus, he suggests, they will find that these scholars want nothing to do with them. Instead, their education will likely be guided by part-time teachers and graduate students, who are paid a few thousand dollars a course.

Rather than attend a school with a faculty so “word- and thought-defyingly distinguished that it can’t be bothered to teach sophomores,” Berlinerblau suggests that prospective students should scour the course catalogs for the proportion of classes taught by full-time professors and should seek out schools with more small seminars than huge lectures. These metrics, he argues, might lead students to consider institutions outside those traditionally called most prestigious — Albright College, for example, as opposed to Yale.

I have a kid at Brown University and, though overall a fantastic experience, she has had some adjunct professors, and difficulties getting in to some desired classes.

I’ve got another kid just starting at Haverford College and it seems a more intimate experience. The faculty actually live in houses on campus, and my son had a Classics Professor correspond with him over the summer to discuss potential classes for the fall.

[MyDogsNameIsFat]

@arwarw By “liberal arts feel” I’m referring to how I don’t want too large of a college, and I don’t want to be limited by a strict core curriculum and major track. I like having smaller class sizes so I can build personal relationships with my teachers and receive more individual attention. Not a huge fan of being “just another face in the crowd.” I looked into all my colleges and although they’re not all perfect fits, they’re all schools that I would be happy at. Hopefully that clears it up more!

@momrath Thanks for the concern! Yes, he has confirmed that he can and will pay $65-70K per year for Yale and the other need-only schools on my list. I have added those other schools as financial safeties just in case though.

@gearmom Thanks! I did a lot of research and work for this haha. Yes, they are my safeties. I know that there are the more popular UCs like UCLA and UC Berkeley, but I don’t like the communities around them that much so I’m sticking with those two.

@Mastadon Haha he may not be very happy with it, but it’s doctor’s orders!

@warblersrule I was trying to drop some of those uber selective schools, but I really like all of them so I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I already dropped Cornell and Penn but I couldn’t think of which others to drop.

[MyDogsNameIsFat]

@Veryapparent Ooh yeah I’ll look into those schools, thanks. And haha that’s funny, hopefully your daughter is doing well. (That means I’ll likely do well too!)

@NEPatsGirl Those schools should be safeties or matches, especially UCSD and UCI I know I should be able to get into. I know that my list is pretty top-heavy, but I know that I’d be happy at my few matches and safeties too.

[warblersrule]

@arwarw

I’m afraid you lost me.

I guess it depends on what the OP consider’s a “liberal arts feel”

It’s very straight-forward. A liberal arts feel is an emphasis on the liberal arts (humanities, social sciences, math and sciences, and the arts). While professional programs like engineering and business may exist at the undergraduate level, they should be relatively small relative to the arts & sciences.

You can have a university that focuses very much on the liberal arts – Chicago, for example – and LACs that have large and popular professional programs. For example, nearly 40% of Richmond students majored in business last year, and about 40% of Mudd graduates majored in engineering. In any case, you’ll find little difference in the distribution of majors between a typical LAC and the college of arts & sciences at most similarly selective universities. You’ll get smaller classes (typically) at a LAC and a larger variety of majors and course offerings at universities.

How much or little attention professors pay to their undergraduates doesn’t affect a college’s emphasis on the liberal arts, but it does have a lot to do with how undergraduate-friendly a college is.

[obsessedwcollege]

Assuming you’re instate at the UCs, you realistically won’t get too much aid. They give out some to top students, but it won’t be anywhere close to a half or full.

[arwarw]

Please give me your thoughts on my current list, I’m good with criticism if necessary haha. I’d also welcome any other general advice you may have. Let me know if there is any more information I could give that would be helpful to you.

Any unhooked candidate applying early or otherwise to Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford, UChicago should be well braced for disappointment.

An extremely focused and well-written early application to a school that offers ED like Duke, Amherst, Tufts, Wash U. or Vanderbilt could really amplify your chances; otherwise, RD is a scrum with tenfold the applicant pool as ED.

Be sure to spend a lot of time with your Bates and St. Olaf supplemental essays. Visit and interview on campus if possible. Show lots of love to the schools that are low on your list.

Best of luck!

[OHMomof2]

I think you will find a lot of large classes at most of the Us on that list. Certainly in the first half of your time there.

[MyDogsNameIsFat]

@arwarw Yeah I’m not getting my hopes too high for those schools, they’re major reaches for everyone. Then again, you miss a 100% of the shots you don’t take! I will be putting a lot of effort into those applications, along with all the others. Now I understand what all those seniors last year were complaining about, this is a tough and tiring process.

@OHMomof2 I know that most of the introductory classes in my first years will be big seminar style. Although small classes are preferable I am good with large classes too. It’ll be an adjustment but it’s one that I’ve explored a bit with at my local university UC Irvine so I know that I can handle it.

[arwarw]

Again, I would encourage you to take a closer look at ED schools on your list, before using your early chit on a lottery SCEA school. Make sure a long shot at Yale is worth to you foregoing a much better shot at other schools on your list.

For example , last year, Vanderbilt seated over 50% of their class in the early rounds from a very small applicant pool; whereas, their regular decision process yielded a mere 500 students from over 25,000 applicants! Once the early round is over, it’s much tougher to get in to schools like Duke, Vandy, NU, Penn Cornell etc…

Just my opinion, but writing a lot of applications to uber-reach schools dilutes the effectiveness of the applications. Better to spend more quality time on fewer applications to schools well within your strike zone.

Best of luck!

[prodesse]

Have you looked into Honors Colleges at larger public universities?

[mommyrocks]

From a strategy standpoint, if you are leaning more toward law school than medical school or undecided, you might consider majoring in science, neuroscience, nursing, pharma or similar. You do not need to major in political science to be a competitive applicant to law school. You can major in anything (although you do want a high GPA). Some of the most in-demand attorneys are those who have a STEM undergraduate degree before attending law school. That way they are qualified to become patent attorneys, or to work in legal departments at hospitals and various companies that deal with health care and pharmaceutical industries, or to work for government regulatory agencies, or to work in litigation relating to medical malpractice. Not only would majoring in a science give you more options and make you in higher demand as an attorney, but it would keep the door open for going to medical school if you decide to do that instead of law school (or in addition to it). In other words, forget political science when looking at colleges and majors, and just focus on STEM majors.