<p>So I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm new to this site so excuse me...</p>
<p>So I'm looking for a college where I can learn about myself and the world along with other people who want the same. I really don't care about money or getting a quick and easy education. I want to explore and grow as a person and just learn. I'm really looking for a liberal arts college with a diverse student body. My top choices are Oberlin, Yale, and Syracuse, Rice, and UT (from Texas, back up options). I'm planning on double majoring in music composition (I sing in choir and play piano and know a lot of theory) and maybe anthropology or liberal arts. </p>
<p>As far as what I want to do, again I don't care about money, all I want to do is explore the world and learn and grow as a person everyday and take advantage of my experiences to help other people out, to teach, and to make the world a better place. Along with music, I write and I'm into photography and I want take advantage of my talents to share my and discoveries to the world along the way. Honestly, all I really want to do in life is to learn and do whatever I can to teach and help others excel and make the world a better place. I'm thinking about maybe being an archaeologist (I dont' care about money but at the same time, I want to be financially stable) or some kinda person who travels (this is where you can help me lol). I just want to travel for a good while and come back and settle and be a college professor and composer. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Well, if you want to go to Yale, you’d got to raise your GPA. Currently, your GPA is under the middle 50% accepted to Yale, so you would want to maximize your GPA to the best of your ability. And it does look like the Liberal Arts is a great school for you. Mind that there are also national universities that have great all around programs, such as Northwestern, USC, NYU, etc. I would also recommend Vassar, Brown, and Clairmont McKenna as other options</p>
<p>Oberlin is the only true liberal arts college you have listed (that is, small school with focus on undergraduates) but Rice is supposed to have an LAC feel. For many typical majors (english, history, anthro) I think it’s best to choose primarily based on overall academic quality because those majors should be solid at most top schools. If you really want one of your majors to be music composition, though, you do need to examine the music departments because some will simply not be as strong. Go to the music major forum and search for suggestions. There’s a lot of great information there. Northwestern and Williams are very strong in music programs but so much is going to depend on your scores. Does 3.74 unweighted and 3.1 weighted make sense? Bard may also be interesting if your scores are not Williams level. If you can visit a few schools in the spring it would help because these places vary quite a bit on the hipster vs. preppy scale and you should get a feel for that as well as size and music department strength.</p>
<p>Do look at some less selective LACs, as your list seems fairly top-heavy and UT doesn’t seem like that great of a fit as a safety school. Maybe look into the schools from the book Colleges that Change Lives.</p>
<p>I think the big questions are at what schools might you have a reasonable chance of admission, and what schools can you reasonably afford?</p>
<p>In terms of a possible music major, have you considered whether to pursue a Music BA vs. a Bachelor of Music degree? If a BM degree, a consideration will be the ease of double majoring.</p>
<p>The schools you mentioned seem pretty different from each other. Out of those, Oberlin probably is the closest match to your stated criteria. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head, look at Lewis & Clark, Bard, Earlham, and Colorado College. Wesleyan might fit, but it would be a stretch.</p>
<p>I forgot to say UH. UH and UT are my safety choices. My grades aren’t that bad however, I mean I take a ton of honors and AP classes, so I mean doesn’t that play into part. We never even bother with unweighted averages at our school becasue everyone takes advanced classes. My gpa should be brought up to 3.95 (unweighted) by the end of the year. On top of that I’m involved in the ecology club (and have developed a very BIG project at our school that is achieving some attention) at my school and on the student council in choir. I was also involved in JROTC for 2 years. I’m a pretty damn good writer too. I haven’t took my SATS yet, but I am first thing next semester and my scores on some practice tests have been well above average. And to top it all off I’m smart, I know I am. Grades don’t reflect my personality or how intellegent I am. So many people at my school suck up to teachers and beg for points and stuff, its rediculous. I want to learn and I love to be stimulated intellectually. And I’m going to make sure my essay shows that. I do understand where everyone is coming from, but I seriously have so much to offer (not to sound arrogant, though this whole post contradicts that lol), and I’m just hoping college admission officers don’t see my 3 littles C’s, my mostly B’s and handful of A’s and turn me away.</p>
<p>Anyways, I’m looking into BA. I like oberlin though becasue it makes double majoring really easy. Oberlin’s also my top choice. I’ve looked into Wesleyan before, and I’m not so sure about the people. I heard they’re really judgemental and drugs are all over the place and I don’t know how the music program is. The things that makes it hard for me is I’m trying to find a place with good academics, a good music program, and a good environment. -sigh- Oh, and as far as money is concerned, yeahhh. We’ll figure that out when the time comes lol</p>
<p>A lot of the schools discussed here - Yale, Wesleyan, Brown, Vassar - are VERY selective. A 3.7 weighted GPA frankly seems to me too low for many of them. It’s OK to apply to them – just make sure you have plenty back up options. </p>
<p>About Wesleyan – it’s an outstanding school, very appealing to smart, liberal arts-oriented students. I don’t know what you mean about them being ‘judgmental’ but it IS a very liberal school. For what it’s worth, I know a southerner from a prominent Republican family there – and he’s very, very happy at Wesleyan, its ultra-liberal atmoshere notwithstanding. :)</p>