Starting the search

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm trying to find out what schools I should look at. Guidance isn't helpful at my school.</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted, 4.64 weighted.
I took the SAT once without taking a prep class- I got a 2010 total (730 reading, 590 match, 690 writing). I should probably retake it, but I'm pretty busy for a class. </p>

<p>Extracurric:
School newspaper
Lacrosse
Swimming (4 years of varsity)</p>

<p>I also got the Sportsmanship Award twice (one for lax, one for soccer- that only lasted freshman year though)
I have a full time lifeguarding job all summer long.</p>

<p>My school is really competetive and overachieving. My parents, who are old school, see a 4.0 and think I can go anywhere, but compared to my classmates I'm not that impressive. So far, the colleges I like:</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill (Legacy here)
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Boston College
JMU
Penn State
Univ of Maryland- College Park (in state)</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Are they within my reach? Any others I should consider? Also, should I retake my SAT's? Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>What are you looking for in a college?</p>

3

<p>First of all, I don’t see how a 4.0 UW can be less impressive than your classmates. You cannot get a higher UW GPA. Second, as gadad says, you need to think about what you prefer in a school beyond academics. Think about the following and let us know your preferences:</p>

<p>1) Size of school, undergrads (0-2,500; 2,501-10,000; 10,001-20,000; 20,000+)
2) Location (Highly urban, suburban, rural)
3) Geography (are there parts of the country you prefer or some you will not consider)
4) Weather (prefer warm, snow…?)
5) Sports (looking for competitve Div. 1, don’t care…?)
6) Greek scene (thinking about joining, want to avoid even a whiff of it, or in between)
7) If female, are single sex schools an option?
8) Anything else that you might think is important to you personally (you ride horses, like rock climbing, active arts scene, whatever).
9) Not really about atmosphere, but very important. Will you need Financial Aid? Are you hoping for merit scholarships?</p>

<p>And yes, you should definitely retake the SAT’s and do as much prep as possible next time. That math especially could really stand to come up.</p>

4

<p>If you like Boston College, should also look at Georgetown and Holy Cross.</p>

5

<p>UMCP is a very good school. If you can bring your SATs up JHU is also a good school to consider. In that case, Duke is also worth considering.</p>

6

<p>*First of all, I don’t see how a 4.0 UW can be less impressive than your classmates. *</p>

<p>Well, his classmates may have taken more APs or harder APs. I suspect that this student didn’t take AP Cal and maybe AP Chem or AP Physics. And, if he didn’t take Cal at all, that can hurt at the better schools. And, it’s likely his classmates with high GPAs also have a higher M+CR . This student’s is a 1320 and quite unbalanced.</p>

<p>How late can a student take SATs? When is the next test? Is it too late to sign up for it?</p>

<p>I don’t think he can get into Vandy or BC, his math is too low. Tulane has been rejecting a lot of kids who don’t have about a 1400 M+CR and who haven’t taken the most rigorous curriculum.</p>

<p>If he’s not instate for UNC, he may not get in there, either.</p>

<p>Laxfield…what do you want in a college?</p>

<p>Also, will your parents pay for wherever you want to go? If not, then that will also affect where you should apply. For instance, Penn State, will expect you to pay the whole OOS costs. </p>

<p>Have you asked your parents how much they will pay? If not, do so.</p>

<p>Some school suggestions…</p>

<p>Loyola Maryland
UDayton
St Louis U
Marquette</p>

<p>If you want to go further away…</p>

<p>Loyola Marymount
USeattle
Gonzaga
U San Diego</p>

7

<p>I think you’re fine for UMCP in state. I would not recommend Loyola Maryland unless you are sure that you want to be a teacher.</p>

8

<p>Holy Cross would be a good match.</p>

9

<p>*I would not recommend Loyola Maryland unless you are sure that you want to be a teacher. *</p>

<p>Ok…that’s so not true. LMU is a fine Jesuit university that can well prepare students for med school, law school, etc…it also has a very fine film studies dept.</p>

10

<p>^ Isn’t LMU Loyola Marymount in CA? The poster made the comment about Loyola MD (LUM?)</p>

11

<p>You’re right…I need to wear glasses…LOL…I thought the poster was making a negative comment about my earlier recommendation of LMU. I read “Loyola Maryland” as “Loyola Marymount”.</p>

<p>however, the point still applies…Loyola Maryland is not only good for those who want to be teachers.</p>

12

<p>UMD will be drooling all over you. You’re also probably in at JMU, and I wouldn’t be surprised about Tulane and Penn State (don’t know much about the latter, or I’d be more sure, so I’m leaning on the side of caution). Does legacy count at UNC?</p>

<p>You’d probably be taking a step down for Loyola Maryland, with your stats. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it mentioned in real life, although if you live in the Baltimore area this might be different. Still, it could be a red flag.</p>

<p>If your school really is that competitive, though, I think your GPA will be a huge asset to you. Your classmates would only be more attractive in terms of SAT scores, which you can definitely pull up, and extracurriculars. (About the SATs- do some self-prep before thinking about taking a class or retaking it. Don’t waste the money unless you really need to.)</p>

<p>I’m assuming you’re a junior?</p>

13

<p>Yeah I’m a junior. I am taking one of the hardest courseloads, but there are a lot of kids in full IB who make my schedule look not quite as rigorous. I take the hardest available without committing to full IB, which restricts electives (I wouldn’t be able to do the newspaper.)</p>

<p>In terms of what I’m looking for, I’d probably say somewhere warm or mild at least. I’m from the DC area so I probably couldn’t go much more rural than a suburban setting close to a big city. I think I’d like a big school- my siblings picked small schools and regret it; they say it’s a glorified high school. I don’t want to play anything but club sports in college, but basketball and football games are fun.</p>

<p>I know I need to work on my math score; does anyone know of any inexpensive ways to do so? My parents are willing to pay for classes if need be but are reluctant.</p>

<p>I might try and get some merit-based aid and financial aid but student loans are an option. My parents view is that going to a good school that I’ll be happy at is more important than cost- they’ll find a way to pay.</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

14

<p>“My parents view is that going to a good school that I’ll be happy at is more important than cost- they’ll find a way to pay.”</p>

<p>That is fine, but you really do need to get a dollar figure out of them. Sit down with them, and talk with them about the money. Maybe they can cough up 50k each year, but if they’ve put your siblings through school, they might be up to their eyeballs now in Parent Loan debt. </p>

<p>Your grades and exam scores are good enough to get you serious merit money at a number of places. Read through <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt; and see if any of them fit you.</p>

<p>For information on the various MD colleges and universities, and information about MD state scholarship programs, visit [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.mdgo4it.mhec.maryland.gov/]MDgo4it[/url”&gt;http://www.mdgo4it.mhec.maryland.gov/]MDgo4it[/url</a>] You will find answers for many of your questions there.</p>

15

<p>How about Wake Forest? 5,000 undergrads, great academics, Division I Football & Basketball teams to cheer for.</p>

16

<p>I don’t know your financial situation but Tulane gives great scholarships.</p>

<p>Depending on size, you might want to consider UVA (reach, but worth a try), Michigan (target), Georgetown (reach), GWU (target, safety maybe), of course I’d have a ton of other suggestions if I knew your size, location, & financial preferences</p>

17

<p>Holy Cross, Bucknell,and Colgate have good lacrosse programs and decent Div1 sports with strong academics. Only 4 ACC schools have DIV1 Lacrosse-Duke, UVA, UMD, UNC. HC has very strong alumni network and like the Ivies is need blind for admissions.</p>

18

<p>Are you interested in playing lax in college?</p>

19

<p>Try taking the ACT. Some students do better on it than on the SAT. Then you can decide if you want to prep for a retake of the SAT. For a cheap prep method that will work well if you are self-motivated, look at the “Xiggi” method on the SAT/ACT forum. The idea is to go through actual old SATs (or ACTs) slowly at first so that you understand why your answers are right or wrong. Then, you work to pick up speed. </p>

<p>For UMCP, make sure you apply by the Nov 1 priority deadline for the best shot at admissions and scholarships. </p>

<p>Have your parents run an on-line estimator to see what their Expected Family Contribution is. The number that comes up is for ONE year, not four. Use that as the basis for a Frank And Open discussion about finances. There are good schools where you’ll be happy at many, many price points; going into massive debt for just one choice is not wise.</p>

20

<p>I retook the SAT and got 2080. Math: 660 Reading: 700 Writing: 720
Do I need to retake it again or is that decent?
My weighted GPA is now up to 4.67, and I’m ranked 8 out of 421 in my class.</p>