Tell me what colleges I should consider?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Disclaimer: I'm not a super genius like most CC'ers so keep that in mind</p>

<p>White- no hooks or anything in this regard
UW GPA : 3.91
W: N/A</p>

<p>AP courses: Biology, LANG, AB Calculus, Statistics, US government, English Literature, Environmental Science</p>

<p>SAT: CR: 760 M:660 W:560 (badge of shame) Composite: 1980
I'll probably retake it. Expected(reasonably attainable) M:680 W: 650
Expected Superscore: 2090
EC's
Soccer: Club soccer 9-12th (State Champions) High School Soccer 9,10,12 (no 11 had knee surgery)
Its a big part of my life but I probably won't talk too much about it, not very original</p>

<p>Model United Nations- Go to conferences, have received various awards: Rapporteur Award(not a real award really but whatever), Honorable Mention, Distinguished Delegate
Might be president of club next year. Staffed a college conference. I might write an essay on this, fairly passionate</p>

<p>Student Senate Representative 9-12( kind of a joke)
Sophomore Cabinent PR/various other roles 10-12 (kind of a joke)</p>

<p>1st place on a national science test( actually got 1st in the nation, was a legitimate competition too, National Science League I believe)</p>

<p>Honorable mention Toshiba Exploravision project- I take more pride in this than the aforementioned but Idk how good it looks. I think I was top 100 entries in nation.
I did a project on genetic engineering on symbionts within a tsetse fly(nice 14+ page report)</p>

<p>150+ volunteer hours UW hospital (100) Hopelink ( 30+ during school) misc (rest)</p>

<p>Honor Society, student of month </p>

<p>Various student of month awards</p>

<p>Qualified for Teen Jeopardy contestant pool (didn't compete on air b/c its a lotto system)
Probably have some other trivial awards as well.</p>

<p>I have a hook(sort of) with one essay topic but it is too personal to disclose</p>

<p>Could you guys tell me some good schools to apply to. Preferably East Coast/Central US (I'm familiar with most West Coast Schools). All help is appreciated. </p>

<p>I'm a CC noob so please don't harangue me for any unintentional mistakes. I reposted this because I don't know what I'm doing.</p>

2

<p>What major are you interested in? Do you want to continue playing soccer at the varsity level? These are some of the questions that will help you define your possibilities more clearly.</p>

3

<p>What is your likely major?</p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

<p>What is your budget for college? (how much will your parents pay?)</p>

<p>Your Math +CR score is good, you could get some merit scholarships for that at some schools.</p>

4

<p>I’m interested in 3 possible majors or fields. These being International Relations( something involving foreign affairs), Biology( possibly pre-med), and pre-law. I’m probably done with competitive soccer after this year. I was a borderline collegiate player to start with and the knee surgery probably won’t be doing me any favors.</p>

5

<p>I’m in Washington. Money isn’t really a concern because my parents have been saving for awhile and I have been making money in the stock market as of late. Thanks for the replies.</p>

6

<p>Any suggestions for some possible colleges to apply to?</p>

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<p>Money isn’t really a concern because my parents have been saving for awhile and I have been making money in the stock market as of late. Thanks</p>

<p>Good for you. But since a private college education is costing $240k+ these days, ask your parents how much they have saved and can put towards college. They may have been saving with another budget in mind. </p>

<p>If you get your writing score up, then many of the national universities and LACs would work out. Maybe Grinnell or Tulane or American University or George Washington University or Boston University or Northeastern…there really are many, many that might work for you.</p>

8

<p>mom2 is right: clarifying your finances first. Ask your parents to use an on line calculator to get an idea of your families expected contribution. If that works, then you can have a fairly open list as your need based EFC will be more or less the same at most privates. If, on the other hand, your EFC doesn’t work you may need to look for merit money, which would mean a different list.</p>

<p>Putting finances to the side, there really is no reason why you couldn’t get accepted to ANY college in the US. Of course many would be reaches and some would be super reaches, but in any case you should have a balanced list of reach/match/safety based on selectivity.</p>

<p>Don’t worry too much about your potential area of study just yet. Pre-med and pre-law are not majors but aspirations. You can get into medical or law school with just about any undergraduate major. </p>

<p>What you need to focus on now is a general idea of the type of college you’d like: large/medium/small, urban/suburban/rural, coed/womans (I’m assuming you are femal), sporty, political, social etc. etc. If you don’t know do some reading and come back with criteria. There are hundreds of possibilities. If you don’t narrow the field you’ll just get random suggestions.</p>

9

<p>My parents have stated that they will cover all of my college costs except for room and board, as well as living expenses. They have saved all of their lives and have made some smart investments. I have also made money in the stock market which coupled with my personal savings should cover room and board plus living expenses. I appreciate the high cost of many colleges, but I’m not too concerned with the financial aspect of them. I’m more curious about what selective colleges do you think would be
reaches/matches/etc. given my stats.</p>

<p>Criteria:
size: large/medium
Location: suburban(preferably but Urban works)
Coed
Selectivity: >50% are admitted</p>

<p>Here are some colleges that I was considering
Boston College
UC Berkeley
Georgetown(only looks at CR+M I believe?, definite reach)
American University
Cornell ( super high reach, CR+M?)
University of Washington(state school)
Bates College</p>

<p>Any comments or advice? Thanks for all of the replies. This is actually very helpful.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>You are sure that they know how much this can be? Tuition alone at many schools is over $40,000 per year, with total cost of attendance reaching $60,000 per year at some.</p>

<p>Also, it is not clear what “except for room and board, as well as living expenses” means, since living expenses includes room and board.</p>

<p>If finances are not certain, be sure to have some less expensive options on your application list, such as University of Washington in state, University of Minnesota, University of Alabama campuses with big merit scholarships for GPA and test scores, etc…</p>

11

<p>I consulted the family budget spreadsheet and it has 190k allocated for tuition with another 20k being put in by the time my senior year rolls around. I think this amount would be sufficient to pay for almost any college, given that i won’t have to pay all of the tuition upfront and that if need be there are other funds available for me to tap( a car fund and a down payment on my first house fund)(My family isn’t rich or anything they have just saved a ton of money and haven’t spent a lot of money. We could afford a house in the 600k-700k range but currently live in a house bought for 100k years ago). This doesn’t include personal assets like the money I have made from the stock market or savings. I will also likely get a job in college so that should help me cover additional expenses.</p>

<p>I wasn’t sure exactly what room and board covered, I had this misconception that room and board only covered housing and not food and other expenses. I was mistaken, but I think I will be okay paying for this aspect of my college.</p>

<p>Do you think that the schools I listed are attainable given my stats? Any schools you would suggest?
Thanks for the information and replies.</p>

12

<p>Bates, Berkeley, and AU span a wide range of college types.
You could visit a few similar schools (big, small, mid-sized) fairly close to home to start refining your preferences. There are quite a few LACs in Pennsylvania (within maybe 4-6 hours of DC) and a few in Maryland (Goucher, St. Mary’s College of MD, Washington College). UPenn and Maryland are big schools within a similar range.</p>

13

<p>Are you in wash state or DC? I was going to suggest American and GW as well. If you want urban, also consider Fordham and BU. One is mid-size, with a definite campus feel, while the other is larger with more of an urban campus.</p>

14

<p>Northwestern, Cornell, michigan, Hopkins, washu. You might as well apply to HPYSM too…especially if money isn’t really a big deal…I mean you never know</p>

15

<p>Okay, that’s a good starting point.
First, a few questions/comments

  1. Will you be able to visit the eastcoast schools? You have quite a range of personality types which is okay at this point but a visit will help you determine what you like.
  2. Are you okay with U of Washington as a safety? I have nothing for or against it, but it’s not a true safety if you’d be disappointed if it turned out to be your only option. Safeties are not easy to find but they’re out there. You just need to put more energy into them. Schools that have rolling or EA systems can be good safeties too.
  3. Are you prepared to apply ED or SCEA to whatever turns out to be your first choice? If you don’t need to compare and negotiate aid packages this would be a good strategy – but only if you visit.
  4. What is your #1 Dream school? If you use that as a starting point you can often find less selectives in the same personality type.
  5. Will you take the SATI again? I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on your writing score as long as your English grades are good and your essays are solid. I would, however, do some prepping to improve your math score. You might also take the ACT.
  6. Do you have a college counselor at your school who can provide guidance?</p>

<p>You have three categories on your list
Big Public: U of Washington, UCBerkeley
Large to Medium Sized Private: BC, Georgetown, American, Cornell
Small LAC: Bates</p>

<p>There are several others that you could add to each category. I would look at the following, but there are many others as well.
Big Public: Michigan (Apply early under the rolling program. If you get in it could be your safety.)
Large to Medium Private: Tufts, JHU, WUSTL, Duke
Small LAC: Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Hamilton </p>

<p>I would note that Cornell is a reach but not out of the question. It is however definitely rural so you should try to visit.</p>

<p>I’m not sure what hat your pulled Bates out of as it seems to be the odd-man-out in your list. I like small LACs, however, and would suggest that you look into a few more. The ones I listed especially like the combination of academics and sports.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Room = housing, board = food.</p>

<p>Expenses like books, clothing, travel, etc. are not included in “room and board”. Books are usually a separate line item on cost of attendance budgets found on college web sites, while there is also typically an “other expenses” line item for everything else.</p>

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<ol>
<li>I should be able to visit a couple of east coast schools. I’ll probably visit some Boston and New York schools.
2.I’m not sure what you are saying about University of Washington as a safety? Do you think I should strive for a more selective school as a safety?</li>
<li>I would be interested in applying ED or EA to my higher choices. I’m still trying to figure out how I would coordinate this so it gives me the best chance of going to the best school. </li>
<li>Dream school as of this moment would be GeorgetownI probably. This is purely from an academic and general characteristic standpoint as I haven’t visited any of my top choices yet.</li>
<li>I’ll most likely take the SAT1 again. I think its strange that my best subject in school is reading/writing yet my SAT Writing was extremely low, even my essay was sub-par
(8). </li>
<li>All of the counselors at my school are worthless. I probably know more just from a short time on CC than they do. </li>
</ol>

<p>I have heard a lot of good things from some friends who have graduated and went to Bates so thats why I listed it. I don’t know too much about it besides the small LAC part.</p>

<p>And to the person who said I should apply to HYPSM, I appreciate your optimism but those schools are clearly out of my league. </p>

<p>Thanks for the replies. This has been tremendously beneficial.</p>

18

<ol>
<li>I should be able to visit a couple of east coast schools. I’ll probably visit some Boston and New York schools.
After you’ve refined your list, try to visit different types of schools in size, location, personality, environment. You may be surprised!</li>
</ol>

<p>2.I’m not sure what you are saying about University of Washington as a safety? Do you think I should strive for a more selective school as a safety?
No, I have no objection to UofWA. What I meant was that YOU have to be sure that you would like to end up there before you use it as your safety. If the thought of attending worries you, keep looking.</p>

<ol>
<li>I would be interested in applying ED or EA to my higher choices. I’m still trying to figure out how I would coordinate this so it gives me the best chance of going to the best school.
Defer this decision until after you visit. Apply to as many EA or rolling admissions schools as you like. It’s ED schools that you have to think hard about, because you are commited to attend if accepted. SCEA is also complicated, but not that common.</li>
</ol>

<p>The good news for you is that Georgetown is EA pure and simple. You cannot, however, apply to Georgetown EA and any other school ED, so you have to be sure it’s your top choice.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Dream school as of this moment would be GeorgetownI probably. This is purely from an academic and general characteristic standpoint as I haven’t visited any of my top choices yet.
Some others with similar characteristics: American (which is already on your list), JHU, Tufts, Macalester, Barnard</p></li>
<li><p>I’ll most likely take the SAT1 again. I think its strange that my best subject in school is reading/writing yet my SAT Writing was extremely low, even my essay was sub-par (8).
SAT Writing is unpredictable which is why many colleges disregard it. Evaluation is somewhat formulaic. If you can take a prep course for tips. Your English grades and essays will compensate. Don’t worry too much about this. Do some prep, take it again and forget about it. Actually, I’d be more concerned about the math score than the writing. Consider taking the ACT. Bear in mind that you may need a couple of SATIIs too.</p></li>
<li><p>All of the counselors at my school are worthless. I probably know more just from a short time on CC than they do.
CC is an excellent resource, but you have to ask specific questions. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Bates is a fine school, but among the Maine Three I’d lean toward Bowdoin for you. As I said, I’m a fan of small LACs, and I would encourage you to do some additional research into the category. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury are reachy reaches for you but I think they’d be very good fits. Try to visit. Also Pomona on the Westcoast.</p>

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<p>A couple of notes from a parent from upstate NY raising 3 kids in the same school district that you are in:
First, the towns and cities, and, therefore, the colleges are much closer together than what we are used to having here. I went to college near Albany, NY, but regularly went to visit people at 7 or 8 other nearby colleges. St. Rose, Albany State, Russell Sage, RPI, Siena, Skidmore, Union, and even Hudson Valley CC were all within about a 30 mile circle. I could ride my bike to Williams and Bennington, and we made road trips to New Hampshire, Vermont, Cornell, Syracuse, Oneonta, and other fairly close schools. Assuming you are female, please reconsider the strengths of Mt. Holyoke, especially if you will be in IR. They are not socially isolated at all, and the many here can attest to the benefit of all-women classrooms.</p>

<p>Second, if you are somewhat undecided, how about considering some of the Big-10 schools ( I know Michigan has already been mentioned)? The college experience is immersive in a way not as common out here.</p>

<p>Back on the original topic, if you are set on an IR major, there is no place quite like being in DC. Georgetown, American, and GWU, in that order.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the replies. I think it is time for me to do some of my own investigating now that I have some ideas. I appreciate all of the help.</p>