Throw some colleges at me? or just chat and point out some cool ones?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys! </p>

<p>So.. I'm not really sure if this is a normal request, but I was wondering if any of you would help me personality match some colleges? There's just so much information out there about each college, and they ALL look terrific on paper, but I feel like you guys -- with "street" knowledge -- would know better than paper. </p>

<p>First off: I'm looking for "higher" tier schools (to appease the parents and hopefully help connect me with more peers to grow with). </p>

<p>I'll try my best to describe who I am. I'm a 17 year old Indian male (born and raised in WV). Definitely don't fall into the (negative) "Indian" stereotypes personality wise. </p>

<p>I want to find somewhere close to a big city because I love the feeling of having hundreds of thousands of people around. I really think I could deal with traffic (bike) and the constant clutter of people. I'd be fine with being 10-15 minutes out of city. </p>

<p>Here's the brutally honest, hopefully not pretentious rundown of me: I'm fun to be around, I'm outgoing, love public speaking. I LOVE people; love talking to them, being with them, around them, learning about them, everything. I'm smart, but I really love being fun, happy, and I think there's a way to be smart without showing it 24/7. </p>

<p>I am fairly laid back, manage stress well -- get it all done but without greying hairs. </p>

<p>I play guitar, uke, and I love jamming with people (so, I feel like I'm really looking for somewhere with fun loving, smart people). </p>

<p>If it helps, I'm looking to do business, and hopefully do business consulting at some point in life. </p>

<p>I love computers, I have been coding since I was 12 (mainly web), and I'm good enough to establish that as a passion.</p>

<p>I "think" I want to stay northeast or out west. (I can't explain why, maybe its just because I've heard that southern schools are <em>too</em> preppy.)</p>

<p>Seniors superlatives that I won (no campaigning allowed) (seriously this is just to help you get an idea of my personality, I am not trying to be an ass): Most likely to succeed, most outgoing, most likely to get away with it (I chose the succeed one). And it's not like this is some backwards country school in WV, we have 20 National Merit Semi-finalists in my class. </p>

<p>I'm involved with (high leadership roles) in state student council, an international community service organization (with over 12k paid members) -- I'm actually the 2013-2014 president of this one. I'm just saying this to show that I really enjoy public service and [efficient] leadership. </p>

<p>Umm..I'm not really as worried about college, apps, tests, grades, recs, etc. as most others; that may say something about me? I do all my work, but without stressing enough to blow a gasket. </p>

<p>Dang, I'm at a loss for what else to put, how does one even summarize their personality?.. Umm.. here's some credentials to help you with the actual merit of placement. Act: 35, GPA: 4.67 weighted cum, Student Council pres past 4 years (my class), Student Body president this year, State officer in WV Student Council, Intl. President of that community service organization (name is PM is fine), Key Club (school) president (yes, this org. coincides with the organization that I hold intl. office for, but the way I see it, it's just more good being done). Oh.. I have written a TON of custom computer scripts for my school including the entire website (with custom CMS), and I do plan to submit a portfolio of all my web work. 9 AP's so far: 5 - chem, 5 - comp sci, 4 - apush, 4 - psych, 4 - HUG, 4 - lang, 3 - world, 3 - macro. Taking studio (outside of school, without class), lit, calc bc, gov (outside of school, without class), and micro this year. SAT will be back in 3-4 weeks, but I hope my ACT is a prediction? </p>

<p>I play lacrosse -- lot's of fun to be with the team!</p>

<p>I know you can pretty much deduce exactly who I am, but, hey, it's an interconnected world now so I'm sure you could have found out even with less information.. hi!</p>

<p>If there's anything else I can describe to help facilitate this discussion about colleges, let me know! </p>

<p>I hope I'm not asking for too much; just throw me some college names and I'll look them up, ask you some questions about what you like about them, what goes on there, etc, and then we can just chat about those colleges! Hopefully this will help me choose!? </p>

<p>Thanks again!
Ankur</p>

<p>Too Long; Didn't Read?: Kid who likes academia, fun, fun people, and a good city environment looking for a college.</p>

2

<p>I can see you at UCSD. The downside is, expensive for OOS and the UCs don’t give that much in merit scholarships. </p>

<p>With your stats, you can probably get great merit awards. </p>

<p>For “hundreds of thousands” of people, you may want to stick to the more compact northeast. Even our biggest west coast cities (other than San Francisco) are fairly sprawled out.</p>

3

<p>carnegie mellon in pittsburgh? i can’t imagine you getting rejected. it’s really top tier, too.
there’s also columbia university in nyc. insanely low acceptance rate, but you should try.
u chicago (chicago), u penn (philly), johns hopkins in baltimore, brown university (providence), washington university in st. louis, georgetown in DC, USC (los angeles). these are all top 25 schools.</p>

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<p>@calla1: thanks for the UC suggestion. Hmm…if I could get money for going out there, I think I’d take that. </p>

<p>@Outofit: I was thinking CMU for sure, but my friend went up and said he saw nothing but stressed students everywhere :frowning: I like the idea of DC for sure</p>

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<p>I second outofit’s suggestion of USC.</p>

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<p>Haha well you said you handle stress great, so I think CMU is a nice option. Anyways, any school in the tier you’re looking to apply to isn’t exactly going to be easy coursework-wise. </p>

<p>Also, although NYU isn’t exactly known for CS, I think it’s a great fit for you because well, it’s in New York, and because Stern is definitely viable with your stats. (although there isn’t really a campus-feel - not sure if you’re into that)</p>

<p>I want to say UMich as well because it’s really great for both CS and Business, but it’s not in a huge city or anything, and isn’t on a coast (I don’t think either should be a deal breaker though since you’ll be around 40,000 people in the university alone).</p>

<p>However, for both NYU and UMich a lot of aid is going to be difficult because one is public, and the other is super stingy.</p>

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<p>Rice, Wash U- perhaps a bit more “friendly” than some of the other high tier schools</p>

8

<p>There are some southern and Midwestern schools considered preppy, but most are not. It’s hard to argue that Harvard is less preppy than say, Georgia Tech. </p>

<p>Here are some suggestions based on your criteria:
Rice
Brown
University of Washington (if you can afford and justify its OOS tuition)
UT-Austin (again, if you can afford and justify OOS tuition)
Northwestern</p>

9

<p>Saint Louis University
DePaul
SMU
Rice
TCU
Case Western</p>

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<p>I don’t think Uof Chicago is a good choice for you - similar in feel to CMU - lots of stressed kids. I would go for Northwestern - it fits your desires and has a huge variety of kids. Columbia is a good choice, NYU, as someone already mentioned, has no campus at all if that matters, Yale is kind of fun. Then you have the LAC like Vassar and Bard, both commuting distance to the city.</p>

<p>Really, you’re in good shape, just do your best via websites and then visit after being admitted for the final feel.</p>

11

<p>Look at the Claremont Consortium. Claremont is not a big city, but it’s an hour from LA. You would like the vibe - relaxed but challenging, and VERY friendly. You get lots of attention academically bc the individual schools are small, but there are over 6000 students total on campus. Unlike other consortiums, the 5 Claremont colleges have adjoining campuses. No buses, no commuting. Max 15 min walk to anywhere.</p>

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<p>Wow guys there are a lot of suggestions here, and I’m sitting ere with my classmates discussing them! I really do appreciate the suggestions! </p>

<p>I also like amtc’s point - I’ll narrow down from websites discussions like this, and then I’ll visit post acceptance. </p>

<p>Not having much of a campus doesn’t really matter to me I believe. In fact, it seems kind of interesting to go through a city for college. </p>

<p>Northwestern seems appealing. My friend went to Cherubs there this summer, and she loved how close it was to Chicago (and she loved the lake). </p>

<p>I’ve never actually been to any NYU area nor have I heard any first-hand impressions of it. How are the kids? The campus (I assume none)?</p>

<p>Alright…this may be a weird thought, but maybe it helps narrow cities? I can imagine myself waking up Sunday morning and biking out / walking out / driving to a market square/downtown area where I can purchase a good bagel, sit down, and enjoy the busy environment. (I’m thinking pitssburg’s market square).</p>

13

<p>How do you expect to pay for college? Is cost simply not an issue? Or, do you expect to qualify for enough need based aid that your family can cover the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)? Or, do you need merit aid to help cover the EFC? If so, about how much?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that public schools often don’t give adequate need-based aid to out-of-state students. The very most selective private schools often have the most generous need-based aid. The same private schools often do not offer merit aid.</p>

14

<p>My family pulls in about $150k, but I also have another brother in college, so I don’t know where I stand financial aid wise. </p>

<p>I think my better option would be going for merit based at public schools, right? Cause I don’t think I qualify for private need based?</p>

15

<p>With 2 in college and income of $150k, you are likely to get decent financial aid at private colleges that meet full need. This depends on assets too, of course. Our family is roughly in the same income bracket as yours. My D received $19k in grants this year, and we expect that number to go up to around $35k next year when her brother starts college. Run the net price calculators rather than assuming things. You may be very surprised.</p>

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<p>Hey nova! Thanks for that info. I’ll look up those college’s price calculators. </p>

<p>So, I’m going to try and get in touch with some current students at CMU to see how stressed it “really” is and if that wasn’t just an off week. I’m going to definitely check out UMich even though it isn’t near a “big” city. </p>

<p>I’ve been looking more at Northwestern now that you all have mentioned it! It seems very cool!</p>

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<p>Your post metaphorically screams USC (U of southern Cali). It sounds like just about everything you ask for an they might give you merit aid as well :)</p>

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<p>Hey Sophie! Thanks for reassuring the USC suggestion. I am definitely going to be looking more and more into that now! Thank you!</p>

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<p>According to collegeabacus.com, here are estimated annual net costs to attend several universities for a West Virginia family with an adjusted gross income of $150K, 2 children in college, married parents in their late 40s, $50K in home equity, and $150K in other assets (in the parents’ names, not the student’s):</p>

<p>Stanford University $20,500
Northwestern University $27,893
Carnegie Mellon University $29,415
University of Southern California $32,362
University of Wisconsin $33,062
University of Maryland - College Park $38,623</p>

<p>Your actual costs may vary (maybe significantly) if my assumptions are way off. However, for your income bracket, it would appear that very selective private schools have the lowest net costs, and OOS public universities the highest, after need-based aid (assuming the net costs above reflect need-based aid, not merit scholarships.)</p>

<p>Can your family afford costs approximately in this range? If not, you have 2 major options:
in-state public universities (~$16K for WV University, including room and board)
colleges that guarantee big merit scholarships for your stats (~$9K for University of Alabama room & board after full tuition scholarship)</p>

<p>[National</a> Universities That Offer Full Ride Scholarships](<a href=“Loading...”>http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/09/national-universities-that-offer-full-ride-scholarship/)</p>

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<p>University of Rochester is excellent and offer need based aid and merit scolarships.</p>