top-notch and scholarship chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>The stats...</p>

<p>middle-class female, white, ks suburbs</p>

<p>ACT: 35 composite (33-36 range)
SAT: 770 R, 770 M, 760 W
SAT IIs: taking math 2, chemistry and maybe spanish w/ listening?
AP: english language & psych, 5; european history, american history & biology, 4; will take 3-5 more at end of senior year</p>

<p>rank: 1/430 public
gpa: 4.83 weighted, 4.00 unweighted
classes: all honors/AP for core, dabbled in just about all focuses</p>

<p>school EC:
marching band - 9, 10
drama props crew - 10
academic decathlon - 9, 10, 11, 12
quiz game show - 11, 12
nhs - 11, 12
newspaper staff writer - 12
environmental club prez - 11, 12
literary magazine editor-in-chief - 11, 12
yearbook editor-in-chief - 12</p>

<p>volunteering:
50? community hours through environmental club
4 years running butterfly garden at elementary school
occasional stuff: soup kitchen, peer tutoring</p>

<p>random:
no competitive sports but yoga, jogging and belly dancing
huge writer with extensive poetry portfolio... can pen a mean essay</p>

<p>How do I fare and what can I do? I haven't got any huge time-consuming passion, although I guess I tend to hit the lit side hardest. I need a college that's strong across the board, since I'm entirely undecided about my calling. I'm looking at all sorts of schools right now. I don't qualify for financial aid so I really need to have a good shot at BIG merit scholarships at a few less-exclusive tiers.</p>

<p>liberal arts: reed, amherst, oberlin, swarthmore, vassar, barnard
public: ut austin, uc schools, u michigan
private: boston u, emory, nyu, u of chicago, wash u in st. louis, usc, carnegie mellon, stanford, northwestern, rice
ivies: brown, columbia, cornell, princeton, yale</p>

2

<p>Good heavens that's a lot of schools. You're qualified, of course, but that's a lot of schools! It looks like mine :) Here's what I think of them:</p>

<p>Liberal Arts
I totally support the small-school atmosphere. You won't get lost like at big state schools. However, if you go to Oberlin, Vassar, or Barnard, you have to be prepared to see the same faces every day. Amherst has the five college consortium, so it's not as close (I say EKEB: Everyone Knows Everyone's Business). Don't go to Reed if you want to attend a prestigious university for graduate work, otherwise it's a great place to grow and learn. Swarthmore's a busy-bee hive. This you know.</p>

<p>Public: Depends. I don't know U Michigan or UT Austin very well. I live in Cali and want to get out to save my life, but other people are aspiring to the UCs. Your quality of education depends where you attend: Berkeley is full of smart people but it's in a horrible slum, UCLA is huge and only a little cleaner (air quality is aweful!), the others are just kind of there (Santa Clara's pretty, Davis is big and state-schooly, San Diego's ugly but has good academics, Merced is a backwoods wasteland).</p>

<p>Private: I hated Boston U. There's no college feel, but you might not be into the community thing. Emory, NYU, USC, Northwestern: BIG. Be careful, you might be in huge lectures and a total stranger to the professors and your classmates. Rice, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon not so much. I've read good things about Wash U, but they send me so many things in the mail I'm starting to distrust them.</p>

<p>Ivies: Plus: they've got the cash (cha-ching $$$). Princeton only gives grants, no loans! Yale is my fav, I'm applying SCEA, but I'm fully aware that the town leaves much to be desired (do you watch Gilmore Girls? Lorelai's apt description: "Tomorrow, look at the coffee pot before I clean it. That's New Haven.") Columbia makes you feel like an ant, Cornell is more of a big university, and Brown has the reputation of being a) liberal and b) horrible with financial aid. So many people have told me they received wonderful packages the first year, then it was pulled out from under their feet the second. So tread warily around that one.</p>

<p>All this is just my opinion. I'm sure that list will kind of narrow itself naturally (like losing weight after the holidays, you know?). Good luck with your search!</p>

3

<p>consider this tkm: about three weeks ago, the list was 76. my disposition is entirely improved knowing i'm not the only one with gobs of schools to pick off! the problem is, i want a respectable college bubble as well as the back alleys and realities of a real, large city. i'm rarely the type to put on spiritwear and cheer on some rando men in tights on the football squad, you know? but while i want my own outlets, i don't want to forget that lots of other people do have a good time with that. so i'm wary about self-insulating at a really huge or really small school.</p>

<p>ha.. i guess in the end, finances will probably choose for me. fare well in your own search!</p>

4

<p>if i were you, I'd pick a few ivies, a few privates, and then one public to apply to. I think you are a strong applicant to all. I think you will be accepted to all of those schools except perhaps Yale and Princeton which are crapshoots.</p>

5

<p>Fritillary:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match (out of state)
UCSD: Safe Match (out of state)
UCI/UCSB/UCD: Safety (out of state)
UCSC/UCR/UCM: Super Safety (out of state)</p>

6

<p>You have great statistics. The Ivies do not give any merit aid, so if you are really sure that you are not eligible for need-based aid, I would consider dropping them. Some of your other schools do offer merit aid- NYU, BU, U Chicago, others. George Washington University is another large school moving up in the rankings and offering good merit aid. Lately, though, people say that it is easier to obtain merit aid from LACs than from universities. Since aid is your issue, you might want to look very closely at some good LACs that offer aid, and weed some of the larger schools out of your list. Also, have you verified that the state schools offer merit aid to out-of-staters?</p>

7

<p>Some good LACs that are generous with merit aid are College of Wooster, Denison, Depauw, Grinnell, Knox, and Lawrence.</p>

8

<p>Those are good choices. I have heard that Rhodes College and Kalamazoo are good, too. University of Rochester is known for giving aid, and is highly ranked. It is a school that is bound to increase in prestige over the next few years, since it is becoming harder and harder to get into any top ranked school.</p>

9

<p>Agree with other posters BU offers little other than it is in Boston-no school spirit. Might look at some very good LAC's with good academics and strong alumni network like Holy Cross-1 hour from Boston and much better than BU and Colgate-another good school. HC offers good financial/merit aid.</p>

10

<p>Quite a few schools on your list do not award scholarships.....they award "needbased financial aid" some of which is grants and some of which is w/s and depending on your family income level some loans. It woud be a combination but these schools don't award "scholarships". Have you investigated FA Policy??</p>

11

<p>Your statistics are so good that if you become very interested in a school, and want to go there with aid, you should tell them through the application, interviews, campus visit, etc. Otherwise, they will think that you are using the school as a safety.</p>

12

<p>thanks, gang, these are all good thoughts. i feel like my focus is narrowing. since the likelihood of me getting financial aid is slim to none... for various reasons that don't make my pockets happy... i think i'll apply to a few LACs and privates that offer aid, one or two ivies and a state school only if i can swing the money. you all have been very helpful!</p>

13

<p>I think that your chance of getting merit money is excellent, provided that the school offers merit money. So, please, don't give up on that angle.</p>