Trouble finding Matches

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've spent a lot of time this past week looking online about colleges and stuff, and I did this week-long summer class thing about researching and applying for college. I've found some interesting reach schools and safeties, but because of my horrible imbalance of ECs (I've done little with free time last 3 years), it's hard for me to tell what good matches are. I guess I'll put information, and I'd appreciate any help. And other than matches, does anyone know any reach schools that might have a bit higher chances? Thank you.</p>

<p>sat: 720 c, 800 m, 730 w (7 essay), sat 2: 790 chem, 800 math 2, 750 us
gpa: 4.0 u / 4.25 w, senior year: 6 ap
rank: was 7 last semester out of ~625, probably similar rank
ap: 5 us/chem/calc bc/comp sci ab, 3 fr lang
- ec: math team/mu alpha theta 3 years, violinist in school musical 9th, piano 9th-10th (play well but nothing outstanding), chinese school 9th (unsure if this counts). senior year doing mock trial, piano, and hopefully doing something more unique if I can find, but too late to be captain of something and I didn't make comp civix
- work: 16 WHOLE hours as a school tutor.. there were too many so they cut a bunch. not sure if I can/want to get a more realistic job before college apps
- volunteer: will have a mere ~50 hours for non-amazing meal kitchen / city library this summer and hopefully continue at least one of them into sr year. haven't thought up anything "amazing" I could organize and haven't done anything before this summer
- minor awards: Go Figure! Honorable Mention 9th (sandia labs math competition, unavailable 10th/11th..), High School Chemistry Award from American Chemical Society, school's highest AMC12 11th grade (only got 3 on AIME)
- summer: week-long education about college probably doesn't count for much, France for 2 weeks (carried family through transportation and french communication?), puerto rico (not as meaningful as Fr)
- recommendations: I guess this isn't so bad because I'm good friends with my calc/comp sci teachers, talk with them a lot, and got like >102%...</p>

<p>basically I'm extremely lopsided towards math and/or science and I really like those + music + being part of something amazing such as mock trial/comp civix (not part of yet but I'm sure I will be happy)... but I feel like it's hard for me to show that with the laziness of 9th-11th grade. I have a lot of motivation once I put my mind to something, but again... also, my parents are basically oblivious to college/finaid information, so they rarely pushed me or anything and I myself didn't know that much until recently. thank you again if you took the time to read and consider</p>

2

<p>What are you interested in studying? Do you prefer urban, rural, large, small? Your SATs are good and balanced, combined with your GPA - you would be competitive at any of the LACs and Universities outside of the top 10 to 20 and those would be reaches, but still possible. </p>

<p>Matches-
RPI in Troy NY is a great school that takes lopsided applicants <a href="http://www.rpi.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.rpi.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester NY</p>

<p>Virginia Tech</p>

<p>If you are interested in a liberal arts school- Conn in New London CT, Dickinson in Harrisburg Pa are all options.</p>

<p>Many of the State Universities are an option - like the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT</p>

3

<p>You didn't give much criteria for what you want, but if your ECs are weak, you could always try some numbers-oriented schools such as NYU.</p>

<p>A more science-oriented school that takes this same approach is Penn State. It would probably actually be a low match...</p>

4

<p>what are the reaches and safeties on your list?</p>

5

<p>Daffy, i would consider those more safeties from him... try carnegie mellon, that one is more of a match for you.</p>

6

<p>Your scores are terrific, and playing two instruments is a perfectly respectable EC. The flagship state schools won't look much past your school record and test scores. University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin are solid bets. Be sure to apply early in fall.</p>

<p>Rose Hulman would be a safety, but worth considering. For reaches, look at Northwestern, U of Chicago and Washington University - St.Louis. Are you in need of a lot of financial help, and does your family qualify for financial aid? That puts a different slant on things.</p>

7

<p>I think I'd like to study physics or math so far, or maybe engineering (don't know much about this yet). Probably not extremely large, or like amazingly urban/rural, but while I haven't visited many campuses I think most in between would be fine. I'd prefer something smaller though, with housing.</p>

<p>I've looked a little at Rensselaer and Carnegie Mellon, they sound nice, and one of my friends is looking at those, too. Rose Hulman seems nice, too. Thank you very much, I'll look at all the ones you've all mentioned this week probably.</p>

<p>I live in California, but I'm not really sure where the UCs would fall for me; I'm thinking Irvine more like safety, SD maybe match, and LA/Berkeley reach? However if I could get into a smaller school that also provided a lot of financial aid to make up for the price, that would be nice. I'm not really sure how much financial aid I'd need because my parents are divorced and have I think very different salaries... my mom doesn't seem to want to pay that much though and even once said I should be trying for a place where I could get a full scholarship... but she didn't/doesn't know that much about financial aid or anything yet.</p>

<p>Some reaches and safeties... like Emory/Washington St. Louis, Stanford/Dartmouth, Olin sounds impossible but cool, maybe the small chance applying for Harvard... and then like some nice schools I heard of around here, University of the Pacific, Santa Clara University, and St. Mary's. Although this is definitely a changing list, and I haven't researched all that much...</p>

<p>I'm kind of wondering a lot because in my school last 3 years like 1/3 didn't go to college, a lot went to community, a lot to CSU. But then, last year, 5 people went to 5 different ivies (all in comp civix I think but when I compare the "HYP"-level ECs I see on this board to them I never realized, although my Yale friend took 15 APs... lol), 2 to stanford (1 comp civix, 1 urm), 2 notre dame, 1 hopkins, a handful to ucla/berkeley each... a few of them are my friends, do you think they would mind if I asked a little what kinds of schools they applied to and had on applications? And it's weird to think that of all the people I know in my class, while I'm pretty sure at least a few will go to ivies/stanford, I never noticed anyone having more than "stereotypical" ECs, although I don't expect they'd brag about doing good things or something...</p>

<p>I guess it's not the most important thing in a world what college you get into (sorry this is going off topic and becoming very long lol), but I just sort of regret wasting I think what could be potential. It's nice that my parents are the type that probably would accept me fine if I never got an A in my life and don't bug me about tests/etc., but it would be cool if I had myself learned how competitive many colleges are a lot sooner. I didn't even learn about teacher recommendations and all the stuff they look at til like after getting to know some of my favorite teachers and missing lots of EC opportunities, but it should've clicked for me why most my friends' (azn lolz) parents were so crazy and people being so "overachiever" lol... But as long as I feel happy in whatever college I go to, I think?</p>

8

<p>OP, What are your passions? What do you like to do with your time outside of the classroom? I suggest you also repost your original post/ question on the Parents forum, where you will find many knowledgable, experienced parents who can suggest colleges that you should consider. There is a wealth of experience on that forum, and many parents who are willing to help a strong student find colleges that fit.</p>

9

<p>I really like learning math (I couldn't help but thinking each new thing we learned last year was really cool, and remember once when I got a problem wrong on a test I spent like 2 hours looking at random math things on wikipedia) and also learning things to play on piano/violin (this was especially around 6th-9th grade; I like classical especially more contemporary like impressionist). I've always thought physics was cool even though I haven't learned much about it yet and didn't really like my teacher last year, but I can't wait for AP this year. I also like to play video games when I have the time, but that's just like a hobby lol</p>

<p>Although I went through my year really badly last year and didn't spend much time on music... Last year I got into a bad cycle of staying up late, sleeping like 3-6 hours, and being too tired to do anything when I got home/not having much time if I took a nap. Mostly what I did was read a lot of stuff on wikipedia/etc. and listen to music (nothing)... I really like talking with my friends, and I think that draws me away from the other things I enjoy because I fear someone will want to talk to me or something while I'm in another room... And when I did sit down to play the piano, I felt like I was on a time limit or something. I also have trouble focusing on single piece(s) without having lessons and my teacher's help; I keep wanting to rush through and start new things instead of completing what I already started. Then at like 8pm-1am I'd start hw even if it was only like 10 min, then go to bed at like 11-2, many times even 3-4, only to wake up at 6... This year I SO don't want to do that kind of stuff again; I think I spent more time with my eyes closed than open in 1st period physics...</p>

<p>Thank you !! That would be really nice... I will post in that forum. Do you think I should give it the same topic title, or could it be more of a "please help with research & my last months before applying"? I know I've gone way off topic here... I haven't even spent much time yet looking at the colleges everyone's mentioned because volunteering and dinner/etc. with my dad...</p>

10

<p>You are definitely a match for any of the UC's, probably even Berkeley, although one never knows for sure.</p>

<p>With regard to private schools, you never know until you apply. You might get decent financial aid; you might get merit aid. Your personality sounds like it would fit well at Harvey Mudd.</p>

11

<p>Thank you. Harvey Mudd sounds hard to get into... would they be more of a reach or match for me?</p>

<p>It's hard for me to pick what to maybe apply to... Is it bad to pick many reach schools in hopes of getting into at least one, or is it usually not worth the cost to apply / essays?</p>

<p>when you use the common application, does that mean the same essay you write to go with that can go to all the schools you send it to?</p>

12

<p>At son's public high school, the students getting into Harvey Mudd had 2300 combined SAT and 4.3 weighted GPA. Since you have 2250 and 4.25, you are low reach, pretty close to match. Gotta nail that essay. The advice I have seen on this site says to pick 2 safeties, 3 matches, 3 or 4 reaches, if you have that many schools on your list. ED is also an option for saving application fees. If you get in to your first choice then no more applications!</p>

13

<p>I think you have a great shot at any of the UC's because they won't look much at EC's. Your impressive numbers would probably make it easier for you to get into a larger school that does not put much weight on EC's than a smaller LAC which will look closley at them.</p>

14

<p>With your credentials, you should aim high. U Rochester is good for Physics and music. Also take a look at Cornell for Physics. Others that come to mind:
U Chicago
UC Berkeley
Harvey Mudd
Reed
Stanford
Caltech
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
RPI
Rice
UCLA
UCSD
UC Davis
USC
Case Western</p>