<p>Hi, can someone please give me some ideas about a college that best fits me? I don't have a great gpa or high test scores, but I still want to go to a good school. My weighted GPA is 4.33 and my unweighted is about 3.70. My SAT Math IIC score is 770 and my SAT II CHEM score is 720. My SAT I score is 2110 ( but im going to retake it this december and hopefully I get something around 2200). But besides my grades and my test scores, I want a college that fits my personality. I don't really think I would like large colleges or colleges in congested cities such as New York (so no NYU). But I dont want to be in a class with only like 8 people in it. I'm not that outgoing, but I still like to get food and chill with my friends on friday and saturday nights. I'm not guy in my group that always starts conversations. I'm usually quiet. With new people, I'm pretty shy and it takes me a while to get comfortable with them. I would usually go to the city restaurants around me and such. I hang out with friends that don't try to be all cool around others and they aren't that nerdy. They don't study all day and stuff like that. They still have fun once in a while, in addition to getting good grades. I don't really care much about college sports, so I wouldn't camp outside just to be first in line to get a ticket for a duke basketball game.The type of people who **** me off are people who try to act cool or people who just don't respect other friends. I also don't want too much competitiveness because I already had enough at my high school. I also don't want to be with complete nerds who are weird and uncomfortable to hang around with. I would like to study science stuff, so probably biology or chemistry. I'm pretty good at science and math. </p>
<p>I'm not sure if I explained myself well but I hope someone can help give me some college ideas.</p>
<p>Most Liberal Arts Colleges should fit you. Check out a book like Fiske or the PR guide to colelges… and read what they have to say about several LACs (Liberal Arts Colleges)</p>
<p>Hmm… start of by looking interesting ones on the US News List for LACs, BUT DONT USE IT AS A RANKING. Use it as a list of good LACs that you should check out and see which fits you better … please don’t use it as a ranking.</p>
<p>Definitely look at liberal arts colleges. Don’t just look at the most highly-rated ones, either. I suggest checking out the book Colleges That Change Lives- it’s basically a list and description of 40 LACs which are not top-rated, but still offer a quality education. The schools on that list tend to have good merit aid (if that matters- you didn’t specify), and many of them are known for having good science departments. Off the top of my head, Juniata, Rhodes, Goucher, and Hendrix (where I go) come to mind for good science departments, though I’m no authority on that subject. Also consider other factors- do you care whether the student body is strongly liberal, conservative, or moderate? Do you care whether a school’s south or north, east or west? Do you want a religious school? Do you need merit aid and/or financial aid? All those have an impact on what you’ll be looking for, but if you don’t know the answers yet, don’t worry about it. Try visiting a few colleges first, including LACs and perhaps some smaller publics or tech schools, and let your feelings about those schools guide your search.
I know that’s a lot to take in, but I hope it helps.</p>
<p>I would definitely arrange a sit-down with your guidance counselor, pronto. You have a lot of options, given your stats and school types that would fit your requirements.</p>
<p>There are a huge number of schools that fit and your grades and scores are pretty competitive. You sound a lot like my daughter in some respects, and she was really glad that she went to a school that has a collaborative and cooperative environment (not that she doesn’t have a competitive streak.) Her school has it built into the culture because it starts with the administration and the departments have a large amount of interdisciplinary programs. Even some buildings are set up to provide cooperation between different groups. If you reasearch, you can find schools like this.</p>
<p>In most schools, you will eventually find your people, it may take all of freshman year, however. Do you need to be in or near a big city? Don’t forget that some schools in the seeming middle of nowhere have vibrant communities. Like Grinell, which bring in all kinds of musical acts and lectures, throws school parties nearly every weekend, and most kids will go abroad a semester or year. </p>
<p>Do read the Fiske guide, it is helpful. And the Colleges that Change lives has a website too, it opens up some interesting places you may not have heard of. But you are a Sr. what interests you so far? Do you have finances to think about?</p>