What college should I apply to?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Here are a few more match-to-reach schools to consider (maybe slightly oustide your geographic/other comfort zone):</p>

<p>Barnard College (Yes, it’s a women’s college, but its affiliation with Columbia University puts more abundant Asian Studies resources at your disposal than you’re likely to find at almost any other LAC. It’s a need-blind, full-need school. Unlike many LACs, it’s in a city.)</p>

<p>Colorado College (It’s not full-need & need-blind - in fact it appears to be fairly need-sensitive - but nevertheless on average meets > 98% of demonstrated need. Somewhat less selective than Vassar or Barnard, but still a high match to low reach for the OP. It offers majors in International Political Economy and Asian Studies. Its unusual one-course-at-a-time Block Plan offers tremendous scheduling flexibility for field work, internships, or study abroad. Urban setting at the foot of the Rockies.)</p>

<p>Oberlin (It’s not full-need & need-blind, but still has generous need-based and merit aid. On average, meets 100% of demonstrated need. Probably one of the strongest Asian Studies programs of any LAC.)</p>

<p>Macalester (Another school that doesn’t quite make the full-need, need-blind cut, but comes close. Along with Barnard, Macalester is one of the few selective LACs in a truly urban setting. The Twin Cities make for a very dynamic college setting if you can handle the cold winters).</p>

<p>Within the NE, other possibilities include Bard, Connecticut College, and Wesleyan University.</p>

22

<p>It would be very irresponsible of posters here to give advice on college selections without considering the financial situation of the person asking for that advice. If you have additional resources, that’s wonderful, but you didn’t mention that. And when you start talking about financing a college education with Pell grants and outside scholarships, that’s going to raise red flags.</p>

23

<p>An EFC of zero … plus good stats … plus wealthy, generous grandparents … could add up to a rather enviable college financing scenario. Of course, the devil is in the details; nobody, least of all a stranger in an Internet chat, can guarantee the outcome. </p>

<p>Many schools on the above-cited list of ~50 full-need, need-blind schools offer not only generous need-based aid but also decent coverage of relatively low-demand subjects like Japanese. Many of those schools also are among the most selective colleges. So, to get a good range of reach-match-safety schools, the OP will need to look beyond that list. It sounds like she understands the need to cover her bases.</p>

24

<p>Other good options for the OP would possibly be to apply to the schools with good FA that are SAT-optional, such as Bowdoin, Smith, and Mount Holyoke. </p>

<p>I think that Wellesley, Barnard, and Wesleyan are reaches for her, and Oberlin may be one also. Trinity College in CT would be a better match, and they seem to have significant overseas involvement.</p>

25

<p>@Happymomof1: Thank you very much.</p>

<p>@Consolation: It’s a good thing that Rice isn’t on my list, then. As for Tufts, it’s obviously a reach school. I would love to go there, but it would depend on the amount of scholarships that I win. I’m applying to Tufts knowing this. It may be the one that I want to go to the most, but that doesn’t mean that it’s at the top of my list of realistic colleges. I was discussing both need-based scholarships and merit scholarships, actually. I plan on getting a significant money from these grants, and it’s hard to say that I won’t, considering some of the schools on my list (I’m above the top 75% for two of them, and I currently balance ten clubs, several leadership positions, a varsity sport, top-notch grades, 200+ volunteer hours, and I have won several honors/awards, including various state/regional competitions at leadership conferences/scholars bowl matches; I feel that my repertoire is good enough to receive a few scholarships, yeah). As stated earlier, Tufts is a reach school, and I’m not applyig to Rice. I have several others that were recommended here whose stats are more my-level. In reference to your second post, I will also research Bowdoin, Smith, and Mount Holyoke (I think I went to that one’s website, but I didn’t really stick around long; I’ll take a better look). Thanks! </p>

<p>@Tk21769: I’ll definitely look into Barnard (I said earlier that I really don’t want a women’s college, but if I like it enough, I’m sure I’ll get over that), but I may skip out on Colorado. However, I want to thank you very much for all of your suggestions and for answering my question. I’ll look them up right away. Thank you. As for your next post, I have several schools on this list (one of which is in my home-state), true, but I will definitely broaden my search to other schools that are good with financial aid, including those that you listed. I have a free period right now (I finished all of my AP World work a while ago), so I’ll do it right now. </p>

<p>@Annasdad: I did mention it, actually. “4) I have very rich grandparents. I wanted to burden them as little as possible, which is why I mentioned that cheaper schools would be more beneficial. However, I don’t want to limit myself to North Carolina based on that. If required, I could always ask them for assistance (which is what my brother did).” I made it clear in my third post, which was way before you posted. Please read what I have to say next time. I obviously had other ways of paying and did not require advice on financial assistance; I was just looking for colleges that matched my INTERESTS, that’s it. If I say that it’s not a problem, then it is not a problem. Thank you.</p>