<p>I am a 17 year old in my junior year of High School and everyone in my entire grade has been touring or has some idea of what college they want to go to or at least know some colleges that they want to look at. I am on the opposite side of the spectrum where I basically have no clue on any colleges that I want to see.
My parents refuse to let me tour and say we could just see it after I get in but at the same time I have no idea what colleges to search. I feel that since I have no dream school I am unsure of what I will do for early action and early decision. I have some questions that I want to list below:</p>
<ol>
<li>What colleges should I be looking at with my scores?</li>
</ol>
<p>a) I have a GPA of about 3.4 but I go to one of the harder schools in New York-- I get mainly in the high B and low A range- My guidance counselor says I have an upward trend in my grades
b) I got a 1730 on the SAT but I am retaking it in a few weeks (630 on math, 600 on reading and a 510 on writing- yikes!)
So obviously retaking it mainly for the writing but also for the other parts
c) I am taking the ACT in June (Btw how do i sign up for the ACT? Signing up for the Sat was a pain)
d) I am in all honors classes but I took AP World last year and got a 3 on the exam, and I am in AP english this year-- I am also signed up for two AP's next year so i feel i sufficiently challenge myself
e) I do lots of clubs with one having a leadership role but I am not on any sports team (did some tiny sports things last year like minor teams but not for school)
f) If you look at my report card it is obvious to see my main focuses as I have mainly A's in english and history every year but then it is my science and math that is generally lower than my social studies classes</p>
<p>It is a bit hard to summarize everything but if I missed anything let me know.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My Guidance counselor told me to look at UCONN, Bowden, Bucknell and Holy Cross -- How do these sound and do i have any change of getting into them?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the fact I am part Asian really hurt my changes of getting into college? I have heard that some people have lied about their race due to the fact that some colleges compare to other people of the same ethnicity.</p></li>
<li><p>This is more of a personal issue but my parents want me to stay close and go to like NYU but i personally despise New York and I do want to leave and get some independence. I am not sure how this battle with my parents against me will play out so any advice from people whose parents didn't want them to go out of state or away in general?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In general I wrote this post because I am worried about my grades, not doing sports, having not looked into any colleges with the time soon pressing, and my parents as well.</p>
<p>What are your recommendations because I am really not sure on what track I should go on for college and I feel like time is running out. (I also don't have any real plans for summer any ideas?)</p>
<p>If they want you to go to NYU, are they willing to pay for it? NYU is expensive and has a reputation for poor financial aid.</p>
<p>You do need to find out what cost constraints you are looking at. See point 1 of <a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider.html</a> . Also, see point 2, since your academic and professional interests can make some colleges more suitable than others.</p>
<p>Cost constraints are a factor but I do not think that cost is one my first considerations. My parents will probably pay for my college. Thank you for the link and I would also like to mention that I want to look for a college in the North East and probably not a big city</p>
<p>I think you should buy a book of Fiske’s guides to colleges, and leaf through it. That’s a good way to start. Don’t worry too much about the academic rating in there - just try to get a feel for some of the colleges and their differences. Getting roughly familiarized with the terrain of colleges and the terminology that goes along with them (‘Fit’ ,‘LAC’, ‘artsy’, etc.) will help you in the future. </p>
<p>You should begin thinking about what exactly you want to do in the next 4 years of your life. While you don’t need to know what you want to study in college, you should have a general idea of what your academic interests are. This helps, because certain colleges are stronger in different academic areas. </p>
<p>I’m not crazy about the list that your guidance counselor gave, to be honest. U connecticut is a big state school where you’ll have very big classes, and won’t be paying a lot of tuition. The other three schools are all highly reputed liberal arts colleges that will be a bit of a reach for you. I wouldn’t worry too much about your SAT score, since you still have time to improve it. The writing segment is definitely the least important, and it’s probably the easiest to improve, too. Being Asian won’t hurt your chances.</p>
<p>As for your final question - the best thing to do is to confront them maturely and talk about your hopes of gaining more independence. Try to compromise with them rather than take a rigid stance. Remember that they’ll be paying for your college education in all likelihood, so they do hold the power in the relationship. Suggest a radius of x miles that might not necessarily be the most comfortable for them, but won’t be as far as you necessarily would want to travel, either. </p>
<p>Let me know if you have any further questions, or if I failed to fully address any of your own concerns. </p>
<p>Can your parents pay for NYU? Show them the Net Price Calculator and ask them to fill it out so they understand the cost. NYU is very expensive and gives poor financial aid.</p>
<p>I suspect your GC mentioned Bowdoin because it is test optional.</p>
<p>You really need your parents’ cooperation to fill out financial aid forms and hopefully pay at least a portion of your college expenses. So you may need to live within their restrictions. Take a look at your in-state options. Ask if they will at least go visit some of those with you. It is better to do some visiting before applying if possible. That way you (1) don’t waste time and application money on schools that turn out to be completely unsuitable, (2) don’t end with a really nightmarish April of senior year – many decision don’t come out until close to April 1, and you have only until May 1 to make a final decisions. Whirlwind visiting tours when you have not seen any of the campuses before are very stressful. Maybe if some aren’t too far away you could go with a friend instead of with your parents, too.</p>
<p>See if you can get your GC or maybe another relative to talk to your parents about visiting and running net price calculators for possible colleges.</p>
<p>Go to the ACT website to sign up. It is about as much of a pain as the SAT, but the instructions are pretty clear once you get there.</p>
<p>You do not need sports, as long as you have some extracurriculars you are involved in and like, don’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Being Asian won’t hurt you at any of the schools your GC listed or any state schools in New York, don’t worry about it. It could at an Ivy league schools, but you don’t have the grades or test scores to apply there anyway.</p>
<p>I think this is the first case of parents that actually -want- their kid to go to NYU, given the cost and all that. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Find out for sure how much your parents will actually pay, and whether it is conditional on anything like staying in New York (city or state)? You do not want to be like so many students every April who get a bunch of acceptances and then find out that most or all of them are unaffordable.</p>
<p>“will probably pay” doesn’t help… you need hard numbers.
Run the Net price calculator on NYU, Fordham, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Geneseo, Hamilton, Skidmore, Wells, Elmira, TCNJ, Muhlenberg, Albright, Juniata, Goucher - these should give you a pretty good range of colleges in terms of net price, safety/match/reaches, and all are within about 5 hours of NYC except for Geneseo (but it’s New York State’s Honors College).
You can also register your numbers at collegeboard’s net price calculator and compare, it may be more convenient.
Present all the results to your parents and start talking. </p>
<p>@Guest15 “Being Asian won’t hurt your chances.”</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know where you got that notion. Being Asian will hurt your chances at most universities. To “maintain diversity” colleges usually unconsciously put limits on Asian acceptance, because they know that generally, Asian parents take education more seriously, and some have been prepping kids for top colleges since they were born. </p>
<p>OP, this is a fact that you will have to just live with. Thankfully, most chancers on this site are on the pessimistic side, so you can get a feel of how hard it is to get into some colleges. On the topic of college selection, easiest way to start is to pick out a few majors you would consider studying and find schools that have most of them. </p>
<p>What about Drew, in Madison, NJ? If finances aren’t an object, it’s a small liberal arts college located a short train ride from NYC. Adelphi, on Long Island, might be an option. Further afield, look at Hampshire, Bennington, Union, and Quinnipiac. Oh, Fairleigh-Dickinson in NJ is also in Madison. Montclair State would probably be a pretty safe school for you, and is very easy to get to from NYC (there’s a train station right on campus). Sarah Lawrence and Bard are probably reaches for you, but worth considering. Rider, in Lawrenceville, NJ , could also be a safety. Philadelphia is only two hours away by train or bus, so Temple is a possibility if you’d like a larger university. It is very urban, though, which doesn’t sound like what you want.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say that schools like Sarah Lawrence and a Bard are a reach for anyone. Even though you’re below the GPA level of each of these schools, writing fantastic essays, showing demonstrated interest, and having an interview will go a long way toward admission at these two schools. The problem with these two is that they’re self-consciously alternative schools that have very different pedagogies than most colleges, so they probably won’t fit most students. They’re also very expensive and mediocre with fin aid, so they’re not great schools to apply to if you’re unsure about finances. </p>