What Colleges Should I Look At?

College Search & Selection
1

Currently, I am a junior in high school. Everyone is telling me to start looking at schools, but I do not know how/where to start. I would like to go to nationally recognized 4-year university that I have a chance to get into, but I really have no idea which universities I should start looking at. Most of my friends are telling me that I should apply to Ivy leagues, but I definitively know I would not get in.

GPA-3.75

Weighted GPA-4.2

AP Classes:
AP English Literature
AP US History
AP Spanish Language
AP Calculus

(Freshman year I took all regular classes because my counselor told me I was not competent to take honors classes, however, once I started my Sophomore year I wanted a challenge, and I forced my counselor to put me in all honors classes. Currently, I am taking all honors classes with some AP courses).

ACADEMIC HONORS - , Gold Honors

SAT Score: 2100

After School Activities:

  1. Debate Team (President)
  2. School Ambassador (Member)
  3. Spanish Honor Society (President)
  4. Latin American Association Club (Member)
  5. National Honor Society (Member)
  6. Hospital Volunteer: (304 hours)

I am the first one in my family to get into college. Sorry if I do not make sense, English is not my first language, Spanish is. My family and I are immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

I am thinking to major in Computer Science.

Can you guys please give me some universities that you think I could get into?

2

The first step is to figure out what kind of school fits you best. Large or small, public or private, urban or in a college town, research university or primarily undergraduate school. Then you can begin to look at individual schools. If you are a permanent resident or citizen, then you will want to look at your state schools because tuition is lower for in-state students. For private universities, you don’t need to worry where it is because there is no in-state benefit. However private universities can often offer better merit aid.

Yes, it is hard to make these decisions but you can find lots of resources out there to help you start. The good thing is that for computer science there are many good programs to choose from.

3

You’re quite a strong candidate. Similar stats to my own and I ended up getting into NYU, Bentley, Fordham Gabelli School of Buisness, and U of Michigan if it helps!

4

Well, looks like you’ve got quite an impressive transcript. But in adjunction to XRAYMANCUS comment, you will really have to evaluate the area, size and most importantly tuition. The list provided below consists of the most rigorous and toughest colleges and universities in which I think you can handle.

-Harvard
-Stanford
-Princeton
-Notre Dame
-U. Penn
-Carnegie Mellon
-Georgetown
-Tufts
-Johns Hopkins
-Cornell
-Boston
-Harvey Mudd

5

I think you are a strong candidate who could be competitive at top colleges, if that’s what you wanted - but I agree with @xraymancs; what’s most important is the kind of school you want to be at. So think about the kind of college experience you want to have, and work backwards from there to make your list. Harvey Mudd is a great suggestion if you want a small liberal arts college; Stanford, Harvard, and Carnegie Mellon are better if you want a medium-sized campus, and places like UT-Austin or University of Pittsburgh are great if you want a huge university experience. That’s not even thinking about weather (Austin, Claremont, and Palo Alto are warm; Pittsburgh and Boston are cold during most of the school year!) and location (all of those schools are in or nearby large urban areas).

The other thing is - what state are you from? Your state’s flagship campuses are usually a good place to start looking, as they often offer an affordable but excellent university education. (However, top schools also offer excellent financial aid, so don’t let initial tuition costs rule anywhere out. All schools are now required to have net price calculators, which you can use to enter your family’s income and assets and get a rough estimate of how much you would have to pay out of pocket for these schools.)

6

Thank you! I appreciate everyone’s support! :smiley:

7

Can you answer the questions asked above? :wink:

8

@myos1634 - I live in NJ and I am a United States citizen. I am interested in private schools, schools that are primarily for undergraduates. I would like to go to a school that is known for its rigorous academics while also leaving me with a good college experience. As for where or what size campus I would like to go to, that factor does not have much of an importance in my college selection. For tuition, I HAVE to get into a school that offers good financial aid, if not, I have absolutely no way to pay for college.

@onield550 - The schools you listed seem like good matches for me, but I am scared I would not get accepted to any of them since my GPA is relatively low. Thanks for your help though!

9

You certainly can apply to some of those, but make sure you have some matches and safeties as well. Rutgers is often the in-state safety for NJ kids with good stats. You should get your parents to help you run the net price calculators for any schools you are interested in to see what the cost of attendance might be for you. I agree that the list in post #3 is very reach-heavy, but you could certainly apply to a few of them.

10

@kimkimmy Dont scared and never doubt yourself of the possibilities that might seem farfetched. Compared to some of the students that I’ve seen apply to universities like Harvard and Yale, you can definitely get in. But in the end, it all comes down to what you are comfortable with and the most reasonable for your parents to afford.

11

Okay, it isn’t just “what you are comfortable with”. Those schools are mostly reaches, and there are no safeties on the list at all. Sure, apply to a few of them. But make sure you have a well researched, affordable set of matches and safeties as well.

12

Apply to a few of those reaches if the estimated cost the Net Price Calculators give you is affordable for your family. But also line up some safeties (schools you can definitely afford, that will likely accept you, and that you’d be happy to attend). How much can your parents afford per year? That’s important for you to know. Is there an in state option within commuting distance? Those can make good safeties. Also find a few matches to round out your list.

13

You are a strong candidate and you have the potential to get into some very good schools with some very strong aid offers. Right off the bat, discount what your friends say about Ivies. They are a reach for everyone. A recent thread noted that Penn had 37,000+ applications this year. The vast majority of those applicants–even some who have perfect SATs–will be rejected.

IMO your best strategy would be to focus on a number of matches that you really like, that offer good aid. Add a safety , and add a few reaches (incl an Ivy or two, if that is what you want). Apply EA to as many of these schools that offer it, and apply early. Common app opens Aug 1. Plan to have all your essays, etc done by Sept 1 so you can meet with your GC to review once school starts in the fall, and then push the button to get those apps in. You may have some great offers in hand, with merit awards, by Dec 1st.

How do you find good undergrad LACs that offer substantial aid? Money magazine just released a list of the 20 colleges that offer the best merit aid. This list includes colleges such as Centre, Wooster, Denison, Furman, Rhodes & Hendrix that are highly ranked in the US New & WR ratings, as well. There is a “sweet spot” in the USNWR LAC rankings at around #35 or so down to #80 or thereabouts where you can get an amazing education, but also have the potential to get a lot of aid, especially in colleges that are away from the east coast. Many of these are also listed in “Colleges That Change Lives” (which has a website, as well).

Borrow a Fiske guide from the library, take a look at some of these schools and see if they would interest you. These are matches that have the potential of offering you substantial aid.

Once you’ve started to compile a list, look at the “Common Data Sets” for each of these schools. This can be intimidating at first; ask your guidance counselor to show you the key sections. It will show you, for example, how many students applied, how many were accepted, and what the ranges of their scores and grades were. It will also show you what aspects of an application that they consider most important.

After you’ve narrowed down further, make sure you visit at least some campuses. “Demonstrated interest” is very important at many undergraduate-oriented schools. These schools often feel more comfortable offering a spot, and substantial aid, to someone who has shown a great deal of interest in them. My D visited 20 colleges, most LACs, over an 18-month period. She applied to 9 and had multiple contacts with the admissions offices at most of those. I am confident that resulted in some of the outstanding offers that she has received.

In our opinion some of the places that offered an outstanding mix of great academics, an engaged student body, excellent facilities, a quality faculty, and excellent aid options were: Wooster, Earlham, Sewanee, Denison, Ithaca, Wells, and Centre. But the “fit” has got to be right. Good luck in your search.

14

@Midwestdad3 Thank you for your answer, very detailed and helpful. I completely agree with your college search strategy. I will definitely put it in practice starting today. Thanks again for your helpful advice. :blush:

Thank you everyone who answered my question, now I know how to start my college search :blush: )