<p>I am currently a high school junior and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on any colleges I should look into, especially outside of some of the well known ones.
Here are some of my stats:
PSAT: 213
Have not taken SAT or ACT, but I am soon
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
Mostly all honors classes except when they weren't available, along with a sprinkling of business classes, art classes, and gym classes.
2 AP classes this year, plan on taking 5-6 of them next year.</p>
<p>E.C.:
Main EC is running. Varsity Cross Country for three years (most likely will be four), Varsity Track for two years (most likely will be four), Club running for indoor track and XC conditioning. Average about 3 hours a day at practice, almost year round.
I also participated in the Science Olympiad Club for a year, as well as the Building with Books Club.</p>
<p>Academic Interests:
Right now I am currently leaning towards engineering or a math or science major, but I am also passionate about history and the other social sciences as well as english. Overall looking for a school that would have a good hard science/engineering program, as well as a good liberal arts base as I am not quite sure what I want to do.</p>
<p>If you want helpful answers from CC, you need to do some more thinking about what matters to you. </p>
<p>1) Size-small (under 3,000), medium (3,000-15,000) or large (15,000+)<br>
2) Location-what part of the country; urban, rural, suburban; how far or close to home?
3) Weather-it is an issue?
4) Possible majors-some schools may not offer want you want
5) Culture: Co-ed or same sex, religious affliation, frats, are you artsy, preppy, jock, intellectual, quirky-find those adjectives
6) Important extra-curriculars that might impact your location
7) Do you need financial aid? </p>
<p>The better you know yourself and what you care about, the more help we can provide.</p>
<p>Do you care about location? Size? A few schools you could look into are Carnegie Mellon, Rice, Purdue, Johns Hopkins, that I think are realistic based on your PSAT and GPA. Of course there are always the super reaches like MIT, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>In response to M's Mom
1. In terms of size probably medium. I want a mix of a small college experience as well as the variety of opportunities sometimes available at large universities. Probably anywher from around 5,000 up to 15,000.
2. For location, I would probably look for something in the midwest (I'm from Michigan), and possibly east coast or maybe California. I'd prefer a suburban or urban college, but wouldn't rule out rural. I'm pretty open on location.
3. Cold weather/snow is fine with me, as I'm from Michigan. I would like to have 4 seasons, but if I don't its not a big deal. I am not a big fan of heat, so I am not leaning towards colleges in the south.
4. On possible majors, I would like somewhere that has engineering, but also access to a variety of others majors, as I am not quite decided. I don't want a school that has all technical programs, both in case I change my mind and to meet a better variety of people.
5. Culture: Definetly co-ed, not a super preppy school, an intellectual group of students that still like to have fun (i.e. not everything is about grades and studying), school with a variety of ECs, not quite sure on everything in this one.
6. Overall I would just like a college with a variety of ECs, but I am also looking into one where I could compete in cross country and track. I am a decent athlete-I could probably run at any D.2 school and some smaller D.1 programs.
7. Anywhere that is not a public school in Michigan I will probably need financial aid for.</p>
<p>In Michigan you could look at K-Zoo if you wan't a LAC, and UMich since you're in-state and they have a great engineering program. For a safety school you should apply to MSU - apply to the Lyman Briggs residential college and it's a good mix of a small-college environment in a huge university (plus you've got basically a 100% chance at getting in)</p>
<p>I'll also add that I know somebody who got a scholarship for track at Grand Valley State, you could look at schools like this if you really want to run track as D-1 schools will be very hard to get onto the team as a walk-on (especially big ten schools) and many LACs will have mediocre or no sports programs.</p>
<p>definitely apply to U mich, it's a great public ivy. If you're really looking into engineering or math/science, maybe apply to caltech or MIT. Carnegie Mellon is another good engineering school. Maybe apply to Purdue as a backup/match. Brown sounds like a fit since it has no core and you can pick whatever classes you want. It's also medium sized and they definitely know how to have fun.</p>
<p>Take a look at Wash U in St. Louis-sounds like the best match. Rice is a bit small and the weather may not be a fit, given your criteria but they have a strong program. Johns Hopkins in Baltimore might be a good fit. Brown is a possiblity too.</p>