<p>I'm a rising HS senior struggling to put together a list of colleges to visit/apply to. </p>
<p>GPA: 3.9/4 unweighted
SAT: 2130 (750 CR, 670 M, 710 W) [retaking this fall, hoping to improve math score]
ACT: 31
HS Courses: All Honors, four (possibly five) AP courses</p>
<p>ECs:<br>
-Secretary of NHS
-Spanish Club
-Spanish Honors Society
-Stage Manager of Drama Club (since Sophomore year)
-Teacher for Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults (500+ hours)
-Altar Server
-Church Book Sale worker
-Hospital Candy Striper (500+ hours)</p>
<p>Awards:
Zonta Club -Amelia Earhart Award
National Merit</p>
<p>I'm planning on teaching high school English(and possibly Spanish or History). Financially, my Expected Family Contribution is 0, which should give you an idea of how much I can afford for college.</p>
<p>As far as what I'm looking for in a college education, I want an environment where I can be challenged and where my peers take their studies seriously. I really enjoy discussing ideas and books with other passionate people.</p>
<p>Based on this information, what colleges would you recommend I look into (and how would you classify my chances to the schools you provide: reach, target, safety)?</p>
<p>freedom160, please tell us a bit more about what you are looking for in a college? Size, location, student body type, Your stats are excellent by the way!</p>
<p>Go to collegeboard.com and use the matchmaker. No one is going to spoon feed you your future.</p>
<p>Thanks radannie.</p>
<p>Size: I’ve visited two schools so far (UVA and St. Johns in Annapolis) and liked both immensely. St. John’s is incredibly tiny (around 500 students) while UVA was much larger (around 14,000). That said, something the size of Penn State feels too large for my tastes.</p>
<p>Location: I’m from Pennsylvania, so I don’t mind cold weather. Traveling also isn’t a concern. Basically, I’m not too concerned about the location although California has never appealed to me.</p>
<p>Student type: I’m all for diversity, although I wouldn’t say it is too big a factor. I’m more worried about avoiding the party crowd. I want to be around people who want to learn.</p>
<p>And thanks for the tip, elbeeen. I’ve gone through the College Board search but didn’t find it very helpful, although it is a great resource.</p>
<p>freedom - check out U of Richmond. 100% of need met and you have the scores to get in.</p>
<p>Try for some reaches, like Brown or Duke, especially ones that meet full-need. If you wanted to have a leg-up, you might also apply to schools that try to meet full need (like Tufts), but who stop offering it when their resources run out (i.e. Tufts claims they meet full need and are need-blind for ~95% of applicants, then for the people left, they start considering need, and they meet full need). Use collegeboard, and this might give you an inkling to good schools that will be affordable: [Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Thanks PAVenturer and chsowlflax17.</p>
<p>What might be a good safety school, especially financially?</p>
<p>Thanks Erin’s Dad.</p>
<p>I won’t know if I am a semi-finalist until this coming September, although with a PSAT score of 205, I’ll likely be a Commended Student rather than a semi-finalist.</p>
<p>Swarthmore. I’m in love with that school right now and I’ve heard they have a very intellectual atmosphere.</p>
<p>Sorry. I should have been more clear. There is a different thread for NMFs. The thread above would apply to you regardless.</p>