What Schools Are Within My Reach?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone, I am starting to get really lost in the college search. I could use some guidance. I am not quite sure where, with my grades and ECs, I would fit in best. Currently, I am thinking of majoring in Computer Science. I love Brown, but I think I may just be dreaming there. Also on that topic, the aid at Stanford & Harvard is unbelievable. I have also looked at bigger state schools: Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc. I haven't loved any of them, but they make good safeties. Any one have suggestions of other schools to look into? </p>

<p>Thanks everyone!!</p>

<p>Stats:
White Male
Minnesotan
GPA UW: 3.96
GPA W: ~4.4
ACT: Aiming for 33
PSAT - Took it yesterday</p>

<p>Classes:
-8th Grade-
Intermediate Algebra B/A</p>

<p>-9th Grade-
Honors Bio A/A
Honors English A/A
Honors Geometry A/A
Gym I A
Content Reading A
French I A/A
World History A/A</p>

<p>-10th Grade-
Honors American Lit A/A
French II A/A
AP US History A/A (4)
Health A
Gym II A
Honors Algebra 2 A/A
Honors Chemistry A/A</p>

<p>-11th Grade-
Honors Math Analysis (Pre-Calc)
AP Human Geography
AP Macroeconomics
Honors Physics
Drawing and Painting I
Art and Design
AP Literature
Honors French III</p>

<p>EC's: For my extra curriculars I am trying to express my love for both technology and the arts/design. Steve Jobs is one of my heroes (reading his biography had a huge impact on me), I might write about that in my essays but it seems like a little bit of a cliche. </p>

<p>-FIRST Robotics: I am a programmer for my team, getting better at C++ everyday. Its a lot of fun and our team is pretty good. I also do some programming on my own with HTML/CSS and C. </p>

<p>-Student Government: I am Student Body Secretary this year, and will be running for Student Body President next year. I enjoy being a leader at my school and it is always exciting.</p>

<p>-Art: At my local Art Museum (contemporary) I am a Teen Arts Ambassador for my high school. I curate a teen exhibitions, lead tours, and get the opportunity to meet a lot of artists. I also teach Kid's Camps during the summer and have tons of volunteer hours (250+). I love art and am quite talented, but I don't want to go to art school...</p>

<p>-Cross-Country: (3 years) Varsity this year, captain next year. PR 5k 17:53, I don't think I want to run in college. </p>

<p>-Nordic Skiing: (2 years) Not extremely good at this, but I really love it.</p>

<p>-Track: (3 years) Varsity, but I really don't like it - thinking about going out for rowing or starting a trail running club.</p>

<p>-Link Crew: Welcome crew for Freshmen, etc.</p>

<p>-NHS - Accepted! - along with everyone else... ;)</p>

<p>-Possibly studying at SAAST at Penn this summer.</p>

2

<p>You still have a lot of time to look. Try looking at schools you don’t think you’ll be interested in, just to look. You’re in Minnesota, so look at Carleton and Macalester. St Olaf while you’re at Carleton. You have a shot at Brown with a 33, but try looking at UPenn, and while you’re there also look at Haverford, Swarthmore, Lehigh, Lafayette, and maybe Villanova, or any other schools in the area. There are a ton of them.</p>

<p>As you look at each, note what you do and don’t like about each one. Take notes. Note size, location, weather, class sizes, feel of the school, majors, food, sports teams, athletic facilities, what makes a school unique, distance from home, ease of travel to and from home, etc. You don’t have to want to go there to make it a useful visit, you’re just looking for aspects you do and don’t like. Variety is the key at this point.</p>

<p>Sooner than you realize, you’ll start to put together a picture from what you do and don’t like. Once this starts to happen, you try to find schools that more and more meet all your criteria, including a match between cost to attend and what your parents can afford, plus a realistic assessment of where you can get in. Maybe you already saw one, maybe you’ll have to build a hybrid out of a few that you’ve already seen.</p>

<p>The biggest mistake students make at this stage is to limit themselves to what they think they want. You don’t really know until you go look with an open mind about the possibilities, which are limitless. The world is full of happy students who thought they wanted one thing, and found another, just because they took a chance and spent an afternoon looking at a longshot.</p>

3

<p>Thank you MrMom62!</p>

4

<p>Run the Net Price Calculators and see what schools you can afford (net cost will vary wildly)
Coming from Minnesota, you may enjoy the Pacific Northwest or the South, and since you’d bring geographic diversity you’d get a little boost for admission at schools there.
You didn’t say if you’d need financial aid (need based) or if you hope to get merit aid?
Look into Emory, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Hendrix, Rhodes, Whitman, Willamette, Lewis&Clark… in addition to the three “big” schools in MN (Carleton, Mac, STO) and UMN.
Check out UMN Morris, Marquette, Grinnell, Earlham, Lake Forest, etc.
Brown etc. are definitely reaches for you, but once you have 2 safeties (schools that you like, that you’re certain you can get into, and that your family can afford) and a couple matches, you can add as many reaches as you can afford.</p>

5

<p>Might look at some LAC’s like Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious). HC offers computer science major, is top25 LAC, NEED-BLIND FOR ADMISSIONS, and great alumni network for jobs. Holy Cross would be a safety for Harvard and Brown. Also offers good mix of academics and athletics.</p>