<p>I have visited Rice, actually. Texas is, indeed, quite different culturally. I just really love Houston. It’s such a different experience from California. Not better, or worse, just different, and I like the idea of change.</p>
<p>I’ll take a look right now 
I love Santa Barbara! Killer weather :)</p>
<p>CMC is between Scripps and Pomona academically. It is a more conservative school than the other two (which mayor may not appeal to you). If so, then you can check it out while also visiting Pomona and Scripps. The campuses are all right together (sort of fit together like lego blocks), it takes about 10 minutes to walk all the way across all the campuses, and there are no major roads running through the campus. Not sure if you could schedule tours at all 3 in a day, but it might be possible (we toured Pomona in the morning and Mudd in the afternoon when we first visited).</p>
<p>I’ll be in SoCal for a week, so I can return a second day :). This is all so exciting. Hopefully it all works out in the end.</p>
<p>It will. Even if you do not get into your first choice, there are still other options out there for you that you will like.</p>
<p>If you can go while schools are in session, ask at admissions (ahead of time) if you can sit in on a class. It is a good way to get a feeling for the types of students at each school. And if they are available, pick up a campus newspaper. Always a good way to get a feeling for the controversies on campus that admissions won’t mention.</p>
<p>This may sound strange, but I’m not going to choose a first choice. I’m a diverse person, so I will thrive in different environments. I’m open to SO many options. I know that I can create my own happiness.</p>
<p>Campus newspaper… that’s a fantastic idea. Also, I’ll take a look at when their spring break is. I’d love to sit in on a class!</p>
<p>It is fine to not have a first choice right now, but IF one does emerge, apply there ED (if available). It will increase your chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>Spring break is probably the week of March 17 (that is when Mudd’s is, and I think they synchronize to a large extent because of students taking classes across the consortium). I know they synchronize finals schedules so students don’t end up with conflicts. But you could check the websites. Oh, and some colleges now have their campus paper available online, so it is easier than looking for paper copies (and you can see back issues).</p>
<p>I’ll take a look now
Also currently answer application questions for my research opportunities! So stressful!!</p>
<p>PERFECT. My spring break is early April, so that’s so convenient-- I’ll get to see classes, hopefully…</p>
<p>Just wondering, on my list of safety reach and match, where should I place UCLA, USC (legacy…?), UCB, UCSD!</p>
<p>Hey OP, I’ll second the suggestions to look at the Claremonts and the UCSB College of Creative Studies. Rice sounds like a great choice as well, though it (like many of the Claremonts and the UCSB CCS) aren’t easy admits. You don’t sound like a Pitzer student (the one Claremont undergrad school that’s not been mentioned) but since you’ll be spending a couple of days out that way read up about the school a bit to see if it appeals at all. </p>
<p>Have you and your parents discussed budget? Try running a Net Price Calculator for several of these schools. </p>
<p>Though they’re not necessarily in the areas you’ve mentioned, you might find some of the other women’s colleges like Bryn Mawr and Smith attractive. I know you’ve said that being near family is important, but if you decide to look at other areas, Tufts might appeal. Maybe Tulane, too. </p>
<p>Someone mentioned applying Early Decision if you have a first choice, but that’s a whole separate conversation. </p>
<p>I know that these schools are going to be tough to get into, so I want to make sure I apply to enough “match” schools so I hopefully get into one!</p>
<p>We have discussed budget and it isn’t an issue, but I will do so to get an idea.</p>
<p>I’ll take a look, but I don’t know if a women’s college is for me. Scripps I am considering only because it is within the consortium of co-ed school. Tufts I haven’t read much about but I’ll get on that!</p>
<p>Would applying Early to Pomona be beneficial to me?</p>
<p>You can’t put the top 3 UC into any safety position so add a couple like UCSB is highly likely ad UCSC, a smaller UC, can be safety, my daughter picked that in her 3 UC’s. But don’t be afraid to apply widely to UCs, it is just one application and check the box, pay the fee. UCSD match, but still not assured.</p>
<p>Scripps is an interesting very likely match for you, I think it may be a bit underrated. It does have the best food supposedly and the prettiest campus there. I don’t know the policies, but a classmate of my daughter went to CMC and said she took almost all her classes at Pitzer (family has history at CMC.) Another consortium to look at is the Amherst/Smith/Hampshire/Mt Holyoke/UMass. You can go to NY for Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>I always promote my dd’s school too much but when I read your post…look at Brown for a possible reach. Very cooperative culture. My dd really noticed that difference when she was looking at grad schools. Only 10% fraternities/sororities iirc. Very undergraduate liberal arts focus 6,000 students, small grad school, all profs teach undergrads. Lots of research available. Has undergrad Neuroscience. Has interdisciplinary Brown Institute for Brain Science. Strong in languages. When my dd took Mandarin she had 5 teachers. One for pronunciation sessions, another for writing, etc.</p>
<p>There are quite a number of LAC in easy enough travel of NYC for long weekend occasionally. like Vassar. What about Barnard? Look at some a bit less selective too.</p>
<p>It will really help you out with likely gaging match/reach if you find out where students at your HS in your rank go to college.</p>
<p>Writing about depression is considered a very risk subject and I usually wouldn’t advise it. It is more important to show how you will be an asset to the community. But you can with this subject because of that club. I will PM you an essay I show people sometimes that is online. That student was successful and got into all the LAC he applied to. I think he was successful because 1) class valedictorian 2) the issue was firmly behind him for a well established period 3) killer good essay.</p>
<p>Lots of “budget isn’t an issue” parents balk when they see the actual prices, so you should work with your parents to run the calculators. Even with income over $100K per year, the cost of some of these colleges is a LOT, and your odds of need based aid aren’t so good. But run the calculators and discuss with them. Also, as I noted above, Scripps does give merit aid and I think you could be a good candidate.</p>
<p>Early Decision is okay (1) if you know for SURE that is where you want to go, and (2) if cost truly isn’t an issue so you don’t need to compare financial aid offers across colleges. I don’t think Pomona does much (if anything) in the way of merit aid, so the calculator should give you a pretty good idea of your cost.</p>
<p>If you plan to go in April, you should start working with your parents and admissions offices now to plan your trip. Tours do fill up sometimes, or aren’t always offered on the days/times you would hope. Plus if you want to attend classes that takes some additional coordination. If you visit the Claremont colleges, you might want to stay at the Doubletree not far from campus. It is very nice, and you can get some kind of discount if you are visiting the Claremont colleges. You might find that info on the college admissions website in the “planning a visit” area. It is a little pricey even with the discount, but there aren’t a lot of great hotel choices in the area.</p>
<p>In general – don’t discount women’s colleges. Some of them are really great – both my kids applied to and were accepted to Mount Holyoke, which is a lovely campus and a serious academic school. Also part of a consortium, but you have to shuttle between campuses. Neither thought they wanted a women’s college, but both loved MH after visiting. They ended up at other schools for various reasons – one because of better merit aid offered elsewhere, and the other… well, because she is really a Mudder at heart. :)</p>
<p>Assuming you re-take the ACT, these are my rankings of schools mentioned so far (plus some others) and in the states you indicated (except for Pitt):</p>
<p>reaches: Pomona, Mudd, Claremont, Tufts, UCB, Amherst, Columbia, and CMU, just because they are.
matches: UCSD, UCLA, UCSB, USC, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Scripps, Pitzer, Rochester, Cornell, Northwestern, UChicago, Emory, Barnard
safeties: UPitt (must show interest), Bard (must show interest), Syracuse (must show interest), Tulane (must show interest), Colgate (might consider interest), Rensselaer Polytech (must show interest)</p>
<p>These are safeties in terms of admissions, but a true safety must also be someplace you can afford, you have visited, you want to go there for sure, AND they don’t consider interest. So they are tentative safeties that are strong in neurosci. Take my recs with an awareness of my limitations.</p>
<p>No doubt I’ll want to amend this 
</p>
<p>First a question for you all-- really? Do you think retaking the ACT to get it to a 34 would make a difference? Right now I have a 33 (35M, 34E, 32R, 32S). While I appreciate your advice, wouldn’t it be better to focus on my other endeavors and maybe start writing some essays? If you guys do think that this would be beneficial, let me know.</p>
<p>@BrownParent Just to be safe, I was consider applying to all the UC’s I’d be happy at, that is all besides Riverside and Merced. After visiting those schools, I know I do not want to go there!</p>
<p>I have also heard that the campus is lovely-- of course all the schools have great campuses. From the reading I’ve done it seems that you really are free to take classes wherever you please! That is so great. I would definitely look at that consortium. Just wondering, what is the proximity between schools?</p>
<p>Well… when you talk about Brown like that I’m REALLY interested. I’ll take a look, but I know Brown is such a hard school to get into, even for people with perfect stats :/</p>
<p>Barnard I have been looking at because of its distance to NYC. I’ve also started to look at New Jersey as my cousin is moving there (and her husbands entire family lives there). Any schools there?</p>
<p>This information would be helpful, BUT our counselors don’t put anything on Naviance. I know there are many people at my school with a similar GPA, possibly test scores, but less school involvement who got into USC, UCLA, AND UCB. We don’t have a great track record with Ivy league schools. Every year 2-4 go on to Stanford. </p>
<p>" It is more important to show how you will be an asset to the community." This is exactly why I started the club/support group/ There is such a stigma of mental illness all around that it’s absolutely necessary to raise awareness. I am going to talk about my club for sure. I have taken a step to make my school a better place, even when people are so “scared” or “uncomfortable” of the subject. It likely won’t be the topic of my main essay, but likely supplements.</p>
<p>@intparent We’ve looked at the actual prices and ran a financial aid calculator for RiceU and while we weren’t expecting more, it was kind of shocking how much it’s going to cost. Nonetheless, my sister currently attends a school with approx. $35k tuition, and since she is leaving, this is going to ease the strain on my parents.</p>
<p>I’ll run Pomona calc right now.</p>
<p>I’ll make appointments at the offices this week. I’ll actually stay with family in LA and drive up-- about 30 minutes drive. That way, no hotel expenses. We go down all the time and always stay with family. Literally my entire family lives down there hahahaa. Should I email or call admissions offices about sitting in on a class?</p>
<p>I don’t want to discount women’s colleges, but I really think I need a male presence. I will apply to Scripps because of its proximity to other coed colleges. Do these other women’s colleges have membership in a consortium and are nearby to co ed colleges?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 The only place I got confused is putting UCB in reach and UCLA in match. Of course you wouldn’t know this because I didn’t say it, but every single person who got into UCLA at my school (I think maybe 15 people) also got into UCB. Would that change the situation? Regardless, I much rather attend UCLA, but just wondering!</p>
<p>Again, the question for you is at the top, so the others could see as well. </p>
<p>The schools you’ve listed as reaches… are they so because of low acceptance rate or something I could have done to bring them within reach (as matches). Thanks so much.</p>
<p>WELL, actually you know what? I’m signed up to take the ACT again so I am going to. However, I want to know if it’s that big of a deal. It just seems weird that it’s such a big deal because all my teachers will write in the recommendations that I am in fact the academically highest performing student in class (even if others receive As)-- it’s just me. I think that is more important that ACT scores, but I could be wrong. Let me know!</p>
<p>While I am a male, I can speak a little bit to consortium programs at Bryn Mawr, since my high school is literally right across the street from the campus. It allows students to take classes at Haverford and at Swarthmore (and, there will be students of both genders on campus, because those students will be taking classes at BM as well). Sometimes, it is even possible to take classes at UPenn. But a word of advice is that BM, Haverford, and Swarthmore are all VERY liberal, so that is something to look out for (and one of the reasons why I did not like Haverford).</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr itself is a nice town with lots of students, as Rosemont College and Harcum College (a junior college) are both located there. Also, Villanova is not far away. Two extremely prestigious private high schools (one of which I go to) are right there as well. There are tons of good restaurants right along Lancaster Avenue. Finally, a 20-minute train ride gets you into downtown Philly.</p>
<p>OP, UCB over UCLA? okay, they’re both reaches. Are you happier? :)>- </p>
<p>The reaches are reaches because almost no one (in some cases that would include everyone but the president’s daughter) can count on getting into them. Since you’re expanding to NJ, put Princeton into that category. They’re good at neurosci, too. You won’t get in there, but that’s why it’s a reach.</p>
<p>I said before that you should do whatever you can to get into those reaches. You can decide what that is, but if I were you I would keep in mind that the averages you see in popular college books and online are low averages because over the past 3 years these schools have gotten even harder to get into. As an example of giving yourself an edge, if you were applying to a rolling admissions school, you would want to apply early because schools will be more selective later in the process. Would a 34 make that much more of a difference over a 33? Well, who says if you took the ACT again you wouldn’t get a 35? would that make a difference? No one is saying you cannot study for the ACT and work on your essays :bz </p>
<p>Every ACT point helps. Especially for Pomona it might make a difference. Or it could boost your merit aid elsewhere. Standardized test scores are the one “objective” measure schools can crow about in their incoming class. </p>
<p>Are you asking about the Mount Holyoke/Smith/Hampshire (co-ed)/Amherst (co-ed)/U Mass (co-ed) consortium and proximity? I think the shuttle ride is about 15 minutes between them. There are a few restrictions on taking classes across them (not sure you can do it first semester of freshman year, for example). And the logistics of shuttling make it so students probably don’t take more than one a semester off their own campus. But it is nice to be able to do so, and I also think the social opportunities are expanded due to multiple campuses. You would have a good possibility of some merit aid at Mount Holyoke, too.</p>
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<p>Look at the website to start with (admissions) and see what they say. You can call or email to make your arrangements. Some schools ask you to fill out what day you are coming and what you want to do on campus, then get back to you with a schedule. Not sure about the ones you are talking about, whether they do it that way or what. Sometimes you need to sign up for a tour time as well. And leave enough time in LA traffic to get there… </p>
<p>Regarding other schools in consortiums, Bryn Mawr is right by Haverford and Swarthmore, and you can take classes across those. I get the sense that it is slightly (due to shuttling) more challenging to get to Swat, but really still not a big deal (like a few minutes more). Haverford and Swat are both co-ed and very nice schools as well. We have visited all – D1 adored Haverford, the only reason she didn’t apply is because of a restriction on study abroad programs that was a problem for her. D2 applied to and was accepted to Swat… but again, is a Mudder at heart. :)</p>
<p>@jkeil911
Actually I don’t think either are reaches, considering my school’s track record. Like I said, kids with the same GPA but likely lower scores and less involvement got into both. </p>
<p>If I won’t get in, and it’s a reach, why would I apply? I would only apply if I have a chance. hahaha</p>
<p>But now, HERE, you certainly make a point. There certainly is no harm, and I can do both studying and essay writing! Thank you I’ll hit the books. I probably should improve considering I’ve been studying for 1-3 hours EVERYDAY!</p>
<p>@intparent I just don’t get how something so seemingly trivial can have such an impact. Oh well!</p>
<p>That’s what I love to hear! (social opp. in a small school) I’ve been taking a look, and Amherst is AMAZING. I love it:) </p>
<p>I’m emailing the Pomona admissions office now (that’s what it says to do on the site!)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the recs, I have my work cutout for me… gotta go research all these places!</p>