<p>Without freshman year, I have a 3.9 unweighted GPA; 4.4 weighted. Including freshman year it's 3.8 and 4.1 weighted.</p>
<p>I have heard so many different perspectives on the following schools..I just want the general consensus and whether or not it's worth it to attend the following:</p>
<p>University of New Hampshire
University of Connecticut
University of Vermont
University of Rhode Island
SUNY
University of Rochester
University of Massachusetts
University of Alaska - Fairbanks
University of Colorado - Boulder
Colorado State
University of Washington</p>
<p>Also, what's the deal with Cornell and Brown? People say that the higher Ivies "frown upon" them. Why?</p>
<p>Do you think I'm Ivy-caliber GPA-wise? Everything else is great, I just want to know on terms of GPA.</p>
<p>Yes you are Ivy-caliber GPA wise. There is no way to tell for sure if you can get in or not to those schools just based off GPA. </p>
<p>As for schools:
University of Alaska Fairbanks - I’m from Alaska. WHY would you want to go there? Fairbanks is very small, very isolated, and while the school is pretty awesome for engineering/science types, it is horribly cold during the winters. Not just normal cold - there are weeks where it reaches -40 below.<br>
University of Colorado-Boulder: awesome school. Lots of potheads (but not everyone), fun party school (work hard party hard), beautiful college town.
University of Washington: really good academics, Seattle is a fun, young city. </p>
<p>I don’t know enough about the other schools to comment.</p>
<p>A buncha those aren’t going to be worth attending out-of-state unless they’re paying a significant portion of your way (although if you’re Ivy-caliber, you probably will get such merit offers). Cornell and Brown are great schools. Yeah, Harvard-Yale-Princeton think they’re better than Cornell and Brown, but HYP also think that about Duke, Northwestern, the University of Washington, and most schools. That’s just not a good benchmark by which to judge a place. You can get an excellent education at any of the top 100 universities in this country, and many of the ones lower down, if you’re careful.</p>
<p>There are two things that concern me about your post. The first is the spread of your list: Cornell is leagues and leagues above many of those. None of them are bad (except possibly Alaska? I’m not sure), if they’re in-state for you. Just, if you’re competitive for an Ivy, why are you looking at so many schools that aren’t that good if you’re out-of-state? I’d expect an Ivy-caliber applicant to be applying to whichever of those are in-state for him/her, and maybe one other, but certainly not more than 3. If, on the other hand, these aren’t safeties for you, I’m not sure Cornell/Brown are a reasonable hope. The second is your contention that everything else in your app is “excellent”: you should go look at admissions decision threads for each of those universities. An “excellent” resume for the University of Connecticut isn’t going to be in the same league as an “excellent” resume for Brown.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m not applying to any schools in-state because I despise Florida and I am willing to do anything to get the hell out of here, lol. I want to go somewhere with extremely cold weather, (yes I can handle it, I lived in Pennsylvania for 6 years as a child); because I love the cold and I want to be a polar research scientist. </p>
<p>and fa-la-la-lena, …^…that’s why I’m thinking about applying to UA. :P</p>
<p>Well yeah, most of them are safties for me. But we all know that the Ivies are crapshoots and it’s basically a lottery, so just in case I don’t get into my dream school, I have a backup and I’ll still be able to get out of this hell-hole state. Haha</p>
<p>UMass Amherst is a “party school” with a huge partying scene, but I also know a lot of people who don’t party who have a great time there. It’s the most popular school from my high school, and I’ve yet to find someone who didn’t enjoy it. You’d probably be in the honors program, which seems to have a really tight bond from my friends’ experiences. Academically, it’s really underrated. It’s a good school.</p>
<p>If you’re into getting drunk and ****ing people you don’t even know, go to URI. Otherwise, you’ll be miserable. No idea about the academic side.</p>
<p>A lot of people like UVM. It’s a bit outdoorsy. I don’t know much about it socially or academically, but there was definitely a “type” of person from my school who went there, and they really do love it.</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re asking about state schools, though. So many high GPA people write them off, and they’re really great places.</p>
<p>That’s great, but try to have some mid-ranges, too. Your application list should include safeties–your list includes some good ones, although I’m still not sure how much money they are willing to give OOS applicants–and reaches, but also some schools where you probably have about 50/50 odds at admission. I still don’t know much about your application, so maybe UColorado Boulder is that for you (since that’s quite good), or one of the others, but you don’t want to only apply to schools where your chances are ~10% and ~90% and nothing in between.</p>
<p>Although I would like to point out that the mean low temperature in Philadelphia in January is 26˚F, and the mean low temperature in Fairbank is somewhere between -15 and -25˚F in the winter, and that is not a small difference!</p>
<p>You should know that SUNY isn’t a school, there are many schools in the SUNY system. It’d be like saying Ivy… which one? Based on your other schools, I’d suggest Binghamton.</p>
<p>&123… </p>
<p>Thank you 
I’ll look into UMass’ honors college! And now I know about URI, haha. Thanks!</p>
<p>@exult -
I’m trying to find scholarships, and I’m hoping that I can get up the money before I apply. I have a question for you. If I move to the state that the school in which I am applying to a year before I apply to school, would I get the in-state tuition? For example, if I moved to Massachusetts after I graduate from high school, take a gap year and live in state, would I get the in-state tuition?
UColorado Boulder looks like a really cool school, with awesome winter weather! Do you recommend any other schools? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>rebeccar - You should know that SUNY isn’t a school, there are many schools in the SUNY system. It’d be like saying Ivy… which one? Based on your other schools, I’d suggest Binghamton.</p>
<p>I know that. I am interested in all of the Ivies! Any one that accepts me would be thrilling! But my favorites are UPenn, Dartmouth, and Cornell.</p>
<p>Cornell is decent. I mean if you Ivy your Ivy. Brown is liberal arts and I do not see many options for a good major.</p>
<p>I’m afraid I don’t know about the in-state thing. It probably varies by state, or possibly by where your parents, who are paying your fees, live. I do know one girl who got in-state tuition after a year at UC Santa Cruz because her family moved there the summer before she started, but beyond that, I don’t know. What do you want to do “polar research” on? Climate change? Arctic animals? Marine biology? Studying glaciers? Weather patterns? Some of those aren’t going to be available everywhere, although most you could probably major in a more general science for. I think there are schools in the University of Minnesota system you should look at, too… Um, I never really looked for rural/outdoorsy (is that one of your criteria? it seems like it) science schools, since I’m a more urban humanities type. I do trust CC’s college matchmaker to put out at least some helpful suggestions if you put in your scores, though, and College Board has a similar thing. Oh, and UMichigan Ann Arbor, of course! Only one of the three or four best public colleges in the nation, great in science, cold.</p>
<p>I’m from Seattle and I have swarm of friends who attend the UW. I’m SO glad I did not go there. But then again, I’m pretty darn sick of Washington life haha. It’s a good school for natural and social sciences and medical. If you’re more of an artsy person, there are better schools out there for that field. Just be prepared for a TON of Asians.</p>
<p>From what fa-la-la says about U of Alaska being awesome for engineering/science types (which it sounds like you are) and the fact that you want to do polar research, it seems like U of Alaska is a no brainer. I think you need to find out which schools have the best programs in polar science and go from there. Have you looked into Canadian schools? I would think that their northern proximity would lend itself to some great programs.</p>
<p>Don’t blame you for wanting to get out of Florida. My D could hardly wait and is now in Minnesota in art school and loves the place.</p>