<p>I am a junior and am wondering what colleges I should be looking at. I do not know what I want to major in yet nor do I know what career I want to pursue. What are some colleges that I should look at. I know it is difficult to narrow down colleges since I do not have a decided major and such but I want to know what my possiblities are depending on my scores, gpa, ecs, etc.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for any advice</p>
<p>GPA: 4.2</p>
<p>Rank: 1st decile</p>
<p>SAT I: 2000 (am aiming for 2100 or 2150 my second time)</p>
<p>SAT 2: US History 740 then 690 and Biology E 700
*am planning on taking one more SAT 2 if I am certain I can score 700 or above</p>
<p>Classes: Freshmen year i only had one honors class because I did not take the pre requisite classes needed for honors placement, but I took all honors and ap my sophmore and junior year with two APs. I am taking 3 APs my senior year. </p>
<p>Community Service/ ECs: about 300 hours so far. I have worked in a variety of places such as the hospital although my service there was stopped because of the H1N1 scare, leader in a program in church that teaches elementary kids, supervising kids in the elementary school in my district, four year band member with a leadership position, 3 year Key Club member, 3 years in theater, Baseball for 11 years which takes about 15 hours a week( I could not participate in other ECs during the second semester because of the sport)</p>
<p>apply to schools in the top 20 (Northwestern, WUSTL, JHU, Carnegie Mellon, and some Ivies), but always have one or two safe schools in your state or something.</p>
<p>^ Only if you bring your SAT up into the 2100, preferably 2200 range.</p>
<p>What kind of school would you like to attend? Where do you want to spend the next for years? A big research university or a small intimate LAC? In a bustling city, or in an idyllic small town? Are big sports and school spirit important? Where do you stand culturally (prep v. alternative, left v. center v. right) and how important is it to you to be a school where the people are “like you”? Are religious schools okay? What do you want out of your college experience - are you the kind of person who relishes an intellectual challenge, or would you like to take it a little easier for the next four years? Competitive atmosphere or kumbaya?</p>
<p>And most importantly, what can your family afford? Don’t take “don’t worry, we’ll pay whatever you need” as an answer. The proper response to such a statement is, “okay, so you’re okay with paying 55 thousand a year for me to attend (insert private school here–NYU is a good one)?” Find an EFC calculator and figure out what they’ll expect you to pay, and whether that matches up with what your family can pay–sometimes it doesn’t.</p>
<p>hmm i think its hard for me to answer some of the questions because i do not have a lot of knowledge about the whole college business and such, but there are a few questiosn i can answer. </p>
<p>I want to go to a school in the northeast area. urban preferably. also, my family does not have the money and i do not have any scholarships yet. i want to go to a school to actually learn and grow but also have a fun and memorable experience. sports and spirit arent that important to me. i do not want to go to any religous school unless it is a christian or catholic school. ill have to think about this since time is running out till i have to do my apps =</p>
<p>haavain: I got into Northwestern with a <2000 SAT score and I’m Chinese. Test scores are very important, but not as important as everyone thinks. GPA/course rigor is the most important. </p>
<p>OP, we really can’t help if you don’t have an idea of what you want lol. figure that out first!</p>
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<p>Fair enough. I would still feel more comfortable with a higher SAT, especially for Ivies.</p>
<p>OP, your parents can’t pay at all (low-income, I presume?) Then you will need to aim for very generous need-based schools or schools with big merit. What’s the breakdown of your SAT? Did you take the PSAT? What state do you live in?</p>
<p>some universities in the NE near urban areas: Brown, JHU, CMU (best give this one a miss as they’re lacking in the humanities), Tufts, Boston College, NYU (really ****ty aid), Rochester, Pitt, Fordham, Boston U. I would put Brown/JHU/maybe CMU as reaches and the rest I think you are nicely in range for. None of them ('cept Brown) is known for particularly generous aid, but some of them towards the end give nice merit aid.</p>
<p>…there are a lot of LACs in the Northeast, although less in urban areas. Are you a girl? Women’s schools often give out better merit aid.</p>