<p>Hi! I've just begun my college search (will be a Junior next year) and am looking for a little guidance. I am very willing to do lots of visits and my own research on colleges, but I have absolutely no idea what colleges I should be looking at, to start. If anyone could give me some reaches, matches, and safeties to look at I would be very appreciative. :)</p>
<p>I go to a fairly difficult, small private school (fairly average kids here go to NYU and a few get into ivies/stanford each year) and have a 4.01 cumulative weighted GPA (I couldn't take any weighted classes Freshman year, and only got into one AP (Euro) and one accel class (which combined alg. 2 and pre-calc), both of which I ended up with A-s in. I don't know what my unweighted would be but I would guess it would be between 3.5 and 4 (I have gotten scattered A-s and one or two B+s). Next year I'm taking either 3 or 4 APs, but I'm not sure yet. </p>
<p>As for extracurriculars, I participate and have leadership positions in a few things, but nothing is really outstanding. I'm going to FBLA nationals this year, and I won a regional National History Day award Freshman year, but I don't have much else on the awards front. </p>
<p>On the PSAT I took earlier this (Sophomore) year, I got a 213. This was without any PSAT/SAT prep and i'm taking SAT prep this summer so hopefully it will improve into the National Merit range by next year (I'm in California). I'm taking the SAT in October and took the SAT II for Math 2 but haven't gotten my scores yet. (On practice tests I was getting 760s but who knows).</p>
<p>So, any ideas?</p>
<p>You should probably begin by finding our what the best colleges are for you rather than things like reaches. If you are at a small independent high school you might fit well with a liberal arts college rather than a large research university. CC has a list to start with:</p>
<p>[CC</a> Top Liberal Arts Colleges - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cc-top-liberal-arts-colleges/]CC”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cc-top-liberal-arts-colleges/)</p>
<p>This is a great place to get ideas as well:</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help! I will for sure look into colleges on this list, but I guess I was hoping more specifically for the sorts of colleges someone like me should be looking at, admissions-wise. Do you know if you could possibly help me figure out the range of colleges I should be looking at, or some specific colleges that I would have a reasonable chance at getting into?</p>
<p>This is a useful site but there is a limit to which people who don’t know you can give you meaningful advice about this. Do you have a college counseling office or advisor at your school who can give you a clearer idea about your chances at various tiers? I do know that you would stand a fine chance, with As & Bs, at most of the schools on the “Colleges that Change Lives” site, provided that your apps showed an interest, even excitement, about their philosophies and programs. Maybe less so at the “best” (whatever that means) LACs on the CC forum. I know it is a cliche but maybe you haven’t heard it before that college is a match to be made, not a prize to be won. Think of the kind of place you’d like to spend 4 years learning, growing, & making friends and let that lead your decision process. Good luck.</p>
<p>Well I don’t know what you are interested in but here is a couple of Colleges you should consider:
Reach- Swathmore, Northwestern, Princeton
Match- UC Berkley, University of Michigan
Safety- College of William and Mary, Penn State</p>
<p>Here is a strategy to think about:</p>
<ul>
<li>Get the Fiske Guide to Colleges book. Either borrow from your guidance counselor, or buy a copy.</li>
<li>Go though and read descriptions. You probably will start having an idea of what sounds appealing (big vs small, rural vs urban, geographic location, campus vibe).<br></li>
<li>If you have an idea what area you want to major in, Fiske lists strongest majors at each school.</li>
<li>It also lists test score ranges. You will have pretty good scores, it sounds like.</li>
<li>Put post its on schools that sound interesting (our first pass for D2, that was about 25 colleges – but it might have been more if we didn’t have an older kid in college already)</li>
<li>Go on a few visits in late summer or fall. If you still aren’t sure what type of college you want, visit a few different types (LAC, large state university, urban, rural, etc.). Use that process to narrow the list down.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, you have not mentioned finances. You should probably have this discussion with your parents regarding how much they are willing to spend a year for college. If you have financial constraints, you need safety schools that are both admission AND financial safeties. If you are not eligible for need based aid (or even if you are), you may want to consider schools that have good merit aid and where you fall near the top of their admissions criteria.</p>
<p>Thank you all SO much for the suggestions!! I did talk to a college counselor at my school, but the colleges they gave me to look at either seemed out of reach or below where I would like to be, academically. Now that I have a little bit more clear view of the types of colleges I would stand a chance with, I think researching will be much less difficult and more productive for me. :)</p>
<p>catwings, First, what is your financial situation? Do you need financial aid? If yes, does your family qualify for need based aid? The answers to these questions will define your entire list.</p>
<p>Second, since you’re just rising junior you still have time to beef up your ECs. I don’t mean joining or doing just to pad your resume. I mean finding activities and interests that appeal to you and going deeper into them. Remember that talents and life experiences can also qualify as ECs. Selective colleges look at more than grades and scores, so you have to focus on this.</p>
<p>Once you are clear on your finances, you should think about the type of school that appeals to you: small/medium/large, urban/suburban/rural, very liberal/middle road, artistic, social, sporty etc. If you don’t know visit a few nearby schools this summer and get an idea of what’s out there.</p>
<p>No problem to include a few reaches on your list, as long as you also have matches and at least one or two safeties. Safeties are the hardest to identify. So start early researches schools that would be sure bets.</p>