Your help in jump-starting my search would be greatly appreciated...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>After finally realizing today that my junior year is over and I need to find a number colleges that fit me reasonably quickly, I started feeling a little behind the curve. I'd love to have any feedback, so here goes:</p>

<p>Stats
White Male, MN
Average public high school</p>

<p>UW 4.0 GPA, tied with nine others for 1st out of roughly 700 students.</p>

<p>6 APs scheduled at time of graduation, currently have one score, 5:Microeconomics, and awaiting results on two other tests.</p>

<p>Taking most rigorous courses available: all are Advanced/Accelerated/AP/College in the Schools.</p>

<p>EC's
Debate - State Semifinalist, likely co-captain next year
Mock Trial - All State Attorney, top-5 ranked team in state, Captain
NHS - President
Ambassadors Interact Club - Community Service
Band</p>

<p>Tests
ACT 34 - 35E 31M 36R 34S 10W
SAT - June scores coming, PSAT 221 - 73 70 80, National Merit TBD</p>

<p>Thoughts on colleges...
I want to be part of a medium-large sized school, at any rate larger than a class of 700, located either in or near a large metropolitan area.
Am willing to consider any geographical location.
My dream career is business, but I'm not sure if that is the wisest undergrad degree, so am looking for either a remarkably strong undergrad b-school or an all around academically respected college.</p>

<p>Potential List of my own
UofMinn, WashU, UW-Madison, Northwestern, Michigan-Ann Arbor, UChicago, UT-Austin, UnivofMiami.
Also, I've been pondering whether to apply or not to the likes of Duke, UVA, Gtown, UNC-Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, NYU, and Penn. Am I a good enough candidate?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your input - I greatly appreciate any suggestions about my list and potential additions (and subtractions) to it.</p>

2

<p>Good list, and yes. Apply to schools that attract you.</p>

<p>Some of the schools on your list might be a little too large for you, and Chicago and NYU stand out on your list personality-wise (at least, from what I know of the other schools you're applying to). Chicago's a little bit buzzier and quirkier, certainly quieter, than a lot of the other schools you're looking at. I think of NYU as being incredibly arty, and you kind of have to be in love with the neighborhood and the city if you go, because you won't have the experience of living on a campus.</p>

3

<p>great medium size schools would be Duke, Georgetown, Rice, Emory, W&M, Dartmouth, Brown, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt to name a few. Not all have business programs but an Econ major would get you to the same place (except in Accounting).</p>

<p>Good Luck</p>

4

<p>get one of books like Peterson's College Guide that have a 1/2 page on most 4-year colleges. </p>

<p>Also I suggest visiting some colleges in the medium and large range to further refine what you want. They are not at all similar! UT Austin, for example (fine school) is going to feel nothing like Northwestern in terms of class size, advising, etc. And even large schools differ depending on whether they have a "college-town" feel or are just part of a larger city.</p>

<p>In fact, before visiting anywhere I'd suggest reading thru one of the books about college admissions such as "Admission Matters" which discusses the options you have, to to find colleges that fit you, etc.</p>

5

<p>"...Duke, Georgetown, Rice, Emory, W&M, Dartmouth, Brown, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt to name a few. Not all have business programs but an Econ major would get you to the same place (except in Accounting)."</p>

<p>Ditto, to organize this list a bit:</p>

<p>Solid Reaches: Penn, Duke, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Chicago</p>

<p>I think all of these fit your description - all have very respected Econ programs, while Penn has Wharton undergrad business school. All have tons of finance/business recruitment with tons of national prestige and a large alumni network.</p>

<p>Hard to get in though, so for less difficult schools admissions-wise I'd recommend Georgetown and NYU, as well as Mich and UT.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions...my list is slowly, but surely, becoming defined.
I've already got a USNews Ultimate College Guide to peruse, and have read Admission Matters. </p>

<p>Do you folks think that applying to the Ivies would be worthwhile in my case or simply a waste of time?
Also, any thoughts on USoCal?</p>

7

<p>If your other APs are as good as your economics, then you're in a good position. Great GPA. Great ACT score. You're in the running. It would be worth applyin got an Ivy IF YOU WANT TO GO THE SCHOOL.</p>

8

<p>if you're looking for a jump-start, try princetonreview.com's counselor-o-matic or collegeboard.com's college matchmaker (under college search).</p>

9

<p>After receiving AP and SAT scores, any feedback on how my list should change?</p>

<p>AP Euro 5 - AP US Gov/Pol 5 - SAT 2220 CR770 M700 W750</p>

10

<p>If I were making your list based on what you want (business but not needed, urban center), this is how it would look:</p>

<p>**SOLID REACHES <a href="pick%203/4">/b</a>
Penn, NYU-Stern, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Wash Univ. in STL, Tufts Univ., Northwestern Univ.</p>

<p>**MATCH SCHOOLS<a href="pick%203">/b</a>
Univeristy of Miami, Boston University, Rice, Boston College, Georgetown, Univ. of Michigan, Vanderbilt</p>

<p>**SAFETY<a href="pick%202">/b</a>
University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Pittsburgh</p>

11

<p>Why would a kid like you NOT apply to an Ivy if it had something you really like? Princeton's ORFE program, as an example:).</p>

12

<p>Agree with Alu, you have excellent stats. Why not apply to an Ivy? I would look at Penn/ Wharton and Princeton.</p>

<p>Nyu-stern, Northwestern or u Chicago, Georgetown, and Vanderbilt- these cover alot of the great city locations.</p>

<p>Coming from MN will be a plus in some places.</p>

13

<p>Since math is your lowest are on sat you might want to retake, since that area is easiest to improve on.</p>

14

<p>wealth of information-</p>

<p>Rice is more selective than several of the schools you have as reaches.</p>

15

<p>"Penn, NYU-Stern, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Wash Univ. in STL, Tufts Univ., Northwestern Univ"</p>

<p>Stern and Tufts = matches, Rice = Reach</p>

<p>If you like Penn and NU, you'll like Duke. If you like JHU and Chicago, why not apply to MIT? So many good schools.</p>

<p>What are you looking for socially? In terms of size?</p>

16

<p>You can apply and have a good chance at any school in the world with your stats.</p>

17

<p>Thanks to all for your suggestions. I've been doing more and more research on my own and am coming to similar conclusions for schools.</p>

18

<p>Rice = Match</p>

<p>Why? Quantitatively the numbers are there. Keep in mind students are not going to be admitted to all their MATCH schools (ie expect some WL's).</p>

19

<p>Just a few more questions:</p>

<p>Here's my refined list so far:</p>

<p>Reach
More firm: Penn-Wharton, WashU STL
Plus two more to decide from: Chicago, Northwestern, NYU, Tufts, JH, HYPS, Duke</p>

<p>Match
Georgetown, Michigan, Vanderbilt, USC</p>

<p>Match-Safety
U of Minn-Twin Cities, UWisc-Madison, Univ of Miami, UT-Austin</p>

<p>Of the reaches and matches, which would you say have the strongest sense of campus community and residential living?
Additionally, I would like to avoid an extraordinarily liberal environment.</p>

20

<p>NYU doesn't have a campus community. It is Greenwich Village and Greenwich Villiage is it.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would choose NU, Duke, and Stanford from that list. I think that NU, Duke, and Stanford kids are happier with their colleges overall than HYP kids are at their schools. Chicago and Tufts don't fit as well into what you want, from what I see.</p>