College Advice

rooneydbc · 07-01-2008, 12:06 PM

I am trying to figure out what colleges to apply to since I'm a rising senior, here are my stats:

SAT's 2200/2400 (1440/1600) 740 Reading, 700 Math, 760 Writing
ACT's Composite 31. English 33, Math 29, Reading 33, Science 27
SAT II's US History 740, Molecular Biology 690. Planning on taking a math and maybe another science or history.
GPA 3.5 unweighted, 4.1 or 4.2 weighted.
Top 10% of my class (not certain on the exact position).
In 8-10th grade I had a full honors schedule, with college business law in 10th grade. In 11th grade I had 3 AP's and college pre-calc. 12th grade I'm taking 5 AP's and College French.

EC's:
1) JV golf in 7th grade, Varsity 8-12th grades. I will be the captain of the team in my senior year.
2) Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra from 4-12th grade, I will be the Vice President of the Orchestra in my senior year.
3) Jazz Band 7-12th grade.
4) I will be running for Vice President of my High School's National Honor Society, which I've been involved in since 10th grade.
5) I've also done various clubs like the academic team, debate team and environmental club.

Major Related EC's:
I am going to be a PoliSci major so through out my high school career I've done various things that are related with politics, such as:
1) I have interned at my local Congressman's office since 9th grade.
2) This summer I am doing research for legislation on the Genocide in Darfur. Hopefully the end result will be him putting forth legislation about Darfur in Congress.
3) I work with my county and town's Democratic Party on various campaigns and in orginizations like the Young Democrats.
4) I will probably be interning for either Senator Hillary Clinton or Senator Chuck Schumer this upcoming year.

I've been thinking about going to the New England area or the D.C. area. My top few choices are Boston College, Notre Dame, George Washington U., American and Middlebury. Do you have any advice on where I should apply and if I would get into any of those schools.

Thanks in advance,
DJ

sexycani · 07-01-2008, 12:16 PM

Hmm... can you elaborate more on what you want in a college?

quaere · 07-01-2008, 12:45 PM

Middlebury seems really different from the other schools you're looking at.

radionowhere · 07-01-2008, 12:51 PM

warning. there are 1498729385729857298357 poly sci majors every year, so it might help to try and tap into other interests you have, or find some specifics within poly sci to focus on in order to stand out. you have great test scores. youll do well. american and gw are good matches. middlebury is really really selective. and the other two i dont know well enough to say.

cptofthehouse · 07-01-2008, 12:57 PM

Your lists and stats are very similar to a friend's D who applied with interest in internationa relations. SHe did get inot GW and American, but not the rest of the schools you have listed. As everyone should do, you should have a good strong safety school on your list that you are sure will accept you, preferably early in the season. That way you can "reach away" with wild abandon. That is going to be the toughie for you, as it is for everyone as finding a good safety you like takes a lot of work.

I suggest looking at your state schools, Goucher, Catholic U, UMD, BU, Syracuse. SUNY Albany is another good pick.

rooneydbc · 07-01-2008, 01:22 PM

To elaborate more about what I want in a college, I'm looking for colleges that will give me a good chance to get into a good law school. I want to do politics in the future, and I know that being a lawyer is usually a good stepping stone in getting there. I like smaller schools, most of the schools i'm looking at have less than 8000 students.

About safety schools, my guidance counselor has told me to put Catholic U, Providence and Fordham as my safety schools. She has American and George Washington U as good matches. She also put Holy Cross and Villanova as good matches for me.
There is a in between good match and reach level which is Colgate and U of Chicago.
My wild abandon reach schools are Notre Dame, Boston College, Middlebury, G'Town, and ofcourse Harvard.

I'm very active politically, and I'm pretty liberal so I'm looking for schools that are similar in that way.

shennie · 07-01-2008, 02:32 PM

University of Rochester has an excellent Poli Sci department.

cmmimg · 07-01-2008, 03:08 PM

Well, as most pre-law advisors will tell you, you needn't study poli-sci, or anything particular for that matter in order to go to law school. Also, poli-sci is often much more research based than policy based or something. Learning about history, economics, sociology, even religion and science might be more or additionally helpful to a career in politics, since knowing about people and society moves far beyond poli-sci major alone. Also, you have a strong music background it looks like--are you planning to continue with that? It could shift your schools if you are. Do you want to be able to continue golf? And what, if any, are your monetary constraints?

rooneydbc · 07-01-2008, 03:35 PM

I would consider persuing golf or music in college, but they are not main priorities in my college selection.
I don't have any monetary constraints when it comes to college. Financial Aid wouldn't be a bad thing, but my family makes to much (mid $100,000s) to get any financial aid.
When it comes down to it the two most important factors for me are: 1) academics and 2) quality of life.

Thanks for the advice on the majors, I am going to start looking into majoring in things other than PoliSci.