<p>I’m plan on applying to:
Dickinson College
College William & Mary
Elon University
University of Pittsburgh
Boston University
Franklin and Marshall College
Gettysburg College
Washington College
University of Vermont (only because the application will be free)</p>
<p>Is this a good list? Any other college suggestions that I should look into? Can you tell me any of your personal opinions about the colleges I have on my list?</p>
<p>Where are you in-state? What can your family afford and roughly how much do they make?</p>
<p>Without knowing interests or career goals, who knows if the list is “good”.</p>
<p>“Good” is relative, it depends on you. What do you plan to study? What can you afford? What are your career goals? What are your stats (unweighted GPA, standardized test scores)?</p>
<p>In general all the colleges on your list are perfectly adequate.</p>
<p>My GPA is 97.31/100 and my SAT score is 1840, but it will be going up when I retake it next month. I will also be taking the ACT in October, and I should do proficiently on it. </p>
<p>As of right now, I want to major in Anthropology concentrated on Archaeology and History, and I’m considering minoring in a foreign language that’s not Spanish because I am already proficient in Spanish. I am not shutting the possibility of international business either. </p>
<p>I’m from Pennsylvania, so W&M is not really financially ideal, but I will be applying anyway and seeing what happens. All the other schools I am applying to are private, other than Pitt, which is in PA, so IS/OOS tuition wouldn’t be a factor.</p>
<p>I also really value colleges’ study abroad programs and career centers with a lot of networking and successful alumni. </p>
<p>OK. And what can your family afford?</p>
<p>William and Mary has an absolutely excellent history and archaeology department (being the second oldest school in the country does help with that) Students often participate on hands on projects at least once before graduating. For instance, right now outside the Wren building (the oldest collegiate building in the U.S. still in current use) they are doing an archaeological dig. They are finding bullets from what is likely to be the Civil War era where the Confederate and Union soilders fought on Williamsburg soil (and the Wren building was attempted to be burned)</p>
<p>Another friend I have is taking a history based seminar that takes place on Saturday. They frequently go on field trips and have an active component to the class because the college is so close and well connected with many of the former colonial sites in the area. Really exciting stuff if you are a history major. (Colonial Williamsburg is right next door)</p>
<p>However, I would be remiss if I did not warn you that W&M will be expensive if you are out of state. As the school is state supported, they promise to meet the need of the in state students, but no such guarantees are made for OOS students. At William and Mary it is possible to design your own major which can incorporate many of those things above, but you should definitely on improving your standardized test scores (they primarily look at CR+M) for admissions because just as it is hard to have a large financial aid package if you are OOS, it similarly slightly more difficult to be admitted.</p>
<p>On the other hand, have you considered Penn State? It does seem to offer the alumni network you may seek, although I am not sure how the fields you mentioned in your posts are specifically there.</p>
<p>I think it’s a great list and you will likely get into most of them. </p>
<p>The only school I’m looking at with lower in-state tuition is Pitt. Though Penn State may be a financially better option compared to some schools on my list, I don’t think it would be a good school for me. I visited a friend there and sat in on one of her classes, and it wasn’t really working for me. </p>
<p>Can your family afford $55-60K/year?</p>
<p>Franklin and Marshall doesn’t do Merit scholarships, fyi</p>
<p>as you are probably aware, W&M is huge in archaeology and history and anthro. They have for instance all that colonial waterfront and settlements to explore. The historians and archaeologists there are among the most skilled in the country. </p>
<p>If you’re more archaeology focused, you might want to find out where the faculty at a given school are digging and what exposure to the digs the undergraduates are getting. Archaeology is not always strong at LACs because of the need for a critical mass of u/gs, grads, and faculty.</p>
<p>With an anthro dept, check to see how broad the course offerings are, and how often the upper-division courses are taught. Again, critical mass.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr, with Penn classes?</p>
<p>@GingeroftheWeb </p>
<p>Erin’s Dad has been trying to find out what your family can afford and you haven’t answered him. That is important info because even if you are instate for PA state schools, those schools give poor aid…so MANY instate kids find them to be unaffordable. </p>
<p>So, please ask your parents how much they’ll pay each year. $20k? more? Less? what?</p>
<p>Not everybody wants to share that information, and I would respect a poster who refuses to provide it, and just assume that they and their parents are smart enough and competent enough to figure out what’s affordable. </p>