Help on college list please!

College Search & Lists
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<p>I am having trouble deciding how high i should reach for with my current credentials. </p>

<p>Class rank: Top 5-10%? who knows.</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 3.91
GPA (weighted): 4.19</p>

<p>9th grade
Literature+Writing A/A
Alg2/Trig A/A
Concert Band A/A
PE Band A/A
Oral Composition A/A
Biology A/A
French 2 A/A</p>

<p>10th grade
Precalc H A/A
AP Chemistry A/A
World Literature A/A
Wind Ensemble A/A
PE Athletics A/A
French 3 A/A
World History A/A
(Summer Physics)</p>

<p>11th grade
AP Calculus A/A
AP Biology A/A
AP US History B/B
French H B/B
Wind Ensemble A/A
American Literature A/A
Jazz Band A/A</p>

<p>12th grade courses
AP Statistics
AP Computer Science
AP Government/Econ
British Literature
Wind Ensemble</p>

<p>(5 on all APs)</p>

<p>SAT I: 1st time: CReading: 690, Writing: 730 (Essay:11) Math: 800
2nd time: CReading: 690, Writing: 800 (Essay:12) Math: 760
(do colleges take composite scores? Which ones?)</p>

<p>SAT II: Bio(freshman year. does it matter?):760, Math IIC:800, Chemistry:800, UShistory:780</p>

<p>Sports: JV Tennis 9th Grade. Varsity Badminton 11th grade
Other Junk: President of Club, Marching Band Section Leader, Student Body Historian, Yearbook Photographer, </p>

<p>I also won some states and national(like 1st place) stuff for FBLA in sophomore year. But does it lose value if I wasnt able to continue last year? Same with Hospital Volunteering. </p>

<p>Also, I dont have too many APs because the school offers no AP Physics or anything. </p>

<p>So far I have:</p>

<p>Stanford (ED) - yea super reach. should i pick a different one?
Brown
Cornell
Pomona
Harvey Mudd
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD - safety?</p>

<p>What are other not unreachable colleges that have a relatively strong liberal arts and bio/chem programs? </p>

<p>Thanks a lot.</p>

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<p>So your CR score isn’t great, but it actually puts you in the middle 50 (although sometimes barely) for all of the schools on your list.</p>

<p>That said, Pomona, Stanford, and Brown are all still reaches, just as a matter of course, with Mudd being more like a high match/low reach sort of situation.</p>

<p>I’m assuming that you’re a CA resident, which would make the UCs really great choices for you.</p>

<p>If, however, you have your heart set on a private college, maybe you should look at smaller, less selective schools as safeties. I don’t know enough about bio/chem programs to really comment, but any NESCAC school will probably have a decent program.</p>

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<p>I would suggest looking into URochester. While it stresses a liberal arts education (and, like Brown, has no required classes), it also has an engineering school. I would consider it a “poor man’s Cornell”-- easier to get into, but a similar quality of education.</p>

<p>Looking at the SAT midrange, it looks like you’re in with some merit money.
<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board;

<p>Tufts and WashU come to mind as other options, though I think admissions there are more competitive (or less predictable, at least), than Rochester.</p>

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<p>Is there anything i can do to up my chances for any of these schools in senior year?</p>

5

<p>Be specific and be authentically you. Show that in your application. Show why you belong at the schools, that you are not applying for prestige, but for fit. Who are you, what makes you special, what do you hope to accomplish in college. What talents or insights can you contribute to the campus community? What life experiences help to make you an uncommon individual? What do you want out of college? </p>

<p>If you can best demonstrate that you are a motivated, eager learner, you will make a big impact on the admissions committee. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about EC’s. When one mother asked a dean at Princeton University what her son should do for the summer (teach English in China? Go to Harvard summer school?), he replied, “He should pump gas.” It’s not what you do that matters, it’s what you take away from it that colleges want to know about.</p>

<p>So again, be specific about what you did and all, and be authentically you. That is the best way to up your chances.</p>

<p>And of course, keep your good grades and all, I mean, you know that.</p>

6

<p>Rice, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins…all fit the description of strong in liberal arts and biochem and while very selective, are less of a far reach than Stanford would be. </p>

<p>Do not consider UCSD a safety — there are simply too many applying to the top UCs to take admission for granted. You could take a close look at UCI for bio/chem (and of course it has liberal arts as well) as more of a safety. A friend’s daughter chose to go there on an almost free ride over some other top choices and she is being included in a cancer-cell research project even as a freshman (a continuation of a summer research experience.) </p>

<p>And you could also look at Occidental close to home, small but mighty in the sciences.</p>

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<p>If you’re looking for merit aid, Tufts is not a real possibility. But Brandeis is, as well as many of the others mentioned above. Pittsburgh is also a good possibility. These are good match schools for you, in general.
Harvey Mudd is not strong in liberal arts, though you could take aome courses at the other Claremont Colleges.</p>

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<p>Financial aid doesnt matter too much rite now, even tho it would help of course…</p>

<p>URochester looks pretty nice though. Do you need an interview for that school because i dont think i’m planning to visit until i get in. And theres no interviewees within the nearest 1000000 miles. well thats what it says on the site.</p>

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<p>Your list is California and Ivy–and nothing else. You need some good schools that are not super-reaches. I agree with other posters that you should investigate places like Wash U, Northwestern and Rice. I would add Vanderbilt to the list.</p>

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<p>Agree with Midmo: 6/8 schools in Cal?</p>

<p>If you’re pre-med, any top school will prepare you well in both chem and bio. Given your orientation to very competitive schools, I’d agree with the recommendations to also consider Northwestern/WashU/Rice and I’d tack on Emory, myself.</p>

<p>If your interest in chemistry is dominant and you’re looking towards graduate and not professional study, I’d strongly consider Northwestern and all others on your current list (with the possible exception of Brown) for their particular strength in the field. For bio, all will prepare you well at the undergraduate level. </p>

<p>With Pomona/Mudd on your list (great LACs, but very different despite both being Claremonts in name) you might also consider Carleton. It proportionately yields more PhD’s in the sciences than any other LAC and, for that matter, more than any school on your list.</p>

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<p>On a side note, do most colleges have some sort of photography club/class or way to develop photography skills? The only stuff i could find were say the Arts school at WashU, or the RISD partnership w/ Brown. </p>

<p>Which of these great but not impossible (for me) schools (Northwestern/WashU/Rice/Emory/Vanderbilt/Rochester) have relatively more secluded and natural environments?</p>

<p>Oh and why cant i edit my original post?</p>

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<p>just googlearth those schools and see if you want to know the surroundings</p>

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<ul>
<li><p>You can only edit a post within 15 (or so) minutes of posting it. </p></li>
<li><p>Rice does not have a secluded/natural environment. Can’t speak for the others.</p></li>
<li><p>Your list looks good to me, especially if you do want to stay on the west coast (I had 9/11 in CA, myself :p), but it does appear short on safeties/likelies (I don’t say “matches” because you’re a match at some schools that still aren’t likely bets). As a previous poster said, UCSD is almost a guarantee, but you might want to add one more, especially if the UCs don’t particularly interest you (I think that too many CA students use these as fallbacks without having any real interest in them. I know that I did). Scripps and USC (both of which might but would not definitely offer you merit money) might be worth looking at…both are easily within your reach and are well-rounded, respectable schools. And should you decide to look at schools that will really offer you nice merit money, UCI, UCD, Santa Clara, USF, and possibly Oxy might all be worth a glance (just to name a few options in CA…but in general, if you know where to look, you won’t find any shortage of schools willing to give you scholarships).</p></li>
<li><p>I’m struck by part of your original post: “Stanford (ED) - yea super reach. should i pick a different one?” You don’t HAVE to apply anywhere ED. Yes, Stanford is a super reach. But if you want to go there so absolutely that you’d ignore any other options, then sure, you should apply ED. If you’re going to apply anywhere ED, it should be to a school that you feel exceptionally, undoubtedly strong about, not just whichever school you might want a boost at. If Stanford’s ED program is non-binding, then ignore everything I just said ;)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>You look like a great applicant…good luck :)</p>

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<p>Washington Univ. and Vanderbilt Univ. are in cities (St. Louis and Nashville) but both are well-defined campuses, not criss-crossed by lots of streets, lots of green space, trees, etc. Washington Univ. abuts a large, extremely nice park, Forest Park, with zoo, lake, trails, museums, ice rink. There is a largish park near Vanderbilt, but not on the order of Forest Park. I wouldn’t say either school fits your description of “secluded, natural environment”, though, to the extent that some rural campuses would.</p>

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<p>None of the schools are secluded/natural to the tune of a Dartmouth or Williams. They are also not deeply urban, all have green space, maybe Emory most typically suburban, Rochester possibly having the least appealing city/weather combination. </p>

<p>Rice: Campus buildings are a bit like Stanford to use a Cal analogy - lots of tile roofs and Spanish feel - but very flat, not a hill in sight, fairly green, surrounded by famous “hedges,” literally across the street from the largest complex of medical buildings in the country, middle income private homes and stores/restaurants along other borders. Definitely a more modern than traditional feel overall to the campus.</p>

<p>Northwestern: Runs north/south following Lake Michigan for about a mile, beaches at both ends of campus with sailing club at southern end, jogging trail and fields for both intramurals and varsity (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse) along lakefront with views to Chicago, buildings with modern, clean look mixed with 19th century landmarks. Town of Evanston borders on the South with lots of retail stores, too many restaurants to count, etc. Lots of charming, some historic, private homes to north and south.</p>

<p>Emory: Like Rice has a generally more modern and southern, even Spanish feel, to campus. Lots of green space. Successful effort underway to eliminate roads through campus. Feels (and is) removed from Atlanta in a more suburban locale. Not much to find to do at edge of campus. Short ride to Buckhead for action. Longer ride to downtown Atlanta.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt and Wash U as per Midmo: Wash U is sort of an updated and very uniform styled version of a traditional campus. Surrounded variably by retail/restaurants (the Loop), middle and upper middle class housing, and an impoverished neighborhood. Vanderbilt has more of a mix of motifs, old and new. Green campus, a certified National Arboretum, and city/mix of housing along borders.</p>

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<p>Cornell’s already on your list, but I can’t imagine a school with more natural beauty than it.</p>

<p>Northwestern is on the shore of Lake Michigan, which, while scenic, is not all that usable besides looking at and jogging alongside.</p>

<p>Berkeley also has quite a bit of wilderness to it (again, already on your list).</p>

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<p>^^^^Lake Michigan not all that usable??? Northwestern’s main rec center on the north end of campus has its own private beach for swimming. And as wbwa pointed out, the sailing center at the south end provides sailboats and windsurfing boards for student use.</p>

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<p>Yeah, but it’s not Cornell in terms of natural beauty/wilderness. Northwestern isn’t exactly on the brink of civilization, and good luck finding unpopulated places. We end up skiing in Wisconsin and going to the Indiana dunes for our wilderness.</p>

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<p>^Agreed, Ithaca is pretty breathtaking. In regards to Lake Michigan though, I just hope you Hyde Parkers enjoy your section of the pond as much as Evanstonians enjoy theirs. :)</p>

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<p>Yea Cornell looks/sounds really nice. But my prospects of getting in dont (seem nice). =[</p>

<p>how is the arts program there?</p>