<p>I’d suggest that you simply don’t share information except on a “need to know” basis – if the teacher is writing a rec letter, than of course the teacher needs to know – but otherwise, you could say something along the lines: “I’m still narrowing things down” – and then add, “I’d really like to attend a small liberal arts college, where I can develop a good relationship with the faculty-- so you have any suggestions?” </p>
<p>Instead of giving them a list of all your colleges, pick one, say something about one of its features, and ask their thoughts. Example: “I’m looking at Smith. I’ve heard great things about their STRIDE program? Do you know anything about that?” Or you could focus on an area of academic interest – “I think I want to study XXXX – I’ve heard X college has a great department for that. What do you think?”</p>
<p>That shifts the tenor of the conversation and kind of puts the other person on the spot. If they say, “well, I think you should apply to Harvard!” – you could then look a little puzzled, and say, “really? I hadn’t heard much about Harvard’s XXX program. Can you tell me more about that?” – it’s unlikely that the person will be able to provide much in the way of specifics, so pretty soon they will be the one trying to change the subject.</p>
<p>Also – I hate to burst their bubble – but with your stats [(3.87 GPA) and good test scores (2100)], the Ivies are still very much reach colleges for you. My kids both had teachers who were quite sure that they were “Ivy material” – in terms of assessing my kids’ abilities, I am sure they were right – but as far as chances for admission, they were very misguided. Neither of my kids stood a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of being admitted to HYP – my son because he had almost nothing in the way of EC’s or anything to show beyond GPA and test scores, and my daughter because her test scores and overall high school academic course load were too weak. </p>
<p>I actually think that if you are looking for substantial merit aid (like full tuition scholarships), you may need to dig a little deeper with your list. A lot of the colleges you have listed are great matches for you and probably will offer small merit awards, such as a $10,000 scholarship – but I don’t think you are likely go qualify for full-ride level money based on your stats. So I guess you need to sit down with your parents and get a good sense of what they ARE willing to pay. </p>
<p>It’s tough, because my daughter visited some of those schools and decided, after visiting, that they wouldn’t give her the academic challenge she hoped for – her GPA and class rank were about the same as yours, test scores a little lower. However, we do qualify for need based aid, so in her situation it made sense to aim high. But my d. definitely was not getting enormous merit offers from her safeties. Obviously a $10K or $15K scholarship is nothing to sneeze at and will reduce overall costs – but again, you need to really sit down with your parents and talk about money.</p>