I'm pretty ignorant in terms of different colleges. Educate me please!

College Search & Lists
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<p>I have very little knowledge of different colleges; that I mean I couldn’t name more than perhaps 10-20 off the top of my head, most of them would be the ones that everyone knows about (HYPS etc). </p>

<p>So, my dilemma is that I have a bunch of numbers and preferences but I have know idea where to start looking for my “dream college”. So, can you guys help me out by suggesting some colleges that are in my range? At the very least, I’ll be able to expand my horizon of colleges that I know about.</p>

<p>Academically, I think that I could make it into the top 50-40 schools. What those schools are, i have no idea. I have a 2150 SAT, retaking later so probably going to increase to 2200+. I have a 3.933 GPA unweighted, 4.03 GPA Weighted. Not sure about the difference between the two.
For EC’s, I will have 12 seasons of running sports (3 seasons each year: XC, indoor track, outdoor track) and have 4 years of band. </p>

<p>I’m taking all honors classes except for Spanish. I have good relationships with many teachers so I should be able to get some decent recommendations. </p>

<p>I consider myself sociable and into the sports scene, mainly NFL but I do watch a little baseball, and of course, March Madness. Being an Asian kid doing year round sports as well as keeping good grades seems like an achievement to me, especially since I still have friends that are not Asian. But that probably won’t help me get into colleges.</p>

<p>I don’t know what else to put academically. In terms of location, I prefer out of state (Pennsylvania), someplace near a city. And I like variety while not sacrificing learning experience, so I would say mid sized to large universities over the smaller ones. Someplace warm is preferable, but not a huge deal. And I plan on going to medical school, but for undergraduate college I plan to mainly develop myself as a character as well as planning for med school. Financial aid is always a good thing to have. </p>

<p>So out of this, the colleges I would consider a reach for me are JHU, Duke, BC,WASHU in St Louis, Vanderbilt, NYU, Cornell, and Rice. If i got into any of these schools, I would be very happy. </p>

<p>So now I have to worry about safety schools. I had University of Pitt in mind, also Wake forest, and University of Rochester. And of course Penn state, but i prefer out of state.</p>

<p>Any recommendations of other safety colleges I should look at? Or other colleges that you think would be “perfect” for me? If you want me to post more of my stats or whatever, just ask! Thanks</p>

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<p>First off, I would not recommend Rice. I have lived in Houston, and the city is very polluted and one wrong turn can put you into the wrong side of town. Plus, it isn’t a mid sized school, like you were wanting. Honestly, I can see a school like UCLA or Berkeley being a good match for you. Norte Dame might also be another school within your range. What I’m worried about, however, is the small difference between your uw and w gpa’s. Maybe it’s the way your school weights things, but most students at my school who take AP courses tend to have great differences between uw and w gpa. Anyway, with your stats, you will have no issue with acceptance as long as you apply early. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I’m also pretty unclear about how unweighted and weighted works. Heres what I know:</p>

<p>Honors and AP’s are weighted more at my school than college prep or normal classes.
My school uses a 4.6 GPA scale.
I am just starting my Junior year, so maybe the fact that I don’t have any AP grades in yet may affect my UW and W GPAs.</p>

<p>What I don’t understand is:
Do colleges view your GPA on a 4.0 scale? If so, then what is my GPA on a 4.0 scale instead of a 4.6 scale? Is is different?
Do they look at your weighted or unweighted scores?
Does that fact that I’m taking honors classes affect my unweighted GPA?</p>

<p>I’ll keep what you said about Rice in mind. I listed it because I heard it was a good place to start for med school. Also, the Cali schools are usually pretty expensive, especially for out of state students. But if I do get into schools like Berkeley, I would probably go for it. </p>

<p>Also, I forgot to list University of Michigan up there. I don’t know if that’s a reach or a safety for me, but its cold up there…</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure you could name more than 10-20… I mean you said you watch March Madness! Your SATs and GPA are very good, and you are very involved in sports, which is good. </p>

<p>I’m not sure University of Rochester would be a safety school… it’s a very good school. Penn State’s a good safety, but it’s hard to find a safety that’s out-of-state and financially workable for a student (unless you want schools that offer automatic scholarships like Alabama). With your scores though, you have great options.</p>

<p>Michigan is, again, a great school and would be a mid match for you, I think.</p>

<p>What are your restrictions in regards to paying for school?</p>

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<p>Well if med school is your final option, let me tell you this. School doesn’t matter. I agree with one of the previous posters, Alabama is a great option. They have a 100% acceptance rate to med school from the honors college, and with your sat and gpa, you would get a full scholarship, and if you are a NM finalist, a full ride plus. You can check it out on their website. [The</a> University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.ua.edu%5DThe”>http://www.ua.edu) under the scholarships tab under undergraduate admissions.
While U Alabama definitely isn’t in the league with schools you are considering, a 3.9 out of 4.6 isn’t as competitive as some of those schools require and financial aid is more important than going to a great school and being saddled with debt.</p>

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<p>I think my parents would be ok with 30-45k schools, but financial aid will probably be a big factor on choosing schools. My brother went to McGIll, and since hes a canadian citizen, the fee was very low, like below 10k i think. So i don’t really know exactly my pay range, but I think with financial aid, I should be alright with most schools. </p>

<p>Michigan is definitely on my list. I’ll take a look at rochester again too, thanks for the heads up!</p>

<p>What other safety schools would you recommend/know about that would be worth looking into? And even though people say I have good option with my scores, I don’t know what they mean by “good options” most of the time. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>@living a lie: Ill look into Alabama, but i have heard that a more prestigious school will help with your chances at getting into a good med school. And I also heard that Alabama tends to be less welcoming to not whites, aka Asians (me). Not trying to be stereotypical, just what I have heard. As for the GPA thing, I’m still not sure how my school works. I think the 4.03 Weighted might be out of 4.6, and the 3.9 unweighted is out of 4.0, but i don’t know yet. Anyone with knowledge of this that might enlighten me on what most high schools do?</p>

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<p>You only need one or two true admission & financial safety schools.<br>
In your target/match range you might want at least three or four.</p>

<p>Cost can be an important consideration in choosing these schools.
Are your parents able and willing to cover the full cost of an expensive private (or OOS public) school?</p>

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<p>^^ please link me to where you see that the HC has a 100% medical school acceptance rate. I qualify for 2/3rds tuition at Bama and would like to read up on that.</p>

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<p>@Tk: My parents might be willing to cover it, but i could also maybe take out a student loan if they decide to only cover part of it or something… Not sure thats a good idea though cause loans are death apparently. Ill have to read up more on loans for now.</p>

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<p>I will put my two cents in for WUSTL, as my son goes there. I also disagree about the post re Rice. I lived in the medical center, right by Rice. It is in a very safe area. Many colleges may have certain areas that you need to avoid.</p>

<p>If you have time to improve your scores that may help, but you need to know that scores are just one part of the application. If you want to go to medical school the prestige of your UG school may not mean that much.</p>

<p>If you are looking at FA, NYU and BC are knocked as being stingy with FA. The other schools you listed are pretty generous.</p>

<p>If you have any specific questions about WUSTL, feel free to PM me, as I am a very supportive parent of the school. My son also applied to schools you listed- BC, JHU, and Michigan (was accepted at all 3), but he didn’t get into Rice.</p>

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<p>Medical school is expensive, so you may want to consider minimizing undergraduate cost, savings money, and avoiding debt.</p>