<p>Thanks! I checked it out. It will help me after I get my SAT scores back.</p>
<p>If you/your parents are concerned about cost of school, then you seriously need to consider the cost of travelling across country several times a year for school, especially at the holiday seasons. That can seriously add up, as can the cost of moving or storing your stuff.</p>
<p>Not everyone is into sports at any school. You can find intellectual stimulation no matter where you go. You really need to be more open minded- so far you have rejected schools because they are too rural, too into sports, too conservative (most colleges/universities are pretty liberal) not tier 1, not well known to prospective employers, not going to be affordable, not going to give you a lot of money, doesn’t have your intended major/current area of interest (that makes a bit more sense then many of the others). You said you wanted to be a journalism major - do your homework and find schools you are a match for that have journalism programs that aren’t too competitive for you. Fore eg, Syracuse has a phenomenal program, but is uber-competitive.</p>
<p>BTW, you do need to look at schools based on current GPA, not what you think it might be in the future. You have to base on what you know, not what you hope. And this approach
will not get you any merit money.</p>
<p>I have family in NY I can stay with, so the northeast is more ideal if you concerning cost. I have no family or friends on the west coast. I have never even been to California, but I have been to the northeast. </p>
<p>There are plenty of schools which fit my criteria. I basically do not want a big sports/jock school in the middle of no where. I am really open in majoring in English or Communications. The school does not have to have a journalism major, though it is preferred. If I go to a school in the northeast and then move to California, it will help if my employer knows where I went to school. I don’t plan on living in the same town my whole life. </p>
<p>I can get bored easily and I need things to do and places to go. If I’m in LA or NY or Boston I will never get bored. If I am in the middle of no where, then I might have some problems. Of course the school has to be affordable, lol. I think Northeastern and Emerson are great fits. </p>
<p>My whole objective is to go to a school where rigor matters. I want to make this clear, lol. I don’t want to go somewhere where I could have got in with easier classes. That defeats the whole point in trying so hard to go to a good school. It doesn’t have to be in the top 50, but the school needs to be decent. If I am in the top of the class in that particular college and the people who have lower stats still took honors and ap classes, I would be fine with that. I’m just not fine going somewhere where others took the easy way out.</p>
<p>I think you are trying to make and narrow down a list way to early. Without a clue what your SAT/ACT scores are going to be, you have no way of making an informed list. Add to that a GPA for only 2 years, and you are searching blind. It’s great that you are informed of which schools have the programs you are interested in, but beyond that, obsessing over school selections at this point is futile.</p>
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<p>My D has a FULL ride at her school, and I can tell you that my out of pocket expenses are still considerable every year. As Jym pointed out, travel alone is something to consider. Besides the airline tickets for my D, I must add on an additional $200 every round trip to the price of the ticket for shuttle transportation and baggage. You mention the northeast, be prepared to spend a lot of money initially for clothing, shoes, outerwear, gloves etc. Storage for my D’s “stuff” was $200 for the summer. I’m mentioning this so you can see how much just “extra’s” are. You can’t count on any major merit money at the schools you are looking at so far with a 3.4. Have you discussed how much money your parents can and are willing to contribute? </p>
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<p>You have been very honest in posting your classes each year for the past two years, and now for your current Junior year. I’m pretty sure I know what school you are at, and your schedule is not going to qualify for your GC to mark off “most rigorous.” I’m only pointing this out (as have several other posters) because your school list is WAY to top heavy. It might be wise to stop thinking of college right now, and concentrate on this school year. Start prepping now for your standardized tests, and once you have those under your belt, start fresh again with test scores and a GPA that is probable, not just one you are hoping for. Good luck.</p>
<p>Bingo, GA2012MOM. Spot on. Very useful advice.</p>
<p>Thank you GA2012Mom. I agree. GPA can change a lot during this year. My GPA went up three points last year. The courses I am taking and took are the same course titles offered at other county schools. I have friends at other high schools nearby and their transcripts look the same. I don’t know how other counties look, but I know how mine does it. I probably won’t get the “most rigorous”, but I will get the “very rigorous” on my recommendations. The only courses I took which are easier have been math and I didn’t take AP Physics. You had to get into AP Lang and not many people got in. I have to take French, so I only had one other elective. My other elective had to be journalism and it didn’t work out. I am now in drama because all other classes are full and I don’t want my schedule to change completely. I love acting, but if I would go back I would take AP Pyschology. </p>
<p>I have friends who never took any AP class before this year. I have a friend who is taking AP Biology and AP Pyschology this year. She is in college prep language arts and math. She did about the same as me in honors biology. I took the most rigorous course load freshman year and the same with sophomore year except for math. There wasn’t anyone who took more then one AP class freshman or sophomore year. In AP US, we have a lot of people who are taking their first AP. I know how the class works because of the two AP classes I have taken. However, every teacher has their own method for teaching. </p>
<p>Anyway, I really hope to find the best fit for me and have a happy four years of college.</p>
<p>Ec- your GPA went up 3 points in a year? Like from 3.1 to 3.4? Wow. Did you get straight A’s?</p>
<p>My cumulative GPA went up from a 3.1 to a 3.4. I got straight A’s and two B’s each semester. I had one low B in French first semester, but everything else was great. My two B’s I got second semester were both high B’s, 88% and an 89%. I have improved greatly. My academic GPA went up from a 2.9 to a 3.1 in ONE semester. I did so poorly freshman year because of two D’s in accelerated math.</p>
<p>I have a very upward trend. My goal is to end up with a weighted cumulative GPA of a 3.6 or 3.7 this year.</p>
<p>The more semesters you have in your GPA the harder it is to increase the overall score hugely. When you have only 2 or three semesters to average, the score can jump a lot. But when you have 6 semesters it gets harder. Definitely continue to strive for all A’s (btw- thats what “straight A’s” means-- all A’s. Not 3 A’s and 2 B’s), but it will be hard to get a GPA up by huge leaps and bounds the farther you get in school.</p>
<p>I actually got 4 A’s and 2 B’s lol. I def understand what you are saying. My sophomore GPA compared to my freshman GPA is a huge difference. Will this happen again this year? Probably not, but I feel like I can still raise my GPA to a 3.6. I have always been a bad finals taker, so that is what usually brings my grade down. It brought my grade in honors chemistry from a 95% to a 90% and in french from a 94% to a 89%. I did study and try, but I’m not great at them.</p>
<p>To echo what Jym said, to get your 3.4 to a 3.6 this year you need to get straight A’s.</p>
<p>Thanks, I will try my hardest!</p>