Hi!
This is my first post on CC so bear with me.
DISCLAIMER This is an incredibly long post and I apologize in advance. THANK YOU if you read the entire thing - I’m desperate for advice
I’m a rising senior, class of 2016, and I’m beginning to panic because I haven’t found many schools that I love and can 100% picture myself at them. I’ve been looking at a wide variety of schools but none of them have majorly stood out yet.
Here’s what I’ve looked at so far:
Boston University
MIT
Brown
U of Michigan
Case Western
Oberlin
Skidmore
Johns Hopkins
U of Vermont
Amherst College
Swarthmore
Cornell
U of Rochester
U of Maryland
Not sure of 4.0 GPA, but 96.6/100
1 high school in NJ (as of 2015)
19 high school in USA (as of 2015)
Exams:
SAT 2140
IB Spanish SL (6)
IB History SL (7)
The rest of my IB classes are HL and I’ll be taking the exams in May
ECs/ clubs/ achievements:
Horseback riding (10 years)
Marching band/ concert band (4 yrs going on 5 - I auditioned and joined in 8th grade) + flute lessons since 4th grade
Volunteer at a hospital (including shadowing a genetic counselor)
Big Brothers Big Sisters (only 1 year - the school ran out of funding)
Environmental Club 4 yrs - on the event planning committee 2 yrs
FFA - 4 yrs - won states 2 yrs and got 2nd place at nationals 1 yr (potentially going to nationals this year, as well)
Science Competition Club - participated in Jersey Shore Science Fair 1 yr
Students of Service Club - 4 yrs
NHS - inducted junior yr and most likely a member senior yr
Spanish Honor Society - inducted jr yr and most likely a member senior yr
Shadowing an equine vet for the summer and will continue throughout the school yr
National Geographic Student Expeditions Costa Rica (40 hrs community service) summer before junior yr
LOOKING FOR:
mid sized school (preferably not less than 2000 - but not huge either)
more than 2 hrs away from home (which is in central NJ), but not over a 20 hr drive (leaning towards staying on/ near East Coast or Northeast)
must be in a town or city - i.e. I didn’t like Oberlin b/c it’s too in the middle of nowhere for what I’m used to (densely packed NJ) NOTHING IN NYC PLEASE
nowhere south of Virginia
good bio options
research ops
study abroad ops
horseback riding opportunities
well-rounded education (not ONLY good at bio i.e. UMich has relatively good programs in everything)
relatively pretty campus
not a huge frat/ sorority presence
not super rigorous (i.e. NOT an Ivy), but not too easy (i.e. 90% acceptance) - I still want to be challenged, just not tortured
Potential majors:
Bio
Neuroscience
Something vet related (possibly want to be an equine vet)
Applying to (probably):
SKIDMORE (100% definitely)
Hopkins
Brown
Cornell
Case Western
UMich
*NOTE a lot of these schools are super selective so I need some less selective schools on my list
ALSO these schools do not have a lot in common. That’s the part that scares me. I haven’t found my “type.”
I’ll try to wrap this up now.
Thank you so much to anyone who bothered to read this huge thing!! I apologize for making it so long, I just feel really clueless after visiting so many schools!