Should I be looking into different schools?

proudmama2016
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 01:56:36 +0000

@Tori999,
A few questions to ask yourself as part of coming up with a cohesive list:

1. What is your intended major? Sciences? Poli Sci? English? Comp Science? This could help you look at schools that have strong depts in your area of interest.

2. Do you prefer an urban, suburban or rural setting?

3. Do you prefer a large (10k+), medium (3k-10k) or small size school (think size of classes, limited/quotas for majors,big D1 sports)?

4. What experience do you want to have from your college? Want big tailgate parties, greeks, small community setting where everyone knows each other, strong religious student body, liberal leaning, conservative leaning, or what?

5. How much aid do you need and will you need to supplement “need-based aid” with merit aid? Some colleges give generous merit aid in addition to financial aid.

6. You said you don’t want to be in Maine; do you want to focus on a particular part of the country? I noticed that you have several southern schools – there are lots more if you are interested. (High Point, Elon, Rhodes are all great schools that could be a match for you, too)

7. Can you attend the spring college fair in either Portland or Boston? We unexpectedly found it helpful; it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as expected and my D talked to several schools, ended up feeling much more excited about two of them after talking with the reps there.

Some advice as you hone your list and interests:

1. Research schools that have strong departments in your intended area of interest. (i.e. American University is awesome for Communications, International Relations and Political Science; not so much for Chemistry or Artificial Intelligence.)

2. Begin drafting your response to why your school “lightbulb” didn’t ignite until junior year and how you are now motivated. Colleges like to see an uptick in grades each year, so you certainly can romance your story.

3. Write KILLER essays. Go online and read a bunch. Many schools post their best ones. Hopkins and Emory have some good ones. Be true and authentic. Some of the most compelling essays are about everyday life things about you, and what you learned from a particular experience. Google “String Theory” essay from a student at Johns Hopkins (Essays that Work). It’s cool. Don’t try too hard to impress the reader with your intellectual prowess – just share a critical moment of realization or a challenge that you embraced and what you learned about yourself in the process.

4. Apply to schools you really really like. Your passion for them will come thru in your application. (Be sure to show passion and interest in your apps.)

5. If you don’t have resources to visit schools, see if any of them are traveling to Boston or Portland and attend a reception or presentation. Don’t know how far a drive from ME this would be, but just a suggestion.

6. SHOW INTEREST in the schools you’re applying to. Build a relationship with the Admissions officer for your school or region. This paid off for both of my kids in a big way.

7. Follow the money: research schools that give good merit aid.Apply for outside scholarships (sign up for Fastweb, Cappex).

8. Stay active on College Confidential – I’ve learned many helpful tips and have had lots of support (when I was a fretting parent). The postings for just about any topic can be a resource for you – and keep in mind that a lot is just our opinion, but some of that is solid advice.Careful of “fake” news, right?

Your current list, with comments from me;
Clemson (Top school other than Hamilton) Match
Syracuse University (very interested, touring in February) Match
Hamilton College (Major reach i know, but I plan on applying ED) Reach
Boston University Reach
Florida Atlantic University Match
Colgate Reach
University of Alabama Match (or Reach if doing Honors)
Fordham Match
Arizona State Safety

Note: State universities do not give much aid unless you are in the honors programs.Univ of Florida is an option. If you like Alabama and Clemson, look at Georgia and Maryland, but know that they might not give merit aid to out of state (OOS). Private colleges are more generous with merit. If you like Syracuse, look at Univ or Rochester, Univ of Denver, or Gonzaga in WA state. If you like Hamilton, consider St. Lawrence, Union, Skidmore in NY; Allegheny College, Dickenson, Franklin & Marshall (all in PA), or Denison, College of Wooster in OH (D’s friend got 30k per year/120k), and Wheaton, Clark in MA. Whitman College in WA, Willamette in OR, Chapman in CA. Maybe look at St. Olaf in MN, Lawrence Univ in WI, Beloit in WI. If you like BU and Fordham, then consider George Washington and American in DC and Northeastern in Boston. Arizona State is the outlier on this list as I review it. Why is it of interest to you? UMO should be your safety, too.

What would help you in the immediate timeframe? If you could narrow down location of school, size of school, and what you might want to major in, you could figure out where to go visit over spring break and the summer. Both my kids started with long lists and both narrowed it down to under 10 schools.The good news is that you’ve got some time to whittle it down.

Hope this helps.