<p>thanks a lot 4 calling me strange. i am planning on going to grad school…</p>
<p>why would boston college be extremely expensive?</p>
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<p>If you attend a school that offers journalism as a major, I agree, not majoring in journalism when you want to become a journalist is silly. However, you shouldn’t turn down an acceptance to a great school that doesn’t offer journalism as a major solely for that reason. There are plenty of journalists that didn’t major in journalism in college.</p>
<p>As long as you write for your school newspaper and get some experience with internships, breaking into the field won’t be more difficult than it should be.</p>
<p>eliminate yale and UPENN
your SATs and average arent good enough (no offense) and your ECs need more depth!</p>
<p>try for columbia, its an ivy, and a reach for you but you should go for it!</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Pomona and Yale would be precisely the WRONG schools to eliminate for money reasons, because both have very generous FA. If you can, get your parents to run a couple of the good online FA calculators, such as the one on the Amherst website. Don’t assume that more expensive, need-blind schools are going to be more expensive to attend. Those are the schools that have the money to give. Many of the others don’t. </p>
<p>I also disagree with those who say that you should apply to just one type of college. Most people are not set on a single environment that will suit them: there can be things that are appealing about different settings. In addition, your thoughts about what will suit you may well change by the time you are faced with making a final choice. Most importantly, you should <strong>keep your options open</strong> until you see where you get in and how much money they give you. </p>
<p>I would suggest that you apply to around 10 schools, UNLESS you have a rock solid academic AND financial safety that you would really LOVE to go to.</p>
<p>That said, your original list seems top-heavy to me. </p>
<p>Here are some thoughts:</p>
<p>Pomona vs Claremont McKenna: P is harder to get into, CM is much more pre-professional. They are in the same consortium, so you can take classes at both. I’d say you should consider CM, but check out whether they have connections/internships in journalism, and how well they prepare people for professional school in the other fields you are interested in. They are going to be big on fit. (Assuming you are interested in going to California.)</p>
<p>Yale/Harvard/Columbia: unless you can convince them that there is something really special going on with you, very unlikely. Pick one if you want. </p>
<p>Brown is <em>slightly</em> easier to get into, rumored to be good for URM candidates, and they seem to like social action ECs.</p>
<p>Have you considered Syracuse? I would look into it. Your stats are very good for them, and they are strong in communications/journalism.</p>
<p>Another LAC to consider is Swarthmore. Last year they actually sent out a mailing to URMs <strong>after</strong> the regular application deadline asking them to apply and extending the deadline just for them. It’s a very tough school, though. Make sure you’d be up for the challenge. I would also take a look at Bowdoin, and I would look at the good women’s colleges, especially Mount Holyoke and Smith (both of which are in the 5-College exchange with Amherst, U-Mass, and Hampshire).</p>
<p>If you can manage to send your ACT instead of your SATs, I think it would be to your advantage. Unless, of course, you can get your math score up significantly (your other scores are fine, although definitely in the lower part of the range for the Ivies on your list). I don’t know much about IB stats, so I don’t know if your math program/scores there will help counter your current math score.</p>
<p>I dont know much about southern schools, but it seems that you have some potential choices there, such as Vanderbilt, Rhodes, and Wake Forest.</p>
<p>thanks consolation…</p>
<p>also, what do u mean by depth of ECs? Do u mean leadership? or something spectacular? i’d be pleased to see someone answer this, thanks</p>
<p>basketballbabe - why columbia? they have the same acceptance rate as harvard/yale… i donr see why they would be any easier to get into</p>
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They’re not as good with FA as the other schools she has listed.</p>
<p>yea i realized that</p>
<p>thx h8rz…muah</p>
<p>At first glance I don’t see what BU and Pitt do for you that UF doesn’t. They seem to be of the same ilk: good quality large urban schools which will support you in a wide variety of interests. (I know BU is private but it often feels like a public – FYI if you haven’t visited). And, as one poster has already pointed out, UF is probably going to be a better value for you as a FL resident. You might want to try to articulate to yourself what they are adding to the choice-space you are attempting to create. If a non-south experience intrigues you, keep one only.</p>
<p>On the other hand I can see what UNC-CH adds - large but non-urban, a little more “academic”, and a little more reputation. It will be a tougher-get as an OOS, but worth a shot if you like it.</p>
<p>Both BC and Emory are distinctive, too, and respectable match-to-reaches. If you get in, they would be intriguing options.</p>
<p>Of Pomona and CMC, I sense you have a streak of pragmatism that aligns better with CMC’s mission rather than Pomona’s more purely-LAC one. As Consolation mentioned, it’s a tad easier target, too. Your FA treatment won’t be all that different than at Pomona. Best of all you’d still have Pomona classes as an option if admitted. I suggest you focus on it.</p>
<p>If you’d like to take a shot at the Ivies, I, too, would suggest Brown, for the reasons Consolation cites. And by keeping Barnard on your list you really are keeping Columbia on it, too. Moreover Barnard uses the Common App and Columbia doesn’t, so it will be a little less work for you to focus on.</p>
<p>So, my suggested list comes to:</p>
<p>FSU
UF
Emory
BC
CMC
Barnard
Brown</p>
<p>Congratulations on a successful HS career thus far, BTW.</p>
<p>I suggest you seek advice from the parents of other African-American students who have recently gone through the application process and have a feel for the admittance and FA chances for a student with your profile.</p>
<p>Go to the Parents Forum and click on the second page. About second from the bottom is a thread with discussion involving Af-Am parents. Either post a question on the thread or privately PM some of the individual posters for advice. I’m sure they’d be able to help you.</p>
<p>Don’t apply to UNC Chapel Hill unless you really want to go there, I’m applying there and it’s my dream school so unless your going there for sure help me out and take that off the list!! haha thanks</p>