What am I supposed to do?? :(

careld
Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:03:59 +0000

Hi, I’m a high school to-be senior who has to apply to colleges this year. Any help would be welcomed
So first, I live outside the States. Let it suffice that people here don’t know that much about American universities in general - and almost nothing about liberal arts colleges.
Because of this kind of situation, I never really heard about LACs until this winter break, when I really got interested about one of them. It had everything I needed, it seemed, and I thought I could actually be happy there. I mean, college is about what fits me best, right?
But since it was ED, plus I needed to apply for financial aid, I wasn’t so sure whether it’d be right for me to apply there. To begin with I’m not even sure whether I’m a university type or LAC type, so leaving the options open for RD seemed better at times. (Of course it wasn’t as if I’d definitely get in or anything, but still with all that uncertainty it just seemed unwise to apply ED - all the people were like unless I’m a hundred percent sure, ED is never a good option.) Plus, even though the school I’m interested in said it was need-blind to even international applicants, I’d heard that in previous years people from my school who applied for FA got rejected outright.
So I went to my counselor and home room teacher for advice. I expected them to actually think in my shoes, give me the pros and cons of universities and LACs, that sort of stuff. But when I went to them they began with “Well, I’m not that interested in LACs myself.” Then they talked about how I should apply to a university in England, and a large university in the States. One of them actually talked about how unless I was reserved, or wanted to be a “sore thumb” kind of presence, I didn’t have to apply to an LAC. That was bad enough in itself.
Next I realized that it wasn’t as if they’d said the same thing to all the other kids too. Some of my friends told me that they (counselor & teacher) suggested some other LACs to them. Apparently the standard was different there.
The thing is, I’m feeling that they’re just trying to goad me into applying to a major university so that they can add a name to the advertisements for my high school. Since the people here mostly register only Ivy League schools, the school isn’t a big fan of LACs in general. Even though the school I’m interested in is like one of the most prestigious LACs.
If my counselor and teacher doesn’t really care where I’ll be the best fit, and only care about the U.S. News ranking, how am I supposed to actually decide which college to apply to? Are there any places where I can have counseling with a person who can actually see the problem from my point of view and help me out, instead of seeing me as a number on an ad?
I’d be really grateful if you could point out some sites, or people, or anything for me. Thanks :(