<p>looking for a college ANYWHERE that is just awesome! Money is a concern, but i already have some financial safeties in mind in case these schools don’t give me much.</p>
<p>Currently a junior</p>
<p>3.4 gpa
Projected GPA junior year: 3.75 for this semester (have A+ in all academic classes except for one of them) and maybe a 4.0 next semester (will probably be a 3.75 though)
projected SAT score of 2050-2150</p>
<p>EC’s are pretty decent, well focused and shows how i am quite interested in medicine and also finance</p>
<p>It looks like your GPA shows an upward trend, which is great. Honestly, you have a good shot at nearly all LACs (maybe not the super-competitive ones, but you’re a solid contender for almost all the others).</p>
<p>Do you want a finance/business major, or is econ or something good enough? If it’s the former, your options with regards to LACs will be limited.</p>
<p>Occidental College. I’m a big supporter of the school even though I don’t attend. It’s a fantastic institution. Here’s something I wrote on another thread:</p>
<p>"However, I’d like to share my experience when I visited Occidental. My dad and I arrived at Oxy in the morning and we decided not to do the traditional Admissions Talk–> Campus Tour route. Rather, my dad walked me through the buildings where he took classes and introduced me to some professors who taught him! The professors were really warm, accommodating and spoke to me quite a bit. In our discussions, more time was spent getting to know me as a person rather than which colleges I was applying to etc. I was invited to sit in on an game theory class. It was truly an eye-opening experience for me. The professor who was teaching the class was teaching through a board game! Because the class was so small, everyone got in on the act and I participated as well. The Oxy kids were very warm and welcoming and I fit in the class seamlessly.</p>
<p>This is just a small story but I think it tells a lot about Occidental College. It is truly a fine institution and I’ll say that it IS NOT lacking in the intellectual department. Kids are definitely bright and many go on to do great things. Oxy is a school that is a fantastic stepping stone to success. It was tough for me to turn Oxy down but I’d recommend it to anyone who is thinking of applying. I hope this helps."</p>
<p>Look at Allegheny College in PA. They have an excellent pre-med program as well as a strong econ department (although they don’t have finance or business type programs.) You can read more about it in “Colleges that Change Lives”.</p>
<p>We have a son at Kalamazoo College who had stats pretty similar to yours. (Actually, he’s currently in France on his study abroad term.) He would definitely say it’s awesome (both K College and France). It’s a beautiful school, intellectually lively and demanding, but with a fun, laid back student body.</p>
<p>Good luck with your search. There are a lot of great LAC choices out there for kids like you.</p>
<p>I second Occidental College. My son and I went out to visit and were incredibly impressed. The academics are great, campus is beautiful and students seemed very happy. Like the previous poster, my son did not end up there (he is a film kid and was accepted to a school with a terrific film production program). However, we were both wowed by Oxy and I look forward to revisiting it with my daughter in a few years!</p>
<p>rh, I agree with poster #2. Your grades and scores won’t keep you out of just about any LAC. You should determine what you want – location, atmosphere, etc – then build a balanced list of reach/match/safety.</p>
<p>Your extracurriculars will figure strongly in admissions as will your recommendations and essays. LACs tend to look at the whole person and what s/he could contribute to the campus community. Since LACs have distinctive personalities they also want to make sure that you’ll fit in with the prevailing campus culture. It’s much more than just grades and scores.</p>
<p>You’ll need to be very specific on the type of aid that you require. If your family qualifies for need based aid, then you won’t be restricted. If you’re expecting merit based aid you’ll have to do so research as not all LACs offer merit money.</p>
<p>Hi, momofdb. My daughter is interested in film production, too, and would like to go to an LAC in the eastern half of the country. Do you know any schools that might fit her criteria and interests? Also, where did your son end up?</p>