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I'd like to know based on your impressions of me what schools you think I'd be a good fit at, and let me know about what range (reach/match/safety) you'd think they'd be. Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

I currently attend a very homogenous public high school on an island with about 1300 kids in an affluent community of 20K or so. I want to be at a college that is larger than my high school, about 2000 or 3000 sounds nice, but large universities scare the crap out of me. More diversity than I'm used to would be great, but I think you can get that nearly everywhere. I really want a residentially-oriented campus where most of the undergrads live on it rather than sprawling out in apartments over a city. I'm definitely not a big city person, but a smaller city or suburb or even rather rural sounds ok. The surrounding town should be a good college town with things to do if I get bored. I want there to be a strong academic focus and I'm not a reserved studious dork but I don't really want to be at a place where frats dominate or where the only way to do is to drink. A friendly campus is important, and I don't like the idea of going to a place where everyone is competitive with each other or stuck-up or self-absorbed. I'm pretty laid-back and I'm really frustrated with the grade mongers at my high school, so a cooperative environment with just the right amount of pressure is really important. I don't want to go to a school with a religious affiliation, I suppose a Jesuit school might be OK but I am agnostic and don't want an emphasis on any faith. I am politically moderate with leanings left but as long as the campus isn't completely full of pot-smoking hippies or young republicans, I'm fine. As far as weather goes I live now around Puget Sound and I don't know how well I'd take to a place where it is sunny year-round, and I enjoy rain and storms. A milder/colder climate is definitely preferable. There needs to be water somewhere, be it a coastline or lake or river. I really like snow and downhill skiing. I don't want to be anyplace where most of the people have strong accents--sorry, but I won't be able to stand anywhere in the south. I am sure I will major in math, physics, or chemistry or something closely related to those fields, and so I'd like the school to have good departments in all three of those. I probably will go on to grad school or maybe even study to get my Ph.D so my undergrad school must be a place where I could get a very strong grounding in my major, but a liberal arts school is fine. I actually prefer the idea of a LAC to a research university because I want to have solid interactions with my professors and not be ignored in a large lecture hall, but I'm not demanding constant personal attention either, just my money's worth. There should be very good financial aid, through nice merit scholarships or meeting 100% of need with low loans or something. I am the oldest of four kids (with a sister oneyear behind me who will be going to college as well) in a roughly 60K/yr income bracket, and neither of my parents went to college, so both affording and knowing how to pay for college will be difficult and I need as many grants and scholarships as I can get. I'm not about prestige but the name of the school is important to me--I must be able to say "I am a student at so-and-where" and not feel retarded or pompous or confused. It has to look good on a hooded sweatshirt.

As far as my stats go, I have a 4.0 uw GPA with the hardest curriculum available, and I'm expecting to be ranked #1 (tied maybe with a couple others out of 300 or so) at the end of this year. I have a 1560 SAT (800M) and will take math iic, physics, and writing in June. I expect to be a NMSF with a 230 index in WA. My extracurriculars are unimpressive as I have varied interests and not enough means to really delve into what I am good at (excuses excuses...). I can write a decent essay if inspiration strikes and get good recommendations that probably won't make or break any deal. I am white and female (and definitely NOT interested in a women's college because I get along well and work better with guys than with girls).

Feel free to email me at useatoothbrush@bolt.com. I know this is a really long disorganized post but any help is wonderful.

By Rosarosaef (Rosarosaef) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 10:21 pm: Edit

"I don't want to go to a school with a religious affiliation, I suppose a Jesuit school might be OK but I am agnostic and don't want an emphasis on any faith."

i'd steer clear of the jesuit schools if i were you. pax vobiscum.

By Useatoothbrush (Useatoothbrush) on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 01:57 am: Edit

bump this bad boy up