Where should I apply to college?

Where should I apply to College?

• My junior year in high school just ended. I don't know what colleges I have a chance of getting into. Cost is also a factor. I live in Florida. SAT: 1720 Reading 560, Math 530, Writing 630, 8 essay ACT: 27 English 31, Math 24, Reading 26, Science 26, 9 essay GPA so far is about 3.5-3.6 unweighted, and I don't know the weighted one. I took one AP test just for the heck of it even though I didn't take the AP class, AP Psychology, and got a 3 on it. I don't see AP's as important for me. The catch is, I have 81 credits of college classes at a university. And will have ~40 more by the time I graduate high school in a year. At my school, 9th grade is in a high school setting and 10th-12th is full time at the university. (FAU) I only need one more year of college after high school to get my bachelor's in biology, and I've already been accepted into FAU with early admission so I have the option of staying here, but I want to apply to a few other schools, and I want 1 or 2 reach schools just for the heck of it. I'll most likely be staying in Florida because of the cost but I'm definitely open to other options. I'm thinking UF and UM but that's all I've got so far. Columbia or Stanford would be nice but my test scores aren't good enough. I don't think I need to retake them, my ability to succeed in college courses is demonstrated by the actual college courses I've taken, not some standardized test. So, I guess I can ramble my grades: (DE = Dual Enrollment, taken at FAU.) -Middle School HS Courses: B – Honors Algebra 1 (1 year) B – Honors Integrated Science (1 year) A – Honors Geometry (1 year) A – Regular Spanish 1 (1 year) A – Latin 1 (1 semester) -9th Grade Courses: A – DE Beginning Spanish 1 (1 semester) A – DE Beginning Spanish 2 (1 semester) C – Honors Algebra 2 C – Honors World History C – Honors Chemistry 1 A – Honors Biology 1 C – Honors English 1 A – Regular HOPE (health/gym) B – Regular Computer Graphics (they tried to butcher us in 9th to weed out the lazy ones >.< it was unfair.) Summer: A – DE US History -10th Grade Courses: Fall: (GPA = 3.896) A – DE Biodiversity B+ – DE Biodiversity Lab A – DE Contemporary Chemical Issues A- – DE College Writing 1 A – DE Precalculus Algebra A – DE University Transition Spring: (GPA = 3.620) A- – DE General Chemistry 1 A- – DE Chemistry 1 Lab B – DE Analytical Calculus 1 A – DE College Writing 2 A – DE General Psychology Summer: (GPA = 3.732) B+ – DE Chemistry 2 B+ – DE Chemistry 2 Lab A – DE Rock&Roll in US Society A – DE Statistical Inference -11th Grade Courses: Fall: (GPA = 3.905) A- – Microeconomic Principles A – Interpretation of Fiction A – Intro to Philosophy A – College Physics 1 A- – General Physics 1 Lab Spring: (GPA = 3.979) A – Bioprinciples A – Bioprinciples Lab A – Organic Chemistry 1 A – Intermediate Spanish 1 A – College Physics 2 A- – General Physics 2 Lab Summer: (this term just started) Organic Chemistry 2 Organic Chemistry Lab Nutrition in Health & Exercise Music Appreciation & History For Senior year I'm thinking Biochemistry 1, Genetics, US History, Government, Writing, Biochemistry 2, Microbiology, Biological Behavior Bases, Intermediate Spanish 2, and labs. Cumulative University GPA = 3.860 I'll have over 500 volunteer hours by the time I graduate. I have 274 from Office for Students with Disabilities at my university, 50 from helping with the 9th grade AP Biology class, 24 from Locks of Love, 20 from Hospice (which I'm still going to regularly), and...something like 20 from various other things I've done. Plan to continue with OSD and Hospice through senior year if I can. Extra Curriculars...eh. I did Science Olympiad for 2 years, Drama Club for 2, Interact Club for 1, International Student Organization for 1. I assume volunteering goes here too. I travel a lot...I don't even really know what goes here. There's only about 40 students in my HS class, so i don't know my ranking, definitely at least top 25% but beyond that I don't know. My main issue is that I don't know if it'd be better for me, as far as Grad School goes, to go to a better university. I love FAU, it'd be convenient and cheap and easy and I know my way around and I know many of my teachers, but everyone says it isn't a "good" school. I'm going to graduate school, either PhD or MD/DO. Leaning towards PhD because less debt and I'm not crazy about dealing with sick people all day. I'm 17 by the way. So, should I just stay at FAU or what?

• Answer:

  Think of applying to college like diversifying your portfolio if you're into investing. Apply to some safety (your state school) schools and some long shot schools (Colombia, Harvard etc.). I can't tell you what college would be a good fit for you, but I can say this. I went to a larger school, that was a good school, but I wish I had gone to a smaller school where the focus was more on teaching and not faculty research. If you're planing on going into biology I would encourage you even more to go to a smaller school. Here's my opinion. You'll get a much better educational experience at a smaller college, and smaller colleges put a lot of effort into looking at the whole student when deciding to admit you than larger schools do. A school like, lets say Cornell will look mainly at you ACT/SAT GPA high school ranking, class rank etc. Whereas a small school will look more at the whole package in addition to test scores etc, but from what you've mentioned you seem to have all the numbers in the right place. Take a look at this list of top liberal arts colleges, and look at their websites. They offer some really unique educational opportunities. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges