What good colleges can I apply to?

What are some of the best colleges I could get into?

• Competitive Jesuit school in Fairfield, CT (Fairfield Prep). School doesn't rank. GPA - 3.4 UW (school barely weights anyway) SAT - 2150 (730 reading, 700 math, 720 writing) I'm a junior, taking 1 AP next year and 1 honors course. Very limited choices in terms of APs so this will be explained. Moved from Canada sophomore year which can help explain lower GPA (in rec letter from guidance counselor). ECs - 4 years of baseball, 2 of basketball. Have a job at a local indoor sports place working reception, coach 6th grade basketball, things like that. Looking at small liberal arts colleges; what are some of the most prestigious that would probably accept me? Also, what should I improve?

• Answer:

  Your GPA is probably the main concern here. Your SAT score is strong, but the discrepancy between that and your GPA makes it hard for you to be competitive for the upper echelons of liberal arts colleges. Even with an explanation, I wouldn't expect you to be in the running for any of the top 25 liberal arts college in the country; colleges are willing to take that into consideration, but ultimately they want to avoid people who might bring baggage, and they get so many qualified applicants that they can really just wave it off. Your EC's are mainly restricted to sports, which is mostly beneficial only if you play sports as you do or if you intend to study sports management; however, most liberal arts colleges are Division III at best, and most don't offer sports management, so you lose traction against people who have done a wider range of EC's such as sports, but also music, community service, etc.