How to find college fit?
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Anonymous
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I keep reading about college fit but having hard time trying to figure our a fit. Almost every college seems good with the below criteria:
- No preference for big or small college - No preference for either a city or college town - No big preference for sports, but would like the school to have a baseball team - Pay is not an issue but would not want to waste it either - Would focus on STEM with a focus on Math but not sure if it would be sciences, engineering or CS - Very interested in a research opportunity at undergrad level - Exceptionally strong in math - Dorm with AC would be strongly preferred Perfect GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but asian male. No extracurriculars except math, math and more math activities. Not looking at prestiage at all. Just trying to find schools where he has a good chance of getting in and also enable him to pursue math and go into sciences/engineering/CS as they seem to be most likely paths he would be interested in. Could the more experienced posters please provide any advice and pointers to get started on the college list? |
Anonymous
| We are in Virginia. |
Anonymous
| One thing I focused on was the amount of bureaucracy and self-motivated my kid exhibits. If your kids a go-getter self organized then the big universities may work. More inhibited kid may be wanting a firm campus with 4 year housing and lots of support. |
Anonymous
| Affordability,major, location, & numbers (GPA & SAT/ACT) at 75%th percentile or better. |
Anonymous
Is the reason why no preference in these because he is super introverted? I ask because most kids have a strong preference if they have visited a few college campuses. If he really doesn’t mind the environment either way, then just pick strong stem schools. Ones that have the broadest majors and minors that are easy to navigate switch majors explore minors etc. Everything from Rice to Tufts to Purdue for a start. |
Anonymous
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No wonder you seem overwhelmed. There are thousands of colleges and few limiting factors. Perfect GPA and math, math, math.
A couple questions: Does he have most rigorous across all disciplines? AP English Lang and Lit, AP World, APUSH, AP foreign language? And what will the WGPA after senior year look like? You’re problem is so many engineering schools require a direct application from HS. Once you get to the school, it’s harder and no guarantee to transfer in. Is he planning on applying to Engineering or Arts and sciences? |
Anonymous
^^^ sorry, WGPA after junior year. And APS, FCPS, LCPS? |
Anonymous
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In addition to highly selective schools strong in math (Georgia Tech, Harvey Mudd, MIT, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, Amherst, Pomona, Williams, Haverford, Brown, Swarthmore, Hamilton) check out:
Macalester Rose-Hulman St. Olaf |
Anonymous
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Case
RIT Michigan Tech |
Anonymous
| Don’t want to hijack but wanted offer solidarity. My daughter is similar to your son. It’s so hard to help them figure out fit. |
Anonymous
You need to actually visit. It does not need to be all or any of the schools on your list but until you go on college tours, speak to students, hear their authentic voices everything is the same |
Anonymous
Have you visited campuses? |
Anonymous
Agree, plus since you mentioned undergraduate research, he should take a look at WPI too. |
Anonymous
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OP, is the lack of size and location preference because he hasn’t started college visits or has he visited colleges and not had a preference? A lot of kids have no idea until they start college visits. In which case, take him to 4 very different in state schools and get a reaction. Schedule visits to VT, UVA, VCU and WM (yes, I know WM isn’t going to be a math engineering fit, but it’s a good proxy for small to midsized non rural privates). It would be unusual if he didn’t start to have a preference after that. Then you could build on that to visit places further away. Nothing like going to Maine, only to have your kid say “meh”. Ask me how I know.
Off the top of my head, Case Western does not require freshmen to apply directly to engineering. RPI could be great for an all math kid. Apply to Pitt rolling decision in August for one acceptance in September. It takes the pressure off. Purdue, UICU, UMDCP, Georgia Tech, are all great— if he wants a large school with D1 sports presence. |
Anonymous
Affordability - not an issue major - STEM but not sure if it would be pure math/sciences/CS/Engineering location - prefer to avoid west coast but all else open numbers (GPA & SAT/ACT): 4/4 with with the most rigorous courses that he could possibly take. 1570 SAT. Superficially all are within range but we know that he is not competitive for top 30 with no extracurriculars. |