good college?

Question

I'm in10th grade and I'm beginning to wonder about colleges. Any ideas? I live in upstate NY, but that doesn't mean I want to stay. My GPA is around 3.8 and im in key club(volunteering), building council(st. gov) and business club.any thoguhts?!?!

Answer 1

Princeton Review has a tool where you can enter information about your background and interests. It will then suggest a list of schools that are a good match for you. The link is below.

Be careful about what others here say. For example, Olivia puts UPenn in the list of great Liberal Arts schools but doesn't include it in her list of good business schools -- when it has the top rated undergraduate B-School in the world. And she doesn't include Duke in the greal Liberal Arts programs (where it is in the top five or ten in the US) but says that it is a great place for business. While Duke does have a premier B-School -- it only takes graduate students. They do not offer business as an undergraduate major.

I don't mean to put down Olivia -- her advice about collegeboard.com is good.

Answer 2

A 3.8 is a pretty good GPA, so you have a lot of options (as long as your SAT and SAT II scores are good too...)
In NY, look at: Sarah Lawrence (if you're artsy), Colgate (perfect match for your GPA), Skidmore, Hamilton, Syracuse (safety).
In MA, look at: Amherst, Williams (bit of a reach), Mount Holyoke, Smith (both all-girls schools), Babson (especially good if you want to go into business), Boston College, Boston University (safety), Emerson (if you're artsy), Tufts (good match)
In CT, look at: Fairfield U, Connecticut College
In PA, look at: Villanova, Haverford, Swarthmore, Bucknell (safety), Dickinson (safety), Franklin & Marshall, Lehigh.
It's great that you're thinking about it now--it might be a good idea to tour some of these colleges--or at least walk around the campus--if you're ever close by. I started touring my sophomore year--I thought I wanted to go to college down south, and after touring, I realized I didn't--which was great, because that helped me narrow down my college search.
Things to consider when narrowing down your search: Size of the student body, teacher to student ratio, how big the classes are, location (urban or rural).

Answer 3

It depends what you want to study!

Liberal Arts: Bates, Swarthmore, Barnard, Skidmore, Oberlin, UPenn, Boston College

Business: Duke, UNC, Babson

You should sign up on collegeboard.com and take the quizzes there to see which colleges are most compatible with your needs (financial, urban, majors, diversity, etc.) Good luck and congratulations on your good GPA and volunteer work!