Picking a college. Three

Hey, you highschool juniors in E....Your questions have been great. I'm holding responses to your questions in the hope I may answer them in a post. Don't worry, I read each one and in a few days will respond.

Now a majority of students I have worked with,a pattern becomes clear. Like a first love most of you have a college you are mad to be accepted at. And if you don't get accepted at your first love, then with broken heart you go to one of your state public university. That's fine. But I suggest you broaden your horizon. As a said in my earlier post:There is a college looking for you. Look wider and you may find that college.

First, then, I suggest you go by groups to start your college search.

I'll suggest a pattern that I follow and then you can adjust it to your situation.


So here we go.

I know your parents, and probably you, wonder how you might get into an Ivy League school.

Harvard, Yale,  Princeton,Dartmouth---sure, there are other Ivies, but in our part of the country these are the Ivy League.Columbia and Penn and Cornell are Ivies, but they are large school with many graduate students and most first year college seekers from our part of the country usually find these last three a bit forbeidding. And we must add what I call Ivy League WEST. Standford, Cal, Tech, Cal Berkeley.

Group two are eastern colleges that are highly selective, but maybe you are not familiar with. In the public mind these schools may not be well known but they are fine schools just a little below the Ivies in prestige.Let me suggest a few.Williams, Lafayette,Colgate,Lehigh, Bucknell, and Holy Cross (for you papist::). There are a lot of schools in this category---I call them Ivy League "Lite." These are eastern schools, but you can make your own lists if you're not big on the East.

Group three are schools that are selective, yes, but for one reason or another are somewhat easier to get in to. Again there are lots of schools in this category so I've picked a state---OHIO---and mention several in that state that may be looking for an Okie if---and it can be a big if---the applicant ranks at least in the top quarter of his/her highschool graduating class. You might look at:Denison, Oberlin,Hiram, Wittenberg,Ohio Wesleyan. Okay, you haven't heard of these, but to people who know colleges these are fine schools.

Group four are schools within our general area: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas.They are generally comparable to the schools in Group Three. But a bit easier to get into. Four should be checked. Trinity University ( San Antonio), Austin College, Southwestern (Georgetown, Texas), and Hendrix College (Conway, Arkansas)

Now let's say you didn't set yourself on fire with the books in highschool. Are you destined to sell pencils on a street corner? Absolutely not. As life has it you may someday interviewing your best friend---a Dartmouth grad---for a home loan. But remember, you don't go to college just to get a better job. You go to college to get an INTRODUCTION to learning, and knowledge. You also will known, then, that learning and knowledge are mainly up to the individuals. So I recommend you guys in this group check out the schools in our home state. There are several that you can be accepted to. The school is the guide. But what you make of it is up to you.