Expert: Susie Watts - 8/21/2007

Question
Hello Miss. Watts,
  Thanks for answering questions on the site, but I hope I can ask you a question about a specific case with which I am currently dealing.

I am a senior in high school in a smaller town in Texas (the kind where I personally know people that make their own clothes and ride horses :) which has a graduating class of ~180. I am very interested in computer science as well as mathematics and logic. I do a lot of private study and have even won some international awards for my projects (as I am sure many who apply to more prestigious colleges have). I am fairly smart, though not a genius, and my ACT score was only a 33. My high school does weight grades, and it is facile to make your GPA higher by taking the correct classes; for example, I was in regular history because of a conflict with my Jazz band class. I was able to receive a maximum of a 4.0 GPA for the class (I received 3.5) while students in the AP class received a maximum of a 6.0! For this reason, my class rank when I graduate will probably only be around 5th-8th. I have yet to take SAT IIs but I plan to take Math and Physics (and Spanish if I must take a third). I am very interested in attending a school to study for a mathematics and computer science double major, although I would be happy with a single major in either of these fields if the situation would not allow it. I am in all AP classes this year, and am also taking Calc II through a state university in Oklahoma (online). I am wondering what college would be a perfect fit for me. I would like the opportunity to work in research as an undergraduate, but more importantly, I would like to take classes which would provide a high amount of rigor and abstraction, rather than just a cookie-cutter book education. I am currently interested in Dartmouth and Princeton, as well as Carnegie Mellon and others, but don't have my heart set on either a school or, for that matter, a girl ;) I would like a school that would work to give me some financial aid (my annual family income is ~110,000 a year, a $42,000 a year school is more than my mom makes after taxes!). I also enjoy being around more mature students, who are a little more interested in calculus than partying, but don't want a campus of sterile nerds. Do you have an idea about a correct school for me? I am open to schools of all sizes, but if I had the choice would prefer a smaller school (~4,000-15,000).

I'm sorry my question was so specific, I hope you have an answer that will be help me as well as others. Thanks for your time, have a good day!

 --Kris

Answer
With your grades, ACT test score and family income, you should be able to get some nice scholarships and financial aid.  That is why I am suggesting a number of private schools.  They have the money to offer if they want a student.  The schools are as follows:

Bradley University
Trinity University
Creighton University
Case Western Reserve University
Rice University
Clarkson University
Colorado School of Mines (It is public)
Davidson College