A Different Kind of Chance (Help me Decide)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Here's the scoop. As I am approaching the time to actually start applying, I've come to the point where i HAVE to cut my college list. I can only afford to apply to six schools, maybe 7. So, I was hoping the good people at CC will help me cut down my list. There are a couple of schools that are free to apply to, so i will apply to them regardless. But as for the others, i need to cut the list. I want to figure the ones i have the best chances at, while still maintaining some reaches. BTW, i want to major in neuroscience and do a minor in tech theatre or some kind of art</p>

<p>First, the STATS(duh duh DUH)</p>

<p>Rising Senior Female
Rank 3/447 (top 1%)
ACT score: 34 (34E, 34S, 35R, 32M)
PSAT: 211(national merit commended)
APs taken: AP Lang, APUSH, AP Psych and will take AP Stats, AP Calc, AP World, AP Gov(My school only offers 11, and I'm taking seven)
The rest of my schedule has been honors</p>

<p>ECs:
President of Theatre Club and ITS(extremely involved)
Vice President of Debate Team
-3 Time National Tournament Qualifier(pretty prestigeous, only like 100 kids do it thrice)
-Runner-up in the STATE TOURNY for PF(being recruited a few places)
Captain of Quiz Team-regional champs
Captain of Math Team-regional champs
Captain of Brain Bee Team-regional champs
Editor of Yearbook
Copywriter and Columnist for Newspaper
Art Club member</p>

<p>1000 hours of community service</p>

<p>Work approx. 15-20 hours a week at a Dairy Queen</p>

<p>THE SCHOOLS</p>

<p>I will def apply to (because they are free)
Union College in NY
University of Alabama
Mount Holyoke</p>

<p>THE REST(needs to be cute to six or seven)
Smith
Scripps
Pitzer
Franklin and Marshall
Tulane
Pomona
Hampshire
MIT
University of Pittsburgh
Baldwin Wallace</p>

<p>Like i said, I just want to know where you think i'd have good chances and thus should apply to</p>

2

<p>Wow, do you sleep? 1000 hours of service, 15-20 hours a week job, and like 5 different activities where you are ‘highly involved’? </p>

<p>Anyway, take MOST of those colleges away from your list- unless, of course, you want to shortchange yourself. You are too good for almost all of those colleges- You only need one safety. And don’t even bother sending applications to those free application colleges, you are wasting your time since you WILL get into FAR better schools than that. (Haven’t heard of Union…) </p>

<p>Since I’m assuming since you can only afford 6-7 applications, you are on the low end of the socioeconomic scale? That will work out in your favor, given your impressive application. </p>

<p>Keep Pomona on there… I don’t know about MIT, since you seem to be well rounded instead of hugely math/science oriented… is there any specific reason for MIT? I would suggest looking into some of the lower to middle Ivies as slight reaches, such as Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia… Pick one safety, and then load up the rest of your 6 spots with top 15 or top 10 LACs or any national colleges in the top 20, preferably top 15 or even top 10 if you are feeling confident in your essays and recommendations- maybe about 3-4 matches, and 2-3 reaches. </p>

<p>I know rank isn’t everything, but your college application is GREAT, you are an excellent applicant, and competitive at all top schools- you should take advantage of that. </p>

<p>PS- It would help if you specify where your 1000 hours of service is in. 1000 hours of random service to make an application look good is FAR worse than 1000 hours of dedicated service toward something you love.</p>

3

<p>I want to apply to MIT just as a “can i get in” kind of app…</p>

<p>and my 1000 hours is ALL at a community theatre that i love soooooooooooo much. I worked in their children’s theatre for two summer’s doing all the odd jobs and getting to bring theatre to alot of children…It was something i LOVED</p>

4

<p>yes MIT would be highly difficult but you didnt state your GPA so its hard to know where you would be likely to get in</p>

<p>I would say keep scripps, tulane, and UPitt for sure! ( i just really liek those schools : ) Good luck</p>

5

<p>oh shoot…
i did forget my GPA
it’s a 4.0 without weight
and like a 4.5ish with(not exactly sure how we weight)</p>

6

<p>I completely agree with the chinaman up there ^^ :D</p>

<p>Your EC’s are like AMAZING. Yeah, you need to apply to some better schools. I would say you should still apply to the free ones. I mean, why not? Might take a little extra time, but you have nothing to lose.</p>

7

<p>Forget F&M. They take 80% of their class ED. And if you like LAC’s how about Colby for a free app? Beautiful school. If you want a school “to just see if I can get in”, why MIT?, how about an Ivy with a great theater dept?</p>

8

<p>Hmm… you really do have amazing stats and an amazing overall transcirpt and I believe that you are selling yourself short in my opinion. But, the three other colleges that I would want you to apply to are Ponoma, University of Pittsburgh and Smith, so you would have an overall good list of colleges:</p>

<p>You know what… you are selling yourself wayyy too short. You need more reaches and matches. Honestly.</p>

9

<p>I would die to have a transcript like yours !!! But why not think about try an Ivy League school? You would have a 99% chance in being accepted.</p>

10

<p>You ought to look at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Great school with great neuroscience program, and I think you’d get in. </p>

<p>You seem to be selling yourself short with schools. Pick 2-3 Ivies, 2-3 matches, and 1-2 safeties, and go for it.</p>

11

<p>Once again, I’m always so stunned by the positive feedback i get from the CC community</p>

<p>I didn’t know Un. of Mich had a neuroscience program. I’ll def have to look at though, although they are a bit expensive</p>

<p>As far as Ivies go, I doubt i’d do well enough on any SAT II to get in, let alone three…
But if you have suggestions for me to add to my list, please send them…I’m willing to look at just about anything</p>

12

<p>Ok, first of all, take the SAT too, just for kicks. I’ve taken both and colleges love that. For the colleges that you have on the list:</p>

<p>Union College-80%
University of Alabama-100%
Mount Holyoke-60% (don’t apply; an all girl’s school!)</p>

<p>Smith-not sure
Scripps-50%, hard if you’re talking about the research institute
Pitzer-40%, very tough liberal arts school
Franklin and Marshall-not sure
Tulane-70%
Pomona-50%, a little more lenient is Pomona
Hampshire-80%
MIT-20% (but still apply)
University of Pittsburgh-80%
Baldwin Wallace-not sure</p>

<p>If you think you’re out of reach for a few schools, then I can tell you that you don’t need to cut any off.</p>

<p>But if you think you’re list is too long, I think you should eliminate the following:
Baldwin Wallace
Smith
Scripps
Franklin and Marshall
Tulane</p>

<p>I would also think of adding the following, seeing as you’re a liberal arts fan:</p>

<p>University of Chicago
Emory University
University of Notre Dame
Swarthmore
Grinnell
Oberlin</p>

<p>Best of Luck!</p>

13

<p>last year Wellesley’s app was free if you applied online - that might be an interesting school for you (if you like Smith, Pitzer and Mt. Holyoke)</p>

14

<p>Yeah, you should try to take the SATs too (-: And I’m pretty sure youre gonna do well on it since ur stats are crazy good! Good job! :-D</p>

15

<p>why are people telling you to try the SAT when your ACT is amazing! You would get into every single school you listed with a full ride, or close to it… (except MIT of course)</p>

16

<p>wouldn’t Smith and Pomona be reaches? i mean…my GC made it sound like those would be super tough to get into…and that F&M and Pitzer would be stretches</p>

17

<p>No, you’re (probably) in for both, with your academic record. If Smith and Pomona were reaches for someone like you, I’d hate to see who could get into some place like Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore. I’d say they are matches.</p>

<p>Listen to what everyone here is saying: You are shortchanging yourself with that list. Cut out all but one safety, and then load up with matches and reaches. Reaches for you would be Ivies (Even HYPSM, if you are willing to try your luck) and top 5 LACs. Matches would be anything below that and above Rank 20 or 15…</p>

18

<p>Your stats are pretty great and I think you can get into many of these schools.</p>

<p>Franklin and Marshall
Tulane
Pomona
MIT
University of Pittsburgh</p>

<p>From the ones you are considering adding I would say:
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
Swarthmore</p>

19

<p>Thanks to everyone for their posts
although i think i’m more confused as opposed to less :)</p>

20

<p>I would add more selective colleges as well. I see a lot of hard work in your profile…
there are lots of LAC’s that u can easily reach. </p>

<p>Middlebury / Carleton / Williams / Amherst</p>