A Good List of Match Schools?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys,

I’ve come up with a list of colleges that I’m thinking of applying to, but there’s still like 15 schools on it. I don’t want to apply to that many, so could you guys help me narrowing the match schools down? I’m not too sure what I want to do in the future, but I’m thinking of maybe majoring in engineering.

Unweighted GPA: 4.0
SAT: 2400
SAT II: Math 2 - 800, Chemistry - 780, Physics - 780
ACT: 34
PSAT: 1510
8 AP tests. 5s on the two I took last year. and for the six I took this year I’m guessing I got mostly 5s and a couple 4s.
A variety of academic distinctions and awards.

Varsity tennis, placed at state in doubles
200+ hours volunteering at a hospital, a little bit of tutoring kids
Captain of academic team
Piano awards. Biggest one was when I won a state contest and placed second out of four states.
Orchestra
Some minor clubs

Besides the several reach school schools I’ll apply to, this is the list of matches I came up with.

University of Michigan
USC
University of Washington at St. Louis
Tufts
Northeastern
Carnegie Mellon

How does it look?

2

Seems fine (though it’s Washington University in St. Louis). Cornell belongs somewhere within your greater list.

3

Wash U (not U Wash, wrong state), Tufts, USC, and UMich OOS all have sub-20% acceptance rates. They’re reaches. Maybe CMU as well, I’m not as familiar with it. Actual matches might include URochester, CWRU, Tulane, etc.

Don’t send the ACT, it will distract from the perfect SAT.

Do you have safeties?

4

Oh shoot! My bad about butchering the name of Washington University in St. Louis! That’s embarrassing…
Yeah my safety is my state school, the University of Oklahoma.