Advice on final college list! (Trying to add more matches)

College Search & Selection
1

I have been able to narrow down my college list to some schools that I really like, but I feel like I have too many reaches and not enough realistic matches. I’ll post my college list, and reiterate some of my stats from my earlier posts!

Hi all,
I got my May SAT scores back I was pretty disappointed with my score, and I was thinking that my score isn’t high enough for the schools I’m interested in. I’m going to retake and take an ACT, but for now, I need some advice on my college list. I’ll post a little bit about myself, and what I’m looking for, and hopefully someone could suggest a couple of schools I should look into. Thanks!

SAT: 1330/1600. Essay: 6/6/6
PSAT: 1320/1520
SAT II (US History): 710
AP Scores: 5 (APUSH)
5 (English lit)
5 (world history)
2 (AP Physics 1, lololol)
Weighted GPA: 4.4/5.0
Unweighted GPA: 3.95/4.0
Rank: 7/275

Senior classes:
AP Calculus AB
AP physics 2
AP Language
AP Spanish
AP Biology

Leadership: Secretary of biotech club, co-president of Culture Club, VP of National Honors Society
Other Extracurriculars: Green club, Science Quiz Bowl, volunteer at local science museum, summer opportunity doing cancer research at local hospital

Home State: Massachusetts

Hooks: URM (African American female), first generation college student

What I’m looking for in a college:

  • I think I would want to major in biology, biotechnology, or biomedical sciences/engineering, so I would want a school with a good program and research opportunities.
  • Small to medium sized (1,500-8,500)
  • In New England/Mid-Atlantic

Reach:
Wesleyan
Brown
Tufts
Wellesley
Vassar

Matches:
College of the Holy Cross
Providence College
WPI
Fordham

Safeties:
Umass Amherst
Stonehill
Salem State

On a somewhat unrelated note:
I’ve applied to a few fly in programs at Williams, Hamilton, Johns Hopkins and Barnard, and I was wondering if I get into the programs, would it give me a higher chance of getting into the school?

2

If you actually attended(and not just get accepted) into Williams fly-in, your admission chance will be very high(80%+) unless you mess up senior year or have very bad rec letters.

3

Based on your SAT score alone, Brown, Wesleyan and Tufts are out of reach. If you can manage to boost your SAT up to 1450+ or get a 32 on the ACT, those reaches will be a little more attainable. If you can get your SAT up 50 or so more points, I’d advise that you apply ED to either Vassar or Wellesley to improve your chances. Matches and safeties look good. And, yes, being accepted to a fly-in will help your chances. For example, 97% of fly-ins for Penn are later accepted. Your hooks will help.

4

I think that you have a very good list. UMass Amherst is a good safety and a very good school if nothing else works out. You could do very well there. However, I think that you have a good chance at other schools on your list. I agree that boosting your SAT would help quite a bit. I think that you need to do more SAT preparation and otherwise IMHO you look to be in very good shape.

5

Another match you might want to look at is Stevens in Hoboken NJ.

6

@potentialtransfer2018 do you only think Wesleyan is totally out of reach because of my SAT score? Because it is test optional so I can choose not to submit my scores

7

As a URM, I think your matches and reaches are fine. What about adding Northeastern and BU to your matches?

8

Cost constraints?
Have you run the net price calculator on each school’s web site?
Are all of your safeties affordable?

9

Yes, I would advise you not to submit your test scores if the school is test optional. With the GPA you have and your URM status, Wesleyan is actually probably within reach (sorry to be so floppy-floppy; I didn’t see you were a minority after I had written my whole first post… it’ll definitely help out at your tech schools). That being said, my friend, a URM, first generation college student under the poverty line with a perfect GPA and 30+ ACT score (35s in English and reading) did not get into Tufts or Brown.

10

I think that having 5’s in several strong AP courses will really help. Make sure you self report those AP scores. Fit them in on your fly-in application wherever you can find space. They won’t care about the physics class and do not report it. (Worst case they think you got a 3!!! LOL) I think in your case your great AP scores will prove you are academically ready for college level classes.

11

If your interested in Wellesley, you should add Mount Holyoke and Smith to your list. They are less competitive and from reading your bio you might like these schools. Besides that, you have a pretty good list. BTY, your pretty impressive, 3 5’s on AP test is not easy, as well as the challenging schedule. I can’t give an educated response to your SAT considering your URM, but I do know the all Woman’s colleges are very good with financial aid and Merit opportunities so I would suggest your list include at least 2 if not 3 all Woman’s colleges, from what we have learned.