Aiming too high?

<p>I'm getting really anxious about my final college list. Are there any matches that I might be able to add last minute?</p>

<p>Basic Stats:
SATI: 1500 (790V, 710M)
SATII's: 770/770/760
GPA: About a 98.9
Rank: 4 or 5/425
ECS: Lots of student gov stuff, tons of initiative/leadership within it. 2 varsity sports (captain and letterer), lots of community service. Most of the things I do relate to student gov/shared decision making, so it's a pretty consistent passion.</p>

<p>Recs should be great, essays I have no idea. People say they're good but I hate everything I write, so... Anyway, here's the list:</p>

<p>SUPER Reach: Stanford, U.Penn
High Reach: Brown
Reach: Georgetown (applied EA-find out in 2 weeks! Eek!)
Reach/Match: UVA (out of state), Tufts
Safety: Already into U. Mich Honors, applied to U. Wisc @ Madison in Oct.</p>

<p>I'm looking for something to go in the reach/match category. Tuft's admission is quirky, and I heard out-of-state admissions at UVA is like applying to an Ivy, so I'd like to find a school that's a little more of a comfortable match. Any ideas? (Preferably in/next to a city, and I want to major in political science and/or international relations). (I already ruled out JHU, Northwestern, and Emory, by the way)</p>

<p>Thank you, thank you, thank you!!</p>

<p>Lauren :)</p>

<p>You will likely get into Penn or Brown, and very very likely into G-town and UVA. Tufts is 90%. Maybe add UNC-CH?</p>

<p>Did you think about Claremont McKenna? Barnard/Columbia?</p>

<p>Thanks, slipper. That was very reassuring. </p>

<p>Topcat- I seriously considered Columbia and had it on my final list until last night (really!), when I realized I wouldn't be happy with the core, and that NYC might be a little too intimidating at this point in my life. What about Wesleyan or Vassar? And can you tell me a little more about Claremont McKenna? </p>

<p>(BTW, sorry if I don't respond. I have to get off and actually do some work :( )</p>

<p>Two urban LACs are nice options for your interests, and are safeties for you: Macalester (Mpls/St. Paul) and Occidental (LA). Check out the International Studies major at Macalester <a href="http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/&lt;/a>
and the Diplomacy and World Affairs program at Occidental <a href="http://departments.oxy.edu/dwa/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://departments.oxy.edu/dwa/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You have a 99% average and you're still not first?!!!</p>

<p>Crazy, isn't it? The top few have 100's.</p>

<p>Lauren, it's not a trick question, but what aspect of "city" do you like?</p>

<p>My D had "city" high on her list of criteria and has wound up insanely happy in Northampton, Mass...she can find everything she wants in terms of music, art, dining,
theater there. (In fact, when she visited, that was one of the two big questions as to whether that college [Smith] was a possibility...she had been dubious about a "city" of 30K.) Chose Smith over Wellesley (close to Boston) and Barnard (NYC).</p>

<p>Your grades are a bit better, her scores were a bit better, so you're reasonable comps for each other. </p>

<p>Btw, which two sports?</p>

<p>Vassar is an amazing place, Wesleyan is very PCU. I have spent significant time at both. I liked Vassar a ton more. Much more balanced people.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice, everyone.</p>

<p>TheDad- I guess I just like being around lots of different people, traffic, restaurants, arts, etc. I live in a suburb, so I'm dying to try something new. NYC is a little too intimidating at this pioint in my life (although I do hope to live there someday), but cities like Boston and DC just feel "comfortable," if that makes sense. I really don't think I could stand to be away from one- city life is all I've been dreaming about for the past few years! BTW, I play soccer and lacrosse.</p>

<p>Vassar is sounding pretty good right now. Any other ideas?</p>

<p>Also, just a more general question, is my list okay in terms of reaches/matches etc. if I add one more match? I still feel like I'm totally overshooting and that I'm not going to get in anywhere. Am I being unrealistic?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!
Lauren :)</p>

<p>Thats a pretty impressive academic resume.</p>

<p>Lauren, I've lived in D.C. and Boston is one of my favorite places to visit, so I get where you're coming from.</p>

<p>If you're considering Vassar, then I would put in a plug for Smith. Northampton is about the same size (actually a little larger) than Poughkeepsie and has the people, restaurants, arts thing nailed down nicely. Not so much in the way of traffic though they do appear to treat the white lines on the streets as purely decorative and I could swear the pedstrians practice synchronized crosswalk crossing. My D has gone into NYC for a long weekend and has friends attending college in the Boston area and will probably go in that direction as well. My D isn't an athlete but I checked the Smith website and it appears their soccer team is a Top 25 nationally and they also have a lacrosse team, though the text says it's been gutted by 5 seniors graduating and 2 juniors on JYA programs. Smith <em>is</em> single-sex but both Amherst and UMass/Amherst are minutes away; I've met several dozen Smithies by this point and almost every single one has a speech that begins "I didn't intend to apply to a women's college...."
Classes are small, every student is provided with one paid internship, top applicants (of which I think you would be one) are given small scholarships that also include research assistant positions for first and second years, and the year-abroad options are dazzling (my D plans to spend a semester in Budapest studying math, others have spent time with the Royal Shakespeare Company or at Oxford, the program in Italy is first rate etc. etc. etc.).</p>

<p>Vassar and Smith are good comparables for each other...if Vassar's ballet offering had been stronger I think my D would have applied there. But the Five College Consortium at Smith makes for some very rich offerings as well as students from the other campuses being in her classes with the opportunities for vice-versa.</p>

<p>Smith would be an easy Match for you...enough so that I think you'd have a good chance at one of their STRIDE scholarships.</p>

<p>TheDad- Thanks for all of the great information! I definitely wouldn't have considered Smith if it hadn't been for your posts. I'm still not sure how I feel about a single-sex college, but I'm not ruling it out yet. I think I need to talk it over a bit with my parents. I do know, however, that Vassar isn't for me. I did a little research and I just don't think I'd be happy in Poughkeepsie.</p>

<p>BTW, if I added a school like Smith, do you think my list is reasonable? Am I still aiming too high?</p>

<p>Thanks again for all your helpful advice!
Lauren</p>

<p>If you like the idea of the UMich honors program, you are not reaching too high with the rest of your schools. I like your chances at Gtown, Tufts and UVa anyway.</p>

<p>Adding a match school you really are interested in would certainly make sense, though I wouldn't add it unless you like it better than UMich, or Madison for that matter.</p>

<p>Lauren, I agree with Reid. In general, I think your list looks fine.
As for Smith, you're not that far away and it would probably be a good thing to visit. You may discover that you hate it or that you really like it and I think having an LAC or two on your list is a good thing. </p>

<p>Let me give you an example that staggered us: D e-mailed the orchestra director at Columbia who replied, "Get admitted to Columbia, come to the audition, then we can talk." She e-mailed the orchestra director at Smith who set up a time to chat with her on the day we were visiting. While talking to her, he found that we weren't leaving until the next day and said, "Look, we have a rehearsal tonight...why don't you come any time after 8:30 and you can sit with your section on stage while we rehearse."</p>

<p>And I've got to say, <em>everything</em> at Smith has been like that in terms of rich personal attention. Heck, I can't even complain too much about the Financial Aid office, which adjusted D's grants upwards after I asked for a review and going over my tax returns.</p>

<p>Penn is not a super reach for you.</p>

<p>I'm surprised you didn't try GWU as a safety. What about Duke? </p>

<p>I think you have a shot at any of those mentioned on your list. Which one do you like most?</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I truly and honestly appreciate it.</p>

<p>Momsdream- I just didn't really care for GWU, I can't explain it. Maybe it was the campus or maybe it was because I just toured Georgetown, but it just didn't feel right. I couldn't picture myself there, which was a big warning sign for me.</p>

<p>I did consider Duke, but I realized it was too conservative, southern, Greek-dominated and wealthy. Yes, I know, I'm making a huge generalization, but that's just how I felt about it even though I'm sure there are thousands of exceptions.</p>

<p>In terms of my first choice, right now I would just do ANYTHING to get into Georgetown. I love it so much! However, if I got into all of my schools (Hah! Yeah right...!) then I honestly wouldn't know where to attend. I love them all so much, for many different reasons. The only one I could eliminate would be U.Mich Honors, although I do like it. </p>

<p>Soooo, right now I'm still kind of thinking about Smith, but I'm not sure anymore if I'm even going to add another school. Some of you guys brought up a good point- I'm already into U Mich (which I like a lot) and I can't seem to find another "match" school that I prefer over U Mich. Maybe I don't need to add one more. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for all the advice, and any other feedback would be awesome!</p>

<p>Lauren :)</p>

<p>I'll bump this just once, I promise.</p>

<p>Rice has the Baker Institue of Public Policy (which is fabulous) and is in Houston. I know first hand that people in NY have a bias against TX, but seriously Houston is pretty darn awesome. Also, DI sports if you want to keep playing.</p>