Am I applying to all reaches?!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well, here it is.</p>

<p>Stats:
White middleclass male, very good NJ public school
730M 760V 680W(Retaking)
800MathII 780Physics
Grades:
Freshman-84.5(one honors class, 84.5 is a rough estimate)
Sophomore-84.2(one honors class)
Junior-89.2(two honors one ap class)
Senior-two honors three ap classes
Rank: Top 30%
EC's:
Nothing amazing. Things to note include a pending patent, president/founder of Computer Club, Ranked top 5% of new jersey science league for first year physics students.</p>

<p>I have had some serious family problems which i plan to write about- and im not some melodramatic kid whining about a divorce or something, im talking about some legitimate long term serious problems.</p>

<p>The list:
Univeristy of Michigan
University of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon
Case Western
Haverford College
Oberlin College
Emory University
Brandeis University
Carleton College
Reed
UIUC</p>

<p>either:
Franklin & Marshall(safety) or
Rutgers(safety)</p>

<p>Planning to major in physics/philosophy</p>

<p>Please, which do you think are matches/reaches for me? Also, any suggestions for my college list so far? I need to get rid of a few colleges still. I was thinking to maybe take off michigan(98% of students were in top quarter of their HS class). I need to figure out which colleges on my list are hopeless and take some of them off as well. I know I am setting up myself for a lot of rejections- i just want to be sure i wont be rejected at all of them.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>bump</p>

<p>please help me out</p>

3

<p>Franklin and Marshall is not a saftey</p>

4

<p>Out of state, Illinois is probably a safety. But yes, you need to add some more secure safeties to that list.</p>

5

<p>Yours I think is the toughest to predict. Safety is hard to predict in your case but I'd say you're in at Rutgers, you might even want to add one of the better state schools like Rowan as an uber-safety.</p>

<p>I'd approach it this way: even though it's a pain and expensive, apply to a lot of schools. They will consider your written explanation and how ell you express it differently. With your stats you could conceivably get accepted to Chicago, CMU or Emory...yet rejected at F&M, Case or Illinois, or any combination thereof.</p>

6

<p>Franklin & Marshall statistically may seem as a safety, but I wouldn't bank on it, in reality, a surban white male needs a REAL hook to call any of the Top 50 LACs a safety, and quite honestly a B average and no stellar ECs doesn't make you stand out, you are a good candidate, am it may seem like a safety and I'd keep it...you'll most likely get in, but I'd caution at making it your safety net if you understand what I'm saying, it is one of those safety nets that may slip from under you.</p>

7

<p>What about Univ. of Delaware, Maryland, Rutgers as safeties.</p>

8

<p>Your GPA isn't strong (About a 3.3), nor is your class rank (30%). Those are definite killers. If your school has a good academic standing, you may have a chance at some of those, which is why they are reaches. Also you said you don't have many significant ECs. </p>

<p>You can eliminate all ivies there, and schools of ivy-caliber for OOS students. </p>

<p>However, you have a great SAT score (1490). That may save you at certain institutions. </p>

<p>All-in-all, you want to only apply to one or two reaches. NO MORE. It's wasting time and money. Then one or two matches, and a safety that you know 100% you will get into, unless there is something completely screwed up with the admissions system.</p>

<p>Look at your list of reaches, and forget about all academic standing of the schools. That's hard to do. Forget about prestige. Think of where you will be comfortable. </p>

<p>You mentioned you liked the big city. Ann Arbor isn't a "big city". Haverford isn't a big city (albeit, near a big city). Oberlin isn't anywhere in that ballpark. UIUC is in the middle of nowhere. Carleton is in one of the smallest towns in the Minnesota.</p>

<p>Also, how big do you want your school to be? Do you want in a big graduating class, or a small one?</p>

<p>So right there, by that criteria you gave me, you're down to 5 "reaches" in Case Western, Emory, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, and U Chicago.</p>

<p>You need to find schools that fit your odd GPA/test scores combination. Don't find schools based on your test scores solely, because you'll be ****ed when you get rejected. I spoke to 3 admissions counselors this summer and they told me that the #1 factor in admissions is GPA. Of course, curriculum and rank are also considered with GPA.</p>

<p>I see too many students on here like you who want to just go to a college solely based on their prestige. Don't do that. From what you've told me, going to a "prestigious" school like Haverford would be hell. Do you want to go to a school that has a good football team that you can go to every Saturday with 75,000 other fans? Do you want a place that has beautiful surroundings? What about a place 5 hours away from your parents?</p>

<p>We need more information to help you out. In the end, it has to be about where YOU want to go, not about academic prestige. Tell us about your DREAM COLLEGE, and we'll help find it for you, as well as safeties and reaches of it.</p>

9

<p>I think you need a much more balanced list, I could really see you getting rejected from all your reaches, Case is the best bet you have by far on that list. Get some matches in there. </p>

<p>My advice: Go to the best school you get into and apply as a transfer. Honestly if you get great grades the next couple years the Ivies are well within reason.</p>

10

<p>what would be a match for me? My stats are so messed up i dont even know what i can consider a match or a safety. would applying to illinois and rutgers be enough for safeties?</p>

<p>I know it might seem strange but i really like all of the schools on my list. Sense of community at haverford(i've visited) is very nice yet i also enjoy large cities/a ton of people and wouldnt feel lost at a big school. i could see myself happily attending either. One thing i cant stand though is an ugly campus located in a bad area. I hated Trinity College (Trinity was pretty but the social sciences, physical sciences, library buildings etc are stuck in the 70's)</p>

<p>i think im going to apply to about 9 or 10 colleges. my stats are strange and im hoping that at least one of my reaches will really like my essay or something. I'm seriously looking into transferring after freshman year. My grades senior will be amazing and so will my freshman college grades<em>crosses finger</em>. Regardless, i still really need to work on my list and im feeling a bit lost due to my stats.</p>

<p>intellectual atmosphere and academics are top priority for me.</p>

<p>which colleges on my list do i have absolutely no hope at? what would be some good matches for me based on my stats? If you can list a few schools to give me an idea of what range i should be looking at for everything then i will choose schools with similar selectivity that i like</p>

<p>P.S.
If i end up going to a less selective school i'd rather it be big to make sure i could find an intellectual niche and have good resources.</p>

11

<p>I think you have the right idea with LACs, they will probably read deeper into your application and may be more forgiving. Apply to a few a little lower ranked as matches, places like Hamilton, Union, Bucknell, etc. Chicago MIGHT be forgiving, but I am not sure they'll be forgiving enough. Michigan is completely stat oriented, not worth applying.</p>

12

<p>Firts, let me say that I don't think it is ever a good idea to start college planning to transfer. Students and parents on this board and elsewhere are very concerned about brand name and sometimes overlook the excellence of schools that are either out of their own regions or not in the top 10 or 15. If you are doing well at the school you end up at (and all the schools on your list are "good" in the greater scheme of things), you may very well want to stay, because you may have found friends and activities that you have no wish to leave, even for the supposedly greener pastures of "an Ivy." Starting with an "I'm getting out of here" attitude is not a good first step.</p>

<p>I agree that your stats are odd and a lot will depend on your essay and intangibles. Your math and physics scors and EC may be helpful thugh, since well-rounded kids are often overlooked int he effort to make a ewll-rounded class; you bring a specific component to your class. It is true, unfortunately, that for a white kid from a "good" high school the bar is much higher than you might think; as a presumed child of privilege you are "supposed to" get 700s in the eyes of some top-school admissions committees and anything less than a 750 or higher will put you in a gray area of being nothing special to them. </p>

<p>If you are comfortable with a state school then Rutgers is a good match though I doubt safety given its focus on GPA and class rank. If you are at a good public, as you say you are, there ought to be a college counseling office that can give you some fairly realistic sense of who from your h.s. got in to comparable chools in tbe last couple of years. This coming semester is really key for you; first-semester senior grades will play a big role in confirming the upward trend of your grades and be important in any RD results I suspect. Brandeis and Case might be matches; so might Illinois; I think F and M is if not a safety a solid match given you very good test scores adn rising trend. But you do need a real safety and that's what a good h.s. college counseling office is for.</p>

<p>Also, as you know, Michigan is rolling admissions, so you should get that app in as soon as possible and then if you are accepted (which could happen but again is not a given by any means) you will know you have an excellent choice and can then cut a few schools off your list. I would not cut Michigan onthe basis of its selectivity because your strengths might appeal to it.</p>

13

<p>I agree with mattmom about your chances. I think you are in easily at Rutgers because you are instate with excellent standardized tests. Am I right that you are coming from a fairly competitive public hs (within the top 50)? That would explain a somewhat lower gpa for the high standardized test scores. Hopefully your gc will send a profile of your hs, and hope that admisssions knows your hs if this is the case. If you are out of a competitive hs and the adcom knows that, you should have an easier time getting into the more competitive schools.</p>

14

<p>I don't think there is anything wrong going into college open minded to transferring. It is incentive to continue working hard, at a time when its easy to slack off. I was open minded to the possibility, gave where I was a shot but it still didn't feel right, and then transferred. Best decision I ever made.</p>

15

<p>I don't think the problem is with going in open-minded to transferring...I think the key is to try to pick the best match possible and not go somewhere thinking "well, I hate this school, but I'll transfer so it doesn't really matter where I go now."</p>

16

<p>I had about the same stats as you and was accepted to Case and CMU. I had quite a lot of ECs, however, which I'm sure really helped in my case.
Also, Case is probably going to not accept as many students this year- last year they accepted way too many and got nearly twice as many students as expected!</p>

17

<p>ugh that stinks to hear case accepted so many last year. I am making sure to apply to colleges i like and not just random places, even though i want to transfer.</p>

<p>my highschool is good but not amazing. i live in an upper-middle class NJ suburb. I have never seen my HS in any HS rankings, so my school certainly isnt going to be making things too easy for me.</p>

<p>I also hate to hear brandeis might be a good match since i have decided to take it off my list(i dont like the campus and couldnt see myself attending a jewish school)</p>

<p>I'm also disappointed to hear rutgers isnt a safety. I wouldnt know what to do if i ended up at a school less selective than rutgers.</p>

<p>I still need some major help on my list.</p>

<p>University of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon
Case Western
Haverford College
Oberlin College
Emory University
Carleton College
Reed
UIUC
Rutgers
Interested in Colby and/or Hamilton</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

18

<p>Might look at Holy Cross or Bucknell. HC has better location-1 hour from Boston.</p>

19

<p>Lets make a few points here...</p>

<p>1st) Brandeis is less than %0% Jewish, and to reinstate that there are three churches on campus, Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant, a symbol of how diverse they've grown.</p>

<p>2nd) This is where I throw the book at you, a school less selective than Rutgers, just for a virtual slap in the face, Case Western is less selective than Rutgers. For you to pick a safety, that form of thought has got to stop. </p>

<p>Also, I was told Case accepted more last year because of the new dorms they built, just like Princeton is accepting more next year b/c they're building two new dorms, that's about 500 more beds from what I was told. I highly doubt think it will affect admissions that drastically.</p>

<p>3rd)I'd say, for physics and philosophy, an excellent safety would be Drew University, and what do you know it's in New Jersey. If you can, I want you to visit, beautiful school, do not turn it down until you see it, I don't want any assumptions from you based on numbers.</p>

<p>4th) Par72, if he wants safeties, why would you reccomend Bucknell or Holy Cross?</p>

<p>5th) I'm taking it that you haven't looked at these schools very closely, b/c alongside the calming atmosphere of Haverford and Carleton, for instance, you have Reed, the most intense undergraduate studies at a LAC in the country, moreso than Harvey Mudd or St. Johns. Make sure you know exactly what's at Reed, including the required study of 21 pieces of Greek & Roman literature freshmen year and the fact that you cannot graduate without a finished senior thesis that meets approval of the department chair.</p>

20

<p>Univeristy of Michigan-reach
University of Chicago-big reach
Carnegie Mellon ?
Case Western ?
Haverford College-big reach
Oberlin College-reach
Emory University ?
Brandeis University ?
Carleton College-big reach
Reed-reach
UIUC-?</p>

<p>UIUC isn't going to offer any sense of community and the intellectual challenge of freshamn classes is pretty varied. One of D's friends there has Econ, Chem, Calc 4 and Physics. No class is less than 125 and one, I think econ is over 300. Calc 4 is challenging, duh!!!! Getting the classes you want as a freshman can be difficult so going in with the intent of transferring is risky. </p>

<p>Why are you planning to transfer? The process is enough of a pain once why start with the plan of going through it 2x?</p>