<p>I'm going to apply to ten colleges. Is that enough? Application fees are no object.</p>
<p>Safety:
Boston University
Pennsylvania State University - University Park
University of Delaware
Universityof Pittsburgh</p>
<p>Level:
Brandeis University
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
University of Rochester
University of Wisconsin - Madison</p>
<p>Reach:
Emory University (Possible ED)
University of Michigan (Out of State)</p>
<p>I figure I have four nice safeties to fall back on, four good levels where I'll probably get in, and two reaches that are somewhat tough, but not IMPOSSIBLE for me to get in.</p>
<p>I think I would invert the safety/ reach ratio, you are getting into them so why have so many?</p>
<p>get rid of delaware and and make michigan a match if you have good stats (2100 sat, 3.8-3.9gpa, etc), and add 3 more reaches.
i think you should have 2 safeties, 3-4 matches and 3-4 reaches.</p>
<p>Yes, the idea with safeties is that you are fairly certain you'll get into them. Thus, you shouldn't need 4. Two well thought out ones should do. Have a lot of matches and just a tad bit less reaches.</p>
<p>Safeties are unbeatable for financial aid. If that is an issue, don't delete any of your safeties. Your list looks good. The most important thing to remember is to choose schools you actually want to go to instead of attempting to compile a "balanced" list. If you like 10 schools that would be safeties for you, go ahead and apply to them. If you have one or two safeties you love and 10 reach schools that call out to you, that is fine too.</p>
<p>it's always weird to me to see people wonder if they're applying to enough schools.
in my opinion, applying to too many schools shows that you're too uncertain regarding yourself. i only applied to 3 schools, knowing that i would get into two of them for sure. the third was where i am now (USC). all three had some of the top programs in what i was interested in.</p>
<p>all in all, i dont think anyone needs to apply to more than 5 schools tops. feel free to disagree. but i feel that you should have a couple of safeties and a couple of reaches, that is all. </p>
<p>ilya
<a href="http://www.collegecircles.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegecircles.com</a></p>
<p>oh, and what shadowofanenigma said.. dont apply to schools just because they're good. apply to those you actually want to be at. just because Harvard is a great school, doesn't mean i want to go there..</p>
<p>ilya
<a href="http://www.collegecircles.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegecircles.com</a></p>
<p>I'm applying to Boston University because I wouldn't mind going there, Penn State and Pittsburgh because I'm in-state, and Delaware because it's close to home.</p>
<p>A tad less reaches? I only have two.</p>
<p>Add more reaches and drop a couple safeties. If PSU is a true safety, drop Pitt and Delaware.</p>
<p>I guess I can drop Pitt, but Delaware is a common app, so why not keep it?</p>
<p>I don't know what I could add under the "reach" bar... here's my stats:</p>
<p>White Male, PA</p>
<p>2090 SAT (taking again) 720 M, 690 CR, 680 W</p>
<p>3.4 Unweighted GPA (This is what's killing me)</p>
<p>All honors and AP Statistics, AP US History (Junior year). AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish, AP Government (Senior year).</p>
<p>Philosophy club, district band, district orchestra, regional band (excellent trombone player), jazz band, brass quintet, band, orchestra, after-school tutoring to elementary school kids.</p>
<p>No "hooks" unless you count my advanced trombone skill.</p>
<p>I can't think of what reaches to add. What other reaches?</p>
<p>Somewhat similar schools to the ones you've listed:</p>
<p>CMU, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest</p>
<p>I won't go to Carnegie Mellon (not a good fit for me) or USC (too far) or Wake Forest (no Jews).</p>
<p>Vanderbilt could be another reach.</p>
<p>Bumping bumping bumping...</p>
<p>I know Wash U in st louis has a large jewish population</p>
<p>Penn State should be a match and UIUC should be a safety based on your others.</p>
<p>Penn State? Match? No sir...no way, no how.</p>
<p>Penn State's Median SAT: 1200 (Old Test)
My SAT: 1410 (Verbal + Math) and I'm retaking and will only do better</p>
<p>Penn State's 75th %ile GPA: 3.80
My GPA: 3.95 (Penn State weights GPA)</p>
<p>I'm a shoe-in for PSU.</p>
<p>Youre underestimating it too much...way too much.</p>
<p>I'm not. I'm way above PSU's standards and I'm in-state. Therefore, why would it be a match versus a safety?</p>
<p>yeah man you will get into penn state without any difficulty...I am not sure how it could be even called a match.</p>
<p>I guess Sonoma's upset that I'm cocky. Why shouldn't I be? Just like certain people are able to consider schools like Emory as safeties, why is it so unreasonable for me to consider Penn State (literally, THE safety school of the Mid-Atlantic) a sure thing when my stats add up.</p>