<p>This isn't a chance thread, this is just wondering if I'm pretty dead on with knowing which schools are Reaches, Matches or Safeties.</p>
<p>Stats (brief):
3.86 UW GPA, 4.53 W GPA
2100 SAT (700 CR 700 M 700 W)
35/623 (5-6%)
Very Dedicated, Extensive ECs
Recs should be great, as well as essays.</p>
<p>Reaches:
Georgetown SFS(#1 Choice)
WashU
Tufts
Brown
Columbia
Northwestern (Match?)</p>
<p>Matches:
George Washington (safety?)
Brandeis
Boston University</p>
<p>Safeties:
American
U of Maryland-- College Park
U of Arizona (in-state)</p>
<p>I also need more Match/Safeties... thoughts?</p>
<p>I thought you said this wasn't a chance thread. :-)</p>
<p>It looks like you have a good balance of schools. Arguably more than you need. Would you be okay going to any one of these schools? If not, take it off your list. If the answer is yes, consider how much overlap you have. For instance, on your safeties, you're an automatic UofA admit. Do you need two other safety schools? Is this about being in the DC area? Would you pay a lot more for this? </p>
<p>You do not need anymore schools on your list, but you might think about whether you are in love with all of your reaches. Six reaches is a lot. It sounds as if you really want DC or Boston, unless a school has an amazing program in international relations. If this is the case you might ask yourself which schools are really a good fit. Sure, Wash U is a great school--but it's in St. Louis. Would you rather go there than GW or Brandeis, even though someone has "ranked" it higher? Maybe it offers a special opportunity, but there seems to be a thread through your choices that some places fit and others don't. You should ask yourself the same questions about all of the reaches that are outside of DC and Boston. The fact that you are looking for more schools suggests that you might not be completely satisfied with your criteria. Maybe you want to look at your criteria and see how each place fits and eliminate or replace those that you aren't really as knowledgeable or excited about. </p>
<p>Just some food for thought. You have a nicely balanced group, but there is room to take the analysis a step further.</p>
<p>Have you tried Princeton Review "CounselorOMatic" for what are reaches, matches, etc.? If you answer the questions honestly, it will give you a fairly accurate assessment. This said, your "soft" credentials such as ECs and essay can be somewhat subjective -- these are you opportunity to sell yourself.</p>
<p>I think you've done a great job assessing your own chances. You go from super-reaches (Brown and Columbia) to regular reaches to a matchy-reach. Then matches, a safety match and safeties. Kind of silly to name them that way, but what it means is that you have a wide range of great schools. You probably won't get into all but you'll certainly get into at least a few. </p>
<p>I don't think you need to add any more schools, but I disagree with the advice to cut back the number of reaches, especially if you have impressive EC's. If you can afford 12 apps and you like all the schools, go for them all. My son was rejected from matches and accepted at a reach that he almost eliminated from his list. I'm so glad he left it on because he is very happy there now.</p>