<p>Wow. Thank you all. I did not expect so much help. I have 100% acceptance chance to MSU according to Parchment and common sense :P. So it’s the only safety school I need. Are there any GOOD matches for me? I mean good college, not just colleges nobody has heard of. Gosh I hate my ACT score. It seemingly doesn’t get me into any good college.</p>
<p>You definite want to add some match schools to the list. If 5 schools is your application limit, I will probably do 1 reach, 3 match, and 1 safety. Other schools at similar level of UMich (particular for Biochemistry) and are more affordable includes UIUC and U of W at Madison. There is a mid-west exchange program that can provide a scholarship to offset the OOS cost at institutes in other mid-west states.</p>
<p>Why not a nice warm safety like U of Arizona or ASU who offer in-state tuition to strong candidates… Your gpa would be strong for grad school, and U would be warm in the winter! Every1 would come visit U in February!</p>
<p>I just don’t like the idea of safeties. MSU is the closest “not that bad” college to my house and I’m in-state so it’s the best safety.</p>
<p>When you compare the cost of attendance at any college or university to the cost of the application, it is foolish not to apply to a wide enough range of schools to be reasonably sure of admission.</p>
<p>Most private universities and instate publics waive the application fee for students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.</p>
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I’ve been through this process with two kids and pretty much decided that the reach, match, safety approach can create false segmentation and focus on the wrong attributes so it’s not for my family. For each of my two oldest we focused on understanding the desired attributes of their desired school initially ignoring the academic qualifications of the students.</p>
<p>My oldest was interest in pre-med (a zillion schools), the northeast or mid-atlantic (down to a million schools), Research U (down to thousands). not in Boston (cut out tons of schools), in an urban environment. Adding the last attribute cut the list tremendously. At this point she started discussing the pros and cons of schools trying to get a list of about 12 schools … but it soon became clear the not a lot of culling was necessary. At the top end of schools there were only a few that met her criteria and they were all on the list … and to get to 10-12 schools she just added a few schools with similar attributes but less selective … she naturally had reach, match, and safety schools.</p>
<p>My sons experience was similar … by understanding his preferences while discounting rankings … he naturally came up with a list of about 12 schools that naturally had reach, matches, and safety schools.</p>
<p>As long as you have some clear preferences … location, size, urban/suburban/college town, a set of options for majors, etc … I bet you can create a natural list of reach, match, and safety schools … without a hunt to tack on unwanted safety school at the end of the process.</p>
<p>I think it does not really matter how you come up with the list of schools as long as you have many matches and at least 1 or 2 safety on it. Personally, I think what is most important to decide what you want study (if you can). Then I’ll choose location and campus based on the ranking of the schools that match the student’s credentials. I told my daughter it is fine if she decided to go to certain school that she loves, but she is going to be on the campus only for a few years while she will likely be stuck in a career for the rest of her life.</p>
<p>I have no preference on anything other than major, selectivity, and proximity to home. I really wish I get in to Umich because it’s close, but I wouldn’t mind going outstate for a selective college than one like MSU.</p>
<p>How about your finances?</p>
<p>Money should not stand between me and me dream schools.</p>