<p>Thank you so much for all of your comments, they’ve been extremely helpful! I have responses/questions for all of you as well as additional info that may clarify some things:</p>
<p>harrypotter123 - I talked to my school’s college counselor who mentioned that my Subjects tests, though on the low side, were sufficient enough on paper to present to big league schools. Is that much importance really stressed on 700+ test scores? For example: I got a 620 on the US Subject Test, which is well below average for an Ivy League applicant, but got a 4 on the AP exam, which explains that despite my low SAT scores I did have enogh mastery of the material to get a well qualified AP score. Do those scores interact with each other or are they incomparable?</p>
<p>kfive, chazhands, MidwestMom2Kids_ - I’m confused with what exactly constitutes a “match school” vs. a “safety school” - if I’m slightly above/below the average stats for incoming freshmen the previous year then can I count that as a match? I was counting Vandy and Northwestern as matches because my test scores, etc. were slightly above their averages. And how high above the average stats for a school can I be to then label that school a safety?</p>
<p>Hunt - In my college search I’ve decided to apply to a mix of audition-only vs. no audition schools for music in case I’m considered below-par for music performance. I want to pursue music in college for the intellectual, creative aspects of it, not necessarily to pursue a professional track into the performing world. Also, a B.A. vs a B.M. in music doesn’t matter to me as long as I can major/concentrate/minor in something else so that I don’t only have a music degree at the end. And without reducing the number of reaches on my list, what colleges would be similar matches to Vandy/Northwestern?</p>
<p>spades1948, Hunt, pekingnese09 - I visited Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton and liked all 3 for very different reasons, so to me they are three completely different schools. Partly explains why I want to apply to all 3 instead of forsaking 2 in favor of the other one. I liked the different lifestyles you can find in two completely different college environments - Princeton intrigued me because of how much could be packed into a tiny, subdued town, and Columbia/Harvard/Yale impressed me because of each individual city each are located in. My strategy, therefore, was to apply to all of them, see where I get in or don;t get in, and that way my decision of where to go would be decided for me.</p>
<p>Something else that I forgot to mention in my stats: I have a double legacy at Stanford (my grandmother in '54 and my dad in '77), so I don’t know if that would have any influence on my chances at Stanford.</p>