Am I setting myself up for failure? (how's my list?)

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a senior this year, and while I have made a list, visited colleges, and begun applications, I’m very nervous about my choices. I’ve read too many horror stories in the past on these forums about college lists gone wrong and students enrolling in their nightmare school. That’s why I gave mine so much thought, but I’m still petrified that I’ve created a tragedy in waiting.

Could I please have some advice then? Do I have a reasonable spread of reaches, matches, and safeties? Am I possibly applying to too few schools?

Early Action: MIT, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio State University, West Virginia University (Rolling Admission actually), University of Chicago

Regular Decision: Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, Princeton University

Might apply, depending on EA results: Boston University, University of Alabama

(NU, CMU, and CWRU are my favorites - that I actually might have a chance at)

GPA: UW 4.0 W 4.7
1590 new SAT, 35 composite ACT
800 Math II, 800 Chem, 800 USH
8 APs taken so far - 5 5s, 3 4s - will take 4 more senior year
-Playing clawhammer banjo 8 years
-Head of school JROTC program
-President of school community service club, plus previous positions on club and district level
-2x 1st place in region ACS USNCO
-White, female, intended chemistry major

Thank you in advance for your help!

2

Wow you have an amazing profile! You are a West Virginia resident? And at a public high school? If you get into MIT I hope you just stop and accept. You should get into Case EA, so don’t pay BU and Bama app fees. I suppose the banjo thing might be quirky enough for Chicago but it would help if you are transgender too (kidding sorta not). No tragedy here and looking forward to hearing of your successes in the academic world.

3

Thank you so much! That really helps put my mind at ease.

4

Alabama’s application deadline if you want the big scholarships is earlier than typical EA notification dates.

http://scholarships.ua.edu/freshmen/ says that December 15 is the deadline if you want the scholarships.

http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php says that your stats will give you a full tuition scholarship.

5

Ohhh, ok I didn’t know that. Thanks so much! I need to do more research on scholarships I think…

6

Some schools have stated automatic admission or scholarships for stats. Alabama, on the OP’s list, is one of them.

The question for the OP is, do you like Alabama, and can you afford the remaining cost after the automatic scholarship? If so, then your safety plan makes sense. If not, then you need to find a more suitable safety.