Any gaps/weak areas in my college list?

College Search & Selection
1

I am a high school senior right now, soon to apply to colleges. I am looking to apply to Northeastern Universities and LACs. Here are my match and reach schools:

Syracuse University
University of Rochester
Northeastern
NYU
Notre Dame
Washington University in St. Louis
Bowdoin
Swarthmore
Amherst
Brown
UPenn

I was wondering if I should apply to more match type schools and fewer reaches, the other way around, or just keep my list as is. With my current list, I generally prefer the colleges/universities toward the bottom of the list more than those toward the top, and the schools toward the bottom have lower acceptance rates than those towards the top; however, I would be content attending any of these schools. I’ve included some of my stats below to give some reference for my chance of admissions.

Really what I’m asking for is either an ok on my list or some suggestions for replacements or additions.

Major: CS, Music Technology (If offered)

Stats Include: 1530 SAT Superscored, 4.0 UW GPA, Top 2% class rank,
Classes I took: 8ish honors, 8ish classes through local colleges, AP Gov (School doesn’t offer many APs), Independent Study AP Music Theory, rest of schedule filled out with requirements, and relevant and often rigorous electives (including 2 other music theory courses).
Don’t know if NY Regents are all that significant, but did receive 98 for chem, 99 for English, 99 For US History, 94 Algebra 2/ Trig, 98 World History, 95 for bio.

ECs:
Cross Country, Indoor Track, Track - Captain of xc this year, not notably fast but competitive enough to run at some smaller LACs.
Electronic Music Composition/Production - Gained considerable skill in this after 3.5ish years of practice, beginning to develop own organic-focused, neuro-influenced sound. Will have a portfolio for this to show off some sound design as well as full electronic compositions and a piano composition. Have mastered audio for a 20 track amateur Various Artists album that I helped also organize through …
My Electronic Music Leadership thingy: I do something relatively significant that I don’t want to go deeper into here.
Peer Tutoring: Just did some weekly peer tutoring in math and chemistry
Other Volunteering: I am not someone that has racked up hours, but I have made an entire science presentation (related to my CNYSEF project for which I received honors) for an elementary school science presentation, do some things for NHS,

2

A couple of things:
–Your list seems a bit reach-heavy to me.
–Did you check that all of these schools are affordable?
– I always recommend that people apply to at least one non-binding EA or rolling match/safety school to (hopefully) get an acceptance by December.

3

I think it seems reach-heavy because the only school with a more than 30% admit rate is Syracuse. If you have two safeties that are really solid and that you’re sure you’ll get in, this could work, though. It still might be a good idea to knock off one (possibly two) reaches and add one more clear match with an admit rate between 35 and maybe 55%.

4

Okay, thanks for the reply. I do have two solid safeties as well as these matches and reaches (btw I think U of R’s acceptance rate is above 30% but I’m not totally sure).

5

Based on your extensive interest in music, URochester should probably be higher on your list.

You appear to be interested in computer science programs in smaller-college settings. If so, I suggest you look into Hamilton: https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/comp-sci-department-hosts-college-computing-conference

6

List order was based on difficulty of admissions, not interest. I actually did add Hamilton to the list, as it is relatively close to home and offers an open curriculum (I also removed Amherst).

7

You should add one or two more safeties. I recommend Kensington

8

I agree that URochester hits the sweet spot for your interests. Students in the audio and music engineering major or minor get great opportunities in the field. http://www.hajim.rochester.edu/ame/undergraduate/index.html Also D3 sports, so you could potentially compete at XC/track.

RIT would be a good safety, excellent for CS, and lots of fine arts crossover https://www.rit.edu/programs/minors/music-and-technology

Also think about CWRU as a match school with excellent CS, good merit aid potential, great flexibility to move among majors, a joint music program with the Cleveland Institute of Music, and tech-savvy music department http://music.case.edu/incoming-students/technology/

U of Miami would be another great safety https://musicengineering.frost.miami.edu/

9

If you want a SUNY, I’m thinking New Paltz for you.