Any suggestions for MATCH schools?? Thanks!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all,
I am having a lot of difficulty with finding more match schools. This is my current list, but apparently some of my 'match' schools are more like 'reach' schools.</p>

<p>REACH Schools:
1. Stanford University
2. Washington University in St. Louis
3. Duke University
4. Northwestern University OR Brown University</p>

<p>MATCH Schools:</p>

<ol>
<li>The University of Chicago

<ol>
<li>Cornell University</li>
<li>Case Western Reserve University </li>
</ol></li>
<li><p>University of California Los Angeles</p>

<ol>
<li>Oregon State University Honors College</li>
</ol></li>
<li><p>Grinnell College</p>

<ol>
<li>College of the Holy Cross</li>
<li>Haverford College </li>
</ol></li>
<li><p>Davidson College</p></li>
<li><p>University of Michigan OR University of Wisconsin</p></li>
</ol>

<p>SAFETY Schools:</p>

<ol>
<li>Oregon State University

<ol>
<li>University of Oregon</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>My Background:
I am of Asian & Pacific Islander decent and will be a senior next year. I live in Oregon and plan on going out of state for school. </p>

<p>*GPA: Unweighted-- 4.0 Weighted--4.162 (rank 7/392; top 1.8%)
*ACT: 29 (hoping to get this 30+ in a few weeks!)
*Financial Situation: struggling
*Race: Asian and Pacific Islander
*Sex: Male</p>

<p>*Freshman Classes: Biology, Spanish II, Adv. Algebra, English 9, World History, Wellness, Weight Training, Web Design I</p>

<p>*Sophomore Classes: Chemistry, Spanish III, Pre-Calculus, English 10, US History, Geology, Marine Biology</p>

<p>*Junior Classes: AP Chemistry (score: 4), AP Calculus AB (score: 5), AP Government (score: 3), English 11, Honors Spanish IV, Honors Physics</p>

<p>*Senior Classes: AP Biology, AP Physics, AP Statistics, AP Spanish V, English 12, Web Design II, World History II</p>

<p>*Extracurriculars: </p>

<br>


<br>

<p>(Freshman-9th)
Honorable Mention in Microbiology at the district science fair, qualified for statewide science fair </p>

<p>(Sophomore-10th)
1st place in Microbiology at the district science fair, Award for Best Representation of Field Knowledge, 2nd place in Microbiology at the statewide science fair, Award for Best Use of SI, qualified as student observer at the Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair </p>

<p>(Junior-11th)
1st place in Microbiology at the district science fair, Best In vitro Project Award, Scholarship to Oregon State University-$2000 for 4 years, Best in Fair at the district science fair (11), 1st place in Microbiology at the statewide science fair, Scholarship to University of Oregon-$5500 for 4 years, Best in Fair at the statewide science fair</p>

<p>*3rd place in Microbiology at the Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair</p>

<p>Will also be applying to Siemens and Intel STS competitions this fall.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>*Career Interests: Pre-Medicine; Major in Biology related studies, preferably Microbiology & Immunology or Medical Microbiology & Bacteriology</p>

<p>*Personality: Reserved, humble, studious, hard-working, conservative, diligent, self-motivated, and meticulous </p>

<p>*Weather preferences: somewhere not too miserably snowy or cold. I come from Oregon so I am used to rain and gloominess. I don't want to be somewhere with extremely harsh winters and would love to go somewhere with nice summer weather. </p>

<hr>

<p>*Which schools on my current MATCH list would suggest keeping as a match school? Are there more match schools you would sugges that would match my interests in the life sciences?</p>

<p>Thank you all very much!</p>

2

<p>You are right, a lot of your matches are more like reaches. A 29 ACT is not going to get you into a lot of those schools.</p>

<p>U Chicago and Cornell definitively are.
Haverford, Davidson, and UCLA are borderline matches… meaning you could get in, but I wouldn’t be shocked if you didn’t
The rest are pretty solid matches.</p>

<p>Be warned, that’s a lot of schools to apply to. I applied to 16 and regretted it b/c I spent a lot of time and money on schools I didn’t even really want to go to.</p>

3

<p>I cannot find a common theme for your choices.
You should think more about fit than just of list of ‘top’ schools.</p>

4

<p>I would add Boston College and Georgetown to your list. Notre Dame if you don’t mind South Bend. John Hopkins may be a good addition but a reach.</p>

5

<p>Why are UCLA, UMich and Wisconsin on your list if your family is struggling financially? You’re OOS and will only get federal FA.</p>

6

<p>Hi MaterS,</p>

<p>I have extensively researched many schools these past few months and the choices I have made are based on the diversity in biological research, quality of life, and professor ratings. The schools on my list all have diverse bio programs, something of great importance to me, as well as high quality of life and professor ratings which I researched using Princeton Review’s 393 Best Colleges and College *******. </p>

<p>The schools… yes did end up mostly being ‘top’ tier schools, so I am trying to find some match schools that match my wants in a school: 1) diverse bio program, 2) students have good quality of life in a good location (not in the middle of some small little town), and 3) high ratings of profs. </p>

<p>Thank you all for your feedback!!</p>

7

<p>What are you looking for in a school, e.g. size, urban/rural, etc.? Do you need need-based FA or merit aid?</p>

<p>Some of your match schools are really reaches - U. Chicago, Cornell.</p>

8

<p>Size is not really important for me. But I would prefer a small-mid size school. I am not too interested in going to an extremely large university (i.e. 15,000+ undergrads). But I will consider if they have a very strong bio program (like UCLA or UMich). However I am looking to get some merit aid and need-based aid (my family is currently <50,000/year).</p>

<p>I want to be in an exciting city, not some small town in the middle of nowhere. I want to be able to go into a big city in my free time and have easy accessibility to it. So I would prefer an urban environment or suburban that is near the city.</p>

9

<p>American, GW, U. Pittsburgh, Tufts, Northeastern</p>

10

<p>You have way too many schools…but UChicago and Cornell aren’t matches. You really should try to get your test scores up.</p>

11

<p>Hi sacchi,</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your suggestions. I have now added GW on my list! However, would you really consider Tufts to be a match given my qualifications? Or would it be more of a reach? I really want to add it to my list… but I don’t want too many reach schools either! Thanks again-I really appreciate your input.</p>

12

<p>Hi informative,</p>

<p>I looked into Boston College, but don’t necessarily like the lack of diversity in their bio dept. I also couldn’t find a researcher I was particularly interested in. With Georgetown, I’d love to put it on my college list… but would you consider it a reach or match given my qualifications? Thank you very much for your suggestions–it really helps!</p>

13

<p>Bump–Could someone please let me known if tufts and Georgetown are matches for me? Some people above suggested them but I am unsure… Thanks!!!</p>

14

<p>Agree with Erin’sDad, UCLA, Michigan & Wisconsin are OOS for you and you sound like a high need student! Michigan is over 50K for OOS. </p>

<p>Avoid OOS publics in your situation! With your family’s income, concentrate on private schools that will meet a high percentage of need. </p>

<p>No merit aid at Holy Cross, all need-based. Best of luck in your search!</p>

15

<p>Tufts and Georgetown are relatively opaque in their admissions. From the Tufts Fact Book <a href=“http://institutionalresearch.tufts.edu/downloads/AbridgedFB3_23_11reduced.pdf[/url]”>http://institutionalresearch.tufts.edu/downloads/AbridgedFB3_23_11reduced.pdf&lt;/a&gt; your ACT is low (it translates to a 1950 SAT which is below the 25%ile). Georgetown should be near the same.</p>

16

<p>Tufts, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, RIT, Purdue, Rochester, Lehigh, Rutgers, VA Tech, NYU, Uillionois, Illinois Tech, Caltech, Rose Hulman, UNotre Dame.</p>