Anyone know about schools in Minnesota? & other questions... Please look here.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've made my list of colleges that I am interested in, and I'm in the process of narrowing it down. However, most of the schools I want to apply to are reach schools and I am still trying to figure out what can be considered a safety school for me. I'm from Minnesota, so I am looking for safeties in-state, but I'm not sure which of these schools are safe for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, if you could tell me if I have placed the other schools on my list in the correct category for me, thanks! (Don't worry, I'm not applying to all... still narrowing down)</p>

<p>High Reach:
-Yale
-Princeton
-Columbia</p>

<p>Reach:
-Swarthmore
-Amherst
-Williams
-Brown
-Notre Dame</p>

<p>Match:
-Carleton (MN)
-Boston College
-Macalester (MN)</p>

<p>Safety: (are these safe for me?)
-College of St. Benedict (MN)
-Univ. of MN-Duluth
-Univ. of MN-Twin Cities
-St. Thomas
-Gustavus Adolphus</p>

<hr>

<p>and now for my stats:</p>

<p>--caucasian female from public school in “no-where” Minnesota
--first generation college student </p>

<p>Stats.:
--G.P.A. = 4.0 UW (4.0 scale)
--Class rank = 1/253
--I’m taking the hardest classes offered at my school (we only have 4 APs, but I’m doing them all), and 2 of my classes are CIS (college in school)… we don’t really have the option of taking college classes unless you go post-secondary full time, which in my town basically means missing all of junior and/or senior year. Do you think colleges will hold it against me because I opted to take APs and CIS classes instead of going post-secondary? (In my town it’s about the same level of commitment.)
--SAT I = 640 math, 670 critical reading, 710 writing (it was the first time I took it… hope to raise by at least a couple hundred points)
--SAT IIs = 590 mathIIc, 670 literature, 740 US history (this fall I will take/retake and hopefully get 3 tests up to 700+)
--ACT = 32 composite (first try, I may retake it…)</p>

<p>EC’s:
--piano lessons since 3rd grade
--clarinet since 6th grade (auditioned for, and made it into the Wind Ensemble – the top performing group at my school in 10th grade)
--superior rating at MN solo/ensemble contest for clarinet
--Cantabile’ Girls’ Choir (3 years, entrance upon audition)
--National Honor Society (3 year member)
--Project 4 Teens (I was trained to go into 8th grade health classrooms, and teach about abstinence and healthy relationships & help w/transition into High School)
--Teens Against Tobacco Use (trained to go into 4th grade classrooms to teach about negatives of tobacco use)
--swim team (4 years; lettered, received Academic Gold Award)
--nordic ski team (5 years; lettered, received Academic Gold Award, hope to receive All Conference honors this year)
--cross country team (2 years; lettered, Academic Gold Award, co-Capitan this year)
--2 school musicals (a big deal at my school), once in the Pit Orchestra, once in the Cast
--marching band (2 years)
--school board subcommittee (2 years)
--selected to attend Minnesota Girls’ State
--won a statewide essay contest, which qualified me to attend the Spirit of America Conference in Philadelphia
--received 4 Academic letters
--work part time at Banana Republic (received employee of the month, + many nominations), and will also be working as a Piano teacher beginning this fall</p>

<p>Community Service:
--Sunday School Teacher
--volunteer within my school through prevention programs such as SADD
--train 3-5th graders to be Peer Mediators at a day camp every summer
--various other service activities that add up to a lot of hours all together, but aren’t anything spectacular individually</p>

2

<p>They say that the U of M TC is "hard" to get into, but I have never met a person who didn't, so I don't know. I probably wouldnt' call it a "safety" school, just so you don't offend people.</p>

<p>I don't think anyone will hold it against you for not doing PSEO, esp. if you couldn't commute to a location. Going full-time is a big deal.</p>

<p>If you get your scores up then I definitely think you are competitive. I'd aim for everything above a 700. If you can get that, then I think your safeties are good, although I'd probably move St. Thomas to a match along with U of M - TC. Macalister is probably a reach, and Yale and Princeton are going to be v. v. hard, but it can't hurt to try. But you really do need to narrow down your list, apply to 20 or so schools is basically unnecessary and insane - try to aim for at least less than 10. Maybe 3 safety 3 match 3 reach and 1 super reach?</p>

3

<p>thank you. yes, i've been trying to get my list down to 10 or so. i doubt i could afford to apply to 20 schools even if i wanted to!</p>

4

<p>bump please... anyone else? even if you don't know about the MN schools, what about the others? am I in the ballpark with my evaluation of reaches, matches, and safeties, or am I way off?</p>

5

<p>I think you may need to reevaluate Carleton in terms of categorization. I know a few fellow Swatties who got into Swarthmore but got waitlisted there. I've heard Carleton's admissions can be kind of weird, and especially since you're coming from in-state, you should probably consider it a reach.</p>

<p>Macalester and Boston College are matches for you, but try tacking on a few more in that range....are you thinking ED for any of these?</p>

6

<p>i thought i would have an advantage at Carleton because my sister is a student there, so I put it in the match category, but I could be wrong. I know that Carleton's admit rate is about 29%... you're right, its probably a reach.</p>