Some schools that I’m interested in right now seem to be around high match level since my stats are above the 75th percentile but their acceptance rates are quite low. For business, can Villanova, Rochester, BC, Lehigh, and Northeastern be possible matches or are those reaches for everyone? I know business is harder to get into than overall too at these schools. I had BC as a reach, Villanova as a match/high match, and the others I’m just looking into at the moment. My basic stats are 4.0 UW, 1510 new SAT, and decent ECs.
They could all be matches for some.
If your school has Naviance, see how you match up vs admission decisions from your school to these colleges.
I don’t think they are reaches for everyone, and I think you have a good shot at some of them, or even I daresay most of them. Naviance can help identify where you may fall on the spectrum, although I am not sure how it compares new SAT scores vs old ones. Some schools may simply be more popular because they get a lot of applicants because of name recognition (ex:BC or Villanova) which may help explain why their admission rates are lower, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are harder to get into or you can’t get in
@shawnspencer @hebegebe No we don’t have Naviance or anything like that. Just for context the SAT is superscored and converts to a 1470/2190 on the old SAT. I do have some “reachier” schools like Penn and Georgetown but would honestly be ecstatic to get into and go to BC or Villanova. The others I’m just starting to look into but they seem to be around the same selectivity so I asked about those too.
@MurphyBrown I have visited Lehigh and will visit Northeastern in the fall. Will also visit Lehigh a second time in the fall too. Not sure what else to do for interest.
Also are my stats good enough for one of the small scholarships at Villanova? I think the average for merit is like a 7k scholarship but even a smaller one would be nice to close the gap. It’s one of my favorite schools but it’s also the only match/reach that doesn’t meet need so there’s ~5k difference between it and my other schools.
When the US News rank goes above 25 or 30, they stop being reaches for everyone.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
Schools like Northeastern, Lehigh etc. are not reaches for everyone but they are not safeties for anyone, even if your stats put you in the top 10% of applicants.
Tufts has become a tough admit: 14%, SAT scores comparable to Cornell.
Agree with @TomSrOfBoston . “Reaches for everyone” are usually the tippy top colleges, HYPSM, etc… But none of the schools listed can be considered a safety for you. I don’t know much about the others in your list, but Rochester is a wonderful college. You need to show interest though. And of the ones you listed, I think BC has the lowest acceptance rate, but can’t be bothered to check. Tufts (which you didn’t mention) has entered the upper stratosphere in terms of low acceptance rates. It is also now a reach for all. Even kids in the top 10% of their stats.
Please schedule interviews, that is the best way to show interest, IMO. Most colleges conduct alumni interviews. With your stats, and by showing interest, I would comfortably say the schools you list are all matches more or less, except BC. FYI, Rochester interview spots fill up early, so don’t delay in requesting one. Last year,they had to add a lot more dates in our area.
It depends on how you define “reach”. If being a reach means you have a <20% chance of being admitted, then no, they are not reach schools for everyone.
Tufts has become quite selective, but I don’t think they are quite at the “reach for everyone” stage yet. If high-quality apps keep rolling in and they don’t expand their student population, they might be there soon.
I was never going to consider any of those safeties. I was thinking high match/solid match at best for some of them.
I would say that Tufts might not be a reach automatically, but it’s a reach for almost everyone. It has one of the highest average SAT scores (I think 17th highest if I remember correctly), and engineering is even more selective. RD the acceptance rate was <12% overall. I’d say that it’s in the same selectivity as a top LAC, which generally suffer from having smaller applicant pools than the Ivies and other big name schools. The NESCAC is notorious for this, since the schools have small incoming classes and small applicant pools each year. Harvey Mudd is another example of a school with a deceivingly “high” acceptance rate due to having an extremely small and self-selected applicant pool.
As someone else mentioned earlier, Lehigh is only a reach for the very best students if they do not visit campus or show clear interest in some way. They know from experience that top student who show interest often attend, and those who don’t rarely attend, so they usually reject them.