<p>GPA: 3.7/4.3 (around 93/100)
SAT: 800 CR/720 M/800 W (1520/2320)
EC's, Essays, Recs, etc. ought to be good but not spectacular</p>
<p>Prospective Majors: Philosophy, English</p>
<p>List:</p>
<p>Boston College
Carleton
Colgate
Cornell
Hamilton
Le Moyne (NY)
Macalester
Binghamton (in state)
Tufts</p>
<p>It's a fairly long list but several of them are free to apply to so it's not so bad. I'm looking for a LAC or small university. Anything I should definitely add or remove? At this point my main consideration is I have good matches and attainable reaches but no safety besides Le Moyne.</p>
<p>That looks like a reasonable list for your stats, but you could add some more at the high end, perhaps Grinnell, Oberlin, Reed, Swarthmore (since you like LACs).</p>
<p>I considered Swarthmore, but it seems like far too much of a reach to be worth spending the application fee. The others I have not looked into too much, but they do seem like excellent schools. The only objection I have to any of them is that Reed would be expensive to visit because it is so far away.</p>
<p>With your credentials, you’d have a strong shot at Swarthmore-I don’t know what gives you the impression otherwise, but don’t fear a rejection, if you like the college, because statistically you definitely have more than a fair shot.</p>
<p>On the safety side, if you prefer LACs, New York has a good one at SUNY Geneseo. Consider it as a replacement for the much larger SUNY Binghamton. On the match/reach side, I think Grinnell would be a good choice. It’s a little less selective than Swarthmore, and not so far from NY as Reed. </p>
<p>Does Cornell mean Cornell College, the LAC in Iowa? If so, I’d consider replacing it with Colorado College (another “block plan” school but a bit more selective, for someone with your stats). If it’s the more famous one, Cornell University, I’d consider dropping it if you’re only choosing it because it’s a good school in NY, and if you want to keep the number down (it’s a little out of place with your other choices.) Tufts is another one to consider dropping. Great school, but larger and a bit more pre-professional in orientation than the others.</p>
<p>@ Paradox7: Swarthmore is one of the most selective LAC’s in the country and the healthy number of B’s on my transcript would probably ruin my chances. Although my SAT score is above average anywhere so it might be worth a shot.</p>
<p>@ tk21769: I should probably mention that I was also considering Political Science as a major, so Binghamton and Tufts made the list because they are strong in those areas and I just particularly like Tufts. I will admit that much of the reason behind applying to Cornell (University, to clarify) was it’s strong reputation in NY and the fact that many good students from around here apply there. Grinnell is starting to look like a good choice, I will probably take Cornell out and add it as a replacement.</p>
<p>Depending on how much money I have to apply, I may have Cornell and Swarthmore as ‘maybes.’ The fact that I have been to Cornell and am not terribly far from it makes it a good “maybe” because a visit would not require much planning.</p>