Build Me a College List! (Safeties, Matches, Reaches)

<p>Hey guys- Could you give me some recommendations for safeties, matches, and reaches? Thanks!</p>

<p>Asian male from competitive magnet school in NJ</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (780M/780CR/740W) sophomore year first time
PSAT: 2340 (NM Semifinalist probably)
ACT: 35 composite (junior year)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Bio M, 790 Chem, 780 US, 770 Spanish with listening, 760 Eng</p>

<p>GPA W: 4.81
UW: 4.0</p>

<p>Freshman year (All A's/ A+'s)</p>

<p>English H
Algebra 2 H
AP Comp. Sci. (5)
Biology H
Chemistry H
Spanish 2 H
AP World History (5)</p>

<p>Sophomore year (All A's/ A+'s)</p>

<p>English H
Pre-Calc. H
AP Statistics (5)
AP Physics C (5)
AP European History (5)
Spanish 3 H
AP Art History (5)</p>

<p>Junior year (All A's w/ one A-) (self studied AP/SAT Biology (5))</p>

<p>AP English (5)
AP Calculus (5)
AP Chemistry (5)
AP Physics B (5)
APUSH (5)
AP Spanish (4 :()
AP Psychology (5)</p>

<p>Senior year (not sure what classes yet)</p>

<p>I'll write EC's and leadership positions in a later post. Too tired... :P</p>

<p>No point helping you build a list if we don’t know a)what you want to study and other educational preferences and b)what your awards and ECs are.</p>

<p>Awards: Siemens semifinalist, ISEF finalist X3, USABO finalist, USPhO semifinalist, Bunch of national golf tournaments (ranked top 50 nationally), bunch of state/regional math and science competitions, AIME qualifier X3, FBLA regional/state/national awards, FBLA national winner X3, bunch of random award I can’t think of now, Science Olympiad regional/state awards</p>

<p>EC’s: I’ve been conducting original research during the school year since 9th grade at a local university. 3 projects have been entered into science fair; 1 into Siemens.
I’m nationally ranked in golf (top 50).
CTO of student run start up (featured in NY Times, etc., participated in TechStars/ Startup America)
Etc…</p>

<p>Leadership: FBLA President, Engineers Without Borders President, Robotics Team Captain, Science Olympiad Team Captain, Math club President, random others can’t think of</p>

<p>Summers: YSP UC Davis, Garcia SUNY research program, UPenn LBW</p>

<p>I want to go into engineering, possibly business. Looking into Penn’s M&T program.</p>

<p>You really need to build your own college lists. Sounds like you have an excellent resume but you shouldn’t let random internet strangers dictate your education. Seriously, where you want to go is very personal. Think whether you want big school v. small school, private or public, etc.</p>

<p>Given your academic ceiling and ECs, you will have odds anywhere that you apply. You now have to narrow your search by your preferences and limitations. I can help you out with that if you answer some questions to help me understand what you’re looking for.</p>

<ol>
<li>Are you a prestige whore? (It’s ok if you are, we just need to get this out of the way.)</li>
<li>Is money an issue?</li>
<li>Is there any part of the country you don’t want to study in?</li>
<li>Prefer urban, suburban, or rural? Does it even matter? Are you ok with being near a grungy city, or would you prefer upscale?</li>
<li>School size?</li>
<li>Do you care more about making money and living comfortably or making an impact in your area of interest? (This is a thinly-veiled “might you want to go PhD route” question.)</li>
<li>What particular areas of engineering are you looking in to?</li>
</ol>