Can anyone help determine safety/match/reach schools?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'd appreciate if anyone could help me find safety/match/reach schools based on my stats, because I seem to be pretty inconsistent- I have a high GPA and rank but my test scores are barely mediocre.</p>

<p>Rank- Top 3 in school, but where in top 3 is uncertain, out of about 270. My school consistently places within the top 5 schools in the state in terms of test scores.
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
I'm a junior and this year I'm in AP Chemistry and US History and everything else is honors.
I also won the Rensselaer medal and the Holy Cross Book Prize this year, as well as 4 other class awards.</p>

<p>Reading: 650
Math: 700
Writing: 700</p>

<p>I took the II's in Math II, Spanish, and Chemistry, but these scores are still pending. I plan to take the ACT in September and the SAT again in October.</p>

<p>EC: Math Team, Student Government, Freshmen Mentor, Transition Program for 8th grade students, NHS, Foreign Language Honor Society, Pen pal program with troops in Iraq, Student tutoring through a school program, Violin, Guitar</p>

<p>Based on this, what schools would you suggest I look at? I'm trying to stay within the New England/New York area, although this is for for the benefit of my parents rather than for me. Here's what I've been looking at so far:</p>

<p>Safety: URI, UMass (Dartmouth), UConn
Match: BU, BC, Northeastern, RPI, Holy Cross, WPI
Reach: Brown, Cornell</p>

<p>I'm currently undecided in terms of a major as well.</p>

<p>Please and thank you!</p>

2

<p>When you say UMass (Dartmouth), are you insinuating the Dartmouth is a safety?</p>

3

<p>Of course not, there’s a UMass campus in a town in Mass called Dartmouth. Completely unrelated to the Ivy.</p>

4

<p>Since you are undecided about your major I guess you should ask yourself what do you want out of college. Big town, small town? Structured curriculum or loose reqs? (I mean Brown and Cornell are fairly different) School size? I think you need to ask yourself, maybe post your answers so it will be easier to give you a tailored list of schools, rather than just name off some schools.</p>

5

<p>It really helps to know what you are interested in. Whether that be science, math, or humanities. One school that is excellent in all three departments and is fairly close to the NY area is University of Michigan. I would say that school is a high match for you but I’m sure you would get in especially with that high of a gpa. Other schools to consider would be Johns Hopkins and possibly Carnegie Mellon if you are passionate about engineering or business or even music.</p>

6

<p>I definitly want a larger school, perhaps around 10,000-15,000 (unless I get into Brown or Cornell, then that’s secondary), and with either a suburban or urban campus. </p>

<p>The problem with my choice of major is that I am very good at math and science, so I’ve been under a lot of pressure ro pursue a career in math/science. I’m fine with math, but I can’t stand science- I can’t imagine myself in a lab all day.</p>

<p>I’d much rather go into law, but history is my worst subject. My choice here is either pursue a major I know I’d be good in but that I don’t particurally enjoy, or pursue a major I have equal chances of failing at or suceeding at, while giving up the medal scholrship RPI has already given me as well as others I might be offered at some of my other choices.</p>

<p>Future, do any of those schools give merit-based aid? I won’t qualify for any need-based aid and I don’t want to pay full tutition anywhere since I’ve already been offered several scholarships.</p>

<p>Thank you for replying.</p>

7

<p>Agaim, exclude Ivies from the last part. ^^^</p>

8

<p>You don’t need history to go into law. Here’s an idea, since you seem to like math, why not major in something like accounting or finance or maybe even math itself? Go to law school and becoming a corporate lawyer specializing in financial issues. BIG bucks.</p>

<p>One suggestion: you seem to be heavily influenced and pressured by your parents. What if you were to actually try the west coast and become more independent? Plus, the weather’s nicer :)</p>

9

<p>It also helps to know how much your parents are willing to pay each year for your education, and if they have any restrictions on your college choices such as insisting that you go to college relatively close to where you live.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the suggestion bluebubbles, I’ll definitly look into that. :slight_smile: The major factor that was preventing me from pursuing law was my lack of history skills. I wouldn’t mind going to the west coast at all, but I know my parents wouldn’t support me. It doesn’t help that my brother constantly complains about how far away his college is (3 hours), so he’s basically ruining my chances of leaving the New England region.</p>

<p>And North, it all depends where I go. If I go to the college down the street from me (Roger Williams) they’d be willing to pay full tuition, but I need a change of scenery. RWU is just not an option for me; I’d be miserable. Brown, however, is about 20 minutes away, and I’m pretty sure they’d be willing to accept full tuition there if I got in. (I don’t know how close you have to be related to alumni to be considered legacy, but one of my uncles and one of my cousins both went there, so that could factor into my admission.)</p>

<p>However, if I were to say I wanted to go somewhere on the west coast, I’d either need a full ride or to pay it all myself. Even then they’d probably disown me.</p>

11

<p>Hmm what about something on the east coast further south? Your parents DID let your brother go 3 hours away. Look into the DC schools. GW gives amazingly sweet financial aid. Plus, DC is a very “do-it-yourself” city that will force students to become highly independent. A few internships will challenge you.</p>

<p>And I promise you do not need history to go into law! Law schools accept applicants from practically every major.</p>

12

<p>OP, I can’t help you with the safeties/matches/reaches, but I can assure you that bluebubbles is absolutely correct about law school. You don’t need history to pursue law. There are a lot of history/political science majors who go to law school, but there are a lot of people in law school who did not major in those areas and it is not at all necessary. (I only took 2 history classes in college, and it was to fulfill distribution requirements.) In fact, I’d say you’d be better off with another major. I double majored in accounting and economics/finance and went straight from a relatively unknown college to a top ten law school to a top NY firm with that major. Major in something that interests you and in which you think you’ll excel - GPA is important in law school admissions.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your suggestion bluebubbles! I looked into GWU, and the scores seem to be a pretty good match with mine, they have a 6 year combined BA/JD program, and they seem to be great for internships, not to mention the location and #6 “Dorms like Palaces”! As it turns out, we have a family friend who went to GWU and loved it, and ended up working in the White House for quite some time. My parents said they will consider it if I get substantial merit aid. I’m hoping to take a trip down there during the summer to take a look at the campus and ask questions.</p>

<p>And mdoc, if I don’t do a 6 year combined program, I was hinking about majoring in either business or mathematics. Would those two majors work for pre-law as well?</p>

14

<p>I agree with bluebubbles and mdoc … you don’t need history for law school. Check out a recent LSAT test … not much history there, but lots of logic. Also, you should at least add a couple of more distant universities to your application list.</p>

<p>As for safeties/matches/reaches, I can’t help you there for the simple reason that your academic and personal needs aren’t well defined. (That’s not a criticism – mine weren’t at your age either.) I do think you’d enjoy GWU.</p>

<p>Finally, consider retaking the SATs. I can recommend the Xiggi Method, which you will find here on CC.</p>

15

<p>I do want to take the SAT again, but will the early October results be ready in time for EA? This was probably a mistake on my part, but I took no SAT prep at all, I bought the CollegeBoard book and studied during a 3 hour car ride but that was it. My school offered a 3x a week SAT prep course, but I couldn’t take it because of extracurricular obligations at the same time as the class. </p>

<p>Now that it’s summer, I’m hoping to get some SAT studying and hopefully improve my score. I’m most disappointed about math, I was expecting a near perfect score. I hope to get each of my sections up by at least 50 points so I can have a total score of 2200, so maybe I could have at least a shot at Brown.</p>

16

<p>“… will the early October results be ready in time for EA?”</p>

<p>It was for my D.</p>

17

<p>You will probably need ED to be successful at Brown or Cornell-CAS. A higher SAT score (1400/2100+) or ACT (32+) would help at those schools tremendously.</p>

<p>A good ‘Why GW?’ essay and you should have a great shot.</p>