<p>Hey guys. I have been researching colleges and have visited about 10 or so colleges and I've created a list of colleges that I want to apply to. However, the list is 18 colleges long, so yeah.... It was originally 30, but I've narrowed it down. I am stuck now, though, and would like further assistance in my endeavor to shorten my list to 12 (that might still sound like a lot, but all except 1 of the colleges are a part of the CommonApp program, and the price of applications is manageable for me at less than 15 colleges). Here are some things I'm looking for:</p>
<p>-I would prefer it to be in or near a medium-large sized city
-I would like it to be a fairly large school, though if it's in a large city this isn't as important
-I would like an active and bustling college environment that remains welcoming and friendly
-Finally, I would like a college/area that offers a lot of extracurricular opportunities </p>
<p>Here's my current list (in no particular order):</p>
<ol>
<li> Stanford University</li>
<li> Yale University</li>
<li> Harvard University</li>
<li> Columbia University</li>
<li> UT Austin* (This one must stay as it's my safety school)</li>
<li> Northwestern University</li>
<li> Duke University</li>
<li> Vanderbilt University</li>
<li> Rice University</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania</li>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Brown University</li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis</li>
<li>Princeton University</li>
<li>Cornell University</li>
<li>Dartmouth University</li>
<li>Emory University</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University</li>
</ol>
<p>You have all eight Ivies on the list. Surely some are better than others for what you want to study? Some have much different environments than others (dartmouth and penn seem to be very different)</p>
<p>Dartmouth is neither large nor in a large city.</p>
<p>Assuming you are an automatic admit to UT Austin and can afford to attend UT Austin, drop any school that you would not choose over UT Austin under any circumstances.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators on all of the schools and drop any which are unaffordable and which do not have large enough merit scholarships that can make them affordable.</p>
<p>Drop any school which does not have good degree programs in the majors you are interested in.</p>
<p>Using that criteria (that I’d rather go to UT than to a particular school), I was able to knock off Carnegie Mellon and Dartmouth. I never really thought Dartmouth was a good fit (it’s fairly small and in a small New Hampshire town…), but I guess the fact that it was an Ivy was enticing to me. I really should avoid that sort of prestige-oriented thinking as it got me to think about applying to a school that I really had little to mesh with. That still leaves 16 schools though. This is tough.</p>
<p>Brown has a radically different academic philosophy than most of the other schools on your list. If you agree with it, keep it on there, if not, eliminate it.</p>
<p>What are your stats? That might help (if you aren’t in the ballpark for these colleges, that will help eliminate some…). </p>
<p>Also, are you applying for financial aid? While you have thought of the Common App angle, it is a major pain to do all the financial aid paperwork for a long list of schools. Every one of them has some form difference or different tax forms they want or something… </p>
<p>You want to think about your list as having a couple of safeties (admission AND financial safeties that you are really willing to attend), several matches, and a few reaches. Your list looks like mostly reaches that were picked by ranking/prestige, not by major strength or location or campus vibe or cost. Any list that has U of Chicago AND Northwestern on it probably isn’t looking hard enough at fit…</p>
<p>The OP has a safety. It’s UT Austin. The other ones are just moderate to huge reaches. Plenty of extremely strong students from my high school did this (although they added one or two of the less selective UCs on top of UCLA and Berkeley), because they figured that the state flagship was stronger than all but a dozen schools, so it made sense to apply to the state schools and then some “lottery” colleges/ universities. </p>
<p>Personally I see nothing wrong with this strategy so long as the OP is willing to put in the time and money into filling out the applications and associated paperwork.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you just went to the USNWR, and looked at all the top 20 schools and mixed them up on your list. I think you suffer from this condition called prestige hungry. Instead of choosing schools based on prestige, why don’t you try to pick schools that you and your family can afford and that best fits you.</p>
<p>Stats:
4.0 GPA (unweighted)
Ranked 3 out of 510 (and hopefully moving up as I’m taking summer college courses) Top 1% of class
IB Student
Student Council
Tennis
Academic Decathlon
Freshman Council
Sophomore Council
Theatre Competition semifinalist
Active Theatre Member
State Debate Competition Finalist
Vice-President of a Local Community Program
Helped organize a total of 6 runs (and working on the 7th)
SAT scores NA because I am taking it in Sept. (I’m going to be a Junior)</p>
<p>Money is not an issue (yes, even for the private schools), and I will not be applying for financial aid. I try not to mention that due to the risk of coming off as pretentious, but I suppose it’s pertinent. I know it seems like just a list of high-ranked colleges, but the reason for that is I value UT pretty highly, so the only colleges I would consider to go to besides UT are the extremely-rigorous and high-ranked universities listed above (well, except for Dartmouth, CMU, and Emory because I knocked those off). If you have any other advice about the colleges I would love to hear it. And thank you guys a lot for your advice so far; I’ve been able to knock off those 3 I mentioned earlier (Dartmouth, CMU, and Emory).</p>
<p>Oh and French Honor Society. Also, I’ve Co-Written a nationally recognized research paper as well as an internationally recognized one, and have Head-Authored a nationally recognized one (total of 3 research papers) and have presented them at conferences alongside medical professionals and university students.</p>
<p>You forgot about head-authoring and presenting a nationally recognized paper? Why is it listed as an afterthought? Below French Honor Society, no less.</p>
<p>I think you need to come down to earth a little. I agree with others, it sure looks like you just pulled the USNWR rankings. Can you tell us why you want to go to Yale specifically, besides its fame? Or Stanford (and must be a different answer from the Yale answer)? My guess is that you don’t really know a lot about most of these schools, except that they make everyone go Ooh and Ahh. The Ivies especially are super-reaches for almost everyone, and although you’re a star at your school, your stats and ECs are actually kind of average for the applicants to those schools (unless you’re that proverbial kid who really did find the cure for cancer).</p>
<p>There are a VAST number of excellent colleges in between a famous super-reach and a safety. I suggest you spend some time exploring that territory.</p>
<p>Well, Yale I visited when I was 9 because we were in Connecticut (actually looking at colleges for my brother), and I absolutely fell in love with the campus. It just had this wonderful classical feel to it. But, I was 9, so I guess I can’t really rely on those observations as I would’ve probably been wowed by just about anything. I have not yet visited Stanford, but have heard many stories from alumni and current students who I knew in high school and it sounds stellar. Plus, it’s in Northern California, which is a rising education and business center with the growth of Silicon Valley. Look, I know I’m no super kid; I’ve browsed these forums in awe several times before at the students who get 2400’s, 4.0’s, ranked #1, have taken 10 AP tests and gotten straight 5’s, and still have time to start some global charitable foundation, and then I feel embarrassed that I wrote a post that puts me in the same league as said far superior students by saying I want to go to the same school that they do. I know these schools are all über-reaches, but I really do know a lot about these schools. Maybe not enough, considering I still have 15 in mind, and most of them are these crazy-difficult schools. I don’t know, I’m still looking at different universities that aren’t as high reaches, but there are so many that I’m nowhere near done with my search. Thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>Sorry, that sounds like I want to be pitied. I’m just tired and losing faith in my college list. Eh, I still have a year to think it over… I think I have time</p>
<p>What is your intended major? Why is Rice not on your list (I assume you are Texas). Michigan is another school that fits your description nicely.</p>
<p>It should be very easy to narrow your list down. Just set a limit, N, on the number of applications you think you can handle. Then apply to the top N schools on the US News National University list. Toss in your state flagship, and you’re done.</p>
<p>That’s not everybody’s idea of a very thoughtful strategy, but so what?
If you’re comfortable with that approach, if you would be perfectly happy to attend UT and you meet all the standards for automatic admission, then you should have an acceptable outcome. Expect rejections from most of the other schools. Then if you wind up with any choices besides Texas you’ll be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>Chicago and Columbia have required core courses that all frosh take … while Brown has no requirements … totally opposite approaches. I would think you prefer one of these over the other.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Cornell are in college town far removed from cities. Penn is in a leafy suburb although pretty near both NYC and Philly. Stanford is in a upscale burb. Penn, Columbia, Harvard and Yale are in walk-off campus urban locations. Chicago is in a city but in a residential neighborhood.</p>
<p>Yale has residential colleges and Harvard has residential houses while most of the rest have traditional dorms … (not sure who else has something similar to Yale and Harvard). Do you have a preference</p>
<p>Do you want a frat culture or want to avoid it?</p>
<p>Etc, etc. There are all great schools … however there are differences … what are your preferences among these differences?</p>