<p>My son has W GPA of 4.6, ACT 32, Subject Test Bio 760, Math2 740 and plan to major in Bio.
He is having trouble coming up with target schools.
We live in California but out of state is fine with him.</p>
<p>So far this is his list.</p>
<p>Reach: Berkley, UCLA
Between Reach and Target: Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, USC
Target: UCSD, UC Davis, U of NC
Safety: UCSB, U of Wash, U of San Diego</p>
<p>The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is very difficult to get into from out of state because there is a strict limit on the number of out-of-state students admitted each year.</p>
<p>In my opinion, it should be considered a reach for all out-of-state applicants.</p>
<p>Have you run the Net Price Calculators for each of the places on his list? Do that, and then sit down with him and whoever else is helping to pay for his education. Some of these places my be completely unaffordable for you.</p>
<p>Agree with Marian on Chapel Hill. Also, USC should be considered a reach. They are getting more and more selective. DS is a junior at USC and we have seen lots of kids with higher scores than your son rejected. University of Alabama has a guaranteed full tuition scholarship that he will be eligible for if the criteria doesn’t change this year. DD has already applied there.</p>
<p>University of Florida - Go Gata. </p>
<p>University of Miami - []_[]</p>
<p>Can you afford privates and OOS tuition? If so, consider the Claremont colleges, University of Santa Clara. OOS targets would also include University of Colorado (Boulder) and Wisconsin; maybe Northwestern?</p>
<p>The Claremont colleges are not target schools, with acceptance rates in the low teens!</p>
<p>He’s got 11 schools and 3 safeties, why does he need more schools? For a high stat kid there often isn’t really much between reaches and safeties. That’s fine as long as you’ve identified a few safeties that are good fits.</p>
<p>With an ACT (25% - 75%) range of 32 - 34, and an admissions rate of 12%, I would think that Vanderbilt would be a reach.</p>
<p>I agree that Vanderbilt is a reach. UNC- CH is also a reach. If the 3 safety schools are affordable, if you are sure he will get in ( I base this on Naviance), and if he would be happy there, then he is set.</p>
<p>I was going to say that Vanderbilt wouldn’t be a target, unless he applies ED.</p>
<p>Without knowing more about size of school, LAC vs Uni, your financial situation, urban vs rural…it would be hard to come up with list of schools.</p>
<p>UNC caps OOS to no MORE than 18% and that number can go lower. Reach is an understatement. For OOS it has reached Ivy-like stats, and ECs. Also Vandy would be a reach.</p>
<p>Kat
NC resident with a son at UNC</p>
<p>It’s Santa Clara University…not University of Santa Clara.</p>
<p>The original list posted by the OP included a private/OOS publics…all,with costs at or about $50,000 a year. I would agree that affordability needs to be addressed BEFORE applications are sent. Maybe this isn’t an issue for this family.</p>
<p>One more thing - the acceptance rates for UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara are very similar these days. For Fall 2013, the acceptance rate for California students was 37% for Davis and 38.5% for Santa Barbara.</p>
<p>Assuming your S comes from a Cali public similar to our local school, here is our acceptance data (it is public). I’m fairly certain it comes from Naviance.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.pvphs.com/pdf/CollegeAcceptance.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pvphs.com/pdf/CollegeAcceptance.pdf</a></p>
<p>Go to the back and look at the spreadsheets. THe stuff in the front may or may not be fully accurate but the spreadsheets are remarkably consistent over the years. You’ll have to convert the ACT to SAT to make the comps.</p>
<p>Of course, your own school Naviance is best, but many schools don’t have it.</p>
<p>For example, our school seems to do great at NYU but maybe because of full pay status? IDK.</p>
<p>Make sure he has researched Bio major. There are not that many job opportunities unless he wants to go to grad school too… so earmark college savings for that too.</p>
<p>Sadly, even after grad school, opportunities in bio are limited… my daughter with a Master’s from Georgetown in a specialized field of biology, published and with a ton of lab experience, is beginning to discover that just now…</p>
<p>Shameless plug for students interested in bio:
CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE.</p>
<p>An undergrad degree that will most likely land you a job with reasonable (not extraordinary) salary, great benefits and exciting work. Many obtain masters on employers dime and move into management, infection control, education,etc.</p>
<p>I’d also love to have some lab scientists to help care for me in my old(er) age!</p>
<p>I’m curious if these kinds of threads really help.
Is it possible for the son to:</p>
<p>1) Figure out what the family can afford for college.
2) Use Naviance to identify lots of good “reach”, “match”, and “safety” schools.
3) Then research and visit the schools to decide where he wants to spend the next 4 years of his life.</p>
<p>Not every school has Naviance as a resource and if your school is not large or you are interested in applying to smaller schools were there aren’t a lot of people who have previously applied, Naviance can be of limited utility.</p>
<p>I think it’s good for kids to have two safety schools so they have choices in the spring. I think the best safety school is one you get into early (vie EA or rolling admissions). I don’t think anyone has to have match schools as long as they are reasonably happy with their safeties, and for some very high stat kids there aren’t really obvious match schools.</p>