So, as you can guess from the title I need some help finding more match schools. My list seems too “reach-heavy” but the problem is I haven’t found any other schools that I’ve truly connected to.
SAT I (breakdown): 2120 (CR: 700 / M: 710 / W: 710 / Essay of 10) Had a 220 point increase from the last one
SAT II: Bio: 620 (Will take Math 2 and USH later)
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): (My school doesn’t use the 4.0 scale) - UW: 96/97 W: 101?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/250+
AP (place score in parenthesis): awaiting results for APUSH - probably a 4 or a 5 though
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, DE Psychology, DE Government, DE Economics, DE Spanish (V), DE English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Track (Will be 4 years), Math Club, Class Committee (we help organize fundraisers for our class, plan/book our junior & senior proms, help raise more money, etc)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 10+ hours at thrift shops, 50+ hours at hospital
Summer Activities: More hours at hospital program
Other
State (if domestic applicant): New York
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Black/African-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 120k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
Interests:
I’m interested into going into the pre-med/medical field. (pre-pharmacy and pre-dental as backups)
Schools must have these majors: Biology or biochemistry
Schools must have these minors: Anthropology (more in the sociocultural aspect) or Sociology
Schools I’m Applying to So Far:
Cornell University (CALS) / Reach
University of Michigan (LSA) / Reach
Northeastern University (CoS) / Reach
Boston University (CAS) / Reach
Tufts University (CAS) / Reach
University of Rochester / Match?
SUNY Binghamton / Safety?
SUNY Stonybrook / Safety?
Any Suggestions Must Be In The Following Areas:
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, maybe Washington D.C
I need a decent to good amount of FA from the schools.
Think about applying non-binding EA to Fordham - Rose Hill as you seem to gravitate towards city schools and may qualify for merit aid there. Plus with EA you will hear before December which is always a plus.
I think you’re shooting low for your stats/creds/story and selling yourself short. I agree with all of BatesParents recos. I’d also add Wesleyan, Vassar, Trinity, even Brown, U Penn, Swarthmore, Haverford, Williams, Amherst as reaches. Would you consider NH, VT, ME? Then I’d add Middlebury, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Colby and Bates. And what about women’s colleges? Then Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke. But you need to decide if you prefer a more urban/suburban environment vs. rural, or if you’re comfortable with either. And of course larger vs. smaller school. As a fellow first generation college student, I enjoyed the attention I received and the more intimate environment of a liberal arts college (I went to Holy Cross). Temple would be a safety for you. Also Providence College. Good luck - you’re going to do great!
I forgot to say that I also have a 32 on the ACT (E: 32 / M: 33 / R: 35 / S: 29).
@xhaavic
Yeah, I’m just trying to be cautious here because I’m not really familiar with schools that could be potential matches for me. Vassar is waaaay too close to me (like 25 to 30 minutes away) - don’t want to live that close to home. I’ve checked out Wesleyan and I’m interested.
As for location it depends on where it’s located. I don’t mind the urban setting as long as the city is what I like (Boston I’m comfortable with) but NYC I’m not. Philly?..idk. Temple U is in a very bad area. So I’m still on the fence.
I’m perfectly fine with suburban areas, but for rural areas it depends.
@BatesParents2019
Thank you for the suggestions. So far I’ve checked out Colgate and BC (I’ll get started on researching the others later)…so far so good! Just a bit worried about the FA.
@woogzmama
I’ve officially added UPitt to my list. Talked it over with my parents and they seemed to agree. They have a highly ranked med school as well. Seems to fit my reqs quite nicely.
Go for schools that make it clear they are need blind and that they meet need (not want). Your credentials are strong enough that you could probably be admitted to many need blind schools. An alternative to making things affordable is to go for schools where most students have inferior credentials to yours. In those cases the schools use merit awards to attract stronger students. But of course that means that you won’t be amongst students as strong. Since I think that attending a school with other strong students tends to have a synergistic impact on achievement, I prefer the first alternative.