On the recruiting part, I agree that filling out the questionnaires and emailing coaches is a good idea. It depends a lot on the school but honestly I think you’ll find coaches would most likely view an athlete with those marks as a potential walk-on, less so someone they’d use limited admissions support for. That can be a good experience so I wouldn’t ignore it as an option.
And who knows, there might be schools out there where things click and/or you might improve this season. Just keep in mind when looking at team marks that often the sprinters who appear to be the slowest are actually multi-events athletes. So unless you can also throw and jump it’s not a very good indication of marks needed to be on the team.
No race walk in the NCAA these days, which is too bad. There are other ways to pursue that if you like the event though.
Visited multiple small LAC’s, I think that’s the right direction. We’re looking at some in Maine to apply to RD, although would rather the MA or CT area schools. I also took the ACT and got scores back.
Math: 34
Science: 35
Reading: 33
English: (hurts me to even say it) 26
Composite: 32
I realize that for the most part, the scores are good. But I do need to get the English up. I think those scores are fine if I take it again and hope to superscore English?
What happens after your gap year? Or with your transfer applications? The schools you’re looking at don’t have great transfer acceptance rates. Williams’ transfer acceptance rate was 3% (freshman was 9%). Vassar’s is 16% (compared to 20% for first years). Wesleyan’s is 19% for transfers and first years. (Source for transfer rates.) If you were denied as a senior in high school, unless there’s some major change in your accomplishments during the first few months of your gap year, you’re unlikely to be accepted just because you try again.
Does that mean I’m advocating for you to “settle?” No. It does mean that you need to focus on finding schools that you would be happy to attend for all four years that have likelier acceptance rates (as I’m pretty confident that all of those schools’ acceptance rates decreased again this past admissions cycle). That way, if you don’t get into one of your extremely selective/rejective schools, you have options that you’d be happy to attend. As @tsbna44 said,
I hear that you like smaller liberal arts schools and that you don’t want to be one of the smartest person on the campus. Your family also wants you to be within a 3-hour drive of the NYC area. And you want it to be a pretty diverse campus because you don’t want to seem “exotic” or different.
Since you haven’t yet found any schools that are likelies that you would be happy to attend I’m going to suggest some schools (some of which I suggested before, some I haven’t) that have some traits I think you would find appealing. I’ve sorted them by my very fallible sense of what your chances might be at these schools.
Toss-Up (40-59% chance of admittance)
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ): This is not a liberal arts school but it has about 4k undergrads. It’s very racially mixed, with 18% Asian, 2% Black, 15% Hispanic, 51% White, 11% unknown, and 2% international. Stevens also offers through a PhD in physics, so there should be plenty of depth in your primary area of interest. Your ACT scores sits in the middle of its 25-75 range (31-34) and there were 10 seniors in the most recent graduating class who majored in physics. You can read more about its physics program here. 14 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Lafayette (PA ): Others have already mentioned this school of about 2700 undergrads for you. It’s not as racially diverse as Stevens, but with 4% Asian, 5% Black, 8% Hispanic, 68% White, 3% 2+ races, 3% unknown, and 8% international, you’re unlikely to stick out like a sore thumb. Your ACT score sits in the middle of its 25-75 range (30-33) and there were 10 physics grads in the most recent class. You can read more about its physics program here, which also offers a concentration in astrophysics. 13 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Likely (60-79% chance of admittance)
Muhlenberg (PA ): There are about 2100 undergrads here and more than 25% of students reported a higher ACT score than you have (27-32 range). 27% of students are not classified as White and there were 6 physics grads in the most recent class. You can read more about physics at Muhlenberg here. 6 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Extremely Likely (80-99+% chance of admittance)
Drew (NJ): There are about 1600 undergrads here with 4% Asian, 8% Black, 5% Hispanic, 52% White, 9% 2+ races, 6% unknown, and 16% international. It had 3 physics majors the past year. 13 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Lebanon Valley (PA ): There are about 1700 undergrads here with 18% of students not classified as White. There were 7 physics majors in the most recent graduating class. You can read more about its physics programming here, including the NSF grants its received for student-faculty research. 13 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Moravian (PA ): There are about 1900 undergrads here and 30% of students are not classified as White. There were 6 physics majors in the most recent graduating class. You can read more about its physics programming here. 6 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
Siena (NY): There are about 3500 undergrads here. 24% of the undergrads are not classified as white. In the most recent year, there were 12 seniors who graduated with majors in physics and 1 who majored in astrophysics. You can read more about its Physics & Astronomy Department, including info on its grant funding, research possibilities, observatory, etc. 7 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
St. Joseph’s (PA ): There are about 4200 undergrads at this institution. Jesuit colleges (like this one) tend to be very well-respected in terms of their academic chops. The university has 26% of its students not classified as white, and being in Philadelphia, there is a wide mix of people in the surrounding environment. There were 7 physics majors in the most recent class. You can read more about its physics department here. 4 students went on to earn PhDs in physics or astronomy between 2008-2018.
For reference, this is the number of physics majors in the most recent graduating classes at:
So the schools I listed had more students majoring in your interested fields than at Amherst, and similar or more than at Williams. All of this to say, I think there are definitely universities where you are likelier admit that you should take a look into.
ETA:
Added Drew back in and added info on the number of alums who went on to earn a PhD in Physics & Astronomy between 2008-2018 (source). The number of majors is a snapshot in time (and could perhaps reflect an increasing or decreasing popularity of the major) and the PhD info is more a picture of whether students are provided sufficient strength in the department to be able to go on and complete doctoral studies in the field (if the students are even interested in going on for a PhD, as others may choose other professional fields of interest).