I think you have an excellent, ambitious list. Your stats are similar to my youngest’s and some of your choices overlap.
Things have gotten extremely competitive in college admissions. 20 years ago, I’d have agreed with some of your categorizations of the schools’ selectivies. Now, it’s more up in the air.
Like you, my youngest had early apps out. He applied EArly to about 8 schools. He was accepted to all of them. His state school and two other OOS flagships with automatic Merit money were his safety schools along with Fordham. But, just a little bit of info…Fordham is no safety for females, totally unconnected applicants. I’ve been surprised at who they have deferred. UMich has become very unpredictable for OOS EA applicants. Though he was accepted, ALL of his classmates who applied EA were deferred. They were eventually BC accepted—those who kept their apps open, but some of those deferred were accepted to even more highly selective schools. It makes me believe that UMich is tired of being an EA safety to those applying to the top s hooks , particularly in certain majors like Business, Engineering, premed. I know 2 kids accepted to MIT, deferred from UMich. Tgg BF rt had excellent essays that won them outside awards, so I doubt that was a hang up. One was accepted to Penn as well as both being accepted to schools that scrutinize the more holistic aspects of essays far better than a school of UMich’s size.
I do not see anything wrong with your list. Yes, it would have been great if you had fallen in love with UMass or other true safety school, but that’s not the way it usually works. You have applied early to some schools as a great litmus test that will also snag you with your safety admissions.
You will have applied to a lot of schools, so you’ll have Somme choices. Princeton, as you know is a very high reach. None of us have a clue how much impact your instrument “audition” and personal audience with that prof will have. My friend’s son was not accepted at top reach schools with stats up in their top 25% with Oboe as his hook. And he was a conservatory level oboist. I guess it all depends upon how badly they want the instruments and who else applying this admissions cycle. I know kids who did get in through A member of the faculty advocating their admissions due to something that department wanted, but it’s a wild card that has little predictive value. Hopefully, it does help you. Princeton is a lottery ticket anyways, and you do not have the academic numbers to be accepted without a hook.
JHU as a premed, RD is also a lottery ticket. Do contact their band, directly.
Though you can characterize your matches as such, I consider most of them in the reach category. A lot of the kids I know applied to BC, most had stats like yours, and about half were accepted. Which could be characterized as a match, being 50/50 Guys tend to do better in admissions there is what I’ve noticed. Lehigh and William and Mary, again are matches for kids of your stats, but again, we are talking coin flip chances, less with Wm&Mary, IMO. OOS accept numbers are far lower than the composite.
Cornell is a reach but I think more of a possibility, especially as a second year auto admit if you complete a year satisfactorily elsewhere. A lot of Kids get that kind of contingent offer
Tufts is no ones safety unless your school has some connection with them. I’ve seen top kids denied there.
But reach schools, highly selective schools are exactly that— difficult to gain admissions. It’s the season to give them a go as you wish and just see what happens. Most of your schools are lottery tickets. As long as you understand that, and brace yourself, your list is fine. With my kid, I had an early to Tulane, Penn State and Villanova in Addition to what I felt were his safeties, and they all panned out for him. His ED choice accepted him so prepared apps to Penn, Wm&Mary, Duke and Dartmouth, his high reaches did not go out. But he said he really liked Tulane enough that he was done early even if ED had not been an accept. They offered a half cost merit award.
Hopefully you ran the NPCs for each of these schools so you know they are all likely affordable to you. No, you are not likely at all to get merit from Wm&Mary. You’ll be lucky to get accepted. Fordham does have auto merit but be aware, it doesn’t mean auto accept because the calculator gives you auto Merit money. IF you are accepted. That was a tough blow to several kids I know. I don’t know what merit UMass offers in state kids, but I know, as you do too, that getting into their honors college is no slam dunk.
I think you will have several choices at year end. That this is stressful is because you chose a lot of very selective schools. If URI or UConn or Loyola or UDenver, or Rollins, Stetson, Eckerd (FL LACs), James Madison, Pitt, Mich State were in your list, you’d have some more acceptances predicted. But you do not, so here we are. Good luck.
and I am proud of my GPA as my school is really tough.