The advice we get at our private HS with an excellent placement record is usually 2-3 well-chosen “reaches” is enough, and more than 4-5 starts risking a lower quality of application.
But the same advice applies to “targets” as well. The basic point is if you do the work of really figuring out which 3, or maybe up to 5, colleges in a given selectivity range fit you particularly well, those colleges are most likely to see you as a good fit too.
Of course, an elite private high school in the US probably has a dedicated college counseling staff who knows enough to be able to tell the student which reaches and matches are most likely to see the student as a good fit from their point of view. It does not look like the OP is at a school where this is the case.
Note that the “fit” from the point of view of the student may not necessarily be the same as “fit” from the point of view of the college. For example, a college may be famous for a particular major, leading to hordes of applications from students aiming for that major, but the college may be more interested in admitting students who are interested in its other majors rather than the famous one that is filled to capacity.
So if I were to apply for Social Policy to Northwestern instead of Economics, the likeliness of me being admitted shall increase??
(this is hypothetical and social policy majors and Econ majors are in different constituent schools).
I too go to a private HS (the best for A-Levels in India) and frequently meet with the counsellor, however, she advised me to reduce my dream colleges to 1. But, I think that’s quite flawed given that she’s advising everyone to do that.
My kids’ high school guidance counselors suggested that we select 2 “reach” schools, 2 “safety” schools, and 4-5 schools in between. So your guidance counselor is not too far off from that advice.
These are members of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS): Organizational Members (Public). These are schools where I think there is a high likelihood of being able to continue (and even improve) on your diving.
Interestingly, when I was doing a search on colleges with dive programs, a lot of northern schools actually populated the highest search results, when I would have expected schools in more southern climes to dominate.
Cal State Monterey Bay
Diving Courses | California State University Monterey Bay
Occidental (CA): About 2k undergrads at this Los Angeles school that Barack Obama once attended. It also has a dive program that may be of interest, as well as a popular economics major. No business is offered, though.
Indiana University: You may already be aware of it, but IU offers a certificate and a major in Underwater Resources Management, which seems to entail lots of diving.
Northeastern (MA)
Scientific Diving Program - Northeastern University College of Science
Penn State
Scientific Diving Program | Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
San Diego State
Diving Program | SDSU Coastal and Marine Institute
U. of Alaska
Scientific Diving Program | College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
U. of Maine
Scientific Diver Training - Scientific Diving - University of Maine
U. of Maryland
Scientific Diving | Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk
U. of New Hampshire
Research Diving Program | School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering
Among schools that are AAUS members that did not pull up on my web search’s earlier results, I’d also consider:
Boston U., Duke, Stanford, and U. Southern California are private schools in AAUS not mentioned above that you may want to run the NPCs on.
Looking at the Common Data Sets for your schools of interest – and specifically Section C7 and Sections C9-C11 – may help you identify what schools may be considered a “reach” for you. Besides the obvious ones, of course.
Thank you for the information!.. If the uni isn’t a part of the AAUS and doesn’t have a club for scuba-diving, could I indicate that I’d like to start a club for the same? Would that be favorable for my application?
This is usually seen in schools like Northwestern and Georgetown which are close to major water bodies which, according to my research, don’t have much of a scuba-diving culture.
I’m not an admissions officer, so I really don’t know. I think it would depend on what kind of equipment and facilities would need to be available to make the endeavor is a safe one for everyone involved. With the recent Titan submarine situation, I think universities (and others) will want to make sure all equipment is properly vetted and that everyone is adequately trained, along with any other requirements.
You can say anything. Whether or not it has impact is a different issue.
My guess is what you’ve done, not what you will claim to do, is more important.
My daughter started a club. You’ll find faculty to support but @AustenNut brings a great point - the administration, while sounding supportive, often blocks you from doing basic things due to risk tolerance.
If you interview, you can mention your desire.
Not sure that saying what you will do vs what you’ve accomplished will necessarily help. But it can’t hurt although I’m not sure where and how you note it.
How often do you want to be able to go scuba diving? While there are waterways near NU and Georgetown, there is also winter, particularly in Chicago.
You might want to look at schools in the southeast or places like San Diego where the temps are moderate all year long.
Also, there are active scuba diving organizations in places like NC and SC. My SIL goes annually for a week long scuba thing…and looks forward to it.
Schools located where there is a long winter might not be the best places for a scuba diving club.
Cornell offers scuba diving PE courses. They also have a corse which takes a Spring Break scuba trip to the Bahamas.
In a pool in the winter if this suits this student
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