Chance my daughter and safety advice

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Please help - not sure how realistic the target list is:
D is a junior and just got her SAT II scores this morning.</p>

<p>SAT I - only sitting: 800 Writing, 790 Math, 740 Reading (she was quite disappointed)
SAT II - only sitting each: Lit 800, Math II 800, US History 770
ACT - 34, then 36</p>

<p>GPA - 4.0 unweighted (no class ranking)
APs - will have 12 by graduation in several different disciplines - all 5s on tests so far
Should be NMF based on PSAT
Most challenging course load at a strong MN public school (e.g. taking Spanish 4 over the summer because she wants to fit in more government/history in the fall of senior year (not for college app, just for learning)</p>

<p>ECs - Swimmer - swims 15 - 20 hours a week on HS state champ team/year round club team; not recruited DI, but could walk on some Ivy teams; could be hook for some DIII teams; swimming time commitment has, unfortunately, "cost" her some other opportunities (math team, music, summer programs at colleges) so she will "sell the swimming" on essays, in interviews
Lots of church stuff, including lead Sunday School teacher 4+ years, church camp staff 3 years
Fair amount of babysitting for employment</p>

<p>NHS (junior and senior year); assorted service work including peer tutoring</p>

<p>Expect great teacher recs; expect good counselor rec (just too big a school for GC to know/advocate for any student too strongly)</p>

<p>The concern is the lack of leadership or national award stuff; all else seems competitive for selective schools.</p>

<p>Her target list:
Columbia, Cornell (liberal arts), Yale (double legacy), Harvard, Dartmouth</p>

<p>Now, we need some matches and safeties. Her HS has 3200 kids, so very small LACs are less appealing. Thinking maybe Amherst (feels bigger due to community), Wesleyan, Tufts, Bowdoin (swim coach rec) for matches. What about safeties (prefer 2500+ students, not too isolated, decent DIII swim team or less competitive DI).
Any input about WUSTL? I hear they waitlist students that may be using them as a match/safety...</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help.</p>

2

<p>Is money a concern?</p>

<p>If not, then maybe…</p>

<p>Emory
Georgetown
Vanderbilt
Santa Clara</p>

<p>Not sure what safeties to recommend…may depend on her major/intended career.</p>

<p>What is her intended major?</p>

<p>If money is a concern, can you afford your expected family contribution? Also, if money is a concern, then she’ll need to consider schools that will be affordable.</p>

<p>However, if money is no object, then GREAT! :)</p>

3

<p>Fortunately, we have been saving big time. She can go to the best school she gets into (for four years, lol).</p>

4

<p>I had very similar stats as your daughter. My second-tier schools (I don’t really considered these as safeties) included Chicago, Georgetown, Michigan, Rice, and USC. If she takes her applications seriously – which means starting on them this summer and not next December – she will get into most of her schools. Of course, if she has a target Ivy, she should make contact with the swim coach. Look at Yale’s swim team website. They have a list of times that a student must have to be considered a recruited swimmer. If she meets those standards, then she would meet them for all other Ivies. Being recruited would really help her at a targetted school. Good luck to her.</p>

5

<p>Undecided major - probably history, poli sci kind of major with some math coursework. </p>

<p>Thanks for your help, mom2collegekids!</p>

6

<p>Thanks, Hope Full. Are you in school now?</p>

7

<p>Check out the Claremont Colleges: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer. They are all right next to each other, and including Harvey Mudd, the student population is roughly 5,000. How does she feel about swimming outdoors in sunny California?</p>

8

<p>bump</p>

<p>I hope I did that right; this is my first time…</p>

9

<p>She has greta grades, she should have a great chance at any of the top liberal arts women’s colleges like Smith, Barnard and Bryn Mawr if she wishes to apply.
Lehigh , Villanova, Bucknell, she could consider those as well.</p>

10

<p>She will get into Yale as long as her rank is as good as it seems it will be.</p>

11

<p>Where does she go? Edina? Wayzata? There are a couple kids from Edina who got into Yale this year, and one from Wayzata, you might want to talk to them (depending on which school you go to).</p>

<p>Pretty much, the ECs are poor. You’ll find a lot of people that invested a lot of time into sports and also had other leadership opportunities. If she has a chance at swimming for the Ivies, that’s probably her best chance. It probably also helps to be a double-legacy with her grades and scores.</p>

<p>Yale will probably like that she is an athlete (and from what I’ve seen, puts a little more stock in performance ECs like Drama/Athletics than other schools do). Good luck to her, and her legacy is a great hook for her, but she might not have that great a chance at Yale.</p>

<p>On the other hand, she could probably get the Presidential scholarship at UM(inn), and would have an extremely strong chance at one of the three big NMF scholarships at Madison. I know you guys have saved up, but as far as safeties go, sometimes its nice to choose some bargain schools, so you can have more money for Grad School (or expenses later in life, like a moving expense for a new job or a down payment on her first house).</p>

12

<p>I think that USC, Villanova, Fordham, and William and Mary could be possibilities.</p>

<p>What else does your D want in a school?</p>

<p>Does she prefer a small, more intimate college experience, or a big rah rah college experience. Would she join a sorority?</p>

13

<p>Read the current thread about legacies. With her grades and scores, as a double legacy (and being from a state without a ton of applicants is just an added plus) , Yale will not give a hoot about her ECs.</p>

14

<p>My Ds had similar stats. Their matches included Georgetown, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Rice, and UVA. Safeties included GW and Michigan.</p>

15

<p>She wants something at least as big as her high school (3200). Considering Amherst and the Claremonts for LAC with a bigger “feel.” According to Naviance, her scores are better than the kid that got in this year, but who knows what else that kid had going for her. Just want her to realize there are plenty of schools where she could be very happy!</p>

16

<p>“740 Reading (she was quite disappointed)”</p>

<p>Oh come on…</p>

17

<p>you’ve got to love these posts by parents, particularly moms, who use this site to spout off their kid’s statistics to anyone within earshot, lol.</p>

18

<p>DePauw has a decent DIII swim team and gives tons of merit aid. Seems to be an up and coming school. Very Greek, if she likes that. Could be a good safety if she wants to swim</p>

19

<p>If she is a really good swimmer then look at Kenyon and Denison.</p>

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<p>Shank - the post was not at all about spouting off. In fact, we have told very few people because we don’t want D to get caught up on the mania of selective admissions. The only point in sharing them here (with no names so no glory to D or proud parents) is to learn from those more experienced. Further, it is quite difficult to get the swimming information needed. The top times and school records are easy to find. The minimum requirements to walk on are hard to find. D wants to wait to contact coaches because her times are still coming down. </p>

<p>If you don’t like hearing about others’ scores, why are you on a “Chance Me” thread anyway?</p>

<p>For everyone else, sincere thanks for the wonderful information and for taking time to help. D is older child, so we are in new territory. I hear Kenyon is in a class of its own in DIII :)</p>