<p>You should have a good chance in all of the schools! Be sure to write killer essays 
Chance me back please <a href=“Please Chance me for these schools and I'll be sure to chance you guys back as well ! - #6 by happydolphin - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums”>Please Chance me for these schools and I'll be sure to chance you guys back as well ! - #6 by happydolphin - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums;
<p>@SouthernHope The reason why MIT and especially Harvard like MA kids is because of their philosophy of improving and becoming a part of the greater community. By taking in MA kids, these schools feel that they have their community represented.</p>
<p>You are a competitive applicant but those schools (except perhaps Tufts) are reaches for anyone due to their extremely high selectivity.</p>
<p>@southernHope, here is the unspoken theory.</p>
<p>There are more hooked poeple living near said colleges. Not just alumni kids. Imagine faculty/staff’s kids. As a benefit, they are likely to be taken if “qualified”. Now those may rank 10th, 20th or 30th within their schools. It will be bad publicity for top colleges to routinely take those, but skip the higher ranked kids in the same high schools. So the colleges will take a few kids ranked higher than the hooked ones to pacify their neighbors.</p>
<p>Now once they do that to one or couple of schools, they can’t treat another high school next door same way as one that’s thousand of miles away. So they will take quite a few from those too. So you will see a diffusion effect with the highest concentration around the college. This happens to all top private colleges.</p>
<p>Also taking local kids produces higher yield since they are likely to attend, especially for those unlikely to be accepted at other schools across the country.</p>
<p>Hope this explains.</p>
<p>Just FYI the Harvard book award means almost nothing about your chances other than that you are one of the strongest general candidates in your class… The past two people to win it at my school were both rejected flat out from harvard despite one of them having the highest gpa at our school in years. So I’m not saying it doesn’t help but it definitely doesn’t mean you will get in. Anyway good luck!</p>
<p>@econsftw it is delusional to say that ANYBODY is a high match at Amherst. There is no such thing as being a match at ANY school on the OPs list.</p>
<p>@strawberry3 Yes, I do have some other schools that would be more traditional “safety” schools like UMass Amherst or Brandeis. Any suggestions you have to add would be greatly appreciated (my parents want me to stay in the Northeast or Mid Atlantic.)</p>
<p>@ladybug97 I know the book award definitely isn’t a shoo-in on its own, but I think that it speaks to my character in front of an admissions board. My high school is also really competitive, so I think that adds more weight as well. But I agree that nothing is a guarantee.</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM I am unsure of what you classify as a match school. A match school, at least in my perspective, is a school that you are completely qualified to apply to. If @econsftw believes that I am a qualified applicant, then so be it. Yes I know that my odds aren’t great of getting in to any of these schools, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t matches, at least in my view. But I am interested to hear your opinion of potential match schools for me, because I definitely could expand my college list. Thanks! </p>
<p>Haha of course it does! I just noticed some people saying that it would be much easier for you because of it which I don’t think is the case. I’m in a similar situation to you; I won the harvard prize at my school this year, so I would love to think that it means harvard will accept me. Alas this is not the case 
</p>
<p>Brandeis is not a safety school. A safety school is generally a school that admits solely on GPA and test scores…you are in if you meet certain criteria. A Match school is where that you have a reasonable chance of getting in. ALL of your schools have a 15% or less admittance rate (not sure about Tufts) and while you are qualified at all of them, they are certainly not match schools. I have no data to back this up, but it is generally said that 90% or so of kids that apply to the schools on your list probably have the raw stats to surpass their minimum threshold, but almost all are still rejected. So how is that a match? By YOUR definition, all of your schools would be matches…you can pass first round muster.</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM Thanks for responding. Given my stats, what would be a good match school? Also, any ideas for safeties. Whatever you could suggest would be appreciated.</p>
<p>State schools are great for safeties because their fairly easy to get into, and they cost very little! I’m looking into SUNYs for safety schools, and some of them are actually very good schools.</p>
<p>@ga2012mom @235423 My definition of high match is having a 35-50% chance of getting in. In fact, according to Parchment, match is considered 30% and above. To me, match is 50-65%. OP clearly has great results and outstanding achievements very few have - it is not delusional to think he/she has a high chance at Amherst, or anywhere else.</p>
<p>Harvard - High match? Lol the book award helps a lot!
Yale - reach
Princeton - reach
MIT - reach
Brown - low reach
Columbia - low reach
Dartmouth - low reach
Tufts - high match
Duke - low reach
Amherst - Match (MA rocks!!)</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK!
You are such a good applicant!</p>
<p>Good scores, Average Extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Econ, how do you figure the OP has a 35-50% chance of admittance? Amherst had a 13% admit rate last year and would be much lower for RD as they take a good percentage of the class in ED. Not sure how you are justifying your statements.</p>
<p>Well harvard is a reach for everyone, but with your academics you are their “academic zone”. I think the only part where you should focus now is the essay because essay is important than how people think it it. </p>
<p>Amherst’s RD rate was 11.25% this year</p>
<p>HYP Columbia: you have a chance but obviously it’s a reach for everyone
MIT: low reach considering you did so well on the subject tests in those areas
Brown: (my dream school) good chance, low reach/reach. maybe harder because you don’t have a hook
Dartmouth: low reach
Tufts: match
Duke: match
Amherst: match</p>
<p>^ Duke is not a match for anyone. Perhaps you should educate yourself before ‘chancing’ other people.</p>
<p>Agreed hidall1. Why on earth does any high school student take advice from other high school students? Sheesh, look at the comman data sets and decide for themselves. Ego stroking is unbecoming and a bit neurotic.</p>