<p>I guess I'm making yet another thread as my junior year has concluded. I need some help classifying the schools in my list as reaches, matches, or safeties. Here's what I have going for me/not going for me:</p>
<p>-3.7 UW GPA (vast majority of bad grades are from freshman year; 3.8 GPA not counting freshman)
-taken hardest classes available except for in history (of my 33 credits, 1 is self study geometry, 7 are honors, 10 are AP)
-2220 SAT (720 CR, 700 M, 800 W/10 E), planning to take the ACT and retake the SAT in the fall
-vice president of my class junior and senior years
-member of National Honor Society that requires community service
-cross country every year since sophomore and outdoor track all 4 years (JV for all barring a miracle this year)</p>
<p>As you can see, my GPA and extracurriculars kind of suck when you consider my colleges I'm looking at:</p>
<p>Amherst College
Brown University
Bucknell University
Colby College
Colgate University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Ithaca College
Skidmore College
Tufts University
UMass Amherst (I live in Massachusetts)
University of Rochester
Vassar College
Wesleyan University</p>
<p>Can someone help me categorize these? Thanks.</p>
<p>The rest are true reaches. I think you know what you need to do. You are a very good student. If you think you will need financial assistance, find some schools you like (perhaps LACs) where you would be near the top of their stats. Doing that will vastly improve your chances of getting merit aid.</p>
<p>Safety: UMass, Ithaca
Match: Rochester, Skidmore,<br>
Low Reach: Bucknell, Conn. College
Reach/High Reach: all the rest</p>
<p>If you are a male, it could help your chances at Skidmore, Conn. College & Vassar because those schools have a lot more women then men traditionally.</p>
<p>FYI, I put Skidmore in the “low reach” category after my son’s experience. He had similar stats to the OP and was waitlisted there–but got into other comparable schools I would consider slightly more selective, like Bard and Wheaton (MA). His scores were well above the averages from previous years at Skidmore. I am wondering if not visiting or otherwise expressing interest in the school might have had something to do with it…</p>
<p>^^I think that many small LACs place a reasonable amount of emphasis on demonstrated interest so that likely hurt him. This is helpful for the OP to know as well.</p>
<p>Holy ****, this is not what I expected. I’m really not so special after all…</p>
<p>I understand classifying Amherst, Brown, Cornell, Tufts, and Wesleyan as high reaches. I also understand classifying UMass as a safety, obviously. But what about schools like Bucknell, Colby, Connecticut, Skidmore, and Vassar? I thought those were all matches for me (well, I thought Vassar was a low reach, especially since so many kids from my school get in there). My SAT is above the 75th percentile for all of those, which I thought would balance out my GPA disadvantage. </p>
<p>And is Ithaca really just a match? My friend with a 3.4 and ~1900 SATs considers it a match. </p>
<p>What does an applicant even need to have to consider Colby a match? I always thought Colby was the only college I’ve visited and loved that I actually had a shot at, but it’s a heartbreaker for me if I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to get in.</p>
<p>To clarify some things: I’m male, and this isn’t my list of colleges I want to apply to. I’m obviously going to narrow it down and possibly add some new schools.</p>
<p>I’m also sorry if I come across as hostile, because it’s frankly just deflating for me to realize that I’ve had much higher hopes for colleges than I should have this whole time.</p>
<p>OP, sorry to be bearers of (potentially) bad news. A lot of us who respond to these questions are parents of students who have recently gone through the admissions process–or are students ourselves. We are only speaking from our own personal experience.</p>
<p>It is my personal opinion that the whole thing is out of hand. One of my son’s best friends got completely shut out of every school he wanted to attend–and his stats were better and his ECs more extensive than yours. The schools he got rejections from were similar to (and included some of) the ones we are calling “reaches” for you. He was left with a hodgepodge of randomly chosen safeties and matches he hadn’t given any thought to–because he was SURE he would get into at least a few of his top picks, and had done everything “right.” </p>
<p>I partially blame the common app for this–kids are applying to so many colleges just to hedge their bets, and the common app makes it easy. Add to that the number of schools that have upped their marketing and enticement of students by waiving application fees if they have “preferred” status or apply online. Not to mention the extensive prep available to kids with the financial means to pay for it–kids who make up a good chunk of applicants to the “top” schools in your group.</p>
<p>This is why again and again we encourage posters to find safeties they like and would be happy attending. You won’t ONLY be happy at the schools everyone else is reaching for. You, like many students your age, just think that now. But the fact is there are many, many colleges that can prepare you well for graduate school, careers and life.</p>
<p>Don’t be discouraged regarding Colby. You have a fairly good chance at it, though with the competitive admissions process today, it would be wrong of posters on CC to assure you of acceptance to competitive colleges.</p>
<p>For you, I think that Ithaca could be a safety.</p>
<p>I think your SAT score is fine–very good, actually. I wouldn’t retake it. </p>
<p>I saw that you have posted similar questions about your college choices several times in the past. It’s clear that you are focused on “name” schools that in many cases bear little relation to one another other than in terms of status or geography. You keep coming up with top-heavy lists that seem kind of random, and despite numerous wise CC posters encouraging you to develop your safety/match options, you are still in the same place you were a few months ago. I think you should be asking yourself, what do you want to do with your college degree? IMO, you should stop fretting about every grade and test score and think about where you see yourself five or ten years from now. Then work backwards and start refining your choices. You might be surprised to learn that attending a highly competitive college isn’t the only way to get where you want to go. The world is full of successful people who went to lesser LACs, state schools, community college or none at all. I know this seems like everything right now but it’s not…really.</p>
<p>Are cost, financial aid, and scholarships a concern?</p>
<p>Remember that if being able to afford a school depends on a reach level merit scholarship, it is a reach, even if it would be a safety or match for just gaining admission. If need based aid is insufficient (check the net price calculator) and there are no in-reach merit scholarships that can make it affordable, don’t bother applying.</p>
You are a very good student. If you think you will need financial assistance, find some schools you like (perhaps LACs) where you would be near the top of their stats. Doing that will vastly improve your chances of getting merit aid.</p>