<p>Okay, your definite list looks pretty solid, and now I understand what you’re saying.</p>
<p>If you’re not certain about something too intense and/or too stereotypically hippie, Reed might not be the place for you. Middlebury is more athletic and pre-professional, as well as rural, than the others on your list. Bowdoin is small and not like Amherst and Haverford in that they have other colleges nearby, so it may become a bit too small and isolated for you. Ditto Williams.</p>
<p>Do you want (a) safer, smaller private school(s) that offers merit aid? If so, you’re going to have to look at less selective schools.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins – Excellent in the sciences but equally impressive creative writing program. (Check it out online.) Probable match.</p>
<p>Duke - reach for everyone, but your stats are certainly in the ballpark.</p>
<p>If you are considering small LAC’s, don’t assume that ones of the caliber you’re listing are going to be cakewalks for admission. You might want to think about adding Williams, Pomona, and maybe Davidson if you’re interested in small town Southern. You might also consider Wes, which looks like more of a match, and might have more of the “not mainstreamy” environment you’re looking for. As would Oberlin. (Also look at Middlebury, Lawrence, Kenyon, Grinnell, and see if any of them feels right.)</p>
<p>You really do have to have matches and low reaches that you actually like and would be happy to attend. Ask yourself if you would be happy at a wonderful school in the middle of a cornfield. The middle of a rough city? South of the Mason-Dixon? Giant but with a small, excellent honors college, such as Ann Arbor? With a whole lot of rah rah school spirit? With crunchy granola and sprouts as far as the eye can see? With eating clubs? With/without Greek life?</p>
<p>You will probably want to make fine distinctions once you have your acceptances in hand, but in coming up with schools for the middle and bottom of your list, you might want to consider the larger distinctions.</p>