I am looking to start narrowing down my college list and am having trouble finding solid matches and reach schools.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 4.00UW, 4.22/4.30 W
AP: AB Calculus (5) US History (5) BC Calc (testing later) AP Lit (testing later)
IB: English SL/HL, History SL/HL, Chemistry SL/HL, Biology HL
ACT: 34C - retaking
SAT II: Taking Math II and Chemistry, got a 730 in US history but probably won’t submit
ECs
Molecular modeling internship - most likely published at end of year
Summer research program (not like RSI or Simons level prestigious, but still good)
Robotics Team - hopefully will make captain
Chemistry Club/chem tutor (don’t know if i will include in app)
Travel softball
Travel ice hockey (super competitive, i spend most of my time here)
Gay straight alliance - most likely president
Mental health awareness club - president and founder
Waitress/busser at a restaurant
Volunteering
not a lot, soup kitchen here and there, will be taking a service trip to Peru over the summer.
Here is my list:
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Penn
Rice
Northwestern
Brown
Berkeley
Washington University in St Louis
Michigan
Illinois Urbana Champaign
Lafayette
Wisconsin Madison
U of Delaware
Obviously there are a lot of reaches, but I don’t want to think about not being able to get into one of them. My school is know for sending a LOT of kids to Washu in St. Louis, Lafayette, and Michigan. Any help would be amazing.
Pick 3 or 4 at most out of: Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Penn, Rice, Northwestern, and Brown (even with just three of those super-reaches, you will still have 5 reach schools total, which is a lot).
There are literally so many match schools out there. You don’t appear to have any constraints about major/location/size/etc, so I don’t totally understand why you’re having trouble. But if you’re really out of ideas, I’ve listed some possibilities below.
Unis: U Rochester, Brandeis, Case Western, William and Mary, Boston College, Lehigh, U Miami, Tulane
LACs: Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Skidmore, Kenyon, Macalester, Connecticut College, Bucknell
I don’t think you need to re-take a 34 – it is within range everywhere.
What is your home state?
Can you afford to go away to another public flagship?
I think you already have some matches and a safety (UDel), actually, but here are some more private match-range schools:
Boston College
U Rochester
Boston U
NYU (not Stern or Tisch)
Brandeis
Case Western
Tulane
Wake Forest
Lehigh
Villanova
Miami (FL)
SMU
Pepperdine
GWU
Dickinson
Denison
Sewanee
Earlham
F&M
Union College
Holy Cross
Bucknell
Rhodes
Occidental
Whitman
Trinity (CT)
Connecticut College
Obviously run NPC to make sure schools are affordable and check for (at least) academic fit before applying.
“Obviously there are a lot of reaches, but I don’t want to think about not being able to get into one of them.” You may not want to think about the prospect of rejection, but that’s not an unlikely scenario—I’ve seen multiple people with 2400s, 4.0s, and impressive extracurriculars shut out of ALL Ivies and other top-15 schools this year. Contrary to lalalemma’s advice, you don’t need to limit yourself to 3-4 reach schools. I tried the shotgun approach with pretty good results. However, there are two major caveats: 1) make sure you can present high-quality applications (original essays, short answers, etc etc tailored to each school) and 2) do not neglect your matches and safeties!! Apply to a few safeties rolling admission to make sure you’ll be going to college regardless of your later decisions.
Thank You! I’m from Jersey, so there’s a lot of competition. I’ll def look at some of those schools you recommended, I had been thinking about rochester and trinity!
OP, are you looking for a big university or a smaller liberal arts college as your original list was almost all big uni’s, except Lafayette, and then you mentioned Trinity which is also a LAC? Also, are you looking to play ice hockey as that could be a hook?
EFC = expected family contribution, or the amount colleges will expect you and your family to contribute to your tuition, room, & board. Before you spend a lot of time building a college list, have the money talk with your parents. Too many times kids are admitted to schools that are unaffordable.
Chembiodad, I honestly am just looking at schools that I have really loved touring at so far. With ice hockey I’ve been able to travel a lot and see a huge amount of the schools on my list, so even though it isn’t cohesive as far as size and location, I just think I’d be happy at the places I mentioned. I am not going to play in college, as I can’t seem to stay away from getting injured!
@skatergirl27 - Greetings from NJ! I didn’t see you mention what you intend to study, what type of scholastic or social atmosphere you desire, or what geographical area you’d like to spend your undergrad years in. Those are key factors in deciding where to apply and will make your list much more focused.
Hi! I am looking to study chemical engineering and have almost no preference on everything else. Its moreso about individual schools and if they click rather than a list of prerequesites
