<p>I live in NJ and am a rising senior. So far my list is pretty decent but I think I need to find a school or two that is prestigious as well as a "safety", one that I have a solid chance of getting into. So far my list is:
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Cornell, UPenn, Northwestern, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Boston College, and Rutgers.
I was thinking of Michigan but what are your thoughts. I don't want a school south of NJ (JHU is my only exception). I also don't want a school too far west. I love California but it would be too far to come home on long weekends and such. I don't want to include my stats but I personally know someone who works in the admissions office of an ivy league school and they said my statistics give me a really good shot at Harvard and other top schools but you never know what can happen.
I have already gotten Notre Dame, Duke, MIT, UConn, and Carnegie Mellon off of my list.</p>
<p>Georgetown is in DC.</p>
<p>You are applying to some really competitive schools which could be a mistake if you don’t have targets schools as well. I would be careful of basing your chances on the opinion of one person.</p>
<p>When you say prestigious, you mean name recognition or strong academics? Are you considering liberal arts schools? You have to realize that without your stats people will be guessing (perhaps off the mark).</p>
<p>^and UPenn is in Philadelphia…</p>
<p>You should at least put NJIT on the list along with Rutgers. I see that you have safty there, add a few more matches and go ahead.</p>
<p>Wow. I can’t believe I made that mistake. I told myself to remember to put Georgetown and JHU together but then I guess I forgot.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at my school’s naviance as well as other statistics and have concluded that I have a good shot at all of these schools. On naviance my stats are similar if not better than those who have gotten into those schools. </p>
<p>Prestige wise I would lean more towards name recognition then academics. I want a university no liberal arts school. I’m ok with people guessing. My stats are in the top categories.</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>@artlover, Philadelphia isn’t south of NJ. The only thing is that NJIT isn’t prestigious, Rutgers is much more prestigious. Rutgers and Princeton are the only ones in NJ that I would go to. Thanks for the help though.</p>
<p>sorry, my mistake, TCNJ is the one I was to suggest as safety.</p>
<p>No Phily is not south of NJ…:)</p>
<p>strat94 - you might as well have put all Ivies and top 20s as your college list. It doesn´t matter your stats are good enough for Harvard, so are 5000+ other students, and they take a lot less than that. You are not listing what your hooks are, what areas of academic you are interested in. Brown is very different than Princeton, even Cornell and Penn. Just looking at your list, you are all over the place. The problem is when you are writing “Why school XXX,” you are not going to be convincing. </p>
<p>What is going to make you stand out relative to other applicants is what do you have to offer to a school. This is one part that applicants often do forget. A school looking to build up its performance arts department (like Princeton) maybe admitting more students with such talent. A school which is looking to beef up its engineering school (like Yale) maybe looking for more math/science students. </p>
<p>If you have been on CC long enough or read those off the shelf books, you would know there needs to be a strategy on where/how you apply to schools. Reaches - a lot of work to make sure the whole application is perfect. Matches - still need quite a few of those because you could get turned down because they know they are your backups. What are you doing to demonstrate your love for those schools? Safeties - how many? when should you apply(if it´s rolling admission)? Will you truly be happy at those safeties? If not (a school like Rutgers), then why even apply? </p>
<p>What about financial safeties? That is a complete different area of concern. Some schools meet 100% needs, but their needs maybe different than yours. U Michigan - do they offer much FA to OOS? If you need FA, wouldn´t Alabama or Indiana be better?</p>
<p>You are giving very little information, and there is so much in coming up with a list, I don´t think people (adults at least) could offer much advise without knowing more.</p>
<p>Would Rutgers be a safety for both admissions and cost for you? If not, you need to find a school which is.</p>
<p>If Rutgers is a safety, remove any schools which you would not choose over Rutgers. What major(s) are you considering?</p>
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<p>What “prestige” are you looking for that Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Cornell, UPenn, NU, GU, JHU BC won’t offer.</p>
<p>And what safety do you need besides Rutgers?</p>
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<p>Is Michigan being considered for prestige or as a safety?</p>
<p>Have you considered any of the smaller schools…Lehigh, Lafayette, Muhlenberg? Or the schools in the Philly area…Hamilton, Villanova. What about Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr (if you are a woman)?</p>
<p>The other thing you can do is look on the College Board website. I believe they have a “college finder”…you can put in YOUR criteria, and some suggestions will pop up.</p>
<p>@oldfort, I don’t think my list is all over the place. I have put much thought into my list and have researched each school extensively. I like numerous aspects for each school and my why essays are very convincing. </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, Rutgers is a safety school in general. Cost is not much of an issue. I have been saving my money for a long time since I began working. My parents have also been putting money away each year. </p>
<p>@thumper, I am looking for the prestige similar to BC and Michigan. A little lower than the ivies and the next tier but still prestigious. Michigan is being considered for prestige and the fact that I have a very good chance of getting in. I actually have looked at the schools that you mentioned am not a big fan of any. Thanks for the advice on the College Board’s website.</p>
<p>Rutgers would be a safety for you, if you are competitive for the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>Other possible safeties: TCNJ, Syracuse, U. Rochester, BU</p>
<p>Unless you get one of the few UMich merit scholarships for OOS students it will cost you $50K/year. Can you afford that?</p>
<p>Adding another relatively"safe" school- Tufts seems to fit the bill. </p>
<p>Adding another Reach school - Why not Dartmouth? Too far?</p>