College list reasonable?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Is this a reasonable list of colleges for me to apply to? I’m an early graduate, going into my final year at high school, so please comment and give suggestions as to which other colleges I should apply to. I’m looking in New England, Mid-Eastern, Texas, and California. Advice is always welcome.
Nationality: Asian (Vietnamese)
Gender: Male</p>

<p>GPA: 3.92 (unweighed)/4.28 (weighed)
Major: Finance/Pre-Law or Undecided/Pre-Law
SAT’s: 2140 (640 CR, 780 M, 720 W) Planning retake for 2200
PSAT’s: Planning to take in fall.
SAT II’s: 780 Biology M, 800 Mathematics IIC
AP’s (9): European History (5), Biology (5), Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, English Language and Composition, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Spanish Literature, US History.</p>

<p>Noteworthy EC: ARML Participant?</p>

<p>Other EC:
Capital Area Mathematics League
Connecticut State Association of Mathematics League
Letters About Literature Essay Contest (state finalist)
American Mathematics Competition 10 (92.5)
Student Council (member/senator)
Math Team (member/president)<br>
Chess Club (member)
Gaming Club (member)
Ping-Pong Club (member)
American Choral Directors Association
Eastern Division Honors Choir (chorus)<br>
Freshmen Musical (chorus)<br>
High School Musical (lead)<br>
Maximum Honor Roll
Who’s Who Among American High School Students
Spanish Honors Society
National Honors Society
Board of Education Award for Academic Achievement
School Recognition for Participation in ARML
Maximum Honors Award</p>

<p>Com. Service:
HANOC Tutoring Center (200 hours)
HANOC Summer Program (20 hours)
Conard Music Department (4 hours)</p>

<p>Impossible:
MIT (EA)
Harvard (PA)
Stanford
Yale
UPenn</p>

<p>Reach:
Brown
Cornell (ED)</p>

<p>Fit:
Boston C (EA)
UC Berkeley
USC
Tufts</p>

<p>Safety:
University at Texas Austin
Boston U
UConn (EA)</p>

2

<p>Your list is reasonable, but it is a bit long.
I would not suggest you to apply to more colleges, but to narrow down your list instead.</p>

3

<p>Having an “Impossible” section of your college list implies a fundamental lack of confidence. Just don’t apply to schools if you’re so certain they’re “impossible.” Remember that if you’re doing the Common App, all of those “Impossible” schools (or most of them) have lengthy supplements.</p>

<p>You could prune your EC list a little. Memberships in clubs are probably going to detract from your application more than they add to it (it looks like a laundry list). Also, “Who’s Who” is a well-known scam, so definitely don’t put that on.</p>

<p>Your list is okay but I think Berkeley would probably be more in reach category. Also, I’m not sure why UPenn is impossible, while Brown is just a reach, given that they have very similar acceptance rates.</p>

4

<p>Why would you put Penn in your “impossible” list? It’d be in the reach category with Brown and Cornell…</p>

<p>Your list is reasonable, but it is a bit lengthy. You don’t need to have quite so many in each range; I’d say 3 matches, 2 safeties, and no more than 5 reaches. Of course, you can apply to as many as you want, but I’d hate to apply to that many schools.</p>

5

<p>too long…</p>

6

<p>Cut a few of those impossibles.</p>

7

<p>Here is a possibility for a cut down list </p>

<p>Reaches:
Cornell
MIT
Havard</p>

<p>Matches:
BC
UC Berk
USC
Tufts</p>

<p>Safeties:
UCONN
Boston U</p>

<p>Its still 10 schools, which is a lot, but it isn’t the 14 you had.</p>

8

<p>

What’s the rationale behind this? Just apply to the one you’re in-state for and maybe some others you’re in-state for.</p>