<p>I think that my low class rank is by far my biggest disadvantage btw.</p>
<p>monstor, if the OP has a 100% iron-clad guarantee of admission to his safety, then you’re right, there’s no need to bother with additional safeties or matches.</p>
<p>But keep in mind that some students think that some schools are “safeties” and are in for a nasty suprise when they get rejected even from those schools despite having superior stats.</p>
<p>Definitely consider applying ED to Cornell as it will help a lot.<br>
And that feeling of pre-professionalism at Penn, well, you’re right, but that won’t always be a good thing. At a school like that you might encounter more intense, cutthroat students who will do anything to get into a good grad school. You may also find fewer students interested in a variety of things as they will all be focused on their own areas.</p>
<p>LOL not to inadvertently add to that list, but if you are digging the pre-professional slant, look into duke. :)</p>
<p>aside from that, i agree with the poster that said to cross off schools you’d eliminate if you got into your early schools. it’ll show you which schools are worth applying to.</p>
<p>nooob is a known Penn-hater (you can search his/her past posts).</p>
<p>Pre-professionalism at Penn is entirely overblown. The place generates way too many Rhodes, Fulbright, etc scholars for a school where preprofessionalism supposedly dominates. There are pre-professional enclaves and fiercely intellectual lovers of the liberal arts (were the school entirely preprofessional, I imagine the departments of Fine Arts and Art History would be shut down, not among the best in the nation). And then there are a whole lot of students whose interests lie in between, who share an interest in the “ornamental” and the “practical”–an ideal espoused by Ben Franklin some 260 years ago.</p>
<p>People who denounce Penn as a bastion of preprofessionalism at the zero-sum expense of loving learning are haters. And also wrong. And probably unattractive too :)</p>
<p>hahah ilovebagels, you have to admit that penn has a pre-professional slant. top schools in general aren’t categorically pre-professional, but schools such as duke and penn have amazing advising in med/law (and in penn’s case, the wharton school itself) making it a great place for students looking in those directions.</p>
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<p>Exactly my point. OP: You yourself say that your stats are by no means stellar. Could you tell us why you are guaranteed of getting into your safety?</p>
<p>The University of Texas at Austin (and every other Texas public college) is bound by Texas law to automatically accept the applications of all Texan students who are in the top 10% of their class (which includes me). This law, however, will be expiring starting with the class of 2011, which is the class right below mine :)</p>
<p>What 2 Brittish schools?</p>
<p>(as asked for the third time now without an answer)</p>
<p>honestly, your stats are very impressive & you’re one of the few humble ones on CC, so congrats for that. & i would suggest u not add any more safeties but maybe even 1 or 2 more reaches. go with your gut on which schools u can really imagine yourself at. gl :)</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the replies. Sorry I wasn’t able to reply to the questions about the British schools. I’m looking at a variety of different schools, including LSE. I shouldn’t have said 2 schools- I’m not sure exactly how many I’ll apply to yet.</p>