It’s hard to know what’s a reach, especially because GPAs vary so much by school.
OP, you may want to look at Earlham and Guilford. Both easier to get into than Bard, for example, but very nurturing. Earlham has an excellent classroom experience.
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Yeah, our basic definition of a reach is that the admit rate is less than 25%, or your academic performance puts you in the bottom quartile of students from the previous year.
For, say, Kenyon, the last CDS says their admit rate is 34.3%, so that’s OK. My concern for the OP is their 25th SAT was 1380, which is the OP’s SAT. And then 77% had a 3.75+ GPA, and the OP’s 3.66 is below that.
However, is that GPA weighted or unweighted? How rigorous are the OP’s HS and transcript? The concept is simple, but the application . . . not so much.
Given all this, I would definitely NOT say the OP should not apply to Kenyon. But we would usually presumptively classify it as reach given these numbers. But could it also be called a softer reach? Or even a harder target? Sure.
Just by way of contrast, St Olaf, for example, has a 25th of 1300, 50th of 1370. 57% have a 3.75+, 23% 3.5-3.74. 3.66 is about 2/3rds up that range, so I’m going to guess 3.66 is like top 65% or so. Overall admissions rate is 56.4%.
That to me is a more comfortable target, defined as an admit rate over 25%+ and your academic profile putting you in the mid 50th percentile or higher of students from the previous year.
Again, my point isn’t to discourage the OP from applying to a Kenyon (or such), but just to suggest applying to a St Olaf (or such) might be a good idea too.
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Thank you all so much for your thoughtful thoughts on colleges, this has really helped me to add some new schools to my list and give me more options when I apply to colleges.
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Reed is super quirky.
As mentioned a lot of it’s peers are more selective and may end up as “reaches” on your list.
You should look at the NESCAC colleges, but most of them would be reaches, except for Connecticut College, which does really encourage the life of the mind, and also helps you think holistically and actually guarantees your a paid internship in your time there.
A good book for reference would be Colleges that Change Lives, that lists lots of the schools mentioned here.
Bard is a lot like Reed, but probably less intense academically but also a bit quirky.
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How about University of Puget Sound or Lewis & Clark if you’re attracted to the PNW. You should get good merit aid at both!
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