<p>You would be a likely admit to Davidson IF you apply ED1 or ED2 and expressed strong interest.</p>
<p>both ed1 and ed2 are binding though right?</p>
<p>Yes. But that is one way to express your desire. Great location! If you can, you should visit because you will definitely feel one way or another. I don,t believe that there is a middle ground re:Davidson. Be prepared to work.</p>
<p>garrity- i have visited davidson and LOVED it. it's probably my top pick besides duke</p>
<p>however, i can't apply there ed because my parents think that the only reason i want to go there is because my ex goes there (its not!) but i can still hope to get in rd i guess</p>
<p>You should have some that you dream of going to, some you think you really could get into and a couple that you are certain you can get into. As long as your list is balanced, who cares what the counselor thinks?</p>
<p>Here is a very broad list, feel free to pick and choose:</p>
<p>In the south:
Tulane
Georgie Tech
William and Mary
Washington and Lee
University of Richmond
University of Miami</p>
<p>On the west coast:
USC (automatic half-tuition for National Merit Finalists)
The Claremont Schools (Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna)
Occidental
UCLA</p>
<p>thanks sfgiants!!</p>
<p>Definitely consider Washington and Lee, great small, southern school (also probably more fun than Davidson).</p>
<p>sarabeth,
you have a good chance of getting into your schools, especially if your SAT scores go up, which I'm sure they will, but I would caution you about getting your hopes up about UCLA, since you are out of state. The chances for OOS for UCLA are statistically about equal to getting into Duke or Brown, just so you know. With improved SAT's I think you have a great shot at USC.</p>
<p>caution: common datasets for some of the schools are extremely outdated</p>
<p>try rice in houston... much easier to get in for out of state students, great for engineering, very supportive, lots of fun. lovely campus, cheaper than many, etc, etc... :)</p>
<p>Here is a second for the Rice suggestion. Friend's D turned down Dartmouth for Rice and does not regret her decision; she loves it.</p>
<p>sarebeth -- no matter how many colleges you get into, you can only attend one.</p>
<p>Therefore, if you have two good safeties that your would be happy to attend and that family can afford, you have twice as many "realistic options" than you will actually need. You can find more "realistic options" to keep your g.c. happy -- or you can focus on what YOU want. </p>
<p>Your stats are competitive for all the school you list, and truthfully every school that is added beyond your safety ought to be a school that you would really like to attend. It doesn't matter if they are all reaches -- you will either get into them or you won't, but you will still have those safeties.</p>
<p>I think your g.c. may be more concerned about her own batting average than what you want. In any case, you have plenty of time to explore and you are going to have a bunch of great options next year.</p>
<p>TIP: don't ask your "chances" on the CC board. Many people here have an unrealistically pessimistic view -- by their standards, my kid wouldn't have been admitted to most of the schools she got into (test scores too low). Again -- as long as you have safeties that you are happy with, you can afford to reach as high as you want for the others.</p>
<p>ASU and UofA offer mostly full scholarships for NMF.</p>
<p>I agree with Calmom and simply wanted to add another parent's voice to hers. (The "chances" threads are not productive, but common sense has to come in to play in thinking about chances.) Your GC may have been trying to make sure you had some safeties you were happy with, but she can't seriously have thought you were not competitive, that is, in the mix of viable candidates, at the places you named. As a junior, you seem to be several steps ahead of the game, with a sensible list and some visits under your belt, good credentials and so on. Keep up the good work.</p>
<p>Another parent here.</p>
<p>Comparing your stats to the profiles of the three schools you mentioned, I'd say you'd have at least a 50% chance at each of them. If you apply to all three, I'll predict you're admitted to at least two.</p>
<p>I'd encourage you to try for Brown and Duke, too, if you have strong interest in them. They are reaches for just about anybody, but you certainly have a chance at admission.</p>
<p>I'll add my voice for Rice, too. In the same category as Duke for you, but well worth considering.</p>
<p>You might want to think about U of Virginia. Excellent rep and a low-match for you.</p>
<p>Safeties? You still want quality schools that fit you. Given your interests and geographic preference, try U of Florida. And U of Oklahoma is very generous to NMF candidates.</p>
<p>My son's counselor had scattergraphs for each college showing grades and SAT scores for applicants from son's high school. This gives her a good feel for what it takes from HIS school to get in. Your stats sound great, but it really depends on your high school and who they take from it. Your counselor might be right. At son's school only 4.4 weighted and 2300 SATs got into Stanford or Duke or Brown.</p>
<p>I went to Rice from Florida and can't even imagine comparing UF with Rice. Rice is a completely different environment. Much better in my opinion. Forget California. It's way too crowded and competitive out here. If you like freshman chem with 800 students and not enough seats for everyone - then Berkeley is for you. Some of the kids telecommute to their classes. The only highly ranked private schools with engineering (Harvey Mudd, CalTech, Stanford) are as difficult to get into as Duke. USC is a huge school and in a terrible neighborhood in LA. Not the best choice for someone from out-of-state.</p>
<p>Just a hint: if you want engineering you will probably have to choose engineering upon applying because some schools separate their Engineering from their Arts & Science. Also, engineering will limit your choices in the southeast. Obviously, I think Rice is best. Houston is very similar in weather to southeast. Vanderbilt is a good second choice. For a safety you should consider Furman and Univ of Maryland (nice facilities for engineering and it's in-state tuition for you). If you go the LAC route you have more choices in the south. People have already mentioned several.</p>
<p>I have been compiling a list of small, private schools for my son that have both engineering and liberal arts (he also isn't sure). There are not that many, and coming from CA he is not interested in the southeast. However, Rice is on his list. He visited it last Nov and loved it. If you are interested in going north my list includes Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, CMU, Tufts, and Cornell.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help and encouragement everyone! i admit i was kinda bummed out after talking to my gc but you all have given me many more options i hadn't even considered so that's good to know!</p>
<p>Your GC is crazy</p>
<p>Wake Forest and Vandy should be matches and i think Duke is realistic</p>
<p>Either your GC is insane or you lied.... but i doubt you did</p>
<p>Ummm I would suggest maybe</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins
William n Mary
ummmm thats all I can think of but look into them</p>
<p>and both AZ schoolss ( u of A .. asu ) will give full tuition for nmf</p>
<p>
[quote]
I went to Rice from Florida and can't even imagine comparing UF with Rice. Rice is a completely different environment. Much better in my opinion. Forget California. It's way too crowded and competitive out here. If you like freshman chem with 800 students and not enough seats for everyone - then Berkeley is for you. Some of the kids telecommute to their classes. The only highly ranked private schools with engineering (Harvey Mudd, CalTech, Stanford) are as difficult to get into as Duke. USC is a huge school and in a terrible neighborhood in LA. Not the best choice for someone from out-of-state.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You know, it's possible to promote a school you think would be a good fit without completely trashing other schools and an entire state. I sense some insecurity. ;)</p>