Creating my final list of where to apply...(Safeties Needed)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Stats:
GPA: 3.93w, not sure unweighted
SAT: 1870, retaking and I think I will do a little better
SATIIs: Retaking
ACT: 30, retaking and aiming for 33
Rank: Top 10%
Recs: Latin teacher and Math teacher, supplementary one from Physics Professor</p>

<p>ECs:
Science Olympiad
Junior Year: Vice-President, Senior Year: President (I will be hopefully)
NJ Southern Regional: 1st Astronomy, 1st Robot Ramble, 3rd Computer This!
NJ States: 1st Astronomy
Also help start a fundrasing program were we take donated items and sell them on eBay</p>

<p>Independent Physics Research with Professor this Summer
Worked one-on-one with a Physics Professor at Rider University (local univ) this summer. We worked at Rider and at Swarthmore. Over the summer, had about 100 hours of hands-on physics lab work. It was a great experience.</p>

<p>Environmental Club
Sophomore Year: Secretary, Junior Year: Co-President, Senior Year: Co-President
We created the paper recycling program at our school, and continue to campaign for it - it has been a difficult process
Also had beach clean-ups, T-Shirt sales for the Rainforest</p>

<p>School Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief, also Editor of the Student Voice/School News Section</p>

<p>Model U.N.
Co-founder, also will perhaps be an officer next year</p>

<p>Other Activities
Math League (might have position next year)
Peer Leadership (have to apply to get in, help with Freshman Orientation)
Member of District Media Center (volunteer to help fix tech things in the school during Study Hall/Lunch)
Drama Club, also have sub-lead roles in Freshman/Sophomore Years
National Honor Society
Political Group (Political Leaders of Tomorrow)
Computer Club</p>

<p>Volunteer Work
Roughly 25 hours of environmental cleaning/work
20 hours working a local church's carnival
Roughly 100 hours working in the Media Center of School during Study Hall</p>

<p>So far, I have alot of reaches and semi-matches. I need to get some safeties that I like and wouldn't mind going there, incase everything falls through. I would really like to stick to the Northeast. Also, my intended major is Physics.</p>

<p>Schools I'm looking at:
- Brown
- Lehigh
- Colgate
- Johns Hopkins
- Swarthmore
- Bucknell
- Case Western</p>

<p>Suggest more schools please...I obviously need safeties and I'm having trouble looking/finding....Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Boston College</p>

3

<p>Rutgers, Worchester Polytechnic. Boston College is actually hard to get into. Maybe Northeastern would be better as a safety.</p>

4

<p>Bump 10char</p>

5

<p>Do you think Union and Fordham could qualify as safeties for me? How safe?</p>

6

<p>That SAT is right around the Union avg, so I wouldn't call it a safety, maybe a match. You would have more of a chance at Fordham, but that's probably not a safety, either, although a more likely match. </p>

<p>You're really going to need a M+V SAT in the 1350-1450 range to have a reasonable shot at those schools (maybe a little lower for BC, Bucknell, Lehigh) and 1450+ to have much of a shot at Brown or Swarthmore.</p>

7

<p>I'm really thinking of just submitting my ACT scores, with this upcoming one, I hope to get 32-33.</p>

8

<p>Then can anyone post what you think would be a TRUE safety?</p>

9

<p>Rutgers, Penn State.</p>

10

<p>I don't really want to go to a big state school. Any smaller schools?</p>

<p>And I was thinking of bumping Colgate off my list in favor of Bucknell. Good choice?</p>

11

<p>I'd say Union is a safety with an ACT score of 30, which is about 1330 on the SAT w/o writing. Likewise, Fordham would be a safety.</p>

12

<p>What is the breakdown of your SATs? Also, you have a lot of great ECs, which will really help you at the smaller colleges. But what about your schedule? Have you taken the most challenging courses available to you?</p>

<p>Also, I've heard of Buckness denying some high-stats kids. Maybe that was a case of Tufts syndrome? I don't know, but I wouldn't assume Bucknell to be easier to get into than Colgate.</p>

13

<p>For what reason would you apply to Bucknell instead of Colgate? On average, Colgate is harder to get into, but on a one-off, individual case you never know as there is certainly a lot of overlap between the the two with candidates getting into one, but not the other. I would think you would be better off applying to both Colgate and Bucknell (similar and good schools where you have a reasonable shot) and not apply to one or both of Brown and Swarthmore, where you have much less chance of acceptance and which aren't really similar in campus feel and mentality to most of the others on your list anyway. PA LACs such as Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Allegheny, Ursinus may be closer to true safeties for you as would be St. Lawrence and Hobart in NY.</p>

14

<p>I think I'll definitely be applying to Brown, my Dad is an alum there, so that gives me a push.</p>

<p>Also, I worked at Swarthmore this summer in one of their labs, thought that might give me a push. But you are right, I am very unsure about Swarthmore. While it is a great school academically, I don't want to go to a school where everyone is pretty stuck-up and only pays attention to academics (rather than social life, etc), and I've heard that Swarthmore may have this syndrome.</p>

<p>I want to keep the schools I'm applying at like 8, which was why I was thinking bumping off Colgate. I want to major in Physics, and does Colgate really have a strong program? I think Bucknell would have the stronger program.</p>

<p>SAT breakdown was 690 math, 580 verbal, and 600 writing. Took again two weeks ago, so I can't retake after that. We will see how I fare. But still, my ACT scores are better, especially if I get that bump to 32-33 (which I think I can do).</p>

15

<p>Physics is considered pretty strong at Colgate. On a per capita basis, Colgate has produced more PhDs in physics than Bucknell for the last time period I've seen measured, although it's close. </p>

<p><a href="http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/CollegeRelations/BacOrigins/BacOrg98.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/CollegeRelations/BacOrigins/BacOrg98.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Given the continued unpredictability of apps these days, you might be better off tossing in a couple more than initially planned or, at least, not forcing yourself to decide between Colgate and Bucknell before the results come in.</p>

16

<p>Hey i think you should put down what your intrested in studying so that we can get a better idea of what your looking for.</p>

<p><strong>EDIT</strong>
I read your post. nm bout above comment.</p>

<p>You should check out princeton reivew and their counselor-o-matic its pretty helpful.</p>

17

<p>School with "1870 SAT"
Case Western, Rutgers, Penn State.</p>

18

<p>Bump 10char</p>

19

<p>How about Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA? They're really emphasizing their science programs these days, and they have a great astronomy tower (telescope and observatory).</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
While it is a great school academically, I don't want to go to a school where everyone is pretty stuck-up and only pays attention to academics (rather than social life, etc), and I've heard that Swarthmore may have this syndrome.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Just to set the record straight, it would be difficult to find a student body less "stuck-up" than Swarthmore's. The culture is just the opposite of that. By school policy, ALL college sponsored events are free, specifically so that a student's opportunities are not limited by his or her budget.</p>

<p>Perhaps a better example. When my daughter went to NYC for the weekend with a group of a dozen friends from Swarthmore, they travelled by Chinatown bus because it was $20 roundtrip instead of $40 on NJ Transit train or $68 on Amtrak train. I don't think a bunch of "stuck up" kids would take the Chinatown bus to save $20.</p>

<p>It is true that Swarthmore students work hard academically. It is not true that they don't find time for fun and socializing.</p>