<p>I have quite the dilema. I have many "dream schools" that I am afraid I won't get in to. I need honest opinions about which of these I have a shot at and if I need to apply to more safety schools.</p>
<p>Yale
Duke
UVA
Georgetown
UNC
Davidson</p>
<p>Safeties:
Vanderbilt
Emory</p>
<p>My Stats:
-extremely competitive private school in the South
- nothing but AP and ADV classes taken since 9th grade
- AP's:
Euro History
American History
Government
Lang and Comp
Lit
Spanish
Physics
Military History
Calculus</p>
<p>(4's and 5's on all exams taken)</p>
<ul>
<li>3.9 on a 4.0 scale UNWEIGHTED
-SATS: (can take again, this is my junior year score) 700M, 770W, 730CR
-SAT II: 700, 740, 720</li>
<li>Nat Merit Scholar (Commended)</li>
<li>EC's: Spanish Club (officer), Environmental Club (founder), Ensemble (officer), Concert Choir (officer), Key Club, Recycling Club, Yearbook (editor-in-chief), writing tutor, history tutor, National Honor Society</li>
<li>Volunteer Work: art program at under-privledged school, YWCA tutor, Habitat for Humanity, Bible School Counselor, 5th grade Sunday School Teacher (500+ service hours total)</li>
<li>fantastic recs
-white southern female</li>
</ul>
<p>Yeah, your safeties are good chances but are good enough schools that they are certainly not safeties. They may think they are your safety and deny you outright.</p>
<p>We have very similar stats and I was told that Vandy and Emory are very likely but not 100%. I applied to UMich as a safety. If I were you, I would consider Mich or another state school.</p>
<p>You do need more safeties, but you should get into one or the other. If you work on developing a hook (I think your volunteer work might work as one) and writing good essays, you can increase your chances. Being from the south, you might have better chances at an eastern or western school.</p>
<p>Your GC should have scattergrams or a gray book showing how students from your hs fare at various universities by SAT and GPA. Just based on the information that you have provided (and a lot more is involvled than stats), Yale and Duke are reaches, G'tn a reachy match - as are UVA and UNC if you are out of state. Davidson looks solid, and Vandy and Emory are matches/strong matches.</p>
<p>Applying to your state U gives you a safety - so overall your strategy is safe - and you should have some nice choices. If there is another match school or two in the midwest or east, a little geographical diversity wouldn't hurt - but only if you really like the school. IMO, It's better for you to concentrate on doing the best possible job on your applications to the schools already on your list.</p>
<p>Well, Yale is a reach for everyone except those....people. (You know who you are)
I think Duke and G-town are slight reachers, but you have very impressive stats, provided your SAT scores go up a bit.
And I'm sure you'll get into UNC, Davidson, UVA, Vanderbilt, and Emory.</p>
<p>You are competitive academically, show leadership, and have good ECs. The ECs show leadership plus community service- that is good. You should be OK with your list plus one more safety, as ohio_mom said. Why Davidson- it is the only LAC on your list? You could apply to some other top LACs as safeties- Vassar, Barnard, Oberlin, Bates. You would be a good candidate for Cornell and Rice, but they aren't real safeties. University of Chicago, University of Rochester.</p>
<p>At which schools are you over the 75% percentile in your SAT score? (Don't count UNC if you are out of state?)</p>
<p>Your chances at Yale are probably around 1:14 or so (it's 1:11 for the average applicant - your SATs are below the average, and you aren't a legacy, developmental admit, recruited athlete, etc.) Better elsewhere, some places significantly better, but I don't see a safety, unless UNC is your state school.</p>
<p>You have no safeties now. You need safeties. Places like Boston University, George Washington, American, University of Florida, Universit of Maryland, University of Wisconsin, U of Rochester, Case Western Reserve, all are the level of schools that could serve as safeties for you.</p>
<p>Someone suggested Davidson, but I would not consider that a safety for you. It is not easy to gain admission to. It may not even qualify as a match for you.</p>
<p>Duke only accepts about 25% of its applicants, and the 25-75th percentile for SAT scores there is 1330-1530. I imagine that a lot of the students at the low SAT end for Duke are legacies and athletes. The OP's having SAT scores within the 25th-75th percentile for Duke still makes it a reach.</p>
<p>Davidson is not a safety. Its SAT range is 1270-1440 and its acceptance rate is 27%. However, as is the case with almost all liberal arts colleges, being MALE is a tip factor because of the relatively low numbers of males who apply.</p>
<p>With all colleges, too, keep in mind that the SAT ranges are for freshmen, not accepted students. The scores of accepted students are probably higher because the higher scoring students are likely to choose more competitive colleges.</p>
<p>Actually, Davidson's SAT range is 1350-1490. Moreover, the acceptance rate for male applicants was about 28% versus 25.5% for female applicants, not a particularly significant difference.</p>