<p>I'm a good student (4.0 UW) with 2260 SAT, good EC's (sports, volunteering, clubs, research) with some academic awards, nothing that stands out much. I want to go into pre-med, maybe major in chem. </p>
<p>JHU
Wellesley
Upenn
Harvard
Cornell
Duke</p>
<p>Does anyone have suggestions about more match schools that are similar to these? I want to stay on the East, and I have 3 safeties. I really like my list. It took me about a month to make it up. I'd love to go to any of these schools, and although the possibility of getting into one alone may be hard, is it likely that I'll get into at least one out of the 6?</p>
<p>You have all reach schools on your list, I believe. </p>
<p>I also think that perhaps Emory, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wake Forest, Barnard, U Michigan, may be closer to match schools for you, but even with these, none are ones that you definitely could count on.
Some of the college guides tell you what other colleges students apply to who apply to any individual college. I think the US News Ultimate College Guide and/or its website (which requires a relatively small fee for full use) provide that info. That gives you a good idea about similar colleges including reach and match ones.</p>
<p>Having weak ECs will hurt you for a place like Harvard and Penn unless you have something major to compensate such as having a wealthy donor parents, being very low income, a very underrepresented minority, from a very underrepresented part of the country, etc.</p>
<p>I don't want to be around a big Greek life or party school, and I want to go to a more diverse school, good academics all around, medium-large sized student body (ie not a small LAC although Wellesley's my exception), research opps available, good need-based financial aid or merit if its a match/safety</p>
<p>Stats aren't high enough and ECs aren't strong enough for the OP to have a decent chance at merit aid at Vandy and Emory. Check the CC boards for those colleges and compare your stats. ECs to those of people who get merit aid.</p>
<p>I was considering Boston U. as a safety, but I'd only be able to afford it if I received merit aid probably. Are my stats good enough for Boston U merit scholarships?</p>
<p>This is also sort of interesting because I posted my stats about a month ago, but in a more detailed fashion. The replies I received then were much different from now. Before, people said JHU was a low match for me, and Penn was a match, and Princeton was reachable. That was surprising to me, but with such support I continued to search for selective schools. Posting a more modest post now, the replies became more critical of my college choices. This leaves me very confused. Just an observation though, and thanks for responses. I appreciate everyone's input.</p>
<p>Usually when you are vague about your EC's, people assume they aren't that good</p>
<p>Either way, Harvard Duke and Penn each have SAT ranges from the mid-1300's to mid-1500's, with Harvard being the highest - which means a 2260 is about as high as 25% of the study body.</p>
<p>However, you have a strong chance at Cornell and JHU, though they are top schools hard for anyone you have good scores and I'm sure the rest of your app is strong also</p>