<p>I really never took school seriously until this year. Freshman and sophomore year I just messed around and got grades that were just above average. But junior year so far my grades have gotten way better so I think that'll help me out with applications, I got a 32 on ACT (I might retake it if I don't do as well on the SAT as I want to because my goal is a 34), I'm taking the SAT in a week and I can probably get above 2200 (I've gotten above that on the collegeboard practice tests but my goal is 2300+, so I might take that again as well), I'm gonna do a bunch of volunteering and maybe some research over this summer, and for the past few summers I have taken summer courses.</p>
<p>So here's my list so far:</p>
<p>Reach schools:
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
Dartmouth
Emory
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
Notre Dame
U Penn
USC (I'm not sure if this is actually a reach because my GPA is similar to the GPA of students from my school who get accepted there but it's still a really low acceptance rate)
UCLA (same as USC)
Wash U
University of Virginia</p>
<p>Pretty good shot:
Boston College
Case Western
Lehigh
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
University of Rochester
Wake Forest (maybe a reach, not sure, we'll see how the rest of the year plays out)
William and Mary
University of Wisconsin at Madison</p>
<p>Safeties:
Boston University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Miami
Ohio State
Syracuse University</p>
<p>Once I get closer to the point of actually applying, I'm probably gonna edit my list by cutting some out, particularly some of my reach schools since there's so many compared to schools where I have a good shot. I would say the number of safeties is decent though.</p>
<p>How about you guys? How's junior year treating you? Thinking about college yet?</p>
<p>I’ll probably end up at Ohio State. For financial reasons, and also because my extracurriculars/essays aren’t really good enough to get into anywhere better. No leadership, no awards, and no time or talent to acquire them. And I don’t want to write supplement essays or get rejection letters.</p>
<p>I’ll probably go to one of my state’s universities. So far I’m considering applying for a private Catholic college but I’ll only attend if I get enough scholarships for it. So far this Catholic school is my top choice. </p>
<p>I would have loved to attend a university outside of my state but that doesn’t seem like a possibility right now due to financial reasons.</p>
<p>Oh I can’t believe I forgot, NYU is also one of the schools where I have a pretty good shot. </p>
<p>As for extra cirriculars, I haven’t done nearly as many as I would have liked to. One problem is that I don’t have much time (I don’t go to your average high school). But another reason is that of the clubs I signed up for at the beginning of the year, only 4 of them have contacted those who signed up about meeting for the first time, and only 2 consistently contact us about meeting times (and I signed up for way more than 4). But for the ones I’m involved in I’m planning on getting really involved. I might be the leader of one of the clubs next year, but I feel like showing a big commitment to a few ECs will be pretty good. Hopefully the volunteering and research I do over the summer will make up for lack of ECs.</p>
<p>I’m mainly just looking at UCs (Berkeley, LA, Davis) and Cal Poly SLO. I’d rather not apply to like 20 schools and spend three months writing essays.</p>
<p>Yeah, people are always talking about research over the summer. I feel like I’m obligated to like computers and lab science since I like math, but I don’t. The extent of my computer literacy is Microsoft Word.
And math is a difficult thing to stand out in because it’s competitive and tends to be the primary subject toward which the absolute smartest people gravitate.</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely wanna limit the schools I apply to so I won’t have to dedicate my life to apps, but at the same time I wanna leave space open for decision making, so I guess it’s all about finding a balance. I guess my plan is to pick a good enough number of safeties (obviously more than 1, maybe 3), limit my reach schools to just a few, and keep most of my “good shot” school but still cut a few of those out. Like even if I got into Madison or Lehigh I probably wouldn’t go there so maybe they could get cut out when the time comes.</p>
<p>I will probably end up at UCSC or if I can’t get in there (if I don’t step up my game this semester), a community college. </p>
<p>I am looking at the women’s colleges (mostly what’s left of the 7 sisters) and some “easier” LACs, and possibly Tufts or one of those that isn’t totally score/GPA dependent. My GPA is definitely an impediment. </p>
<p>If I wanted to get out of state, UAB is probably the school I would end up at. Their merit aid is quite generous. </p>
<p>I’m not really expecting to get into most of my colleges on my list as of now. My best bet to having any hope is getting all As this semester. So I probably will not resume my college search/decision until I know this semesters’ grades.</p>
<p>Reaches:
Northwestern
Cornell (I have like no chance but just want to see what happens)
USC (possibly a match but too scared to call it one)
NYU (same as USC)
UMich (same as USC)</p>
<p>Matches:
UIUC (I’m instate and like everybody from my school gets in)
UWashington
Wisconsin Madison
Boston University</p>
<p>Safeties:
UIC
Depaul
Chicago State </p>
<p>I’m most likely going to University of Illinois Urbana Champaign if my reaches reject me and/or provide bad FA. I want to go into computer science and/or business and UIUC has great programs for both, win-win situation I guess.</p>
<p>Oh wow, this is what happens when I open like 20 threads and then start going through them. I thought this was a chancing thread…
My dream school is Swarthmore, though I am also looking at
<p>18 is ridiculous…no one in the world honestly thinks they’ll have 18 possibilities of where they want to spend the next 4+ years of their lives. </p>
<p>My list will definitely get smaller.</p>
<p>Reach:
Harvard
Penn (Wharton)
Notre Dame (low reach/high match mostly)
Georgetown</p>
<p>Of course I don’t, but given the selective nature of the schools I applied to, I need to “widen my net,” so to speak, and apply to as many as possible to ensure I get in one.</p>
<p>Also, there is no need to editorialize. We all have different preferences, philosophies and ideals when it comes to college admissions, and none of us are “more right” than the other. Just because my choice falls outside your admissions-philosophy doesn’t give you the right to call my philosophy “ridiculous.”</p>
<p>Nope, 18 is ridiculous, especially considering the cost of sending applications. And again, it is ridiculous because it sounds to me like you went to pick and choose random schools from the USNWR top 25. Also it’s ridiculous because of the sheer amount of time you have to spend working on apps. Time is money bro</p>
<p>“Of course I don’t, but given the selective nature of the schools I applied to, I need to ‘widen my net,’ so to speak, and apply to as many as possible to ensure I get in one.”</p>
<p>I’ve sort of wondered about the math of this. Does this really ensure that you will get into at least one? (Not rhetorical, I’m actually wondering.) I mean, if you have a low chance at getting in a particular school you have a low chance at getting in there no matter how many other schools you apply to.
Say I apply to two colleges with 10% acceptance rates, what’s the chance I’ll get into one of them? You can’t just add them and say 20% because they consider some of the same things. But I wouldn’t say they’re directly dependent on each other either.</p>