<p>Iagree with those who advise "love thy safety"! The super reaches HPYSC are more like a lottery.Thousands upon thousands of kids with 1500+SAT's,great EC's etc. are denied admission each year. The pool of applicants seem to be more competitive each year. Look also at schools in different regions from where you live. Another thing important is to see if you can find out where other kids at your school are applying.Twenty or even ten kids all applying to the same top tier schools can lessen your chances at those schools (they usually only admit so many from one school).State schools are usually considered safties.Any school that accepts 50 percent of its applicants is also considered a safety.Boston U has about a thirty something a.r. but many kids I know got in with average scores.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that acceptance rates are relative. For example, many students accepted at BU are accepted into the College of General Studies, a two yr program for kids who didn't make the cut off for acceptance into Comm., CAS, Engineering, etc. At NYU the acceptance rate to Stern may be a lot steeper than their overall rates. A school's Honors Program may be extremely selective, like at Shreyers at Penn Syate where the average scores are similar to HYP, the main campus is more selective at PSU and most students are accepted but only into remote campuses around the state not to the main campus. </p>
<p>So check the web sites for scores for particulatr programs. Basically with the larger schools read between the lines.</p>
<p>You can also improve your chances by showing "interest"--visits, interviews, overnights.
On this board I have seen evidence that a kid with lower stats who visited gets in a selective LAC while a better stats candidate with no visit is rejected.</p>
<p>You might want to take a serious look at Emory. Your grades and scores put you in the reach/match category (it's not quite as competitive to get into as some schools the same caliber academically) and their swimming team is excellent (Division III). It seems as if Emory has the kind of environment you are seeking. My son has just finished his second year there and he is very happy.</p>
<p>Emory is on my list, I sent my PSAT scores there as my 2nd choice. I will definitely apply, and I plan to visit in the fall.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that figures about a school's enrolled class mostly include the LOWER end of people who were admitted: most schools offer admission to many times more than the number of people who actually enroll, because most of the strong applicants are admitted to multiple schools, and usually go to the top school that lets them in. So if your stats in the top quartile of the current class at a school you are interested in, your chance of admission is high indeed. </p>
<p>Many state schools with rolling admission admit "by the numbers, " so you can tell exactly whether you are a sure bet for admission or not, and by making your rolling application early, you can have one school in hand before you apply to others.</p>