Background Info:
My parents are immigrants from Ethiopia and I was born in Germany, I’m a female, and I go to a prestigious public exam school that is known for sending students to Harvard. I plan to major in astrophysics.
GPA: 4.26 weighted (expected to go up to around a 4.35 once this year’s grades finalize) and 4.0 unweighted APs: AP World History (5), AP Physics Mech C (expecting), AP German (expecting), APUSH (expecting)
Next year I’m taking AP Calc BC, AP Lit, and AP Econ (both Micro and Macro), along with a class called Facing History, Chem 1, and Italian 2
**PSAT/b: 228 (CR: 75, Math: 73, Writing: 80)
**SAT/b:
2200 (CR: 720, Math: 700, Writing: 780, with a 10 on my essay)
2340 (CR: 780, Math: 760, Writing: 800, with a 9 on my essay)
^ question about this… should I do Score Choice, and will that drop from a 10 to a 9 hurt me? I honestly wasn’t trying on the writing section the second time because I was content with my 780 (probably not the best idea in hindsight), hence the crappy essay grade… Subject Tests: 800 World History, 800 Math Level II, and 750 Latin
There are no rankings at my school, and I don’t know what percentage I am yet.
Here’s my college list as of right now (in no particular order):
BU
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
Harvard
UMass Amherst
Penn State
Princeton
Tufts
Yale
I’m worried about the fact that I have 4 Ivies on there, but I can’t decide which one to take out (it would be either Princeton or Cornell). Princeton has a GREAT astrophysics program (and an alumn will write one of my recommendation letters!), but I kind of hated the campus when I visited, it was so small. I’m banking on the fact that I can easily visit NYC and Philadelphia, and I’m hoping I’ll just get used to the small town feeling. And Cornell I’m willing to take out because I haven’t visited yet and it seems like it also might be a bit small for my taste (not as bad as Princeton, though). Buuut… I researched it and it also has an amazing astrophysics program. Plus, my GPA and SAT seem to be above average, but since it’s an Ivy, you never know… Advice?
Actually, I thought that BU and Carnegie Mellon would be matches for me, although I guess it could go either way… and are you sure the schools you suggested for me aren’t safeties??
Well Temple may be a safety, but generally safeties and matches overlap and seem similar. Technically a MATCH for you would really be a reach because the type of schools people with 2340’s apply to are HARD to get into.
wait, but this is MY college list, so shouldn’t the definition of matches and safeties change according to my test scores?? (unless I’m completely misunderstanding you…)
When you go to the SuperMatch tool on the side and put your stats in, really prestigious schools will spit back out at you. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Pomona, WUSTL etc. That’s what the tool says you’re a match for based on your amazing stats, but those schools are also REALLY hard to get into for anyone. Your 2340 doesn’t guarantee admission.
If I clicked the checkbox that says “I’m interested in schools where I would be well above average, to increase my financial aid opportunities” so I could spit out less “prestigious” places, I would get Mount Holyoke, University of Delaware, Oberlin, UConn, and Gettysburg. Those would border on Match/Safety because you have amazing stats but it still isn’t a guarantee. At a place like Temple or Penn State where someone like you rarely comes to their borders, you are pretty assured.
Ohh, I see what you mean. But wait, but if I’m pretty assured, isn’t that a safety school? I thought matches meant you matched their average/were lightly above, and safeties were well above average (like a guarantee)
With your stats you have reasonably good chances for Early Action admissions (which is offered by Harvard, Princeton and Yale). There is no down side to applying EA apart from the need to complete your application early.
Do you need financial aid?
If so, do you qualify for in-state tuition rates anywhere?
Public schools usually don’t give very good need-based aid to out-of-state students.
If you are really fine with your sure bets and you can pay the cost then there is no reason not to have a top heavy list for a high stats student.
I’m surprised that you are concerned as much with the area outside campus at Princeton, since I think of these types of schools as very much self contained with active campus focused lives. Cornell has a very large campus, but in a smaller area. Did you think of Univ of Chicago and MIT for a more urban location? Or Columbia.
I really wouldn’t be comfortable characterizing a school with 20 pct admit rate as a match. Especially if they look for demonstrated interest. Though chances are good.
@BrownParent I live in the city, so I’m used to having access to all kinds of events and activities, and the ideal college I envision for myself has a campus like upenn, where you basically have your own part of the city but it’s super easy to get around to other stuff. But princeton is so good for astrophysics I feel pressure to apply! And I haven’t visited cornell yet (plan to do that later in the summer) so I have no idea how the campus suits me. I did consider university of Chicago, but I’m not comfortable going that far west, I’d really prefer to stay in the northeast. MIT I’ve decided isn’t for me because I’m pretty sure I’d get rejected, and I don’t want to limit myself to a school that specializes in STEM. Columbia I’ve also thought about, but I’m not sure how I feel about the core curriculum. I have enough reach schools so that’s why I decided not to put it on there.
Which school are you talking about? I plan to visit all my colleges eventually (preferably over the summer), so that would show demonstrated interest. Either way I agree, I’m just having a hard time finding match schools I like.
@tk21769 yes I need financial aid!! UMass Amherst is my financial safety, tuition there is only $1,714 in-state. And wow, I actually really like the university of Rochester! The only thing that worries me is that the only person to get accepted there from my school’s class of 2015 had a gpa of 4.41 and an sat score of 2350… Someone at around a 3.8 gpa and 2130 sat score got waitlisted/deferred… Can I still consider it a match?
And what about Drexel university? Is that more of a safety than a match? I really liked their campus
I believe your list to be quite well balanced, I don’t have enough knowledge about your area of interest to recommend other schools. It does seem like you could use another couple of safety/match schools.
Cornell is beautiful but Ithaca is quaint and not near a large city. Columbia may be a good choice given it’s NYC location. BU, Tuft’s and Harvard provide the Cambridge and Boston experience, which you can’t go wrong with.
Princeton is amazing and is not that far from NYC or Philadelphia. With a campus like Princeton there are always fantastic things going on there.
@GreatKid thanks for your feedback! I really liked Columbia, I’m just iffy about the core curriculum, and I have enough reach schools that I’m more interested in. So, I’m not going to apply there (thanks anyway!)
So you think I wouldn’t like cornell? I think what I’ll do is wait until I visit it later in the summer, and then pick between Cornell and princeton. Now I just need to find one more match school…
Your welcome of course! I only mentioned Columbia because of your interest in being in close proximity to a city. Cornell is beautiful, the vast majority of the campus is on a hillside that has beautiful views. The buildings are beautiful and charming, campus life is vibrant. It appeals to me very much but I am not a city person. The lake and countryside are beautiful.
The benefit of Cornell is that it being an Ivy and the biggest Ivy there is a really active school community with interesting presentations and programs and sporting events going on all the time. You will have to see how it appeals to you.
Princeton is a beautiful campus and it didn’t feel small to us. Our daughter had done a summer program there two summers ago and had also applied there. She had also applied to Cornell. Best Wishes to you!
Well, you indicated that you considered CMU a match. Somebody else put Tufts down as a match.
Compare these schools by the numbers. Tufts and CMU have higher average SAT scores and lower admit rates than Rochester. So if you want to add matches, Rochester is at least moving in the right direction. Be sure to run its online NPC to see if it looks affordable.
