<p>I plan on applying to these schools:
U of M-Twin Cities (Safety)
Fordham (Match)
BU (Match)
Macalester (High Match)
NYU (Reach)
Carnegie Mellon (Reach)</p>
<p>Are these accurate? Here are my stats:</p>
<p>Weighted GPA: 4.0
Unweighted GPA: 4.03
Class Rank: 1/110</p>
<p>Advanced Classes (Taken+Will Take):
-Honors Maths (4 years)
-AP Calculus
-Honors Physics
-College English (2 years), Biology
-4 years of Spanish</p>
<p>SAT:
Superscore: 2130 (650 CR, 770 M, 710 W)</p>
<p>ACT:
April: 31 (36 E, 34 M, 28 R, 27 S, 10W)
June: 32 (35 E, 32 M, 32 R, 28 S, 10W)
Superscore: 33</p>
<p>ECS:
-Speech Team Member/Secretary
-Knowledge Bowl
-LifeSmarts
-One Act Play Participant
-Band
-Musical/Theatre
-Target
-Science Club-President
-National Honor Society-Vice President
-Student Ambassador </p>
<p>Volunteer Work:
-200+ Hours Jr. High Knowledge Bowl Coach
-50+ Hours volunteering with Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, etc
-Tutor (1 year)</p>
<p>I think I'm also considered First Generation.</p>
<p>Are these a good balance of schools? Or should I adjust my list or add more?</p>
<p>With those stats and your state of residence, you might be able to move Fordham into the safety category, possibly BU as well. I am also thinking that NYU may be more of a match than a reach. It looks like you have only one AP class and a couple college level classes, is that all your school offers or did you elect not to take some of them? </p>
<p>Also, you have an eclectic mix of colleges, is there a common denominator that you are using, ie major,etc? I was surprised that you did not have Carleton on your list as a Reach and St Olaf as a match.</p>
<p>I’ve exhausted the honors and AP courses at my school, minus a Dual Enrollment Psychology course because Spanish IV will make me more competitive.</p>
<p>Well, I am focusing on medium to large sized universities in urban areas on the East Coast. I’ve toured some Liberal Arts College, but the ones that I was interested in (Swarthmore, Carleton, St. Olaf) have generally been disappointing. However, I’m really fond of Macalester. I plan on pursuing an Econ or Pol Sci major while on the Premed track, and that’s influencing a lot of my ideas. But, I do feel that Fordham might not be the best for this.</p>
<p>I guess I really didn’t think that my list was that eclectic.</p>
<p>Eclectic is not a bad thing, I was just trying to find out why you selected those particular colleges. Macalaster is a great college and if you liked it, you may want to add another LAC or smaller univeristy to your list. Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>If you liked Mac, you may want to look at Wesleyan University. It has a similar vibe and has a tremendous academic reputation. It is located in an urban area, not quite St Paul but an urban area. Connecticut College also comes to mind as well as Holy Cross. These are all outstanding colleges and within a 2 hour radius.</p>
<p>Frankin & Marshall, Skidmore and Union College are also more urban. Of these colleges, Wesleyan and Connecticut College would be closer in vibe to Mac and possibly Skidmore.</p>
<p>A safety is a safety ONLY if you know it’s affordable. What good is a safety if you can’t afford to go there?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>Every spring we hear from kids who got into their safety schools (no surprise), but then were shocked to find that their safety school gapped them and gave them inadequate aid. Safety schools tend to be the worst with aid. </p>
<p>Many kids use their state flagship as safeties, but some flagships don’t give much aid or scholarships. Some safeties will give good merit scholarships, but sometimes even with a good scholarship the school is unaffordable for some students. What good is a $20k per year scholarship if the school expects your family to pay $35k when it can only pay $20k?</p>
<p>So…A safety is a school that you KNOW you’ll get accepted to AND you know for SURE that you can afford ALL costs because of assured (not competitive) merit scholarship, assured (entitlement) grants, a small fed student loan, and/or family funds.</p>
<p>So, while you may be rather certain that you can get into Fordham, if it won’t be affordable (Fordham doesn’t give the best aid), then it’s not a safety.</p>
<p>And…if you’re not sure if you can afford UMinn-Twin, then it’s not a safety either.</p>
<p>I agree with checking out Tufts and Brandeis. You should also look at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown (reaches) and GW (match). All excellent schools for political science with strong pre-med.</p>
<p>I toured Tufts but I just didn’t feel that it was for me.
I guess, I’ve been swayed in part against JHU-because I’ve heard that Baltimore is dangerous for the most part. Is it like Philadelphia? Because I just felt out of place there…</p>
<p>I guess, the U of M is probably the closest to a financial safety. I should get a decent amount of scholarships, I’m in State (so that helps), and I should qualify for both merit based and need based financial aid.</p>
<p>*I guess, the U of M is probably the closest to a financial safety. I should get a decent amount of scholarships, I’m in State (so that helps), and I should qualify for both merit based and need based financial aid. *</p>
<p>If you’re not sure what you’ll get from UMinn, then it’s not a financial safety. Does UMinn give assured scholarships? If so, how much are you CERTAIN that you’ll get?</p>
<p>What is your likely EFC? </p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year? If you don’t know, ask!!! :)</p>
<p>On a per capita basis, Connecticut is probably the most urbanized state in the country; anywhere else Middletown would be considered part of one big Hartford/New Haven metropolitan area and Wesleyan is only a few blocks from it’s thriving business center. New York and Boston are both accessible by Amtrak (the station is about fifteen minutes from campus.)</p>