<p>H20, I think what Jie is saying is that your EC's are okay but nothing about them particularly stands out. They're in the "dime a hundred" for the general profile. They won't hurt you but they won't help you, either, if you're on the bubble, I don't believe.</p>
<p>But in discussing you NYU vs. Wellesley, you use a word that is key: "survive." That's not good enough. You want a college environment that brings out the best in you, that helps you come closest to reaching your potential. I know students at both Wellesley and NYU...and they're "activated" and engaged by very different things.</p>
<p>On superficial reading, it sounds that Wellesley is indeed the better "fit" for you.</p>
<p>It is. That's why it's my first choice. Well I've got the impression that you think I wouldn't survive because I didn't meet their credentials so I treaded on the safe side and used "survive" instead of "thrive".</p>
<p>H20, chances of being admitted have little to do with success in a given college...many more students would do well, or at least acceptably, than if admitted. For Harvard & Yale, something like 80-90 percent can do the work; I would guess that Wellesely isn't too far behind.</p>
<p>To <em>me</em>, NYU doesn't make sense as your #2 choice. If you'd said Vassar, Colgate, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, or Bates I wouldn't have blinked. Even Middlebury, though I think Middlebury is tough, too...but getting denied by one competitive college doesn't mean you'll be denied by another...a year or two back someone was rejected by UC San Diego and accepted at Harvard.</p>
<p>Again, there's nothing wrong with NYU...but it's an extremely odd #2 choice for someone who is aiming at Wellesley as first choice.</p>