<p>I've finalized my college list for an Astrophysics major (or anthropology).</p>
<p>U Chicago, Rice, UC Berkeley, U Michigan, U Arizona, Haverford, U Rochester, Swarthmore, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Geneseo, Cornell</p>
<p>SATS: 770 CR, 730 Math, 680 Writ
4.0 GPA
Great SAT IIs, Chem 770, US History 730, Global History 800, but Bio 680, Latin 600, Math II 680
Ranked 2nd in class
Most difficult courses possible
Solid ECs, nothing amazing
Solid Essays</p>
<p>Are there any last minute additions that would be a good idea?</p>
<p>Good schools in astrophysics are jhu, cornell, columbia, mit, caltech, harvard. Why not apply to JHU? You have the scores and they are among the best in the field. What’s your background in astrophysics?</p>
<p>My background is purely a personal interest derived from articles, personal reading, and personal research. I have no experience in the field which is why I’m avoiding schools like Harvey Mudd, Cal Tech, etc.</p>
<p>I see what you mean.. You could look at schools that offer a BA instead of BSc in the field. They tend to be a lot less work and therefore less intensive. But seriously I think you would do well at JHU. They have pretty nice FA as well.</p>
<p>Michigan’s Astrophysics program (academics wise) cannot be beat. The only problem with Michigan is that all of the good (aka: people known outside of the campus) are either busy with their own projects or are helping the graduate students, so as an undergrad you might have some problems getting decent research done. Your best bet would be Chicago, since proximity to the Fermilab could have potential advantages, in addition to more one-on-one attention with professors (academics and research).</p>
<p>I would really recommend going to the Stanford SLAC Summer Science Institute to establish some contacts in the field. I did, and it worked out really well for me (science fair-wise, and I’m sure it’ll help when I apply to college as well).</p>
<p>You look like a Chicago kid on paper. I know I’m biased and all, but you’ve got the one-two punch with an self-directed academic passion in astrophysics and a wandering eye for the social sciences. I’m much the same, only I’m passionate about Willy Shakespeare and Johnny Milton and I have a wandering eye for, oh, every subject.</p>
<p>Have you considered Reed? Along with Rice, Berkeley, and Chicago, Reed is one of my favorite schools out there. You already have Swarthmore on the list. I also think Wash U might be worth looking into if you haven’t considered it already.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I think your list is great. Bing and Geneseo will love to have you, as will Arizona and most likely Michigan and Rochester. Chicago, Haverford, Rice, Berkeley, Cornell, and Swarthmore are more of a jump, with Swarthmore probably the hardest.</p>
<p>Caltech
UC Berkeley
Harvard
Cornell
U Wisconsin Madison
MIT
U Arizona
U Maryland College Park
U Michigan Ann Arbor
UCLA
Yale
Case Western
U Illinois Urbana Champaign
U Texas Austin
UVA
U Washington
U Kansas
Indiana U Bloomington
Northwestern
U Penn
Ohio State
Penn State University Park
U Minnesota
U Oklahoma
USC</p>