Final List - Is it okay?

Applying to College
1

<p>I swear this is the last time I'm going to post something like this here. But I've finally compiled my list of colleges, and I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give me some feedback on this. Is it okay? Should I be taking things out, adding more matches, more safeties? Also, does anything really stick out that doesn't seem to fit me?</p>

<p>Here's my list... please keep in mind that I'm looking to major in linguistics/languages/ancient studies. Something along those lines.</p>

<p>Reach:
Brown
Cornell
Georgetown FLL EA
UChicago EA
Stanford
Swarthmore</p>

<p>Match:
Berkeley
UCLA
Reed
Middlebury
Northwestern
UCSD</p>

<p>Safety:
UCSC
Franklin College (Switzerland)
Temple University (Japan) (unsure about these last two - maybe if I don't get into my EA schools I will apply)</p>

<p>My GPA is around 3.85ishUW/4.17W, SAT composite: 2260 (760CR,700M,800W)
SAT II: US History 780 English Literature 760 Chemistry 710 Japanese w/ Listening 620 (will retake just for the heck of it.. may as well see where I am now compared to those natives :)) </p>

<p>Community College classes:
Intro to Linguistics (A)
Cultural Anthropology (A)</p>

<p>I got a 5 on AP US and 4 on AP Chem</p>

<p>Latin 1 Honors (online)</p>

<p>APs taken: AP US History, AP Chemistry, AP Physics B, AP
Calculus AB, AP Literature. </p>

<p>I have had Bell's Palsy for 7 months; half of my face became paralyzed temporarily - it's almost healed now but it should still take a few more months to get back to normal. Maybe longer. This happened during my second semester of junior year, so that kind of screwed me over (thus a downward trend and only 5 [rigorous!] classes senior year...). Anyway, only 1 in 5000 Americans come down with this condition, so it's rather uncommon.</p>

<p>Other than that, here is a summary of my ECs...</p>

<p>-Japanese Sister City Ambassador (after junior year, 4 weeks intense 24/7 and maybe 2 hr/wk for 10 wks before & after) - Leader, received $1000 scholarship. Homestayed in Japan, then showed my homestay student around California. We all met our respective mayors, were in the newspaper, went to various ceremonies, etc. I'm still involved with this by doing things for my city related to the Japanese town.
-written a novel, misc. writing (9-12 3 hr/wk, 45 wks) - have submitted it to some publications/contests, no luck yet... a press did however ask to see my manuscript after I sent them a summary; peace essay contest finalist ($100)
-collect foreign musicals (10-12 2 hr/wk, 40 wks) :)
-piano (for fun) and transcribing various pieces (8 hr/wk, 52 wks) - for example, right now I'm transcribing the French piano version of Once Upon a December
-Badminton JV, (9-10 14 hr/wk, 18 wks)
-Community service club, (10-12 2 hr/wk, 20 wks)
-self-study Russian, (11-12 1 hr/wk, 35 wks)
-various language-related stuff (9-12 10 hr/wk, 52 wks) - reading Japanese comic books, translating Japanese Disney lyrics, attempting to read Phantom of the Opera in French, talking to Japanese penpals. Also went to Japan & homestayed after 10th grade, etc.</p>

2

<p>it seems to me that Northwestern is harder to get into than Cornell and Georgetown and on par with UChicago.</p>

3

<p>I don't think you can call Northwestern a match.</p>

4

<p>Even if you are from Calif., Berkeley and UCSD aren't matches. If you are from OOS you need to know that less than 10% of OOS students are accepted at UCB or UCSD. That's comparable to trying to get into Stanford. U of Chicago would be a match, not a reach. You need more true matches. I agree that Northwestern is a reach, not a match.</p>

5

<p>Okie... new reach/match designations :) </p>

<p>Reach:
Brown
Cornell
Georgetown FLL EA
Stanford
Swarthmore - wonder if I should apply? maybe it's too small, not varied enough, or bad for what I want to study...
Northwestern - starting to wonder if I should apply at all
Berkeley</p>

<p>Match:
UChicago EA
UCLA
Reed
Middlebury
UCSD</p>

<p>Safety:
UCSC
Franklin College (Switzerland)
Temple University (Japan) (unsure about these last two - maybe if I don't get into my EA schools I will apply)</p>

<p>Edit: Btw, I am a California resident.</p>

6

<p>go for Cornell ED. 44% acceptance rate. chances are very good considering your current stats.</p>

7

<p>Why..? I visited it and overall liked it, but not enough to corner myself into it for sure. I think its place "in the middle of no where" is what leaves me doubtful.</p>

8

<p>I'm gonna buck the trend here - I think if you like Northwestern (have you visited?) you should definitely apply. A friend of my son's is beginning his freshman year there now and is strikingly like you (which is amazing as you are both very unique kiddos) he is double majoring in music and chemistry while studying Japanese and two other languages for fun.
You've got Georgetown and U Chicago right as great places for linguistics - but their departments are very different. I'd say look at the work of a few individual linguistics professors at each institution and see if there is someone that excites you as a mentor - Good Luck! You have a great chance at many places.</p>

9

<p>I assume you have considered Middlebury a match because of your languages--you may be right, but in other respects I would think it is as hard to get into as several of your reaches, notably Goergetown and maybe Cornell. Also, regarding your sense that Cornell is in the middle of nowhere, which is not quite the case since Ithaca itself is pretty vibrant and not that small, I wonder if Midd is a good fit for you, since the town itself is considerably smaller than Ithaca; in terms of access to larger cities it is also rather remote, though beautiful--just something to think about. If you are indeed interested in a small school, it is fine to keep on yor list but I don't know that it makes sense in the context of most of your others. Swarthmore, for example, though very small, is so close to Philadelphia that its small size might not be as much of an issue. </p>

<p>I hope you are continuing to recover from Bell's palsy; I remember a collegue of mine many eyars ago had it and was considerably inconvenienced for several months but able to work though it. I also think the tennis player James Blake had it a year or two ago and was able to continue practicing though not competing when he had it if I recall correctly--though uncommon and a bad experience, I am not sure it is something you can or should refer to on an application even if you feel it explains a downward trend in grades. I'd focus on positive achievements.</p>

10

<p>I don't think you can call UChicago a match either. Essays matter more than anything at Chicago, so nothing is guaranteed. Its acceptance rate is higher than most of its peers, but it dropped 5% last year to 36% and I wouldn't be surprised if it dropped to 30% or lower this year, since they overenrolled last year and they're getting a lot of publicity with their top 10 USNews ranking (so it's likely that their application numbers will skyrocket). Of course, EA will give you a boost, but even so, it's hard to call Chicago a match for anyone.</p>

11

<p>Reach:
Brown
Cornell
Georgetown FLL EA
UChicago EA
Berkeley
Stanford
Middlebury
Northwestern
Swarthmore</p>

<p>Match:
UCLA
Reed
UCSD</p>

<p>Safety:
UCSC
Franklin College (Switzerland)
Temple University (Japan) </p>

<p>This is PROBABLY where I will apply to. But now that I look at it.. it looks really empty of matches. Is Middlebury a reach? What about UChicago? If those two were matches maybe I'd feel more even... but now it looks like all I have are reaches.</p>

12

<p>Niomi:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match
UCSD: Safe Match
UCSC: Super Safety</p>

13

<p>Hey, I'm applying to U Chicago EA for linguistics, too!</p>

<p>...other than that, hi. :)</p>

14

<p>neat! nice to meet you :)</p>

15

<p>Ha ha.. I'm a bumper.</p>

<p>Anyway, I just need to know if my list is okay. I'm feeling like people keep telling me all these schools are reaches - but my parents, on the other hand, are insisting my Japanese thing is good enough for ECs and I should be adding schools like Harvard, Princeton and ditching NU/Reed/UChicago. Personally, I don't want to drop them. This isn't an issue about elite colleges. It's about whether I'm good enough for most of the colleges on my list to begin with.</p>

<p>That is, I agree with most of the CC people. I know my stats aren't overall very good. So right now, my main worry is that come April, I'm going to be very disappointed and going to my safety... That's why I need to know if I have enough matches.</p>

<p>Thank you,
Niomi</p>

16

<p>your parents are gloriifying you...mine do too</p>