Final List...maybe?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So, after a lot of research I think I've finally finished making my list of colleges I will apply to and I was wondering what everyone thought of it, not just in terms of chances but in terms of whether these schools fit me as well.
I guess some stats and info about what I'm looking for in a college will help. </p>

<p>-White female from NY
-low income family/divorced parents
-first generation college student
-public, not very competitive high school</p>

<p>SAT: 2140 (730CR,670M,740W)
Rank: 1/120
GPA: 4.0
-have taken hardest courseload at my school, all honors classes, 4 years of everything, no AP's offered
-EC's are ordinary, nothing outstanding, tried to show a passion for tutoring, quite a few leadership positions (VP Student Gov't, President Key Club, etc)
-Rec's should be above average, my teachers know me very well since my school is so small (I've met their families, babysat their children, etc.)
-I'm an alright writer and i consider my common app essay to be good (i posted it in a previous thread "tear my essay apart" if anyone feels the need to read it to evaluate my chances)</p>

<p>I'm sure you'll be able to tell what I'm looking for ina college from my list so here it is:</p>

<p>Safety:
-Lycoming College</p>

<p>Safe Matches:
-Ithaca
-Fairfield
-Stonehill</p>

<p>Matches:
-Muhlenberg
-Hampshire</p>

<p>High Matches:
-Bucknell
-SUNY Geneseo</p>

<p>Reaches:
-Colgate
-Boston College
-Vassar</p>

<p>Super Reach/Dream School:
-Brown</p>

<p>So I guess what I want to know is if this list seems reasonable/balanced. Are there any schools that don't seem to fit? Have I categorized everything correctly?</p>

<p>Also, if anyone wants to recommend any other schools, feel free to. I'm looking to major in history and secondary education by the way. </p>

<p>Thanks for reading this way too long post!!</p>

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<p>great list, very well-planned </p>

<p>yea u should get into most if not all schools (idk about brown, but cant hurt to apply)</p>

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<p>Excellent list. You have done a very good job of creating a balanced list with great schools at all levels of selectivity. Congratulations and best wishes for a successful admissions season!</p>

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<p>Thanks so much, both of you. I appreciate the comments!</p>

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<p>i think you underestimate yourself, u can afford to have 2-3 more "super reaches". eliminate those matches that u dont prioritize high. (unless the 4.0 gpa is weighted ofc)</p>

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<p>transglobal spectacle: The 4.0 is unweighted and I did think about eliminating Stonehill and Hampshire (neither of which i completely love) but I can't seem to find any other schools I like more. I was looking for one more reach but I haven't found any yet. Suggestions anyone?</p>

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<p>Did you try Wheaton (MA) or one of the many LAC in PA? Look at Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall...also try Hartiwck or Sarah Lawrence in NY.</p>

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<p>Shiningstar!
why can't everyone be so organized as you with the college list...lol...congrats...I agree, you deserve to give yourself another reach or two if you want and maybe eliminate those two that you weren't crazy about...but you don't want to overextend yourself on those apps...so beware.
As for a couple of reaches.........</p>

<p>Hamilton
Skidmore
Dickinson
Union
Gettysburg
Connecticut College
BU
NYU
Franklin and Marshall</p>

<p>Between Reach and Super Reach????
Colby
Bates</p>

<p>I don't know where these stand but....
Lehigh
Lafayette
Skidmore</p>

<p>Good Luck and keep up the good work:)</p>

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<p>cre8tive1 and Decisions2Make: Thanks for the suggestions, Wheaton, Hamilton, and Conn College look very promising. Can anyone else think of any schools that would be along the same difficulty as those in my high match and reach categories??</p>

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<p>I disagree with most people here. I think you need a re-focused list. You are aiming too low. </p>

<p>WAY TO MANY in the safety category. Eliminate at least half of them. I know kids with 1100s getting into these schools left and right, they will let you in on numbers alone, I know how this works.</p>

<p>WAY safe:<br>
-Ithaca
-Fairfield
-Stonehill
-Muhlenberg
-Hampshire
-SUNY Geneseo</p>

<p>Safe Match:
-Bucknell</p>

<p>Match:
-Colgate
-Boston College</p>

<p>Semi-Reach
-Vassar</p>

<p>Reach:
-Brown</p>

<p>I would add some more small reaches, reaches and ditch many of the safeties. Why apply to so many safeties? It makes no sense, you are getting in so pick a couple you like and focus your effort on reaches where you might get into 1/4 to 1/2 of them. I would apply to Wesleyan as another semi-reach, and Dartmouth as a reach. Dartmouth is Brown + Colgate mixed into one literally, and its a great extra reach. I think you have a shot. Wesleyan is similar to Vassar. You might like Middlebury as well.</p>

<p>No need to add Wheaton, Hamilton, or Conn College, you already have plenty of safe matches.</p>

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<p>Slipper, I agree and disagree with you on some points. I would feel okay considering Ithaca, Fairfield, and Stonehill safeties, I've been considering that myself for a while now. However, it's just insane to call Bucknell a safe match and even insaner (if that's a word) to call Colgate and BC matches. Sorry, but I would never feel comfortable doing that. College admissions can be so random today and Colgate and BC get more competitive every year. While I think I do have a shot at these schools they are definitely realistic reaches, not matches, IMHO. </p>

<p>I like your suggestion to ditch a couple safeties though. Actually to save myself some money in app fees I'm planning on applying to Lycoming in Dec., finding out the decision by Dec. 15 and if I get in I'm dropping other safeties that I don't like as much. </p>

<p>I like your suggestion on reach schools as well. Wesleyan, I love but they don't offer secondary education certification. Middlebury I considered for some time and still haven't exactly ruled it out. I like your description of Dartmouth, I'll have to look into it more though and decide whether it would be worth the money because again, it seems like too high of a reach to me.</p>

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<p>Shiningstar, Buicknell isnt as difficult to get into as you think.</p>

<p>Bucknell Class of 2008 Info:
SAT I - Verbal Range (25-75%): 600-670
SAT I - Math Range (25-75%): 630-710
Average SAT: 1302
Students in top 10% of HS class: 64%</p>

<p>YOU are WAY above the average stats considering you are 80% on the SAT, WAY above average on GPA, and have decent ECs. Your academic index makes it a safe match. I think you vastly underestimate yourself and overestimate the difficulty of getting into midrange schools. I have looked extensively at SAT/ GPA data sets and at a place like Bucknell you are in on numbers alone. This is not random at all. College admissions really only gets difficult to predict at the top 40-50 schools. </p>

<p>Colgate:
Average SAT: 1341
SAT I - Verbal Range (25-75%): 630-710
SAT I - Math Range (25-75%): 640-720
Average Verbal SAT: 666
Average High School GPA: 3.60
Students in top 10% of HS class: 73% </p>

<p>As you can see you are about 65% on scores and your GPA far exceeds the norm. Colgate isnt like Harvard or even Penn where you need to be Hillary Duff to get in, your Academic Index puts you at a solid match.</p>

<p>Boston College
Freshmen Academic Profile
Average SAT: 1317
SAT I - Verbal Range (25-75%): 610-700
SAT I - Math Range (25-75%): 630-710
Average Verbal SAT: 650
Average ACT: Not Reported
Students in top 10% of HS class: 74% </p>

<p>The numbers, and selectivity, are very similar to Colgate. At these schools kids with 1450+ and top 5% are very very likely to get in and people like you are solid matches. </p>

<p>You can see the process get much much more random at Ivies, hence why they are truly reaches for most people. Take Dartmouth for example. </p>

<p>Average SAT: 1432
SAT I - Verbal Range (25-75%): 670-770
SAT I - Math Range (25-75%): 690-780
Average Verbal SAT: 713
Students in top 10% of HS class: 88% </p>

<p>Basically everyone is top 10% and a 75% score is a 1550 so it is really hard to distinguish yourself by academic index except for perhaps 1580SAT, Valedictorian kids who will be very strong at Dartmouth. However, these kids have no such security at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or Princeton.</p>

<p>BTW - your biggest obstacle to a Dartmouth or Brown is SAT. I am not sure if you would consider retaking, but another 100pts could be a huge boost to make these schools more realistic and make you more certain about Colgate, Vassar, BC.</p>

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<p>Slipper...hmmm....what do I want to say. Are yo into debate? You're very good at proving your points and your thought process seems very logical, you would be a great debater, lol. Rambling...sorry. Anyways, thanks for your opinions, I'll definitely take everything you said into consideration. It's just that I've read the accept/reject threads for all the schools that you posted stats for and there were tons of people getting rejected with 14 something SAT's so it worried me. About retaking the SAT, definitely not. I considered it but I just can't force myself to take it again and I don't think I would improve. I'm working 40 hours a week this summer trying to save money for college and I wouldn't be able to fit SAT prep into my schedule. I'll be happy wherever I end up, that's what I like about my list. Even if I end up at one of my safety schools I'd still be happy, right now I'm just focused on finding colleges that I'd be even happier at. And you've definitely helped me do that and I appreciate it so much!!</p>

<p>Oh, just received a viewbook from Union in the mail today and discovered they have a 5 year BA/MA sec. edu. program that sounds appealing. I've never considered Union since it's so close to where I live, but any opinions about where Union would fall on my list? I'm thinking right in the middle maybe?</p>

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<p>I agree with what slipper said, funny enough, I'm in Debate. Anyway, lol, yes, you should move some of those schools to matches/safeties, etc. Partly because I'm applying to a few of those and my stats are crushed by yours, hehe. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Nope, just the benefit of a liberal arts education haha. </p>

<p>From an academic perspective schools love to have top 10% and higher than average SATs (which you have for your match schools). Simply, it makes them look better. The fact that you are a valedictorian is another plus, Bucknell would love to quote you as another valedictorian in their incoming class. Admitting you will boost all their numbers, so they wont want to lose you. </p>

<p>Where things get tough is the highest ranked schools where top 10% is a given, valedictorian isnt AS critical, and SATs are crazy high so its difficult to top the range. Those are the "random" schools, which include the Ivies, etc. Sometimes even they are slightly predictable, only at HYPS are PERFECT (4.0, 2400) stats not enough to give a strong chance of admittance. </p>

<p>I think Union is a great Safe match and a good replacement for some of your safeties. I actually like Hamilton as a safe match also (even though I dissed it previously). Check out Bowdoin also as more of a match/ reach, although it is a little isolated.</p>

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<p>Would add Holy Cross-very similar to Colgate and Bucknell but HC has a better location.</p>

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<p>Okay, is there any reason why 90% of your post are advertising Holy Cross? You've gone overboard, either you're with the school or obsessed b/c you even stated that Holy Cross has a better reputation than Boston College, would be better for social sciences & humanities than Clark, and it had more school spirit than Dartmouth., ROTFLMAO.</p>

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<p>After reading some convincing posts...you should give yourself some more reaches and you shouldn't underestimate yourself...youve done so much research. Have you thought about williams or amherst...maybe swarthmore and midd? (reaches/high reaches?)</p>

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<p>I think Williams + Amherst + Swat will be high reaches - just like Dartmouth and Brown - but they are doable for sure. I think if you apply to all five, one has a legitimate chance of coming through but it isnt for sure. Middlebury is a great target reach.</p>

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<p>I have researched WAS. Swarthmore is like 6 hours away which is really pushing my limit on how far from home I want to be. Williams is only like 45 minutes from me which would be ideal, however I got the impression that te general student body seemed very extroverted, athletic, and outdoorsy, none of which I am. Any comments on the truth of this statement? And Amherst doesn't seem to offer teacher certification, so that ones out. Sorry to sound so picky, lol. </p>

<p>Oh and here's my revised categories after hearing from all of you. </p>

<p>Safeties:
-Lycomng
-Fairfield
-Stonehill(may eliminate)</p>

<p>Safe Matches:
-Muhlenberg
-Hampshire (may eliminate)</p>

<p>Matches:
-Bucknell
-SUNY Geneseo</p>

<p>High Matches:
-Colate
-Boston College</p>

<p>Realistic Reach:
-Vassar
-Middlebury? (maybe-need to look into it more and visit)</p>

<p>Super Reach:
-Brown
-Dartmouth </p>

<p>Again, thanks so much!!</p>