<p>Salutations!! I'm pretty much done with my list-making process. Some background:
I'm a Hispanic/African-American female from California, kinda first gen (one parent went to uni and did not finish)
GPA: 4.0 UW 4.24 W
-Honors English/Math courses since 9th grade, AP Euro (4) sophomore year
Junior year: APUSH (5), APEL (5), AP Calc AB (5), Journalism (Photo and Copy Editor, staff of about 30), Physics, and Art Appreciation
Senior Year: AP Gov, APLit, Brit Lit (hoping two English courses will emphasize my love for humanities), AP Calc BC, and Journalism (Editor-in-Chief and Photo Editor)
Awards/Organizations: NHS, CSF, Key Club (no leadership), Interact Club (no leadership),Drama Club (Publicist for plays/musicals), Wells College 21st Leadership Award (dunno if this carries weight in admissions)
SAT: 1920 (680 CR, 670 W, 570 M) will retake if I don't get at least 31 on the ACT (32 on practice test) </p>
<p>I am mostly interested in small-midsize LACs near a city, but I will be applying to a few UCs for cost reasons. These are in order of preference.</p>
<p>Vassar (ED I, I FREAKING LOVE THIS SCHOOL AND ITS HISTORY)
Tufts (ED II if rejected from Vassar)
Reed
Wesleyan
Boston College
UCLA
Cal Poly SLO
UC Davis
Scripps
American
Lewis & Clark
UCSB</p>
<p>I'd like to keep the list under 13 schools if possible, but I guess I'm just looking for confirmation that I have a good mix of match/reach/safety. Thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>I think this is a good list assuming you can pay for Vassar and Tufts. I’ll just say that BC is pretty different than Vassar, Reed and Wes politically. I guess it sort of aligns more with Tufts, but it is a Jesuit school and Vassar is considered a pretty secular place:</p>
<p>BC is not overly religious, but the student body has traditionally been largely catholic.</p>
<p>Did you take a look at Macalester? It is in St Paul/Minneapolis.</p>
<p>I think you have a good shot at Vassar if your ACT comes in at 31-32. My $.02: it’s unlikely you will be outright rejected from Vassar EDI so EDII to Tufts only if you are rejected, not deferred to RD round.</p>
<p>I can’t possibly envision your getting a rejection or even deferral from Vassar, especially with your URM status. I think you have enough safeties and matches. (Are the UCs the only truly affordable ones?) Have you considered adding any reaches? Amherst and Williams have a similar vibe to that of Vassar but have immensely better financial aid.</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight, @ormdad. BC is on the list for my aunt, who works closely with the faculty there and wants it to be my first choice; she is a Catholic and worked at LMU (also Jesuit). Personally, I was raised Christian and consider myself an atheist, just one of the reasons I lean toward schools like Vassar. </p>
<p>Financially, our income is about the same as Vassar’s tuition and fees, so we would be relying heavily on need-based aid. Vassar seems to be more generous than Tufts in that regard.</p>
<p>I did consider Macalester for a time, but ruled it out for location purposes. I have family/friends in Oregon, CA, and the Northeast - none in the Midwest.</p>
<p>@CallMeJonah Thank you for your optimism! When I first entered the college search process six months ago, Amherst was all I talked about. It’s been lurking in my mind, but I really don’t know much about the school other than it has fantastic academics and its connection with Robert Frost (a favorite poet of mine). As far as affordability, I really don’t know anything apart from what I’ve read on the internet. California has plenty stellar LACs, but I am somewhat eager to leave my home state for school. Nearly everyone at my high school goes to a UC or State school, so it’s somewhat expected that I apply to a few. </p>
<p>Great question, Erin’s Dad - I now realize I should have a better answer.
The most affordable would be UCSB after running the NPC; I considered L&C my safety but the aid package is simply not an option. Do you know of any schools with generous need based aid that would be considered a safety?</p>
<p>safeties must be absolutely affordable, absolutely some place one will get into, absolutely some place one will attend if all else fails, and, of course, have one’s major. What’s your major? what can your parents afford?</p>
<p>Frankly with your current SAT scores I don’t know a good option. The UCs should be good for aid with a lower income family. Too bad you didn’t get your app in to UCR in July for their early acceptance period. A 31 on the ACT will certainly help. Look at the pinned threads in the Financial Aid forum for some merit aid options (including full tuition).</p>
<p>If your preference is toward small liberal arts colleges, then I’d worry about using UCs as safeties, even if they are financial safeties.</p>
<p>Ask your parents to run a few more net price calculators to get a confirmation that need based financial aid works for you. Check to see that the schools on your list guarantee to meet full need.</p>
<p>You might also add a couple of schools that are good with merit aid. On these you may have to bend your geographic restrictions as many schools that offer generous merit are not in cities and not on the coasts. </p>
<p>Scripps looks good to me as both an admissions and financial safety, but if you really want to try another part of the country, that doesn’t fill the bill. Cal Poly I don’t get at all.</p>
<p>So, my advice would be to keep an open mind on your wish list and look at a few more LACs that are not quite as selective as Vassar and that are good with financial aid: Smith, Holyoke, Colby, Skidmore, Conn College, Trinity, Macalester, Kenyon, Grinnell, Rhodes.</p>
<p>The result of your ED application will tell you whether you need more safeties or not, but you don’t want to find yourself in the middle of December scrambling to add applications. So stay optimistic, but be prepared with an alternative plan.</p>
<p>Lastly, I would do some more work on your EC list. Pick one or two that you really care about – Journalism and something else? – and amplify and enhance these interests in your essays and recommendations. Your grades are great and being Hispanic will give you a boost at some schools. Improving your scores will help, but honing the presentation of your ECs is essential.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about how the UCs/CSUs meet need, there are lots of other posters on this site that know more about that. Basically it seems to me that you need to find a UC/CSU academic safety that has good need-based aid, but hope to get in to a 100% need met school.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that there are significant additional travel expenses involved with an east coast school.</p>
<p>You need to be very careful when applying ED- you may think you know what your family’s income situation is, but if you are wrong, you could end up being in a binding agreement to attend a school that you cannot afford. Financial aid is tricky and is not always as straightforward as filling out the NPC.</p>
<p>If I were you I would email the financial aid and admissions offices at Vassar asking about some of these issues wrt ED. It is generally considered unwise for low income students that might want to compare financial aid packages to apply ED. Vassar is a 100% need met school, but that might include loans if you are not considered low income “enough”.</p>