Find me safeties/matches

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi guys. Like all rising seniors, I have plenty of reaches I'm interested in. But what I don't have a lot of are matches/safeties. </p>

<p>Right now, my stats are basically:</p>

<p>IB curriculum</p>

<p>UW GPA = 3.5
upward trend - Frosh - 3.08 , Soph - 3.3333 , Junior/summer classes online = 3.9+
W GPA = ?</p>

<p>top 10% of my class (literally; no higher no lower)</p>

<p>SAT I superscored = 640 M/ 770 CR/ 710 W = 1410/2120</p>

<p>ACT = taking in September, October, November = Practice tests saying around 34 or 35. Assume 34+ </p>

<p>ECs - average - 3 leadership positions in clubs at school, 1 leadership position in religious setting, tutor, 50+ hours of community service in retirement home, 200+ in hospital.</p>

<hr>

<p>What I want in a school:</p>

<p>no more than 10,000 undergrads. Maybe an LAC, idk much about them so I have no preference either way. A school in a big city would be preferred. Weather isn't important. School must have at least a sense of academics, not just a party school. Sports are cool. No wild partying.</p>

<p>Right now, my safeties are:</p>

<p>University of Central Florida
University of South Florida
Oxford College in Emory
Boston University</p>

<p>I don't especially love any of these places so a new safety or two would be great.</p>

<p>My matches (feel free to dispute if you don't think so lol) are:</p>

<p>UF
McGill
UM
NYU</p>

<p>My matches are okay but some don't fit my criteria (UF and McGill) so maybe some new ones to add in the mix?</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>One reason you may not have looked at LACs is because not many are in the middle of a big city. Take a loot at Rhodes College. 1700 undergrads, located in the heart of Memphis, TN (pop about 1 million). There’s a social scene, but it hasn’t made any Top Party Schools lists.</p>

<p>FYI, I’m an alum and I work there.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>sounds good. i’ll definitely check it out. Would that be more of a match or a safety?</p>

4

<p>Also, how is FA at Rhodes College?</p>

5

<p>Tough to say whether it’s more a match or a safety - you can compare your stats to the entering class on our Common Data Set at [Rhodes</a> College | Common Data Set](<a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu/1328.asp]Rhodes”>http://www.rhodes.edu/1328.asp). Your service hours strike me as impressive, which would make you a really good match with Rhodes because there’s a big emphasis on community service. </p>

<p>I think the FA is really good, but I’m obviously biased. We pop up on “best value” lists a lot, for what that’s worth. You can see on the CDS that we award a ton of both need and merit aid.</p>

6

<p>@ lynxinsider: i’m definitely going to check out Rhodes College. Sounds like a good deal.</p>

<p>Btw I am undecided in my major but definitely will not be doing the pre med track. Interested in applying to law school after undergrad studies.</p>

7

<p>UM= Uof Miami, Michigan?</p>

<p>Look into American and George Washington in D.C. Other possibilities, Villanova, Wake Forest, William & Mary and UVermont</p>

8

<p>OP - You didn’t say what you want to study. Based on your stats you should be able to laugh your way into the listed safeties. I think you need to aim higher … like USC, UMiami, Tulane, GWU, Rhodes, etc.</p>

9

<p>@vinceh: University of Miami. Isn’t William and Mary extremely selective? As previously stated, idk much about LACs. I’ll look into George Washington, I’ve heard good things about that school!</p>

<p>@NewHope33: Yeah lol my safeties are the usual safeties for any native Floridian. I really don’t want to go there and my parents are willing to shell out the money if the school is good enough. I lived in California for 8 years before moving to FL. When you say USC do you mean University of Southern California? I’ve always thought of that as being extremely selective as well. </p>

<p>This thread is extremely helpful so far so I’d love for more replies!</p>

10

<p>anymore suggestions?</p>

11

<p>William and Mary wouldn’t be classified as “extremely” selective (not to the point of the Ivies, anyway), but it’s a decent deal harder to get into if you’re out of state.</p>

<p>Elon - I’m not sure if it’s in a big city or not. Furman University also has a good academic reputation but isn’t impossible to get into. Again, I don’t know if it’s near any major cities or not.</p>

12

<p>Elon is a lovely school, but it’s not anywhere near a big city. I don’t know much about Furman or Davidson … though I’m reliably informed that Charlotte has not “grown” the forty miles to that latter school.</p>

<p>As for USC (i.e. Southern Cal), it probably isn’t a safety for you, but rather a match.</p>

13

<p>@NewHope33: i’ve had USC on my list as a reach so I will give that some thought for sure. Thanks! It would be amazing to live in California again and attend such a great university!</p>

<p>@sciencefrenchie: Yeah, I’d be OOS so W&M would be pretty difficult. I will think about applying because I like the idea of a prestigious LAC. I think a small school would be a good experience.</p>

14

<p>bump 10char</p>

15

<p>If you’re interested in Rhodes, you should also check out Millsaps College, which has repeatedly made the “best buy” list in the Fiske guide, in Jackson, Mississippi. I would also recommend University of Richmond, which is far more expensive but offers pretty generous aid.</p>

16

<p>Boston College, Northeastern University (amazing co-op program), Villanova, SUNY Binghamton (little more than 10000, but not much), some in the Patriot League like Bucknell or Lehigh (although they’re not in a city).</p>

17

<p>@Randum Persun: I’ve had previous interest in BC but I’m pretty unfamiliar with the school. Do you know anything in particular about the school that would make it a good match?</p>

18

<p>First let me say that it probably won’t be a safety for you, but I would be surprised if you didn’t get in. So it’s more like a match.</p>

<p>Well if you’re willling to travel to the northeast then it seems like it fits what you’re looking for. Around 9000 undergrads. It has an excellent academic reputation, and I don’t know what it’s specialty is, but there are a good amount of majors offered (you won’t find much more selection from a school with less than 10000 undergrads) and any degree from BC would be respected. It’s in a quiet suburb but it’s a 10 minute train ride to downtown Boston. Academics are definately more important that partying (in fact there are no frats/sororities), but you can still have a great time. And sports are huge-football games are packed and basketball is popular too. I find that that leads to more school spirit.</p>

<p>I visited last month and it has a beautiful campus. It has a lot of old looking, stone buildings-you know, ivy league, cathedral, middle ages type architecture. I didn’t like that part, but I have to admit it was a beautiful campus. It’s a catholic school so you will see statues and stuff, which is great if you’re into that, but it’s not imposing if you don’t want it to be.</p>

<p>I’d suggest going to a website called u-n-i-g-o.com (no dashes, but apparently ***** is a swear word?). You can read student reviews about it (not just BC, but any major college) which will tell you more than I can. I found that website very helpful.</p>

19

<p>@Randum Persun: It sounds great. I’m going to read up on it. It fits most if not all my needs. One thing does concern me though: you said that its a catholic school. Does that have any effect on the type of students that attend? Basically, is it as ethnically and religiously diverse as other universities? I really appreciate the insight btw. I think this may be a good match!</p>

20

<p>It’s catholic, but you have to remember that a lot of private schools are. If you don’t want to get into that, then it won’t be imposing for you. There are jews and athiests that go there because it is a great school. Quoted from a student review on unig-o.com (again, no dash in the url…why does this site treat ***** as a swear word??).</p>

<p>“There are definitely some students that are more religious than others, but no one pushes religion on anyone, per my experience so far.”</p>

<p>It’s not very ethnically or religiously diverse, especially not as much as a public school, but there will be other religions and nationalities attending. It is kind of a “rich white kid school” though.</p>