Finding Match Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<h2>For a while I thought I had my list squared away for this coming fall and application; however now I am feeling pretty uneasy about them I was planning to apply to top 25 schools and Ivies and some top LACs for awhile but looking through chance threads and seeing what people are saying about admissions, I'm not really so sure my list is at all realistic. I was hoping that you could give me a realistic list of matches reaches and safeties for me to apply to, and don't worry about fit into the college because I just want a general idea of where the colleges lie in the rankings and admit rate am I will be able to tweak it to colleges that fit my interest and are ranked the same. Thanks and I will chance back.</h2>

<p>Objective:
GPA: 4.0 UW (all A+ grades except in 3 classes), 4.4 W
Rank: 1/70-ish
SAT: 2150 single (720 CR, 680 M, 750 W)
PSAT: 203, I think, commended
SAT II: 750 Math I (will this offset my 680?) 760 Math II 720 Latin
AP: Lang (5) US (4) Art (5) Gov (5) Latin (<strong>) Lit (</strong>) Calc AB (<strong>) Stat (</strong>) Bio (*<em>)
*</em>= this year</p>

<h2>School: small private (sends top 5 to top 10 schools every year)</h2>

<p>Courses:
Freshman-
English Honors 97
Physics Honors 98
Geometry 94
Health/PE 100 (required)
Music 100 (required)
Theology 99 (required)
Latin 99
World History 101 (required)</p>

<p>Sophomore-
Biology honors 97
English Honors 99
AP Government 97
Latin 98
Theology 99 (required)
Algebra II 99
Music/Tech 100 (required)</p>

<p>Junior-
AP Language 96
AP Art History 98
Chemistry 98
Latin 98
Pre Calculus Honors 98
AP US 95
World religions 100 (required)</p>

<p>Senior-
AP Stat
AP Calc AB
AP Latin
AP Bio
AP Lit
Religion Courses (required)
Tech Courses (required)</p>

<hr>

<p>Subjective:
ECs:
National Honor Society (president): did a lot of tutoring last year, community service project collecting clothing for homeless, plan to do more next year
Mock Trial (captain): went to regional finals. Would have been top attorney but instructor chose seniors (it goes by selection) :/
Ski Club: purely recreational, though could make an essay?
Piano: 12 years, there are not many competitions around where I live. However I perform often for people, and I am quite good. I will send in a supplement.
Student Ambassador: act as a leader to younger children, get them ready for highschool, guide them around school.</p>

<p>Volunteering:
3 years volunteer at hospital. I will get a presidents award for hospital service. I have approximately 360 hours. I have also been recognized by many of the hospital's departments for my dedication every weekend (I show up alone and do all the work alone).
I play piano often for nursing homes- about 130 hours. I enjoy doing it for the people, it's fulfilling.
Some volunteering at elementary schools- 40 hours (not too much work here)</p>

<p>Work:
Intern at a prestigious research facility that is actually connected with some ivies. I work in the chair's lab, with all graduate students and postdocs, from ivies mostly. Will try for a recommendation from chair. I think I am doing pretty well, I was invited back for next summer. I went out of state to the city for this.</p>

<p>Awards:
A lot of school academic awards, too many to list
National Merit Commended
AP Scholar (Honors)
President Award for hospital
NLE Cum Laude
NLE Summa Cum Laude</p>

<h2>Poem Contest Semi Finalist, Poem is published</h2>

<p>Other:
Major: Looking at a double major in English/Biology (looking into Patent Law)
Essay: probably good, I did a practice one for AP Lang after the exam, for the highest grade in the class. It was about piano, I sucked for a while.</p>

<p>Teacher Rec: English Teacher: excellent. really loves me.
AP US teacher: will be above average.</p>

<p>Guidance counselor: not sure. Likes me, but not a good counselor, so average-above average?</p>

<p>Hook(s): my family struggles a little financially. But doubt that's a hook.</p>

2

<p>Thanks, I have a great chance at the top schools? Any others want to give me their lists/ideas.</p>

3

<p>I’m assuming that you have taken the most rigorous courses at your hs (it’s not the actual courses which matter, it’s that you challenged yourself to the max which your school allowed).</p>

<p>While your SAT score is very good, your score in the two components which really count are lower then the writing. Your grades are great, so have you tried taking the ACT? The ACT may give a better view of your skills. Your Math II scores are good - they make your Math I irrelevant .</p>

<p>You have certainly put in concentrated hours in ECs which consistently show devotion to your community and you also participate in school ECs.</p>

<p>Which type of school are you most interested in? Small LACs or larger universities - there is a world of difference. Coming from a small hs, what are you looking for? These answers will help you narrow down the field. Oh, and what may or may not be important are the costs of the schools.</p>

<p>You are competitive to all the top schools; but HYPS are very very far reaches.</p>

4

<p>I have the most APs in my class and im pretty sure recent years as well. I know HYPS are out of reach but Princeton was in the sort of YOLO category, if you will. Haha. I can’t give you a set type of school. I guess maybe a little more of an urban feel, I definitely like something going on. I like the campus inthe middle of things but still a campus (I loved Brown and Columbia and Princeton). I also love lacrosse and a more open curriculum (i know columbia was core but i still liked the campus and feel around it) So what kind of schools do you suggest in that category? Finances are going to be crucial but I have Loyola which I know will give me a lot of money and there are some great additional incentives fr going there also if there are any schools at the top that you suggest I know the majority are need based. However I mainly want to find a list of schools that I can have a realistic shot of getting into that I can visit and truthfully get excited about but I would prefer schools that are competitive if my stats warrant a competitive list, that is. Do you happen to have any ideas? Thanks.</p>

5

<p>YOLO mindset.</p>

6

<p>The top 15 are all major reaches in my opinion.</p>

7

<p>@centralFC, …then what would be a list of realistic options in your opinion?</p>

8

<p>Vanderbilt, Washington at St. Louis, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, etc.</p>

9

<p>Isn’t WUSTL top 15? Would JHU be the same ball park as WUSTL? I really liked it there.</p>

10

<p>If costs are a concern (and with the private schools running about 50-65k per year), the question is how much can you pay and how much of your “demonstrated” need will actually be met by the school in the form of grants. This is an opaque process in which you can only get a rough feel for an answer until the actual award arrives in the mail. </p>

<p>The best schools for middle class FA are the Ivys (as you know by now); but there are a number of schools which will try to “buy” ivy league quality students. </p>

<p>One real viable alternative is an honors program within a large state flagship school. This option is often overlooked by ivy league quality applicants; but, in many honors programs, a student has the best of all collegiate worlds - a small school education within the framework of a gigantic schools resources (e.g., clubs, sports, social, etc)… Many of these honor programs provide you with special living conditions (surrounded by very high achieving honor students), access to special seminars, courses, internships, and scholarships.</p>

<p>I see that you love science research - and that is right in the wheel house of state schools. These schools have awesome opportunities for their honor program students - and you will shine in such an environment.</p>

11

<p>So what schools are you suggesting? Are “lower” ivies possibilities? What state schools would be a good choice? What private schools would be a good choice?</p>

12

<p>The “lower” ivies are definitely a viable option (and they are not lower by any stretch of the imagination); the FA at those schools are comparable to HYPS. For state schools, you need to hop on line and research which schools have programs which may interest you - the University of Maryland comes to mind, but lots of state schools could interest you.</p>

<p>If you are interested in southern schools, Hendrix, University of the South, Rhodes are often mentioned in the same sentence as good. Check out Popes book: Colleges that change lives. That will give you a start. But you are really getting close to the time to,start making some application decisions so get cracking.</p>

13

<p>So with that in mind, maybe I should just give you my list and see if it is realistic. It sounds like I may have been a little harsh on myself, so here it is:
Reach:
Brown
UPenn
Cornell
Columbia
JHU</p>

<p>Match:
Georgetown(I’m roman catholic at a catholic highschool in MD if that helps here at all)
Boston College
NYU
Tufts</p>

<p>Safety:
Loyola
GWU</p>

<p>I was leaning towards perhaps Wesleyan as a match and then with this info I may throw in a State school as you mentioned. Does this list look realistic?</p>

14

<p>Bump. Does the above list look realistic?</p>

15

<p>Honestly, other than that slightly low SAT score, your app is pretty stellar.</p>

<p>I think you have a shot at getting into at least one of your reach schools, possibly even a few of them. As long as you make sure that there are at least 2 schools that you can 100% afford, 100% get in to, and 100% love (which it looks like you do with GW and Loyola), then you’re fine.</p>

16

<p>Thanks. Does anyone else have an opinion on my stats, and the list provided on post 14? Or have a suggestion for realistic options?</p>

17

<p>I think your categorization is correct. Georgetown may be a slight reach because it only looks at CR+M on the SAT. Your gpa, ECs, and everything else is top-notch though and I wouldn’t be suprised if you got into 1-2 reach, 3-4 match, and of course the safeties.</p>

18

<p>Thanks. Any other thoughts?</p>

19

<p>I think you a certainly a competitive applicant at all of the schools you’ve listen, even the reaches. I see you’re interested in an urban feel, have you considered Boston U or Northeastern? They would both likely be matches for you, maybe even safety. I don’t know. They’re both very urban and Boston is a great place, and the academics are fairly stellar at both of them. Also, I don’t know what kind of climate you’re looking for, but you could look into UMiami. I’m just spit-balling here. You have very strong stats and you will certainly be competitive wherever you apply.</p>

20

<p>Thanks. I considered UMiami but ultimately wasn’t really sure about leaving for Florida I have family near NY and Boston do it wouldnt be as tough of a transition.</p>