So, as of now, I don’t have many safeties for my college list - in fact, I have mostly reaches. My scores and GPA put me in the 50th percentile or 75th percentile for all of my reach schools (of which I have too many). I have some great ECs and I’m in the middle of writing a pretty creative essay. I’ve marked which colleges I am definitely applying to with an asterisk.
Reaches:
Amherst College*
Brown University***
Cornell University*
Harvard College (Legacy)
Middlebury College
Northwestern University*
Pomona College
Stanford University*
University of Chicago
Washington University in St. Louis
Matches:
Kenyon College*
University of Virginia (since I’m OOS, this might be considered a reach)
UC Berkeley (I live in CA and my scores and GPA are much higher than the averages for this school. Still might be listed as a reach, though)*
Cal Poly SLO
Safeties:
University of Washington*
University of Iowa
Yes, my list is does not have a great balance. So what are some more safeties and/or matches for me? I’m interested in writing, philosophy, and technology. Thanks!
You may want to clarify what you mean by technology.
For ideas for colleges with strong writing programs, read the descriptions in online articles such as the following:
“The 10 Best American Colleges for Writers,” USA Today
“The 10 Best Colleges for Creative Writers,” The Freelancer
“The 12 Best Creative Writing Colleges and Programs,” PrepScholar
“The 25 Most Literary Colleges in America,” Flavowire
For a guideline with which to order your schools with respect to reaches, matches and safeties, this simple list (of colleges by SAT scores) can be useful: “The 610 Smartest Colleges,” Business Insider.
What are your test scores and GPA? (include SAT breakdown - don’t superscore))
How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them, please don’t guess. We see later posts from a lot of disappointed students who thought their parents would pay more.
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Safeties:
University of Washington*
University of Iowa
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How are these safeties? Will your parents pay the OOS costs for these schools?
SAT subjects: will take in fall, projected scores between 740 and 800
My school offers honors classes but no APs; I will have taken 14 honors classes by the time I graduate. I took 2 AP tests upon my teachers’ requests and I am awaiting the results.
My parents can pay full tuition if I do not get any financial aid (household income is ~300k). I have a twin brother attending college too so that is why we might qualify for financial aid (I doubt it, though).
Multiple asterisks = higher interest
My biggest EC is freerunning in which I am #1 ranked between the three Tempeat Academies in CA. I was also offered a spot on the Olympic committee for parkour as it may become an Olympic sport in 2024.
I also participate in the school’s jazz band. I play the piano.
Improv team captain (participant for 5 yrs), have an acting agent and have been in some films and commercials
Student body president
NHS, key club, astronomy club (VP), photo club §, lit mag/writing club §
Hamilton is tough to beat for writing and has a strong and popular philosophy department. Their curriculum in general is notable for being balanced across sciences and math, humanities and fine arts and social sciences. Your ACT score falls within their middle range (31-33), making the school a statistical match for you.
@merc81 Thanks! I’ve had my eye on Hamilton for quite a while now… @mom2collegekids I only have UCB listed for UCs because I live too close to UCSB, UCLA, and UCSD. I toured UCSC, but it did not have everything that I wanted.
@apple23 I know you mean well, but that list doesn’t even include Iowa - probably the best creative writing program in the country. Any of these lists that are based on presidential opinions are fairly iffy.
^ I know of no reason to think that Iowa, on the undergraduate level, emphasizes writing “at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum,” which is the focus of that particular list. Beyond that, I’d doubt the undergraduate creative writing classes at Iowa can seriously rival those available at some of the best purely undergraduate focused colleges in the country. Iowa’s graduate creative writing program is indeed notable, but is not the subject here. As for the posted list itself, it seems to serve as simply one more resource for the OP to consider and, to that extent, it serves well by confirming some of his existing choices.
@urbanslaughter I simply posted that list as an additional piece of information for the OP to consider. As pointed out by merc81, the emphasis of that list is on writing “at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum,” not creative writing.