Is there a reason why the radius has shrunk to within 3-hours, or is your family still willing to let you go to the midwest or south (you don’t need to share the reason, if there’s one, just indicate if it’s now more of a need or a personal preference)? I ask, because there are a couple of schools where the odds of acceptance are much higher that I think could be really good fits for you.
St. Olaf (MN): There are about 3k undergrads here and everyone who visits talks about what an intellectually open and curious student body it has and how welcoming it feels. It also has cross-registration available with Carleton, which is only about a mile from St. Olaf.
College of Wooster (OH): There are about 2k undergrads here and this is another one that regularly gets props for its academically rigorous environment.
It seems you now want to run track competitively in college. Have you been in contact with any coaches? Or do you plan to be a walk-on? If you’re hoping to be recruited, you may also want to post in the Athletic Recruits forum, as you are likelier to get more eyes with the right experiences on your situation: Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums.
I plan to be more walk on. At first, my parents and I didn’t know much about colleges (I’m the oldest). Now we realize that there’s plenty of schools within a certain distance, so we want to try and limit it. We figure it’s good for me to be in that range. For safeties, 3 hour radius. For reaches, we’re trying to have the same range, but are willing to go a little farther. I visited RPI and didn’t really like it. Too big and too tech-y. I want to minor/dual with Philosophy which is why I like the LAC open curriculum vibe. I go to a small nationally ranked public school, and ~10% of kids go to Ivies each year. I have senior friends that submitted their scores and got into ivies + top schools like gtown, northeastern, etc with 31’s and 32’s.
I think I’m pretty set on the list I have. I met with my GC (who is very good) and we’ve laid out a few safeties (Bucknell, Connecticut College, Colgate). Colgate is far but a good enough school that my parents would be ok with it even as a safety.
My schools grade system is weird which is why my GPA is low ish. We don’t have A+ and the highest UW GPA is a 4.0. If you get one A- in HS, you automatically drop to below that with no way to get a 4.0.
APs are also weighted terribly. Highest weighted GPA is 4.3, so an A- will drop you. My weighted was a 4.21. It’s ridiculous.
I looked at my naviance and it says my GPA is at the level for all the schools I’m applying to. I doubt that will hold me back.
Just to confirm, your guidance counselor has indicated that all of these schools are safeties for you? Colgate’s RD admission rate was 15% last year. Bucknell’s was 33% and Connecticut College’s was 40%. I understand that schools have the best data on where their grads have been accepted previously, but even at top high schools with strong guidance departments, I know that there have been (negative) surprises in the admissions cycle the last year or two. Perhaps @2Devils might want to comment, as someone with experience with a specialized school with uncommon success in admission to competitive schools.
In case you are as risk-averse as I am, I am going to propose a few other schools for you to look into that I think truly would be safeties, if you would be happy to attend them.
Hampshire (MA): This school of about 500 undergrads has a unique model, but because it’s part of the 5 Colleges Consortium with Amherst & UMass in the same town (plus Smith and Mount Holyoke further away), there are more options available than its size might lead one to believe: Physics | Hampshire College
Yes. I was the one who asked if they were actually safeties and she said they were. We liked Geneseo for a safety but it’s a solid 5 hours which is too far. 500 kids is definitely too small.
It seems you’ve already visited at least some of the schools you are interested in. Focusing just from the track perspective, you might consider contacting the track coaches when you are planning any additional visits. In our experience, almost all of the coaches were very happy to make time for my son even though he was, like you, going to be a walk on. He (and we) found those conversations to be very helpful, not only for the practical purpose of understanding what being on the team at that school might be like, but also because the coaches talk about their schools from a different perspective than the folks involved in admissions. It gave us a broader view.
Hampshire is definitely a college you need to visit before applying. It is quite different from many of the other schools @AustenNut suggested to you. Very different.
I encourage you to visit Bucknell and Colgate. They are very different than Williams and Amherst. Both are also D1, so I would imagine it could be tough to walk on to the track teams…have you checked your event times with their recent stats?
I agree with others that Bucknell and Colgate might not be the vibe you are looking for. Bucknell particularly has always had kind of a frat bro reputation. Have you ruled out William & Mary? Reading through this thread, it sounds like a perfect fit for you - other than the distance and they are D1 for track.There is an Amtrak station close to campus which makes travel easy for the New Yorkers. There is also an active club running program.
My S22 just finished his freshman year. He is majoring in physics and is ADHD, dyslexic and Jewish lol. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. If it’s still on your list be sure to schedule an interview and submit an art portfolio. Both can only help.
The Jewish center is beautiful and there is a very active Hillel. The WM Jewish population seems to have been rapidly growing since the opening of the Jewish center. I think the official number is 10 percent, but my kid thinks the actual number in his year is much higher. He didn’t do much with Hillel because he randomly met so many Jewish students that he didn’t feel the need to do any of the religious stuff.
It sounds like your GC is sure, so I think it seems fair to trust that. For context since I was tagged:
-Bucknell and Connecticut college would be highly-likelies /near safeties from our HS for anyone in the top 20% who had top rigor and corresponding top scores w no red flags. Both regularly take kids who are in the middle or bottom half of our school, and are used as “backups” by the top kids.
-Colgate is a much harder admit: it would only be a highly-likely/near safety for a top-of the class in-all-areas kind of unhooked kid, as in only for 2-3 kids per year. It would be a match for most of the rest of the top20%, assuming appropriate rigor and no red flags.
@lilyesh is Hamilton on the list (sorry about is I missed it)? As I was reading, I thought you might prefer Hamilton to Colgate.
@2Devils is correct. I don’t think I would label it as a safety even for the very top students. I would be very weary of thinking of any school as competitive as Colgate, or even Bucknell, as a safety. I have seen so many very top students rejected or waitlisted at their safeties in the last couple of years. Whatever the bottom of the list may be, make sure you treat and explore it as schools of true interest.
We have visited a lot of schools and talked with GC: this is a pretty final list. It is still reach heavy, but my GC is confident I’ll have options- I also have some nearby safeties that I’ll apply to which are guaranteed.
Williams
Wesleyan
Vassar
Amherst
Haverford
Dartmouth
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Hamilton
Brown
Union
Connecticut College
Colgate
These are reaches purely based off statistics. The naviance data for my school says my GPA is above the average of accepted students from my school because of the weighting system, as well as ACT. GC says i should just focus on my essays and keeping my grades where they are. At schools with a 5% acceptance rate, the numbers just simply aren’t in my favor, and there’s not much I can do.
Give us your summary again. I see a GPA and PSAT - what was the ACT?
If you have a safety - and you can afford it - and you’ll be ok attending that school, then the rest of your list is whatever you want.
But this list is likely a lot of work - so prioritize the schools by importance and work on essays in that order (of course with knowing the deadlines).
And make sure you run NPCs as some don’t give merit aid - to ensure you can afford. I re-read you’re full pay.
It’s a long thread to re-read so I’ll just say - since you have safeties, you’re fine - even if you get turned down everywhere else.
