<p>I feel like I could get into and enjoy most all of the schools I'm applying to, I just want to know whether I'm being unrealistic or not. I have a 3.95 unweighted (4.6 weighted), 2360 on my SAT I, 800 on my math SAT II, 770 on my ecology SAT II, have taken and received 5's on four AP tests, am the president and founder of the hip-hop rap club at my school, president of the speech and debate team (placed 2nd in state of California last year), spent two months living and volunteering in the Dominican Republic, fluent in Spanish and English, attend a film school off campus for three hours everyday, and play the alto saxophone in band. Basically, I feel like I have a rock solid resume. So most of the schools I applied to are super-reachy. (Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Cornell) Am I being too unrealistic? I know that reach schools are reach school for a reason...no matter how well you did in high school, they still reject loads of applicants...If so, could someone provide me with some safer, but still top-notch schools? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Apply, but be ready for a rejection from any and all of those schools because there is no guarantee ever.</p>
<p>You have a solid resume, I would say that your extracurriculars are a little on the weak side. There’s also not a heck of a lot of direction in what you do extracurricular-wise. It will be really tight at Yale, Brown, and Middlebury with a good shot at Northwestern, Bowdoin and Cornell. (Side note, I do hope you’ve applied to safety schools right?). You’re something of a generic applicant, you will have a shot, but it will be a crapshoot (as it is for everyone). Some other schools to consider would be Georgetown, Duke, the UCs, and University of Chicago.</p>
<p>One more thing, are you an URM? If so, your chances are significantly higher with good shots at Yale, Brown and Middlebury, might as well apply to Harvard while you’re at it. </p>
<p>Lots of luck, you have an excellent application.</p>
<p>Care to chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1215821-chance-long-shot-top-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1215821-chance-long-shot-top-schools.html</a></p>
<p>As you said yourself, if you’re white or asian those schools are all mid reaches. Judging by your title however, you may be black - at which point I would be shocked if you were rejected by any of them.</p>
<p>Lack direction? You have VARIED interests/passions-- what’s “wrong” with that?? You could possibly be accused of being a little THIN on ECs. Here’s some optional “safer” (than some of the schools on your list), top-tier, top-notch schools that you may want to consider:</p>
<p>Duke (as mrspiffy mentioned)
Rice
Wash U StL
Notre Dame
Claremont McKenna
UC Berkeley</p>
<p>@jshain, hold it there for a moment, I never said there was anything wrong with doing a number of things with differing focus, I merely pointed out that his lack of a strong focus for his interests both makes it harder to correlate his academic interests with his ECs and it might be seen by admissions officers as having a lack of passion/goals (thus perhaps a need for clarification in his essays). Pointing out a possibility, never meant to cause a controversy for you.</p>
<p>thank you all so much, very helpful</p>