Hey @socaldad2002
I second UGA as a good match school. Lots of school spirit, pretty campus, great college town. It’s fairly easy to get to, with a 1.5 hour (shuttle) drive to ATL. UGA values GPA and rigor above all else in admissions. They have EA, so your D could have an acceptance in pocket fairly early. She would have a good shot at Honors, too.
I’m confused about a couple of schools on the list given the majors identified. Duke doesn’t have a marketing major. I do see public policy though. Vandy also lacks marketing. Shouldn’t you be looking at undergrad business schools? I also think both of those are very unlikely admits and ED would be wasted on Duke.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/2127392-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa-2018.html can help you with admission rates at UCs by HS GPA (UC recalculated weighted-capped) range.
Note that UCB business is mostly not direct admit (low volume exceptions for https://haas.berkeley.edu/undergrad/academics/global-opportunities/gmp/ and https://met.berkeley.edu/ ). Most students looking for business enter in L&S and apply to the business major in their second year; admission to the business major is competitive.
Correct, Duke doesn’t have a Marketing major but as mentioned D also has an interest in Public Policy so would major in that and probably do a second major, minor, and/or certificate in another discipline. We spoke with a junior there who even created her own major. Lots of flexibility as she is not exactly sure what she wants to do as a career.
Agree Duke is a very unlikely admit and I have been managing her expectations but she wants to give it an ED shot and not have any regrets. In addition, if her Sept ACT score goes up to 33 or 34 it will help a little bit.
I’m an alumna and my son is looking at Lehigh too. I’d say “pre-professional” more aptly describes Lehigh than “conservative.” It was conservative in the ‘80s but it is apparently not that way now. I think there is a range of viewpoints.
@Midwestmomofboys – hey! I saw a thread you posted a few years ago about test optional schools, and I’m wondering if we can connect?
“Vanderbilt (EA)”
I thought Vanderbilt only had ED, not sure you can EA there.
“UCD
UCSB
UCSD
UCI”
If your daughter is top 9% which I think was mentioned, these UCs are matches. Good luck!
Correct. She will likely apply EDI to Duke and EDII to Vanderbilt.
Hold it, is this the same @socaldad2002 that said the weather is a primary factor in choosing a college, and has Indiana on the list??? Your DD will absolutely freeze to death if she were to attend. What about UW, does she like cold soaking rain all day every day during the winter? My advice is for her to apply to UCSD, and hope the weather doesn’t turn nippy in the winter. Going north of the Mason Dixon line (LA for you West coast people) is a non starter. To be frank, she really only should be applying to the of University of Hawaii. I’m thinking if you just brought up Hawaii she would be all in, Indiana, for gods sake man, what were you thinking? 
UC ELC (i.e. GPA within the historical top 9% of your high school, as calculated by UC) means that an applicant who is shut out of all UCs applied to will be offered admission to a UC with space available. Recently, that UC has been UC Merced.
It does not necessarily make those other UC campuses matches, but having an unweighted 4.0 with lots of honors and AP courses makes the student a strong applicant at UCs, which put heavy emphasis on grades (relative to test scores) in their admission evaluations.
I don’t believe I said “weather is a primary factor when choosing a college”. Secondly, 13 of 15 colleges are Ds current list don’t involve harsh snowy winters. IU is really a back-up college for her if she gets shutout by the others. UW is primarily rainy and overcast a lot of the time and isn’t her top 5 choice but she might consider if she gets direct admit to Foster school of business. Again, all things equal I think she will choose a warm weather college. Time will tell.
Note that, out of the UCs, UCB, UCI, and UCR have business majors.
I’m late to reply - but think your daughter might be a fit at UVA. Surprised not to see it on her list - undergrad business program is stellar, close to DC with strong public policy options, and similar in culture to Duke and Vandy.
Haven’t read the entire thread, but has she considered UConn? Their honors college has some great benefits, the size seems right, they have a strong business/entrepreneurial program, and amazing school spirit.
Update: D20 got here latest ACT scores back last night: 34 (previous high 32).
Anyone’s opinion change on target colleges?
Congrats to your D! A 34 definitely increases her chance at Vandy. Does she know what she would want to study there, given they don’t have an undergraduate business major? I just got back from parents weekend there and met lots of happy students. Best of luck!
She missed a superscore of 35 by 1/4 pt, oh well.
I think she would major in Public Policy (her other area of interest) and can minor in Business or Communications. I think the beauty of going to a college like Vandy is you have options of areas of study once there.
I’m glad you saw lots of happy students there, seems like a wonderful college. D20 will need to visit this fall before she commits to an EDII application. Only 1 or 2 kids from her HS get accepted each year to Vandy so its going to be a tough admit.
Agree that if Vandy is on the list, UVA might be better, with great undergrad B school (ranked number 1 last year by someone), great school spirits, nice weather/campus. No direct admit to McIntire and tough OOS admit notwithstanding.
Oh my goodness! I’ve been following this post as my DD20 has similar stats and is also interested in Public Policy. She also increased today from a 32 to a 34!
I say stay the course with your current list (may only need 1 safety she would be happy with) but the 34 is definitely going to help with those reach schools. Congrats!!!
That score would make me seriously re-evaluate whether to ED anywhere, because the probability of in-state UCLA and/or UCB admission is likely to be meaningfully higher. If you are happy to pay for Duke then that’s one thing, but I’m not convinced the difference is worth it for Vandy.
Re the comments about UVA, we loved it too (for polisci/econ/public policy), but couldn’t justify paying OOS tuition for it (even with an Echols scholarship) over UCLA/UCB.