help choosing reaches/matches/safeties

College Search & Selection
1

<p>hey there,</p>

<p>so i posted this on the chances board, that didn't do too well (though thanks to everyone who did post, I am definitely thinking about suny albany/binghamton for safeties) ok, so
i need help choosing some reaches/matches/safeties. i am a pakistani male from ny. my school isn't too competitive.</p>

<p>rank: ~4/500 ?
gpa: weighted should be around 100. not sure about unweighted
SATI: i just took it last week, I think I did ok, I definitely broke 2000. depending on how many careless mistakes I made, it could be from 2000-2200. either way, I plan on retaking in october, and I'm confident I can get at least a 2200.
SAT II: 730 bio, 750 ush, 660 chem, 610 world hist (WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY) im gonna take math 2c and possibly chem again.
APs: Bio (5), World History (5-please tell me this can compensate for my abysmal sat2 score..), took apush, ap lang, ap chem, expected scores are 5, 4, and 5, respectively.
couresload: hardest with all aps/honors, with the exception of me dropping french this year because of scheduling and also because i didn't want to give up chem. uh, but I do plan on studying latin independently over the summer and into next year. my senior classes: ap govt/politics, ap eng lit, ap physics, ap calc bc, ap music theory (possibly), pa economics (which is like a college level course done by syracuse university or something), ap statistics (if scheduling permits), band, gym and speech.</p>

<p>extracirriculars:
science olympiad member 3 years (i'll run for board next year-hopefully I can get a position here)
national honor society member 2 years, vice president second
math, social studies, french honor societies 2 years
science research- three years, no awards but possibly published paper?
instrument: trumpet- 9 years, all district/county bands, some nyssma award for scores, nothing too big. ive played in the band, jazz band and pit orchestra all for 3 years.
student council- member for three years
model congress 4 years, representative on board for three years, vice pres for fourth
academic league- member for three years
islamic center- five years, take arabic, urdu, islamic history (that one's tough) classes, a founder of the youth group
volunteer at nearby health center- ~150 hours summer of soph year
badminton club- new club started this year, this is mainly for fun, though
newspaper- writer for 3 years, founded a freshman edition in 9th grade
(and was editor of that)</p>

<p>soooooo i know it seems like a laundry list, but i really like science, math, writing and music! everything's pretty connected- in model congress, at conferences, I'm always in the science and technology committees, and at science olympiad, I do events like sounds of music, where you build your own instrument. science is probably the core of everthing, including my community service.</p>

<p>oh yeah, this summer i'm working in a lab, working on my own research and as a lab assistant. also, i'm taking a class at rockefeller for scientific reading and writing.</p>

<p>awards:
none!
er, psat commended probably (202)
ucdc community scholarship award winner
math league county winner 1st place
ive had my bill passed into law at some moco conferences like yale and stuff. those aren't really awards, though.
i can't think of anything else. i need a lot of help in this area !</p>

<p>i have two teachers that love me, so reccomendations should be neat. i'm good at writing essays. my prospective major is bio, but that could change to maybe journalism, (don't take the number of comma splices/errors in this post too seriously ) or even math. anyway, so I like any sized colleges, and I'm looking to get out of new york. anyone have any ideas on where I should apply? I visited Yale and Brown and loved them both, but I'm afraid they might be too big of reaches for me (i'll still apply anyway, though )</p>

<p>sorry for all the words</p>

2

<p>Reach: community college</p>

3

<p>As a URM with decent ECs, excellent academics and a 2200+ SAT I, you should be able to get in just about anywhere you feel like (it may even be worth applying to HYP, as you may have decent odds of getting into one of the three).</p>

<p>It would help to know what you'd like to major in.</p>

<p>Also, where in the country are you looking? A bit further south, you'd have a decent shot at UPenn and Johns Hopkins (reach) or Carnegie Mellon (more of a match). Also may want to check out Bucknell as a match. U. of Maryland-College Park could be a good safety in the mid-Atlantic depending on what you are looking for. Further north, I'd think Dartmouth could be a reach University (although I'd bet on you getting in), and your chances would be good at Middlebury or Bowdoin (maybe Brown and Yale as reaches? - I'd think you'll get into one of them).</p>

<p>EDIT: Oops, missed the part about you wanting out of NY. I can't wait to get out of MD, so I know how you feel :).</p>

4

<p>Rikataka, There are thousands of colleges in the US. Your qualifications would get you into most of them. Your SATIIs will not keep you out. </p>

<p>Rather than asking complete strangers to throw out suggestions like popcorn why don't you sit down and think about what YOU want and need. For example, rural/suburban/urban, big/medium/small, geographic location, financial aid. Once you've zoned in on the type of school that you're interested in you should have a fair balance of selectivity. I think you're aware of the need for safeties, but you also should make sure that your safeties are schools that you really want to go to.</p>

<p>If you require financial aid, this should be the FIRST consideration that you tackle. You will need financial safeties as well as academic safeties.</p>

<p>I assume from reading your profile that you are Muslim. This is a big draw on campus today and something that you should emphasize in your essays. This is especially true for remote LACs that have difficulty filling their diversity rolls.</p>

5

<p>live- and momrath,
thanks so much to both of you :D</p>

<p>financial aid isnt that big of an issue. my dad works at columbia, so we apparently get tuition benefits- free tuition if I go to columbia, something around half tuition at any other school. that being said, I'm sure I'd be happy at suny binghamton- a great science school, and a great financial and academic safety. i can't really think of much more to say right now, but I REALLY appreciate all your input, both of you. i've been thinking about these two posts for a while. ok, i'll update a bit later after I figure stuff out with the rents. thanks :)</p>

6

<p>Cornell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Well, seeing as you are from NY and you are looking at similar caliber schools such as Yale and Brown.</p>

7

<p>I think you have more than a good shot at Brown, I would apply there ED if I were you. Yale is more of a reach.</p>