Help choosing which schools to apply to, which are matches, reaches, etc

College Search & Selection
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1

I am a junior and need help deciding which schools to apply to specifically in choosing some schools that aren’t reach schools.

My stats:
ACT: (took once) 34 reading/34 english/35 math/35 science
gpa: 4.0/4.0 UW and will have 14 APs by end of senior year
2-sport varsity all 4 years
volunteering
violin lessons since I was 4
worked to teach kids soccer

possible areas for majoring in: physics, biology, chemistry, engineering, maybe minor in kinesiology

Schools I’m considering

Northwestern
villanova
darthmouth
duke
washu
lehigh
colby
bowdoin
middlebury
colorado college
carleton
wake forest
northeastern
UMN ( in state)

I would like to add some more private schools that are a match because I do not want to end up going to UMN.

2

Have you checked out Denison, Oberlin, and Rhodes?

You didn’t mention your gender, so we don’t know if you are interested in women’s colleges…

3

Lafayette …has a lot of sporty kids and an engineering major. Just down the road from Lehigh. It’s a larger LAC (almost 3000 students) with new science and engineering buildings).

4

Also worth considering: WPI
I bet you could get merit aid there?

5

SLU. Jesuit so service learning and volunteering may be of interest to you. Nice study abroad options.

6

Not interested in women’s colleges. Would lafayette/lehigh be a reach, or am I likely to get in there?

7

Solid match for you. I like your list.

Fordham as a likely. Holy Cross, the home of Dr Fauci is a great match. Davidson is low reach.

Some public universities like UW Madison and Michigan.

Reaches like Duke, Vandy, Chicago a
Amherst. Hamilton. Colgate. Tufts.

ND and the two Jesuit schools. Georgetown and Boston College.

All of these schools are worth a look with your profile.

8

Are there any more outdoorsy colleges like dartmouth that are matches instead of extreme reaches?

9

Consider Colgate, which appears in this Forbes article with Dartmouth, for a potential match:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/

10

Case would be another match.

11

Would villanova be considered a reach or a match?

12

I think 'Nova would be a high match.

13

Not all schools mentioned here have engineering schools so that is something to think about before applying, I.e. Georgetown and Boston College. B.C. Is building one but when we toured the campus they were pretty discouraging about it being completed soon and that was before COVID-19. Agree with the recs for Lafayette and Lehigh being matches for you. Good luck.

14

University of Rochester?

15

U of Idaho? Gonzaga?

16

How about UMN Morris, a small inexpensive public LAC in your home state?

However, no engineering, like several other schools on your list:

17

You get instate tuition at University of Wisconsin.

18

Union College in NY would be a match, and has engineering. Union is in an urban setting, but has an outing club.

19

You have a great profile! Do you have any budget constraints?

20

Re: Lafayette…I think your stats are fantastic and would definitely get you in the door for a second look. Your sports ECs are a plus. It’s just that Lafayette is getting very popular and holistic admissions means it’s anybody’s guess whether you’d get in. I hate to be cynical, but for next year, how much/how little financial aid you’d need will likely play a part for most schools but I think you’d have a great chance there. I also think that coming from the upper Midwest would help your chances…the admissions rep did talk about geographic diversity. Take a second look (it’s one of my D’s favorite schools that she visited). Very pretty campus that was even nicer in person, though the town is not as charming (some like the town, though!) A few years ago a friend’s daughter went to Lafayette for chemical engineering and did very well (she was a soccer player too!)