<p>1) obviously a great college (my gpa is 95, sat: 2050, Ec's: i would say they are great, college essay: i think its going to be great (im going to talk about how my father's death made me overcome many challenges and it also made me realize the pain that orphans feel, which was one of the reasons i went to my country last summer in order to help fight poverty by providing food for various orphanages)
2) size: mid sized. faculty to student ratio: not more than 30 students per faculty
3) location: urban
4)Culture: i prefer moderates in terms of politics (liberals are fine too)
5) Campus size: a big enough campus to just hang out</p>
<p>I think thats about it. When stating a college, please try to have all of these requirements fulfilled. I think 1 is the most important one, but the others are kinda important too.</p>
<p>He’s not getting into Penn or Columbia with a 2050, at least not unhooked. Probably not Wash U either. Chicago, maybe, but they’ve gotten so popular as of late that I wouldn’t bet on it.</p>
<p>Tulane and BC were the first schools to come to mind, although I don’t know how much of a campus they have.</p>
<p>Tulane and BC both have outstanding campuses. Neither is in the heart of their cities (New Orleans and Boston respectively). Tulane is in the most upscale part of New Orleans, and BC isn’t technically in Boston, but it is close. That first list is terrible if his scores don’t improve. He won’t get into UPenn or Columbia or Wash U or U Chicago unless he can get those scores up to about 2200, and then still a long shot. BC is a small stretch, Tulane should be OK, Miami also. Northeastern is very urban, no campus so that doesn’t meet his criteria. Pitt is not a great campus in my opinion, but not completely urban. He has a shot at USC, although the area around the campus isn’t too great.</p>
<p>By “first list is terrible” are you referring to the list of the first person who posted?</p>
<p>Can i know why some of the colleges will still be a long shot even if i get my scores up to 2200. Besides my grades and sat score, i havent given anything else. Im not trying to sound too full of myself, but why are most of the posters just giving me schools that i “cant get into?” Is it my GPA?</p>
<p>@TomSrOfBoston - I was there 2 years ago looking with my son. It is extremely urban and virtually no grass and tons of traffic. One of the dorms looks into Fenway Park, which I personally think is very cool but it shows you how urban it is. I took the OP’s statement to mean more of a classic college campus with lots of trees, quads, and fairly self contained without tens of thousands of cars per day going through. I know that technically a grouping of buildings on concrete and busy streets still constitute a campus, but I was trying to say a more self-contained, “walled-off” kind of feel.</p>
<p>@thepal - those four schools, UPenn, Columbia, Wash U and U Chicago, along with the other Ivies, Stanford, MIT and some others are not sure things for students with almost perfect test scores and grades. You might get in, but their acceptance rates are very low and it is far from a sure thing even at 2200. Your GPA seems good to me, but I am more used to a 4.0 scale. Grades and SAT’s are the first filter, they will eliminate people based on those without even looking at EC’s and rec’s unless you have special pull. If you get past that barrier, then they look at your other stuff.</p>
<p>So yes, by first list I meant those four schools. To tell you that those are likely schools with a 2050 SAT was terrible advice. No reason not to apply other than the application fee, but your odds would be like 1 in 500 or something like that at Columbia and UPenn, and not much better at Wash U and Chicago. You need to apply to a number of schools in the next tier as your more realistic options, and then a few in the next tier down from that as safeties.</p>
<p>Yeah, I have to say I goofed on my first list - I misread the SAT score as 2250, not 2050. However, having seen your full stats I do believe that if you crack a 2200 you’ll be competitive at those schools.</p>
<p>Solid, definitely enough to make him “fishbowl-qualified,” but nothing that’ll get him picked out of the fishbowl, if you know what I mean. The father’s death/providing for orphanages thing is the most interesting part of his app as it’s laid out here. On the other hand, OP–I really do believe you are genuine and I think you’re doing a wonderful thing, but the way you’re describing it here makes it seem canned. Too pat. I can imagine the five-paragraph essay with the buildup to the “lesson” and moralistic concluding paragraph, and the inner cynic in me is rolling her eyes.</p>
<p>I would be careful and definitely get someone to read over your essay before you submit it; you have a potent story and that is powerful, but it’s also one the adcoms have seen wayyyy too many times before.</p>
<p>PS: at a school like Chicago, Wash U, and especially Columbia, “competitive” and “long shot” are not necessarily contradictory. The average competitive applicant to these schools probably has anywhere between a 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 chance of getting in.</p>