Would love your recommendations as we build my son’s college list. He will be applying for Fall '22 admissions.
NYC Public Highschool student
IB diploma with higher levels in Biology, Math and History
94 unweighted average
1500 SATs
ECs ok but not exceptional: National Honor Society, soccer player since age 6 and now cross country, served as peer mentor and also teaching assistant for honors Chemistry, officer / co-founder of a small school club, some community service.
Wants to major in biology and wants an urban environment which to him means things to do in walking distance and access to a city by public transportation. Not particularly interested in anything in the south or the west or anything religiously affiliated (though location and affiliation are not deal breakers if the school is otherwise a good match). So far he has liked Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon and is ideally looking for something mid-sized.
Buffalo? Obviously not a huge city but second largest in NY and in-state tuition for you. The other suny that I’d recommend for his situation is Bing. U Chicago is a huge reach but in a great location. In and around Boston you have BC, BU, Northeastern. Philadelphia has Temple and Drexel. Case Western in Cleveland. Does he have any safeties?
Thx so much for this response. We would love the SUNY in-state price, but, if we have to pay sticker price for the right out of state or private school, we will make it work.
We looked at SUNY Binghamton and Buffalo and were underwhelmed (for different reasons). He will definitely still apply to have an in-state option but we are trying to add more to his list.
We were thinking for backups U of Pittsburgh and U of Rochester. Also Case Western (my husband is from Cleveland). Not a back up but also we are going to look at McGill in Montreal once the border opens.
I think Boston and Philly would be great places to go to college. Despite the range of options, we are struggling to find the right school in those places. We need to take a deeper look.
You didn’t give a lot of detail about what you are looking for so maybe you can say what seems to be missing or “wrong” with what you have seen so far. There are only so many urban areas in the northeast (well, not the “west” or “south”) and if you aren’t finding options in Boston or Philadelphia, that nixes 2 of them.
since he likes Hopkins and Carnegie Mel, then Rochester and Case Western seem like very reasonable additions with similar academic strength. This seems too obvious but what about NYU? also obvious, but GW as a safety? Also Pitt and BU but they are a lot bigger. What about Macalaster in St Paul? too far away?
Rochester is great but not a backup! I’d call it a match for your son. Rochester has stuff to do but its public transport leaves so so much to be desired. Syracuse is another option–if he ends up in the environmental side of bio, he can take classes at suny esf too. Since he’s willing to go to Canada, maybe U Toronto or Ryerson?
There aren’t any real safeties on your list other than the SUNY schools your son was underwhelmed by. UPitt would be a match and University of Rochester would be a low reach/high match. JHU and CMU are definite reaches. How about Villanova - I know it is Catholic, but it’s a good school, mid-sized and relatively near a city. Probably too near home, but Fordham would also be a match. In terms of reaches, both UChicago and Northwestern come to mind - awesome schools and Chicago is a great city. If a smaller city would be ok, UVM would be a great safety - nice campus, walkable to Burlington, you’d probably get some merit and it isn’t too big.
Thx! U of Vermont is a great idea we had not thought of!
Would be happy to hear more about the safety/match/reach from those who has been through it as I am only basing that on his school college counselor and Naviance info.
For a school like Pitt: average sat is 1350 and 75th percentile is 1440. GPAs are all so differently calculated but a 94 is a A average is what is arguably the most rigorous curriculum available. With that and a 1500 sat score, how is Pitt not a safety? I’m genuinely asking as we’ve been told otherwise and want to make sure we put together a good list that absolutely includes solid safety schools. Thank you!
When you say you can make the finances work, does that mean you can spend over $70,000 a year on college? Will you qualify for need based aid?
In terms of Boston, lots and lots and lots of options. For contained campus feels there are Northeastern, Emerson. Tufts and Brandeis aren’t right IN Boston but are there too. Boston College is a Jesuit college, so has a strong emphasis on community service and the like. Yes, the Jesuits are Catholic, but their colleges are excellent and very ecumenical. If your kid wants a very urban campus then Boston University is worth a look see. There are areas that feel more campus like but really, the city of Boston is the campus. School has every major imaginable.
Then there is Harvard, or MIT.
A bunch of smaller colleges are there too.
Have you considered the DC area colleges? Georgetown is a reach, but what about George Washington or American?
Re: cost, we do not expect to qualify for need-based aid. In state tuition or merit aid would of course be lovely, but we are grateful to be able to pay sticker price if we have to.
For Boston and Philadelphia - I think I just meant that we need to do more work on looking at schools in Boston and Philly because we hadn’t yet identified anything we were super excited about. You are right - we don’t want to exclude those cities as there won’t be much left!
Boston: Harvard and MIT seem out of reach. Need to learn more about Tufts. BU didn’t feel particular science focused and maybe too big but deserves another look. BC is Jesuit but we may need to overcome that. Northeastern felt all about the internships … but also may deserve another look.
Philadelphia: did a tour of U Penn for a reach but also felt it was very business school focused. I really don’t know much other Temple or Drexel so need to research!
For DC: Georgetown felt like a reach and not one he is even that interested in. I had heard not great things about GW but will learn more about that and American.
There are some generally accepted principles re the concepts of safety, reach, match, etc, regardless of the individual student’s stats: eg, no school with an overall acceptance rate <20% should be considered anything other than a reach for any student. For safeties, you want the overall acceptance rate to be >60%. Pitt is right around that, but it is probably trending lower.
Make no mistake, your child is indeed very likely to get into Pitt, particularly if you aren’t seeking need-based aid. But a true safety should be 1. A school that your child has a 100% (or as close to it as possible) chance of getting into and 2. A school your child would be happy to attend. I’d consider Buffalo and Albany definite safeties for your child; Bing/Stony Brook are extremely likely but you’re leaving the door open to some risk.
Pitt is a safety and with his 1500 he has a good shot at Honors College. Same thing for Temple.
Have him think about something else than Biology as a major though. The ROI is low and there’s an oversupply of them due to many premeds making it their default major (60% students who make it through the premed gauntlet don’t get into any med school).
Bio statistics, biophysics, bioinformatics, Neuroscience/cognitive science…?
Does he want to go to med school? That for sure impacts considerations (rigor of grading, debt). If so, def think about what @MYOS1634 has to say. If not, I feel like it’s my duty as a bio concentrator to defend the biology major. Lots of good things to do after graduation with a strong undergraduate experience–grad school is the obvious choice, but also jobs in science communication, teaching, conservation, using scientific analysis skills to succeed in business/finance if he chooses to supplement bio with something like applied math.
Thanks, everyone! This is all so helpful and has given me some schools to check out to possibly add to the list, and also a better understanding of what the breadth of the list should be.
As of now, he says no med school. He really loves bio but has not really thought much about what he wants to do with it. I guess that par for the course with many 17 year olds…
You got a lot of good advice just want to reiterate a few that were mentioned and add a couple they are Catholic but meet his other requirements
Reach: Northwestern
Target: Pitt (next door to CMU that he likes). Fordham ( It is Catholic but in NYC)
Safety: Marquette (Catholic but Downtown Milwaukee)
Washington University in St Louis is a notch down from Hopkins and CMU in admissions difficulty although still very selective. Great mid size college.
University of Delaware has a lot in common with already suggested University of Vermont other than the fact that it’s a little bigger. Both have a private school feel because the majority of their students come from out of state. Both are very good academically. UVM is right in the heart of downtown Burlington although it is a smaller city (40,000). Delaware’s location in Newark (30,000) is more suburban but it has easy access to Philly. Your son would be a strong candidate for merit aid at Delaware. Both UVM and UD would be great choices for strong schools where his likelihood of admission is high.
Pitt is urban and a safety for your son but merit aid is limited. With a 1500 SAT he has a shot.
I’m going to recommend 3 in the south because they have tons of North Easterners . College of Charleston-he would qualify to be a Fellow and get big aid. My daughter has worst stats and has free tuition OOS. Some came after sue accepted.
FSU where he’s get an out of state waiver. Lots of NY/NJ and it’s in the city although not a large one like you are used to. And Vandy…an outright reach on the cusp of Nashville. I would see U of AZ too where he’d crush it merit wise but you said not out West.
I agree with others who say Rochester not a match. Northeastern, Tufts, and BU are reaches. Brandeis a match. Au and GW he’s be in at. AU is not urban. It’s suburban with a 15 minute walk to the train at Tenley Town. These are expensive schools though and if your son opens his mind he can go dirt cheap - for example u of SC…again tons from the Northeast…top Honors College…in downtown Columbia. The trade off will reduce your stress level. George Mason is another…train access outside DC.
U Denver might fit too. U Tampa beneath your son but you’d get a great package…again it’s many Northeasterners. Tulane …not in the city but transport right there. Trinity in CT…perhaps too small.
Everyone mentioned most the others but these might work for U.
If he expands his desires, you’ll save a lot of loot !!
I would suggest that you visit some of these colleges. Some recommendations might be perfect, and others not so much so.
We visited College of Charleston, for example, and my kid felt like she was in an upscale suburb, not an urban setting. The campus is gorgeous and it is IN the downtown of Charleston. But Charleston isn’t NYC or Boston…so you need to have a clear idea of what “urban” means to your kid. It’s perfect for some kids and not so much so for others.
So…find out what your kid actually wants in that urban setting. That is a key ingredient to your college search, in my opinion.
Do you really think CMU is a reach? It would definitely be out of reach if he was applying for Computer Science, but it is more reasonable for non-CS majors. I would think that Bio at JHU is a long shot.
Case Western and Rochester are good targets, probably low reaches depending on how competitive this year is. I feel the same way that the OP does about the Boston and Philadelphia schools. I love the cities, but have not found a school that works for my S22 either.
I have never met someone that went to U of Vermont that didn’t love it. Burlington is beautiful, and Montreal is only about 90 minutes away.
Stevens Institute would be a match. It is a good school and Hoboken is amazing for young people. He would be across the river from the capital of the world. It is not cheap though.