help me find some good safety and match schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Location: Seattle, WA
College Class Year: 2018
High School: Public
High School Type: sends many grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.99
GPA - Weighted: 4.40
Class Size: 450</p>

<p>Scores:
APs: bio(5), calcAB(5), USgov(5), lang(5), world(4), US(4)
SAT I Math: 800
SAT I Critical Reading: 760
SAT I Writing: 740
ACT: 34
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 700
SAT II Biology - E: 770
SAT II Latin: 720</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: Chess team, Junior Statesmen of America, Soccer, Volunteer work at the local YMCA, religiously affiliated social action program, trumpet in "A" orchestra at my school, Junior Classical Leagu
Leadership positions: volunteer as assistant counselor at the local YMCA, leadership training summer trip in Israel, Junior Statesmen of America chapter treasurer, Junior Classical League chapter treasurer,
Athletic Status - list sport and your level: Soccer-recreational
Volunteer/Service Work: volunteer at local YMCA,
Honors and Awards: National Latin Exam-Summa Cum Laude, Nesiya Fellowship, National Merit Scholar</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: Harvard University, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: Yes, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>

<p>Location type: Urban, Small City
Size: Small (Under 2,500), Medium Small (2,500 - 5,000), Medium (5,000 - 10,000), Large (10,000 - 18,000)</p>

<p>Area: East Coast, West Coast, Midwest
Importance of cost: Secondary</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>For a school to be a safety, you MUST know that all costs are covered by ASSURED FA, ASSURED merit, and/or family funds.</p>

<p>How much will your family pay?</p>

<p>If you need aid to attend college, then you need to apply to a couple of schools that will FOR SURE give you HUGE merit for your stats, so that family funds and maybe a small student loan can cover the rest.</p>

<p>Importance of cost? secondary? unless your parents will pay all costs, then cost can’t really be secondary. </p>

<p>What is your major and career goal?</p>

<p>Since you put National Merit Scholar (which you aren’t yet), I’m guessing that your PSAT is high enough to be named a semi-finalist this Sept???</p>

4

<p>University of Washington is a safety. You are in-state, so the COA is pretty low.</p>

5

<p>money isn’t really what im asking about, im mostly looking for good “match” schools in terms of admission, because the top schools are basically all “reach” schools</p>

6

<p>If you will be applying for financial aid, you need to run the net price calculator for each school to see if it will be affordable (if not, then you need to check for large enough merit scholarships). There is no point in applying to schools which cannot be affordable.</p>

<p>What may be important is your intended major. If it is CS, be aware that getting into UW CS is extremely competitive.</p>

7

<p>I’m not applying for financial aid…im asking about schools with solid admissions chances, as opposed to ivies, etc which are reaches for basically everyone. I don’t really have an intended major as of yet.</p>

8

<p>2014classof:</p>

<p>I think part of the issue for you is that the normal semantics of “safety,” “match,” and “reach,” simply don’t work well for someone with you stats. The reality is that OTHER than schools that place a high value on demonstrated interest, schools are either going to be safeties or reaches for you. For school that want demonstrated interest, your stats alone will not suffice. Additionally, I am sure someone will throw out the phrase “holistic admissions” and disagree with me. However, you seem to have a nice list of ECs, and I assume that you can write some decent application essays. </p>

<p>My ds’s stats are similar to yours, and we will also not be applying for aid. For a long time I fretted about his not really having any “schools in the middle,” which are what I think of as matches. The reality is that you have solid admissions chances just about everywhere except for those reachy-reaches that are reachy-reaches for all. :)</p>

<p>If you are intrigued by lists, go to US News and start looking above #25 or so for national universities and above #15 or so on the LAC list. Research some of the schools (Fiske Guide is good) and find some you like the sound of. Visit some if you can. For almost all schools you can go to Google and type the name of the school and the words “Common Data Set” and find in section C various criteria involved in the admissions for that school for the last year or two. If you are above the 75th percentile for stats that should help you gauge how “matched” you are.</p>

<p>HTH.</p>

9

<p>other then the name, why do you like harvard?</p>

10

<p>“I’m not applying for financial aidl”</p>

<p>Well, then, why did you write THIS in your first post:</p>

<p>Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

11

<p>And why did you title the thread this:

if you’re only interested in match schools?</p>

12

<p>sorry, made a mistake in the stats profile i copy and pasted. I won’t be applying for financial aid. I am also looking for safety options around the country that are still very good schools</p>