<p>Im a white kid from NJ and im having a real hard time looking for some solid reach schools for myself because i feel all the colleges i look at are either too high to be realistic or too low to be reaches. I have plenty of targets/safeties on my mind and i was just curious if anyone had suggests on where i might fit for a reach based on these stats. Im most likely studying marketing or economics btw</p>
<p>SAT I
1960 in one sitting (670 CR, 650 Math, 640 W, 11 essay)</p>
<p>SAT II
670 US History (plan on taking Math II in Oct)</p>
<p>GPA
87.5 UW, 93.1 W (upwards trend from freshman year)</p>
<p>Rank
School does not rank</p>
<p>Courseload
By the time i graduate i will have taken 2 AP's (US History and Pysch). I got a 4 on my APUSH exam. Nearly all classes Ive taken are honors throughtout high school.</p>
<p>Sports
4 years of soccer (1 freshman, 3 Varsity)</p>
<p>EC's
-Spanish Honor Society
-Interact Club member (community service club)
-Volunteered as Rec soccer coach throughout hs
-Volunteered at food bank every summer of hs
-Volunteered at local summer camp for mentally challanged children every summer of hs
-Volunteered multiple times at local homeless shelter
-Participant in multiple sports tournaments that donated proceeds towards charity (Volleyball, dodgeball, etc)</p>
<p>Awards
-Varsity Soccer MVP as jr
-Soccer All Area Honorable mention as jr
-Letter of Commendation from my town's mayor for my community service actions
-Honorable mention in my school's art calendar</p>
<p>Tell us what your matches are and why and we’ll be able to give you some reaches. You need to tell us what kind of environment you are looking for.</p>
<p>Why on earth do you think you need a “reach” on your list? You don’t need to pick one just so you can say you applied to one! If you like the places on your list, and at least one of them is a rock-solid financial and academic safety that you would be happy to attend, then it is perfectly fine if all the rest fall in “safety” and “match” range for your stats.</p>
<p>M’s mom- i figured that schools like penn st, umd, and delaware were my matches. those are all pretty big schools, but i was hoping that i would get a more wide range of suggestions by not listing them because i really am open to looking at smaller schools as well</p>
<p>mattleinartfan-i think emory is a little out of my range haha bu thanks</p>
<p>happymomof1- i understand your point but at my school they really try and keep you in the formula of having a few reaches, targets, and safeties. im afraid that since im oos that a school like uva or unc chapel hill would be too out of reach and i was just hoping to find something that fit nicely between those and the schools i listed at targets</p>
<p>Unless your HS is willing to pay for all of your application fees, there is no reason for you to be in the “scalp collection” business for them. Find out how much your family is willing and able to pay (ask them). Find out how much the colleges/universities think your family should pay (run the EFC calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) ). Find out how your family feels about you taking on student debt, and how much money they expect you to make during the school year and in the summers in order to help meet your expenses. Until you know about the money, any lists you make are moot.</p>
<p>Once you know about the money, put your stats and your needs and preferences into one or more of the search engines such as the one here at CC and the one at [College</a> MatchMaker - Type of School](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board) These engines will come up with many good suggestions for you.</p>
<p>You also should meet with your guidance counselor about your list. They know where students from your HS with stats like yours have been admitted in the past.</p>
<p>After looking at another post of OPs (listing schools), I think your current list is solid and I agree with HappyMom – No need to add.</p>
<p>You may want to consider your “reach” as applying to the honors colleges within your target schools-- Schreyers at Penn State has become a high reach & requires additional app fee. U of DE – You may want to retake SAT, but current GPA/SAT are within the range. </p>
<p>U of MD doesn’t really have a “separate” college to apply to --It is by invitation for students who apply to U of MD by 10/31 (or 11/1-- I don’t recall which) </p>
<p>To respond to M2CK – I assume The College of NJ is your financial safety.</p>
<p>yea tcnj is my financial safety haha. money really isnt too big of an issue because im an only child and my parents make a pretty good salary (plus i have other more affluent family members to help out in case). i think theyve decided about 40k a year would be about the limit. i have about 4k on the side that ive saved up myself for college expenses such as books, applications, or stuff while im at school. </p>
<p>longhaul- i will definitely look into those honors colleges thanks.</p>
<p>schmaltz- ive looked into some of the schools you mentioned after you posted and boston u and gwu have peaked my interest. ive never really looked into more urban schools but they seem solid. thanks!</p>
<p>Have you checked out the LACs? Midwestern LACs like Grinnell (rural), Oberlin (suburban) and Macalester (urban) should fit your budget. If you are male, so much the better and east coast adds to their geographic diversity. These are reaches given your grades.</p>
<p>What you get are small classes, close relationships with faculty, and a tight knit student body. What you don’t get are bragging rights for brand names that all your friends recognize, warm winters, and endless variety in terms of classes, people and activities (although the urban location at Mac might help.)</p>
<p>Adding or investigating a few LACs is a good idea. Someone mentioned Bucknell. A tiny bit less of a reach would be Lehigh and Lafayette. Hamilton is a bit of a reach.</p>
<p>yea im a guy. my dad went to a pretty small school and my mom went to a pretty large one (Rutgers like everyone else in the area haha) and they both think i should look more into smaller schools. Theyre afraid of the old cliche that ill “simply be a number” and it does worry me a bit too. Ill def look in those. thanks!</p>
<p>hitch- i think lehigh would be great but i feel like its mostly specialized in engineering and i havent really heard much about its business program. also a good friend of mines parents both went to lafayette and loved it so thats a good sign. ill check that out. thanks for the help!</p>