Hey guys. I’m a rising senior and over the summer I want to narrow down my college list and add safety schools, but I am having trouble doing so. If you could help me do this based on my stats and interests it would be a huge help.
SAT: 2280 single sitting (780 M, 720 CR , 780 W)
SAT II: Waiting for Math II (expecting 800), US History (expecting 750+), Physics (expecting 750+)
GPA: 96% unweighted, 101.5% weighted
AP Classes:
Sophomore Year: AP World (4), AP Capstone (3)
Junior Year: AP Calculus BC (5), AP US (5), AP English Language and Composition (currently delayed)
Senior Year: Expecting to take AP Micro/Macroeconomics, AP Physics C, AP Literature, AP Statistics
Extra Curricular Activities:
Math Team (2 years)
NHS (2 years)
Teacher Monitor (1 year)
Tutoring (3 years)
Student Government Executive Treasurer (1 year)
Student Leadership Club (1 year)
Committee for Student Activities (1 year)
Various selective summer programs (3 years) (Won’t disclose which ones for privacy reasons)
Various internships (Won’t disclose which ones for privacy reasons)
Playing guitar, piano, and bass
Computer programming
Major Interests: Finance, Economics, Math, Computer Science
Colleges I’m interested in so far (I know it’s a lot):
Reach: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Brown
High Match: Upenn, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Cornell, UCLA, UC Berkeley
Match: Carnegie Mellon, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Safety: …
I’d like to narrow my list down to 10 and then add two safeties. If you need any more info just ask!
First, you have great credentials. That said, I think all of your High Matches are reaches (for anyone, except maybe UCLA and Berkeley), and I think your matches may be reaches as well, unless you live in NC, Va or Mich. My D had similar stats and we would have considered all of these reaches.
@suzy100 I live in NY, more specifically NYC. My parents won’t disclose their financial information to me, but I can tell you that my mom doesn’t work and I’d think of our family as middle class.
First and foremost, you MUST have the discussion with your parents about how much they are willing to pay for you each year for school. That may very well help in shaping your list. You need to have that nailed down.
I can’t tell you how many reaches/matches/safeties you should have. My daughter ended up with a number of safeties because she was a NMF so those included a few schools with high automatic merit scholarships. With high stats, it’s hard to define a “match” because you may look like a match on paper to many highly selective schools, but with admission rates at those schools being so low, they really can’t be considered a match. I think narrowing your list to 10 with 2 safeties is reasonable. However, remember that a school is only a true safety if it is affordable all four years, and you would be happy to attend.
If they do not want to tell you any information that you can put in college net price calculators, ask them to run the net price calculator on the web site of each school on your list and tell you if they are affordable.
If you have no idea whether your parents will contribute enough for your college costs, then select a worst case automatic full ride safety. http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)
But verify the above on the colleges’ web sites, since they may have changed.
If the cost constraints turn out not to be that severe, you may want to look into SUNYs like Stony Brook as low match or safety options that do not cost that much.
@preppedparent What do you consider a reach? I thought a reach was a school you had a very slim chance to get into, but you are just applying for the heck of it. I don’t think my stats are incredible, but I go to a pretty competitive high school and I would think I have a decent chance of getting into UCLA.
Without any firm indication of what may be affordable for you and your parents, the only safeties would be the ones that will give you an automatic full ride or close to it.
Also, be aware that some of your majors (particularly CS) are popular ones whose departments at many colleges are at full capacity, so admission to these majors (either at the frosh admission level or after enrolling) may be more competitive than the college overall.
But not as reachy as some other schools, if one is applying to their L&S divisions (their engineering divisions are more competitive, but smaller). For fall 2015, about half of frosh applicants with UC-weighted GPA >= 4.20 (which probably roughly corresponds to 3.9-4.0 unweighted with sufficient honors/AP courses) were admitted to UCB and UCLA, according to http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary .
Of course, as non-California resident, the OP would be paying list price unless s/he gets a Regents’ scholarship or something similar (which is rare). If the OP needs such a scholarship to be able to afford to attend, then they become high reaches.
Temple doesn’t give full-ride anymore, just full tuition. If you can afford the room & board, it will be a safety.
These schools offer full-ride scholarships:
-Furman University
-Loyola Marymount University
-Miami University (OH)
-Michigan State University
-University of Buffalo
-University of Delaware
OK, after doing some more research today, I’ve narrowed down my list of reaches/matches to:
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
MIT
U of Michigan
Northwestern
UPenn
Princeton
Vanderbilt
U of Virginia
UNC
The problem is, as most of you have mentioned, that a lot of these could be considered “reaches” for me. Should I stick with this list or should I try and swap out some of these more competitive schools for less competitive schools before I add my safeties?
For safety schools that you guys have mentioned, I like Miami University (OH). Villanova, and Northeastern.
Have your parents told you that these are affordable?
If not, then your actual safety is to start at an open admission community college after finding out next April that all of the colleges you got into are too expensive.
You have great stats! But in order to tailor your list it would be wise to know more about your family’s particular situation. A safety is defined as such not only because you can get in but also bc you are reasonably sure you will be able to afford it. On CC every year there are students who face difficult choices on May 1st due to finances.
“Middle class” covers a lot of ground: the average US family income is $52,000. That is less than the cost of most private colleges and universities. If you were to get admitted to Harvard and your family makes $100,000 a year you might still get need-based aid. On the other hand Harvard does not give merit based scholarships.
It would be a good idea to run net price calcs and familiarize yourself with merit expectations. And…ask your parents to have the discussion.
@soymilk23 You need to fill out the NPC on the school’s websites. You say you live in NYC and are middle class. Knowing what the cost of living is in NYC, I suspect that what you think is middle class is actually a higher income than you think. When schools figure out your financial aid, they don’t care where you live. You may not get as much financial aid as you need. Your parents must discuss finances with you or at least fill out the forms themselves and tell you if you will get enough aid.