Help me narrow down my college application list?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'll be applying to colleges this coming school year, and so far, this is what my list looks like:</p>

<p>Reach:
-Columbia
-UPenn
-Duke
-Johns Hopkins
-Stanford</p>

<p>Match:
-Cornell
-Rice
-Vanderbilt
-NYU</p>

<p>Safety:
-University of Texas at Austin
-Southern Methodist University (SMU)
-Baylor University</p>

<p>I think I'm a pretty solid candidate for most of these schools (except maybe Stanford)---I'm ranked 15 out of 800, 4.0 GPA, 2290 SAT score, took alot of AP's, and have solid EC's. With that said, do you think this list is accurate of what my reaches, matches, and safeties should look like? And how would I furthur narrow this list down (I would like to apply to only 6-8 colleges)?</p>

2

<p>And I forgot to mention that my intended area of study is either pre-medicine OR pre-pharmacy (haven’t decided between the two yet).</p>

3

<p>Oh boy, if you think Cornell, Rice, and Vandy are matches you need to learn a lesson in humility. You have great stats, but here’s a news flash for you: so do 80% of the people who apply to those top schools. NYU I can agree with as a match, and your safeties look fine. But I think you need to redefine your definition of “match.”</p>

4

<p>That’s precisely what I was trying to find out—if my conception of matches & safeties were accurate or not—but let’s not be jerks about it…</p>

5

<p>Depends on your definition of “match” I think you’d have a “good” chance at;</p>

<p>-Cornell
-Rice
-Vanderbilt
-NYU</p>

<p>…I’d say better than 50% chance …</p>

6

<p>Any suggestions on how to narrow it down? I feel like I have too many “reaches” on my list.</p>

7

<p>I’m not sure if this would be logical, but for your reaches maybe you should just choose one of the east coast schools</p>

8

<p>I think you should eliminate one safety school. Assuming you’re in state for TX, and seeing that you’re in top ten %, you have UT in the bag. It’s a great school so I think you should keep that one if you can see yourself attending. Now Baylor vs SMU… which would you rather attend? I think you should choose the one you like more. I am NOT at all one for “chancing” people but with your stats, I think you’ll have no problem getting into either.
And as for “reaches,” I think you should also eliminate one or two. Think about what you want out of college and if you could really see yourself at these schools, and cut out the one or two you like the least. I agree w/ WiscoKid, leave Stanford since it’s the only west coast one, but rethink your east coast choices. I don’t know if $$ is a factor, but realize that most of your schools are quite expensive so maybe use cost as a factor if it matters to you. If you know that if you get into X school you’ll get no aid of any type and you don’t want to pay $$$$ or be in debt, maybe focus on the schools that’d be most cost effective to attend or that you’d be willing to pay the big bucks for. If you know it’s too expensive and you won’t get fin/merit aid and you don’t even really like it but are just applying to apply, cut it out.
I made the mistake of applying too many colleges. I could’ve cut a bunch out and saved money, and I’d still be happy where I am today.</p>