Help me narrow down my college list?

Penn ED (lol)
Michigan EA
Northeastern EA
Fordham
Binghamton (safety?)
Columbia (HAHAHAHA)
Dartmouth
Cornell
Berkeley
USC (SoCal)
NYU Stern
BU
BC
Penn State
Syracuse
WUSTL
Georgetown

I guess I’m having a hard time with this because I’m not a picky person? I think I would enjoy going to school in a city and I also think I would like going to a school in a rural area.

SAT:
Single Sitting-770 CR/720 M/740 W
(2230/2400 or 1490/1600)
Superscore-770 CR/750 M/740 W (2260/2400 or 1520/1600)

ACT:
35 E/35 M/35 R/36 S
35 composite
8 Writing lol

SAT II:
800 Math II, 800 USH, 740 Bio

UW GPA: 95.5/100

AP: APUSH (5)

Course load:
Freshman Year-
Global History Honors
Geometry Honors
English Honors
Bio Honors
French II
Some art classes
Sophomore Year-
Global History Honors
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
Chemistry Honors
English Honors
French III
Latin I (was not able to continue taking Latin the next year bc of scheduling issues)
Junior Year-
APUSH
UHS Physics (General Physics I and II through SUNY Albany)
English Honors
Precalc Honors
French IV
Business Law
Senior Year-
AP Calc BC
AP Stats
AP English Lit
AP French
AP Chem
AP Gov

EC:
Figure Skating (9, 10, 11, 12)-my main EC. I’ve skating since I was maybe 8. I’m not nationally ranked or anything but I’ve won/medaled in some fairly large competitions. I skate maybe 8-10 hours a week during the school year, 14-16 hours a week during the summer. I have skating right after school so I don’t have time for clubs. I passed Novice MIF and Intermediate FS.
Learn to Skate (11, 12)-I teach Learn to Skate at a local YMCA
A discussion group at my school (10, 11, 12)
Volunteering (9, 10, 11, 12)-I’ve probably gotten at least 100 hours

Awards:
National French Contest (4th National, 9th National, 10th National, 8th regional)
National Latin Exam Gold
Skating stuff
Stonehill College Book Award
Most likely National Merit Semifinalist

Asian American
Female
NY

Thank you for your input!

Are there schools on your list that you are less interested in than Northeastern and UMich? Since you are applying early to those two, you could cut them from your list if you don’t get into one or both of the EA schools. You could likely cut around 4-5 off the list that way.

What are potential majors in college?

@doschicos If I got into either UMich or Northeastern, I would likely not apply to Binghamton, Syracuse, Penn State, Fordham, BU, or BC. I’m thinking of majoring in Econ and minoring in either History or Classics.

So, if you apply ED to Penn and EA to Northeastern and UMich (BC has EA, too), how much do you need to narrow it down. You could be doing as few as 3, of you have success ED, or it could be 10-11 if no success ED but success with EA, or in the chance that no early options work, then you ramp it up to give yourself some options. Would that be workable? If not, how big do you want your list to be?

@doschichos I’m expecting a deferral from Penn but an acceptance from Northeastern, no idea what to expect from Michigan. Is this just wishful thinking? If that happens, my list of RD schools looks very manageable probably around 8-9 schools. If I don’t get in to any EA/ED, then ideally I want my list to be around 12 ish because I’m a human being, not an essay writing machine. Also my writing quality and motivation will probably deteriorate if I have too many to do. Unfortunately I can’t do EA for BC because I’m applying ED to Penn.

While no one is guaranteed admission to an Ivy League school, you have reason to be hopeful at Penn. Your ACT score is outstanding, and your SAT with two perfect SAT Subject Matter tests is very solid too. Nice grades, ECs, and awards (and potential awards). If you are a NMSF, that would be great. You should never expect to be admitted to an Ivy League school, but you shouldn’t expect to be waitlisted either. YOU should simply be hopeful.

Fordham sticks out to me a little of your others. Are you Catholic? Not a problem either way, but do know that lots of students choose that school because they are Catholic. If you are not, I could see you feeling left out a little. I see you getting into all of the non-Ivies for sure except for perhaps WASHU. Tough to get in there, and they do have a reputation for denying those they believe might get into other even more elite schools.

Good luck.