<p>So college application time is almost upon us, and I finally have to start figuring out which schools I will be applying to. So far, my list (along with what I believe my chances are) looks like this:
***Note: I'm a California resident</p>
<p>High Reach:
Princeton
Brown
Cornell
Duke
Northwestern</p>
<p>Reach:</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill</p>
<p>Low Reach:</p>
<p>University of Virginia
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Rochester
Penn State University – University Park
UCLA</p>
<p>Match:</p>
<p>UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
University of Miami</p>
<p>Safety: </p>
<p>CSU Bakersfield
UC Irvine
University of Wyoming</p>
<p>All of the non safety schools roughly fit the criteria of:
Relatively large campus
Relatively small town
Within top 50 of some "official" ranking source [My parents refuse to allow me to go to/pay for anything lower :(]</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill, Duke,and Princeton, are my top choices, and I would therefore like them to stay. Everything else is up in the air. Also, I'm applying to those specific safeties because UC Irvine is a UC, so it's easy to apply for, and CSU Bakersfield and University of Wyoming are almost impossible not to get into. </p>
<p>With all that in mind (if, kind reader, you have actually made it this far), what schools would you recommend removing? Any schools you recommend adding? </p>
<p>Without stats and some sense of financial need, if any, it’t not possible to provide you with meaningful advise.</p>
<p>@fogcity Ah. Sorry. Didn’t think stats were needed since this isn’t a chance thread 
</p>
<p>Academics:
Ton of AP/Honors classes (If its available, I’ve taken it)
Honor Role all three years
4.5 Weighted GPA, 4.0 Unweighted
CFA lifetime member (not quite yet, but it’s almost surely going to happen)
2290 SAT score
Currently rank 1 in class</p>
<p>EC:
Somewhere around 100 hours of community service, mostly with Red Cross (going to be adding more throughout the year)
Local youth symphony member/concert master
School writing club president
Link Crew
Member of school energy academy
Summer internship with PG&E (local utility company)
Work experience during school year</p>
<p>No financial need technically, though scholarships would obviously be nice. No one want’s to spend $50000+ per year :D</p>
<p>I would replace most of the out of state publics with private universities that give merit. If you’re a national merit finalist I would add USC as a low reach/match. I would replace CSU Bakersfield with a university that you would be satisfied with attending if you had to – perhaps Cal Poly SLO. I would drop University of Wyoming. And I would encourage you to think deeply about the high reach colleges. Is there one that you especially like? If so apply ED. Princeton is not an ED college. If you don’t have an obvious ED college, apply to Princeton EA. Keep your final list at 10 - 13. By dropping most of the non-California publics you’ll achieve that. The UCs are mostly one application for the 4 that you’re considering.</p>
<p>@fogcity Thanks for the feedback! I’ve had a couple of people tell me not to bother with OOS publics actually. The thing is, I feel pretty strongly about the whole “small town, big college” thing. I suppose if it really really came down to it, financial viability trumps that preference, it’s still an important factor for me. There aren’t really any more top 50 privates that fit that bill so I went with the high ranking publics, which all fit perfectly. Another issue here is that I can’t even look outside of the top 50 range because my parents are completely and utterly adamant about that cutoff. I’ve tried to convince them otherwise but they absolutely refuse to budge on it.</p>
<p>As for Cal Poly Slo, I’ve definitely considered that, but I felt it was more of a match/low low reach than a safety. </p>
<p>And the high reaches, I definitely do not want to apply to all of them. It’s just on the list for consideration purposes. Most likely it will end up being Princeton, Duke, and maybe Cornell. </p>
<p>University of Wyoming…yeah. It’s just on there because my parents went there and there is literally no on that applies that does not get in. Factor in the absurdly cheap total cost of attendance with the alumni benefits (its less than half the tuition of most privates) and it felt like a nice alternative to attending the local community college if everything somehow went down the tube. But yeah, it’s not a serious choice. Just a last resort. </p>
<p>Any additional input is highly appreciated!</p>
<p>Well, you missed your change at UCR guaranteed admissions (you had to sign up during June/July at <a href=“http://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/Admissions/WhyUCR/ourGuarantee”>http://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/Admissions/WhyUCR/ourGuarantee</a> ), but it seems very unlikely that you will be rejected there even without the guarantee. Same with UCSC and UCM (although UCM may not meet your parents’ ranking criterion). UCD, UCI, and UCSB are also unlikely to reject you. So if you shotgun all of these UCs, the chance of a shutout is tiny.</p>
<p>If your parents refuse to pay for CSUB or Wyoming due to low ranking, then they are not safeties.</p>
<p><a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a> lists some full ride scholarship schools that can be 100% sure thing safeties where you would not depend on parental funding.</p>
<p>What major(s) are you considering? Would your parents pay for a school with a relatively low overall ranking, but a high ranking in your intended major(s)?</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus No no no you misunderstand 
My parents aren’t “top 50 or no college”. If I get completely shut out of any “good” schools, they’d pay the amount necessary to send me wherever I do get into. They would be utterly disappointed in me and refuse to ever talk to me again, but I would be able to go to my safeties. Not that I would really want to
My intended major is chemistry, by the way.
As for low overall ranking and high major ranking, it’s kind of sketchy there. The rule is top 50. They’ve arbitrarily picked that number (they say that going to a top 50 school gives a massive, tangible benefit to gaining employment after college). It’s a hard cutoff. Nothing below 50 is even up for consideration in their minds. They’re even quite reluctant to go past top 20. So, say a #25 school with an average chem program vs a # 50 school with a renowned chem program? That would be somewhat of a decision. But a #45 vs a #55? Doesn’t matter the program quality. Can’t go. It’s pretty irrational, and I’ve tried to find loopholes but they are pretty set on the cutoff. </p>
<p>Chemistry majors do not appear to have particularly good job prospects at graduation, since that seems to be your parents’ concern. If concern about job prospects is important, consider whether you would like to major in chemical engineering.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Sorry, I should have clarified. I plan on majoring in chemistry with the intent of going to medical school afterwards. The top 50 thing also apparently applies to getting into medical school</p>