Help me narrow it down (8 colleges I like a lot...and ONE week to visit them ALL!)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Okay, so these are the colleges I have it down to:</p>

<p>UCLA, Dartmouth, U Mich-Ann Arbor, Brown, Duke, Stanford, NYU, Princeton</p>

<p>Not only do I have to see all of these colleges in ONE WEEK (Spring Break), but my dad and I are driving everywhere except UCLA (b/c, among other reasons, he wants me to get lots of practice in before my road test.)</p>

<p>My questions are...
1. Do I have average, above average, or below average chances at Stanford and Princeton? These are my highest reaches, and I don't know if I should even bother visiting/applying.
2. Is my list too top-heavy? (My super-safeties are SUNY schools that I don't need to visit b/c I reeeeally want to go far away for college :))
3. If I end up having to cut one school from this list, which one should it be?</p>

<p>In case you need them, here are my stats:
-Junior
-Western NY, female, Asian
-Rank: 3/250
-GPA (uw): 3.97
-have taken all APs/honors possible so far</p>

<p>Courseload:
-APs... Bio, US, Lang. and Comp. (Euro last year-4)
-French through local college
-Honors: Physics, Pre-calc
-Anatomy (no honors available)</p>

<p>ECs:
-Cancer Research (Summer '05)
-200+ hours community service: nursing assistant in Intensive Care Unit of local hospital, skating instructor for Skating Assoc. for the Blind and Handicapped, errand/escort service at hospital, tutor for 9th grade Bio students
-Interact Club (community service-based school org.)
- Cheerleading: Football, Soccer, and Basketball Seasons...JV (1 year, captain), Varsity (2 years), UCA All-star ('03, '04, '05)
-JV Lacrosse
-Violin: Seven years in nationally recognized school orch. (but couldn't fit it into my schedule this year :/ ), All-County Orch. (6 years), Area All-State Orch. ('02, '03, '04), private lessons
-Student Council VP (2 years)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2290 (740 M, 750 CR, 800 W)
-planning to take SAT IIs this year- Bio (since I'm in AP now) and Math IIC</p>

2

<p>You have decent chances at Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, and Duke (but remember that it's tough for anyone to get into to those schools). You should be in at UCLA, NYU, and Michigan.</p>

<p>If I were you, I'd cut Michigan off the list. When you apply, you hear back very quickly. So, if you apply the first available day, you can visit the school before you get acceptance letters from any of the other colleges.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice, HeavenWood...I never knew that about Michigan!</p>

4

<p>I LOVE your list. If I were applying today I would have almost the exact same list with a couple changes. Apply to Michigan in September; you get in by October and that becomes your safety. From your list I think we have a similarity in what we like in schools. </p>

<p>As for chances:
High Reaches: Princeton and Stanford you have a 25-30% shot. You are a viable applicant and you should apply. </p>

<p>Reaches; Dartmouth/ Brown/ Duke: 40-50% chance at each. Probably you'll get into 1-2 of these.</p>

<p>Safe Match: UCLA: 75-80% chance out of state
Safe Match: NYU: You are in, 95% chance
Safety: Michigan: 98% in if apply in September</p>

<p>And now for my commentary: NYU sticks out like a sore thumb. I know plenty of NYU kids, and many many of them are unhappy. There are the ones that love it, but they know they are trading community, and a college "environment" for it. In my opinion its not college, I go to the same bars and I am 25. Also, its a very intense place (like NYC); people segregate and form very strong cliques. I personally love the "everyone is happy, friendly, and nice" attitude of the other colleges on your list. Its nothing like any other school in America, and unless you are the intense type that NYU caters to, its very easy to not like. </p>

<p>The rest of these schools are between 4500-6500 students, community oriented, have great campus cultures, and have scores of satisfied alumni. UCLA and Michigan are exceptions, but people are still cool and they are in college towns - you see people around. </p>

<p>If I were you I would not visit Michigan, Stanford, or UCLA, wait until you get in and have all your options in hand. Save time by going on one east coast trip and visit these later if they are choices you would consider. </p>

<p>As for the east school trip I would dump NYU. Its not worth it, my guess is at least you'll confirm not wanting to apply if you visit though. I would add Penn as another reach, it might not be your first choice but if you get in and rejected from the others (Dart/ Brown/ Duke/ Pton/ Stan) you'll be happy you applied. </p>

<p>Your biggest weakness is in the low reach/ high match category. I would add Northwestern, Wash U, or Cornell to hedge your bets. I think you will get into most of these.</p>

<p>Also, here's my experience with the schools on your list (and my result when I applied):
Dartmouth College: Attended
Brown: Visited five times socially (big weekends), and I almost went there (I was accepted)
Duke: Visited once as a prospective, once for fun (I was accepted)
UCLA: Lived on campus this past summer (Didn't apply)
U Mich-Ann Arbor: Visted twice (Accepted)
NYU: Live right by the place and know plenty of students (Didn't apply)
Princeton: Visted once as prospective, once for fun (Rejected)
Stanford: Visited once, but only the grad school (Rejected)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Well you can make one trip up I-95 and see 4 of the schools:
Duke to NYU to Brown then up to Dartmouth then drive to Boston and take the flight out...</p>

6

<p>actually, Duke to Princeton to NYU</p>

7

<p>Wow, thanks for the replies so far...</p>

<p>slipper1234:
That was an amazing response, much more thorough than anything I was expecting- and very much appreciated! :) I'm pretty much unfamiliar with NYU. I was basically drawn to it because of the city, which I love. From what you've described, though, it sounds like I would be miserable there. I am definitely attracted to the idea of being a part of a college community, and it doesn't seem like NYU has one at all...
As for the other comments- I was actually thinking about Penn before you said that! But I'm not as sure about Cornell, because I want to be able to enjoy my college experience, and I think Cornell has too much cutthoat competition/grade deflation/etc. (from what I've heard) for me. I will definitely look into the low reach category, as well...
Again, thanks for your response- it's so nice to get advice from somebody who was in a similar position!</p>

<p>bobbobbob (haha, that's so fun to type): Yeah, I'm starting from New York...it probably is a good idea to go south and work my way up. Whew, that's gonna be one looooong car ride...:P</p>

<p>Any other advice is welcome! :)</p>

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<p>Hey We're going down swinging! Yeah, you sound ALOT like me. I like NYC too (I live there now), but NYU isn't the place for a person who wants community at all. Its really easy to hide out at NYU, and the NYC "who are you" attitude persists. Its funny because even at large campuses like Michigan and UCLA you get much much nicer people and you actually run into them on the weekends.</p>

<p>I didn't apply to Cornell either for those reasons. I added it to my suggestions reluctantly. Northwestern might be the best bet in this range, I greatly prefer the reaches (esp. Dart/ Brown/ Stanford) , but you also might be happy to have it!</p>

9

<p>Hmm, I will definitely look up Northwestern (I don't know much about it at all.) </p>

<p>Ahh, I wish I had more time to spend at these schools...I've never traveled around looking at schools before, but I feel like these visits could easily be a make-or-break factor in my decisions.</p>

<p>Slipper (or anybody else who might know), do you think that I will miss out on much by not staying overnight at any of the schools?</p>

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<p>Slipper1234 gave you wonderful advice. Just to pile on:</p>

<p>Don't try to do the west schools and the others in the same week. It's nice to be there when school is in session, but the logistics aren't worth it.</p>

<p>If you live in western NY, you should be able to fit Cornell in almost anytime. Note that you are perhaps getting too much Cornell gossip compared to your exposure to other schools. On the other hand, going to college a little farther from home has some advantages.</p>

<p>Stanford admits and enrolls a larger percentage of asian-americans than most of the eastern schools.</p>

<p>The super reaches might want to see (and read an essay about) continuing dedication to a few interests. You might want to think about what yours are, beyond sports. Pre-med and music? Also, don't fail to take a rigerous course load senior year, including math.</p>

<p>If it were not for the suggestion that you use rolling admission to Michigan in lieu of another safety, I would suggest the advantage of non-binding EA (SCEA in Stanford's case). It's is very nice to have an acceptance at a great school fall semester senior year. If you have a true first choice by November, ED may also be attractive.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your reply, eulanspiegel- you gave me a lot of helpful info! My reponse to your comments...
1. I have considered ED- if I fall in love with a college while visiting (knowing me, I probably will :)), I would not hesitate to apply early. As of now, my preferences towards these schools are a result of what I have heard/read about them.
2. I agree that my courseload next year should still be challenging. As far as math goes, I will either be taking AP Stats or AP Calc...
3. Your response also brought another concern of mine to mind...my interests. In all honesty, one of my main passions is cheerleading. If I can get my tumbling passages down by this spring, I am planning on trying out for a very competitive all-star team (competitive as in, they consistently place in Nationals- they are actually in Orlando right now!) I have cheered for five years, and I devote 9-10 hours a week to it. My question is...are colleges going to view cheering as a "lesser" EC than say, a "real" sport, or a math/science-oriented activity? Will admissions officers at highly competitive schools like Princeton, Stanford, etc. brush it off as a silly activity (as I know many others do)?</p>

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<p>I'm not exactly an expert on this, but if your academic and other credentials are there, they might love your passion for cheerleading. I know of a rythmic gymnast with credentials less impressive than yours (except for national ranking in her "sport") who got into Stanford.</p>

<p>If you want to pursue cheerleading in college, you should know that UCLA and Stanford don't really have cheerleaders in the eastern sense. It's more yell leaders and a dance team. Last I knew, Michigan had very athletic, practically gymnastic, cheerleaders.</p>

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<p>If only they recruited cheerleaders...lol :)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Is my list too top-heavy? (My super-safeties are SUNY schools that I don't need to visit b/c I reeeeally want to go far away for college

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, it's top-heavy. Don't get me wrong. I don't see anything on your list that is an unreasonable reach -- although Stanford and Princeton are long shots. The problem is that UCLA and Michigan are both really tough for out-of-state and NYU is a tough admissions bargain, too.</p>

<p>I'm a little concerned that you don't have anything between the SUNYs and schools that are mild to strong reaches. If I were advising you, I'd love to see you whack a couple of reaches and replace them with schools that are solid matches. </p>

<p>I think you have a good shot at Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, and Michigan, but I don't think those four are locks. Hopefully after visiting some schools, you'll be able to focus in a little more tightly on what you are looking for. You've got some real extremes on the list -- like Dartmouth and NYU.</p>

<p>From a logistics standpoint, throwing Duke into the mix is adding the better part of three days travelling. It's a full day to drive down there (and I mean full as in driving 'til midnight!). If it were me, I would concentrate this trip from Philadelphia (Princeton) up through New England, taking advantage of the opportunity to visit some other schools along the way. For example, in Phila. you could add UPenn and any of three good undergrad colleges (Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore) that range from safeties to reaches. On the way up to Brown, you could easily add your choice from four more (Vassar, Wesleyan, Amherst, Smith) that range from safeties to reaches. On the way home from Dartmouth, you could add Middlebury or Williams (an easy match and a reach). Look at a spring swing as an opportunity to put feet on the ground at as many different kinds of schools as you can. </p>

<p>Do U Michigan as a weekend trip, perhaps even during the summer -- I'm sure it's hopping year round. It would be a great example of a large public university. Do Duke and UCLA if you get in.</p>

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<p>InterestedDad, Michigan IS a lock. Besides she will know by October anyway if she plays the rolling admission strategy right. Michigan is stats based, and she beats the numbers by a decent margin. Michigan is much less harsh on out of state applicants than a place like UNC. I also used the "Michigan safety strategy" and it gave me alot of time to focus on the top reaches I liked. </p>

<p>WGDSwinging, I don't think you need to visit all the schools unless you are choosing an ED school (which you might). But it looks like the ED school would likely be one of the east coast schools you are visiting. Perhaps Stanford and Duke might be worth flying out to, but that's it. I would worry about visiting the rest after you get in, you will get a much better sense of places when you go to "accepted students days". If you go on the east coast tour you will see Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, (Perhaps Cornell), and Princeton. Interesteddad brings up a good point about some of the LACS, I think you won't like the Philly LACs though. My sense of those three is they are half Puritan/ half Uchicago type intense, neither of which personally appealed to me. Vassar College and Amherst might be the best options if you are considering a LAC. I liked Amherst much more than Williams because of its location and proximity to the other colleges.</p>

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<p>She also asked about overnights. Does anybody here know the extent to which schools, in encouraging and facilitating overnights with student hosts, class visits, etc. make distinctions among wannabees (not her case), more qualified interested high school students, early applicants, regular applicants, and admitted students (who of course often have special admit weekends calendared, with alternatives when necessary)?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
InterestedDad, Michigan IS a lock.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes. I have played with Michigan's point system calculator and I agree that Michigan is probably a pretty sure thing based on that. However, I don't believe they use the point system after the Supreme Court shot it down.</p>

<p>I wasn't trying to be pessimistic. It's just that the list has a gaping hole in the middle. I like a list that has a two or three solid matches that are also exciting. Michigan is probably one. NYU and UCLA are probably matches too, but those two schools that I would find difficult to predict with any certainty.</p>

<p>As far as which specific schools to recommend, I can't detect any pattern in the list so far, which is why I was suggesting more of a broad survey trip, trying to hit as many different kinds of schools in as many different types of locations as possible.</p>

<p>For example, she's got a outdoorsy frat school in Dartmouth, a gritty urban hipster school in NYU, and a laid-back "open curriculum" school in Brown. I wouldn't even know where to begin recommending a liberal arts college or two to consider. Near a city? In the mountains? Big party scene? More academic oriented? That's why I threw out a wide range from isolated rural schools where the beer flows to open curriculum to more geeky schools near large cities. </p>

<p>BTW, I believe the Puritans mostly settled in New England. The Philadelphia prep schools and colleges mostly grew out of Quaker roots.</p>

<p>As far as overnights, I think junior year is probably jumping the gun a little bit.</p>

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<p>always remember that Princeton and Stanford's admissions are like predicting what's the weather fortnight.</p>

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<p>Normally easier at Stanford than at Princeton, but their last week's weather was unpredictably bad.</p>

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<p>Since you live in Western NY, I recommend you leave some of the schools within driving distance out of your visit trip and definitely go to schools that are way out of reach, distance-wise. In your chase, those schools would be Duke, Stanford and UCLA. The remaining schools on your list are all within 6 hours drive from Western NY, so you can visit those on long weekends during the course of the coming year.</p>