Help me pick some reaches and safeties. Please? I'm clueless.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Apparently I have my matches pretty much figured out. If you'd like to contribute some more of those, please feel free. </p>

<p>I'm a New Yorker. I'd like to stay close-ish to home. The Northeast would be nice, but I'm opened to the entire East Coast. I'd like a closed-campus, typical collegiate feel (pretty buildings, trees, and grass) with a decent amount of school cohesiveness and spirit. Having the "college experience" is pretty important to me. I'd like to be as close to a city or decent college town as humanly possible. Rural areas are a no-go. My intended major is English or communications, with a concentration in creative writing or journalism. My ideal career would be screenwriting, but I can't say if that's realistic. LACs are fine, but arts schools are not. I also have an interest in medicine and politics, so if I decide later on that I'd like to follow one of those paths, I want those options open to me. I'd like a larger school... maybe moderately sized. Ridiculously big would probably be fine, but I have no desire to go to a ridiculously small school. </p>

<p>Sorry, I'm picky. ;) </p>

<p>Here are the schools I have picked out so far: </p>

<p>Safeties:
Manhattan College (I know it may not seem like it, but I have some sure-fire connections. I'm basically already in.)
SUNY New Paltz (??? Is this really a safety? I've heard they have a good writing program, by the way.)</p>

<p>Matches:
Fordham University
Tulane University
American University
Lafayette College
Binghamton University</p>

<p>Reaches:
Gettysburg College</p>

<p>MAJOR Reaches:
Columbia University</p>

<p>Oh, and here are my stats. :) </p>

<p>The Basics
White female, moderately competitive public high school in the suburbs of NYC.
Single-parent household. Will most definitely require financial aid. </p>

<p>The Stats
GPA: 3.6 (Low, yeah, I get it. I've had some medical issues... I won't elaborate here, but I will on my apps, if necessary.)
Rank: Top 20%
SAT: 2320 <a href="Total%20fluke...%20I%20guess%20I%20had%20a%20lucky%20day.">CR:780, M:740, W:800</a>
SAT II: Will take in US History, Lit, and Italian</p>

<p>Courseload
Junior Year: APUSH, AP Physics B, AP Language, AP Psych, Honors Pre-Calc, Italian IV, Creative Writing.
Senior Year: AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Italian, Journalism, Film Analysis, Anatomy & Physiology</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
In School:
Student Literary Magazine (Editor-in-chief, next year)
Yearbook (Good shot at editor-in-chief)
Newspaper Reporter
Head Writer for student news program
Student Council (Historian)
Grade Council (Treasurer)
Student Peer Leader
MUN (Chapter Founder)
Private Tutor
Varsity Badminton
Varsity Tennis
Out Of School:
Religion Teacher
Altar Server
Hospital Volunteer
Young Republicans
I've written some things for a local newspaper
Work Experience:
Part-time clerical position at a doctor's office
Summers:
CTY - 2 years
Brown SSP - 1 year
This Summer:
Trying to get an internship at a newspaper or magazine
Taking some extra courses to bump up my GPA</p>

<p>Honors
National Honor Society
Language Honor Society
A few writing awards here and there
A couple of departmental awards at school </p>

<p>Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!</p>

2

<p>Barnard for sure. Skidmore has a good writing program but may be too remote for you. Saratoga is a lively small town, though. Same for Smith – nice town and you get the benefit of the consortium.</p>

<p>Women’s colleges offer a good value, less selective in admissions but excellent academics. </p>

<p>For big, look at UMass Amherst, Boston University, Northeastern. </p>

<p>Wesleyan as a reach.</p>

<p>For another super-reach I’d look at Brown. Quirky admissions that is sometimes willing to take a chance on kids with lop-sided credentials.</p>

<p>If you qualify for need based aid, any of these colleges would be workable. Some of the more selective are actually the most generous. If you’re looking for merit aid, you will have to drastically re-calibrate your list.</p>

3

<p>Best Colleges in New York:</p>

<p>Columbia and Barnard
Cornell
NYU
URochester</p>

<p>Vassar
Colgate
Hamilton </p>

<p>The last three LAC are all in the middle of nowhere, I believe.</p>

4

<p>I wasn’t really considering Barnard as I wasn’t too interested in a womens’ school, but if it’s more liberal arts-specific than Columbia, while still maintaining a close connection with Columbia, I’ll look into it. </p>

<p>As for Skidmore, one of the counselors at my school reccomended it to my best friend, who is our valedictorian, commenting upon suggestion that she probably wouldn’t even have a chance in hell of getting in there, but it was worth the shot. I’ve been turned off ever since then, even if my scores and EC’s are actually better than her’s. Not because I don’t think I’d get in (even though I don’t think I would), just because the guidance department is so closed-minded.</p>

<p>I was actually looking into Amherst a bit. My school feeds about a half-dozen kids there per year, so it might be something to consider. BU may be a little to spread out for me. Didn’t really like the feal of Northeastern.</p>

<p>Brown is definitely on my list. I did a summer program there last year and liked it very much, so we’ll see. </p>

<p>Cornell… Ithaca? Hahaha. Maybe. </p>

<p>I have a strong legacy at NYU and probably wouldn’t have much of an issue getting in because of the people I know, but I hateeeeeee the campus and the fact that it’s spread out all over the city. I would never want to do that for undergrad.</p>

<p>I’ll look into URochester. Thanks. </p>

<p>Vassar is in Poughkeepsie, which is not so much in the middle of nowhere (It’s about 1.5 hours out of the city, so it’s do-able. But I did a summer program there for three years in middle school, and while I liked the campus, I think it’s too familiar to me now. It wouldn’t be enough of an adventure, however weird that may sound.</p>

<p>Hamilton and Colgate miiiiiight be a little remote, but they’re worth the research. </p>

<p>Thank you! </p>

<p>Safeties, anyone?</p>

5

<p>If you’re looking @ the entire East Coast, you have a lot of options. </p>

<p>Reaches
Georgetown University
University of Virginia
University of North Carolina
College of William & Mary (I don’t know how you feel about the town – it’s not what you’d consider “college-y” but it’s still a town)
Vanderbilt University (sports + Nashville) </p>

<p>Matches
University of Miami (with your current SAT scores & class rank, you qualify for about 16,000$ a year in scholarship money, I believe)
University of Maryland (probably more than 8,000$ a year in scholarship money)
Villanova University
Rutgers University (New Brunswick is okay; I don’t think you’ll get scholarship money, though. I believe they usually only give it to the top 10% students – I know I didn’t get any from them. Their aid seems okay, though) </p>

<p>Other Uncategorized Options
Wake Forest University (not really near a big city, but really nice campus)
Boston College (45 min by train outside of Boston)
Barnard College
The George Washington University (they offer a more “traditional” campus in addition to their city one – the Mount Vernon campus)
Lafayette College (not really a super college-y town; Easton is a little shady in my opinion, but the part of the town that borders Lafayette is actually sort of cute. There’s this little icecream place that I love that’s right outside of the campus) </p>

<p>All scholarship estimates are based on what I got from the schools. </p>

<p>Also, about Skidmore – I don’t know if I’d necessarily listen to your counselor on that one. There’s this boy in my class with good grades and good scores (but by no means the best grades/scores) who got in. You should definitely apply if you’re really interested in the school!</p>

6

<p>If you want to dare to adventure further from the east coast, the University of Minnesota sounds about right for you.</p>

7

<p>skidmore isn’t that great of a school and i think you’d have a decent shot if you applied. dunno why your counselor would suggest it to the valedictorian :O.</p>

8

<p>Something, Perhaps the counselor was thinking of Swarthmore, not Skidmore. Swarthmore is extremely selective and is full of vals; Skidmore is medium selective and more arts focused. It would be a match for you.</p>

<p>Barnard is good. The women who are most successful there are not the Columbia wannabes but those who appreciate Barnard for its own merits, which are many. </p>

<p>Amherst is a wonderful school, but also very selective. </p>

<p>BC is another good urban choice with a compact campus. You should also look at Haverford.</p>

<p>If you don’t want rural you don’t want Cornell, Hamilton or Colgate. </p>

<p>If you like Vassar, look at Sarah Lawrence and Bard.</p>

<p>If the politics you’re interested in are right leaning – or even middlish – you might check out the campus political atmosphere of the schools on your list. Some are very, very liberal and not particular open to dissent.</p>

<p>I would seriously consider women’s schools: Barnard, Smith, Bryn Mawr. Quite frankly your GPA is going to be a challenge (and yes, do make sure your counselor explains the discrepany between your grades and scores). Women’s colleges provide strong academics and are much less selective – just because they eliminate half the population.</p>

9

<p>Have you considered Wagner?</p>

10

<p>Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA. Sweet, sweet school.</p>

11

<p>momrath: I’ll be sure to look more in depth at womens’ colleges. What you say makes a lot of sense, and it could certainly be to my benefit. (I just need a co-ed college somewhere near by!) ;] </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>My absolute favorite teacher is actually a Wagner grad. Until you mentioned it to me, going there never crossed my mind, but now that you have, I’ll certainly speak with him about it.</p>

<p>

Thanks! I’ll look into it.</p>

12

<p>SUNY New Paltz does have a really good writing program and a good journalism program too. My son, who started at University of Miami recently transferred to New Paltz. if I can answer any questions for you feel free to ask.</p>