Help me round out my list? (Matches, safeties)

Hello! I need some help rounding out my college list, especially in regards to matches and safeties.

Year: Junior
UW GPA: 4.0
APs taken/taking this year: APUSH, AP Bio, AP Lang, AP Macro (Expect to make a 4-5 on all of them, except MAYBE macro.)
College Classes: Gen Chem 151 (152 this summer)
Pre-ACT: 32 (That was last year and I’ve been studying; hoping to get a 33+)
Extracirriculars:
-Science Olympiad (two metals+ hopefully more this year)
-NHS (leadership)
-Chorus since freshman year, awards given
-Math 1 Tutoring, maybe AP Bio tutoring
-50+ Hours in a musical production (By the end of this year)

As well as some job experience/volunteering this summer, if things go as planned.

Intended Major: Bio
Intended Minors: English and something music related?

I’d like a mid-sized college in a location with things to do. I’m a sucker for beautiful campuses and I’d love a college with an intellectual atmosphere. I don’t care too much for greek life and parties, although I’m not altogether uninterested in indulging in the latter.
A good biology program is a MUST. Good english and music departments are major bonuses.

I live in NC and I don’t really want a school halfway across the country, although I may be flexible.

I’m already looking at Duke, Vanderbilt, Cornell, UNC Chapel hill, Wake, etc. I really need some more matches and safeties, maybe one or two more reaches if it’s a really great fit.
Could you guys help me?

(Not really looking for critique on my academic performance. I am working to the best of my ability. I’m just curious what kind of schools might fit my ability and interests.)
Hopefully I posted this in the right place, haha.

Forgot to mention: I would require need-based financial aid for sure (lower middle class family, likely to have separated parents soon) and I would, in an ideal world, prefer a more middle-leaning college in terms of politics.

Check out Colgate. The campus is really beautiful and there is a great vibe. The financial aid is excellent too!

Some of your current schools have a pretty active Greek presence, like Wake Forest, Vandy, and Duke. Other reaches to potentially consider: WashU, Tufts, Emory.

Matches, some could be low reach: U Rochester, CWRU, Villanova, U Richmond, BC, Holy Cross

Highly likely/safety: Elon, maybe some of your in-state public school options…like UNC Charlotte, East Carolina, App State or UNC Greensboro? You are so very fortunate to live in North Carolina…so many great choices, and generally affordable…and a school can’t be a safety unless it’s affordable.

As cost is important to your decision, make sure to run each school’s net price calculator (NPC) to get cost estimates.

North Carolina State, UNC Charlotte, University of Arizona, Agnes Scott, if you are OK with a women-only college, Clemson, Fordham, Miami University Ohio, and Ohio State University, There are more, if you look, but all of these will be either matches or safeties for you, and at all of these you will qualify for merit and/or need-based aid.

Davidson checks every one of your boxes except size. They are need blind admissions and meet need 100% w/o loans. Brand new amazing science building with strong bio, English and music. Beautiful campus. My D is a sophomore their now and is having an amazing college experience. It’s a college with a great student culture – lots of kindness and students who want to help change the world. Fantastic president too.

UNC is very good with financial aid through the Carolina Covenant and just all around excellent. Go Heels!

Furman in SC would be an admissions match and they have great sciences. I’m not so familiar with their aid, so you should run the NPC.

App St. would be safety and it’s a great school.

Hope this helps and DM me with any questions about Davidson!

Thank you guys so much! You’ve been a lot of help. Emory and Davidson have caught my eye in particular, but I’ll definitely be looking into some other LAC’s and state schools. You’ve given me a lot to consider.
(I thought it was weird that I’d literally never heard of Davidson until just recently, when starting my college search. I wonder why that is.)

The only problem with Davidson and Emory is that, with acceptance rates of 18% and 15%, respectively, neither are safeties nor matches.

You still need matches and safeties.

PS. My kid did not hear of the college which she presently attends before she started her college search either. In fact, most of her friends heard of it for the first time when she was accepted…

Davidson College may have a significantly higher rate of admission for those who apply ED.

A few schools from your current list might miss the mark with respect to your interest in an intellectual atmosphere. For this, you may want to at least look into colleges such as Vassar or Hamilton. At schools of this type you would benefit from a pure undergraduate focus and a high degree of freedom in choosing courses across various departments. Of these examples, Vassar would seem liberal to you, and Hamilton would seem less overtly political. If you have a particular interest in botany (based on your user information), look into Connecticut College.

With respect to financial aspects, many of these schools could be affordable for you: https://myintuition.org/.

For a school like those already on your list, research the University of Richmond.

Richmond looks quite nice, actually! Would you say that it is a match for me, or another reach? Do you know anything about its bio program, or its music/english departments?

As for Emory, I know it’s still kind of a reach, but I feel like Davidson would be a match for me. If my ACT score is at least a 32, wouldn’t that place me above the 75th percentile of admitted students (not to mention if I manage to score higher), and doesn’t it help if I live in NC and demonstrate interest?
Wouldn’t it be a match like UNC Chapel Hill is a match? Or am I looking at this the wrong way?

I’m concerned that the smaller colleges might be a little suffocating, although this is based on assumption alone. What is the culture of a small college? (I guess it probably varies considerably)

I’ll definitely look into that website, thank you! I sometimes tend to overlook finances when that really is a big priority.

As a follow-up: I learned that a 33 is a 75th percentile for Davidson. So a little higher than expected, but again I haven’t taken the real ACT yet so I don’t know exactly where I stand.

Assessing match/reach is not so straightforward as looking at test scores and GPA. Any college with less than 20% acceptance is considered a reach for pretty much anyone.

I’m not discouraging you from looking at Davidson or other highly selective colleges – but they get lots of students with high stats who they don’t accept b/c of holistic admissions. Holistic admissions means they are looking beyond the stats – your ECs, letters of rec, essays, a peer review, etc. It’s somewhat subjective so you just never know.

I am by no means discouraging you from applying. You are a strong candidate, but Davidson, Duke, Emory, Vandy, etc. would all be reaches. In fact, that’s one reason to apply to a number, it’s a numbers game and applying to more gives you greater chance of getting a yes.

B/c UNC is a 48% (or so) in-state admissions I do think with a 32 or 33 you would be a match there.

If you develop a strong preference for one private school and if you run the Net Price Calculator and it seems affordable to your family (in other words, your family can pay the difference between the financial aid they offer and the total cost to attend), then you could consider applying Early Decision b/c that will increase your chances significantly.

Regarding LACs, @FlowerCrown, well-resourced ones offer a remarkable range of academic programs. They can also be spatially luxuriant, with dozens of academic buildings and residence halls as well as accessible athletic and fitness facilities. Their science buildings can be similarly impressive. With respect to their cultures, you would find they would welcome your interest in inquiring further about them.

The University of Richmond offers excellent programs in core sciences such as biology. (Though it lacks a geosciences department, but so do, I think, other schools on your list.) With respect to admissions, it would not represent a reach for you.

Agree Richmond would be excellent match to consider. Furman in Greenville, SC as well. They are esp. strong in bio and neuroscience.

And back to your earlier question – yes, showing demonstrated interest is esp. important at private colleges.

Davidson’s is very reachy, in my opinion. Undoubtedly this is colored by the fact that no one has ever been accepted to Davidson from my S2’s school, and that he didn’t get in, applying ED with a 34 ACT. He did get in to Emory. YMMV

It’s another reach, but Rice checks all of your boxes: strong bio (and campus just across the street from the massive Texas Medical Center, home of MD Anderson Cancer Center), excellent school of music, solid (and popular) English department, no Greek life (instead, the Hogwarts-style residential college system anchors social life), politically moderate (for a Top 20 school, at least), and excellent need-based financial aid. A beautiful campus and a friendly, laid-back student vibe complete the picture.

If you are considering schools like Duke, Vandy, Cornell, Emory, and WashU, you should definitely explore the possibilities at Rice.

I agree that Rice in Houston would check off all of your requirements, but it is a reach for just about everyone. If you aren’t opposed to schools a little further away, SMU in Dallas would be a safety/match for you as would Rhodes in Memphis. Both have beautiful campuses but greek life is pretty prevalent at both of them.