<p>Hi! I've been trying to decide which colleges I'm going to apply to, and I need help separating these schools into reach, match, and likely schools. </p>
<p>(My stats are here: [thread=974743]Help me find match/likely schools, please![/thread]) </p>
<p>Amherst College
Georgetown University
Brown University (My brother goes here)
Wellesley University
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Mount Holyoke College
New York University
Boston University
Syracuse University
Boston College
Macalester College
Pitzer College
Oberlin College
Smith College
Tufts University
Davidson (NC) College
Bryn Mawr College
College of the Holy Cross</p>
<p>good SAT scores but for amherst wellesley georgetown brown boston college NYU and Tufts you’re GPA is a little low i think. not that those schools are impossible for you but just keep that in mind</p>
<p>I agree with thenatural. I would take Brown off your list. I think Amherst, Georgetown are super reaches. Your course rigor is really not sufficient, especially given your grades, IMO. </p>
<p>To further categorize the schools, develop a list that puts them in the following categories: % admitted; SAT ranges; and % in top 10% of HS class. Any school with less than 25% admitted is a reach, and probably 80% and above in top 10% class rank a reach as well. Your SAT scores will get you looked at for these most selective schools, but that’s all. Anything in the 30 - 40% admittance range is probably a match. </p>
<p>This is the method I used for my kids, and we had very few surprises.</p>
<p>“Your course rigor is really not sufficient, especially given your grades, IMO.”</p>
<p>Thanks! But, how could I have taken a more rigorous course load? 9th and 10th graders at my school aren’t allowed to take AP courses (except Chinese), and I pushed it 11th grade taking 7 courses. The only AP courses I haven’t taken that are offered at my school are Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Calculus, and Computer Science (which was cut either beginning 11th grade or this year). Since I’m planning to major in humanities, I didn’t see the point of taking any of these courses in lieu of journalism (I love writing) or AP Statistics (which I need if I ever go into sociology). Do you think this will count against me?</p>
<p>Would you suggest I make any changes to my senior course load in order to make my course load more rigorous? </p>
<p>@thenatural and @sara12</p>
<p>Thank you both! I’m confident in my SAT scores, but I know that my GPA is a little low for some of my reach schools. Junior year I got a 3.5 and a 3.7-3.9-ish 1st and 2nd semester, so I’m hoping improvement will take the edge off of the fact that 9th and 10th grade math grades stunk.</p>
<p>My school only offers honors for Math and English. </p>
<p>It would have been better if I stayed in Honors Math this year if I could get good grades in it, but 9th and 10th grade showed me that I could not. Thanks for your opinion!</p>
<p>Amherst College REACH
Georgetown University REACH
Brown University (My brother goes here) REACH
Wellesley University MATCH
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor LIKELY
University of Wisconsin - Madison LIKELY
Mount Holyoke College LIKELY
New York University MATCH
Boston University LIKELY
Syracuse University LIKELY
Boston College MATCH
Macalester College LIKELY
Pitzer College LIKELY
Oberlin College LIKELY
Smith College LIKELY
Tufts University MATCH
Davidson (NC) College MATCH
Bryn Mawr College LIKELY
College of the Holy Cross MATCH</p>
<p>If your school doesn’t offer more honors, then what I said doesn’t fit. What the colleges look for is how much took advantage of what was offered at your school. </p>
<p>But, just telling us your GPA without some picture of where it fits in your school makes it difficult to assess your school choices. Your school sends a profile to colleges that should give some sense of GPA distribution, even if the school doesn’t rank . You should ask for a copy or find out a ballpark for where you are. If you are in the top 10%, then your GPA is good, if you’re in the middle of the pack, then you really need to rethink your list.</p>
<p>In any case, I think that 1980collegegrad was being a bit generous with the designation for some of these schools. Even if you’re in the top 10%, I would not call Oberlin a “likely” which means safety, and a few others which he/she put as likelies (i’m not familiar with them all, but I know that Pitzer has gotten quite competitive, and while Macalester has a 43% acceptance rate, I would be wary about putting in down as a safety! UMich Ann Arbor a safety??). If your GPA is not top 10%, then Tufts is a reach. On its face, a 3.4 is too low for Tufts.</p>