help narrowing down my list?

<p>Ok I want to apply to 10 schools, I currently have 8 definites and 4 maybes. I want to major in biomedical engineering.</p>

<p>Definitely:
Yale
MIT
Columbia
UPenn
Duke
Hopkins
UMD (college park)
UVA</p>

<p>Maybe:
Brown
Cornell
Delaware
UNC (chapel hill)</p>

<p>Maryland is a safety for me, my GPA is 4.0 UW, 4.24 W and my SAT is a 2340 (800M/740CR/800W). My magnet school is very well known there and only the worst 1 or 2 kids from our class are rejected.</p>

<p>Delaware would be another safety. Is that necessary? Or is one safety enough?</p>

<p>UNC is a match(?), but it is a little expensive to apply ($90), is my list too reach heavy that I need another match?</p>

<p>Both Cornell and Brown are in the top 50 BME schools. I would have a better chance getting into Cornell, but I visited Brown and really liked it. These would both be reaches. Should I put both of these on my list, or just one? If only one, which one?</p>

<p>If you are perfectly happy attending and can pay for UMd then you really only need one. And if you are happy with UMd then you don’t need a necessarily match. UNC is probably still a reach OOS. A friend of mine (Brown grad) would say definitely Brown for BME.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice. If UNC is still a reach I’m definitely not applying…don’t like it that much.</p>

<p>You have good stats, but keep in mind the very low 2013 acceptance rates: Yale 6.7%, MIT 8.2%, Columbia 6.9%, UPenn 12.1%, Duke 11.5%, Hopkins 16.8%, Brown 9.2%, Cornell 15.2%.</p>

<p>UVA and UMD are higher at 29% and over 40%. Delaware and UNC are higher too.</p>

<p>I think if you keep UMD and and UVA on your list, you can maybe add Brown and Cornell and be fine. If you want to be extra safe, I’d add Delaware too.</p>

<p>Think seriously applying EA (to Yale?) or ED to one of your high reaches. For ED, you’ll have better odds of getting in to you high raches than in Regular decision.</p>

<p>I don’t think you need additional safeties, but you probably would want an additional low reach and a true match. Is UNC really a match? Would you go there?</p>

<p>Why is there a higher chance for ED?</p>

<p>I would say UNC-CH is a match. You should be in because that M+R score of 1560 is incredibly high.
You must apply to UVa and UNC-Ch because they meet your need.</p>

<p>What is your estimated family contribution ? Do you qualify for Pell Grant ?</p>

<p>My parents make around 60k so I believe I am eligible for a pell grant. They cannot contribute any money to my education because of other circumstances</p>

<p>That’s why I have a lot of the ivies, they have really really good financial aid programs</p>