<p>I’ve finally made some progress in creating a list. I’ve narrowed down 50 to 25 and now to 18…but I’d like the final list to be a more manageable 10-12 schools. I’m having a hard time with this current list. </p>
<p>Throughout this entire process, I’ve never really had any idea if I’m underestimating or overestimating myself. But then again, it seems like nothing in admissions is for sure. And as I’m seriously going crazy from staring at college lists of varying lengths, I really need your help. </p>
<p>I’m female, liberal, and interested in: English, creative writing, political science/gov’t, history. </p>
<p>GPA: ~4.46/5.00 W (medium-large, decently competitive public school)
Rank: 29/~675
SAT I: 2320 (800 W, 800 CR, 720 M)
SAT Subj.: Literature 790, US History 720, Math IC 680 (I’ll probably take another subject to replace math.)</p>
<p>I would appreciate any input you guys could give. Is this a well-balanced list that (mostly?) makes sense. Too top-heavy with reaches (yikes, a big fear of mine)? Any outliers that don’t seem to fit? Which ones seem practical to cut?</p>
<li>Brown (The <em>dream</em> school)</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Bard </li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon </li>
<li>Dartmouth </li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>NYU - Gallatin School of Individualized Study or College of Arts & Sciences</li>
<li>Princeton </li>
<li>UT - Austin (Honors program, the safety that’s still much loved) </li>
<li>UC - Berkeley </li>
<li>Vassar </li>
<li>Trinity College - Connecticut</li>
<li>Cornell </li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Washington U. - St. Louis</li>
<li>Pomona</li>
<li>Macalester</li>
</ol>
<p>Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :)</p>
<p>One tip is to determine 2-3 safeties. If there are any schools which you like the safety better than (assuming you're cutting prestige out of the picture), cut it off your list!</p>
<p>Also, if you most want to go to Brown, does it make sense to apply to schools like Yale which are even more selective? If it came down to it, which would you choose? If you get into Yale, I'm almost certain you'll also get into Brown.</p>
<p>Also, do you prefer big, urban schools (Cal, UTA, NYU, CMU & etc.) , or smaller ones (Pomona, Bard, Trinity & etc.)?</p>
<p>Which environment do you prefer, if you prefer one type of environment over another, it would be wise to cut schools of the type of environment you dislike.</p>
<p>Also, how much personal attention do you want? Vassar & the LACs & the Ivies are good at giving lots of attention. If you want to be hidden in the crowd with less attention then Cal & UTA are better for you. People that need lots of attention wouldn't like the attention (lack of) from the bigger publics.</p>
<p>Your list doesn't really make sense to me. It is definitely not top heavy. Your boards and grades put you on the playing field everywhere. It is a matter of essay writing, doing your recs correctly etc. </p>
<ol>
<li>If Brown is your dream, Carnige Mellon should go off because it will probably seem too techie to you, same with JHU. Northwestern will most likely feel too pre-professional</li>
</ol>
<p>I would rate your list as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Brown (The <em>dream</em> school)--Reach</li>
<li>Amherst--Reach</li>
<li>Yale--Reach</li>
<li>Bard--Likely </li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon--Possible</li>
<li>Dartmouth--Reach</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins--Possible</li>
<li>NYU - Likely</li>
<li>Princeton--Reach</li>
<li>UT - Austin--Likely (though not to Honors College, because that has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard)</li>
<li>UC - Berkeley--Possible</li>
<li>Vassar--Reach</li>
<li>Trinity College - Possible</li>
<li>Cornell--Reach</li>
<li>Northwestern--Possible</li>
<li>Washington U. - St. Louis--Reach</li>
<li>Pomona--Reach</li>
<li>Macalester--Likely</li>
</ol>
<p>Step 1: Find one or two likelies. If you fall in love with one and know you would be very happy there, I would not apply to more than that one IF YOU CAN VISIT THAT SCHOOL and IF YOU TAKE THAT APPLICATION VERY SERIOUSLY. Otherwise, apply to two or three. </p>
<p>Step 2: Do not apply to any reaches or possibles you like less than your favorite likely. </p>
<p>Step 3: Find two or three "possibles" that you really like. Find one that you like more than the rest. </p>
<p>Step 4: Eliminate all reaches that you like less than your favorite "possible" school. </p>
<p>Keep in mind the following questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Do I want a small, liberal arts college or a big university?</li>
<li>Do I want an urban, suburban or rural setting?</li>
<li>What kind of kids do I want to be around? (pre-professional, intellectual or social and laid back)</li>
</ol>
<p>Bard
Macalester
UC Berkeley (because it is an awesome school and you are in-state, and there is no sense in spending 45K when you can pay 20K, IMHO)
Yale
Princeton
U Penn (Kelley Writer's House=great for CW)
Brown
Amherst</p>
<p>I think you have a good chance to get into any of the schools above, especially with your SAT score. As far as which colleges to apply to, What do you want in a college? Big City or Rural? Student Body Size? East Coast or West Coast?</p>
<p>Brown (The <em>dream</em> school)
Amherst
Yale
Bard
Dartmouth
NYU - Gallatin School of Individualized Study or College of Arts & Sciences
UC - Berkeley
Vassar
Washington U. - St. Louis
Pomona</p>
<p>Thank you all <em>so</em> much for your detailed responses (and esp. mboyle1988 for the helpful steps). You've all given me a lot to think about and consider. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back this thread. </p>
<p>JHU is on my list because of its creative writing and Writers' Seminar program. I'm not sure about JHU yet. CM also has a creative writing program I'm interested in, but I may take it off the list.</p>
<p>I didn't know about U Penn's Kelley Writer's House. I will definitely check that out.</p>
<p>I'm actually not in-state for Cal (sorry if I made it confusing), which is why I considered it more of a reach. I'm in Texas, so that's why UTA is a safety -- but I agree about the Honors program.</p>
<p>Because of financial and other reasons, I probably won't be able to visit most, if any, schools. However, I have briefly visited Austin and Berkeley before.</p>
<p>I think I'd prefer a smaller, liberal arts atmosphere (and urban/suburban, closer to a city) over a huge school, but if I ended up somewhere bigger, I think I'd be able to adapt. I'd like a student body that's sort of laid-back intellectual (kind of like the vibe I got at Cal?) -- nothing too cutthroat or pre-professional -- people who are competitive with themselves and can balance a social life with interest/focus on their studies.</p>
<p>I think I'll probably take off Northwestern because I don't really want the too pre-professional feel. Also, I'm sure I'd be equally if not more happy at some of the other schools with creative writing programs on my list.</p>
<p>Tarun, Dartmouth is absolutely as selective as Brown and Amherst, and more selective than Cornell, JHU, Pomona, WUSTL, and Northwestern. Its a reach.</p>
<p>Gladly, I think you need to have a decent amount of reaches. The Reach range will be tough, but you never know. I think its worth a shot applying to 3-5 in this category. I eliminated schools I think you might not like (for example NYU sounds great, but I know SO MANY unhappy students who get there and realize they missed out on a college experience. Similarly, places like JHU miss out on the "community spirit" you'll find at the LACy schools. </p>
<p>If I were you my list would look like this:</p>
<p>Super Reach:
Yale
Stanford (maybe)</p>
<p>Reach:
Brown
Amherst
Dartmouth</p>
<p>Lesser Reach:
Pomona
Northwestern
UC-Berkeley
Washington U. - St. Louis</p>
<p>Slipper1234: I think you make a really strong point about NYU and JHU. I kept JHU on my list for so long because of its writing program, but I'm not sure if it's enough of a reason for me to be able to enjoy the full experience there. I really wish I could visit to see what it's like for sure, but I'm trying to do the best I can with the resources I have. :) </p>
<p>Your list is really helpful. Thanks very much.</p>
<p>P.S. Is there any particular reason why you put a "maybe" by Stanford? Just curious.</p>
<p>I haven't quite finalized everything yet, so the research is still ongoing. Still. I know. Sigh. Brown remains my first choice. :)</p>
<p>The newest incarnation of my list looks like:</p>
<p>Pretty sure:
Brown
Yale
Amherst
UC-Berkeley
Vassar
Wesleyan
UT-Austin</p>
<p>Choose one or two:
Middlebury -- creative writing, atmosphere (I'm afraid this might not be a likely/match and would just add another reach to my list?)
Macalester -- poli sci, emphasis on international/multicultural, creative writing
Oberlin -- artsy, first-year seminars, English
Kenyon -- creative writing, capstone sounds interesting
Pomona -- Cali LAC feel, writing, "philosophy, politics and economics" sounds interesting</p>
<p>Choose one (parents want me to choose two...):
Princeton -- undergraduate focus, creative writing
Stanford -- Cali, laid-back atmosphere, English, overall excellence
Harvard -- English department, overall excellence, Jorie Graham teaches there (not really a reason, I guess, just thought it was cool, lol) </p>
<p>I crossed off Northwestern and WUStL; Dartmouth has been often compared to Brown, but upon further research doesn't seem to appeal to me too much. </p>
<p>Comments on the balance of the list and opinions regarding the uncertain schools that I'm choosing between would be much appreciated!</p>
</p>