Help with List, test scores

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've recently started looking for colleges. The list is insanely long, but I feel like every college has something to offer. I'm hoping the CC Community can offer some insights to help me sort and streamline it.</p>

<p>Basic Stats (junior year):
Female, Asian, 1st gen., 4.0 GPA, ranked 3/323
SAT: 2110 (660M, 720W, 730 R)
AP: 3 Bio, 3 US History (will take Psych, Chem, Enviro and/or Gov't)
CC: Composition, Poetry, Calc ABC, Drama, some other math
Other: AC (CC program with Del-Tech/UDel), BPA, soccer, cross country, Honor Society, volunteering, jobs, Governor's School, summer college, numerous awards</p>

<p>Majors of Interest: Anthropology, economics, international business/marketing</p>

<p>Criteria:
Small to medium size preferred (exceptions considered)
Diverse, open-minded, intellectual student body
"Pretty" campus with wide range of activities on- and off-site
Intern, study abroad, and research opportunities
Strong academics all-around</p>

<p>As for the list, please let me know which colleges are good matches and if they're in the right category - deletions, additions, etc.</p>

<p>Safeties: UDel (in-state), UMass-Amherst, James Madison</p>

<p>Matches?:
Villanova, Elon, URichmond,
UNC, William&Mary, Rutgers-NB
Stonehill, UMD-College Park</p>

<p>Reaches:
Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth
Emory, Northeastern, Tufts, UChicago
Notre Dame, UPenn, UVA, JHU</p>

<p>Unsure:
Bowdoin, BostonC, Bucknell,
Carnegie Mellon, Davidson, Haverford,
Brandeis, Carleton, Case Western,
Grinnell, Hamilton, LeHigh
Oberlin, SUNY-Binghamton</p>

<p>Finally, are my SAT and AP scores too low to be considered for my reaches? I know the 2 AP scores are useless, but how heavily are they considered for admission? I earned A's in both classes. Should I take the SAT again? I was planning on stocking up on subject tests instead.</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any help. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Brandeis and Case Western don't have pretty campuses. You can do better than Stonehill, UMD, James Madison, and Northeastern (you had it under "reaches"--did you mean NorthWESTern?)</p>

<p>Villanova, BC, Notre Dame, Lehigh, and Bucknell are all fine schools, but they don't leap to mind when someone requests a "diverse, open-minded, and intellectual" student body.</p>

<p>Even people in New Jersey don't want to go to Rutgers. Even people in Mass. don't want to go to UMass. Even people in NY don't want to go to SUNY-Anywhere.</p>

<p>Add Clark U in Worcester Mass and Kenyon as a safeties. Also, U of South Carolina is HUGE in international business and would be a nice safety if that is really a field you are interested in.</p>

3

<p>Reach: Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn</p>

<p>Match:C-Mellon, Emory, Davidson, Virginia, UNC, W & Mary, Haverford, Carlton, Grinnell, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Oberlin, Tufts, NorthWESTern, Chicago, Cornell, Hopkins.</p>

<p>Safety: South Carolina, Kenyon, Clark,Elon, Delaware, Richmond,</p>

4

<p>Check out Michigan. It is generally considered the top Anthropology department in the nation and its Economics department and Business program aren't too shabby either. </p>

<p>It more than meets all of your criteria save one. It is on the large side, but given its vast resources, you can pretty much accomplish anything.</p>

5

<p>Kenyon has become much more selective in recent years. It's not a safety anymore; it's more a match. </p>

<p>Virginia, UNC and W&M may be more reaches for out of state students. </p>

<p>Cornell is not a match for anyone, given its low admit rates. Cornell is also very large, in student body (13,500 undergraduates) and in campus size (one of the largest physical plants in the country). Haverford, on the other hand, has about 1100 undergraduates. It's unusual for those two schools to be on the same student's list. </p>

<p>Chicago, from what I understand, does not have a beautiful campus. It's a much more urban type of campus. I think, given your SAT scores, that Tufts, Hopkins and Chicago are high match/reach schools for you.</p>

<p>Ignore TourGuides comments about Rutgers and UMass. Many students do want to go there and if there's something intriguing about those schools, keep pursuing them.</p>

6

<p>Chedva gives some pretty strange advice above. Ajlpenguin has distinct cirteria, has dozens of schools on her list, and needs to thin them out. With her superb class rank and good SATs, she can afford to be picky. The first two that need to go are UMass and Rutgers, both of which have been a last resort for in-staters for decades. UMass is anything but beautiful. Rutgers not much better.</p>

<p>Chedva also seems to think a "match" is one that is almost certain to grant admission. When in fact a "match" is one for which the applicant is definitely in the game, admissions-wise. Therefore, the only reaches would be Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn. She's DEFINITELY in the game at Cornell. No way it's a REACH. Same with Hopkins, Chicago, and Tufts.</p>

<p>Chevda is right about out-of-state admissins at UVa, UNC and W&M being tough, but she's definitely in the game at those. </p>

<p>Chicago has beautiful buildings and a lot of land. It's not an urban university in the same style of Boston U and NYU.</p>

7

<p>i think that uve got a good chance at everywhere besides penn, columbia, and dartmouth, just b/c of ur SAT scores combined with the fact you're asian. jhu, but ur sat scores aren't as strong, and being asian prob wont help. i dont think your ap scores are bad, but if i were you i would try to work on my SAT scores...</p>

8

<p>The admissions penalty for being Asian seems to often be a result of so many Asians wanting to major in engineering or the "hard" sciences. It probably won't hurt her as much if she's intending to major in anthropology, econ, or international biz/marketing. In fact in something like anthropology it might even help her, as (correct me if I'm wrong) it's not a common major for Asians. I recall one poster on collegeconfidential mentioning that his engineering classes at Duke were heavinly Asian, yet in his humanities classes (history, philosophy, etc.) there were very very few Asians. Admissions people seem to like to reward the unexpected--the football player who wants to major in engineering, etc.</p>

9

<p>U.Va. and W&M are probably both reaches, not matches.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the input! I figured I might be at a disadvantage as an Asian with lower math SAT scores, but I'm hoping my non-science interests will counterbalance that. </p>

<p>I'm still working on the list, but I've eliminated a few (JMU, Northeastern [wrong direction, haha], Stonehill, and UMD. </p>

<p>How would you suggest I narrow my reaches? I doubt I'll be able to visit many of them (except Cornell, UVA, and UPenn). Do Hopkins and UChicago seem more reasonable then Dartmouth and Columbia? I'm afraid of choosing/eliminating the wrong schools.</p>

11

<p>CASE is in Cleveland. CLEVELAND ROCKS!</p>

<p>... i know, very helpful</p>

12

<p>You want small-to-medium with a pretty campus. So how are UMass and Rutgers still on the list?</p>

<p>Carlton is a fine school, but it's also much farther away than any of the others, and has much colder winters than the others, if either of those things matter to you.</p>

<p>Case Western: not pretty.</p>

<p>Hopkins and Chicago would indeed be easier to get into than Dartmouth and Columbia.</p>