<p>We are down to the crunch with college applications and my daughter is still undecided where to apply realistically. Her dream would be to go to Yale. However, reading these forums makes me believe that she has little chance of getting in. We need some suggestions on "safety schools" to apply for. My daughter has worked very hard all of these years in school and it would be a shame if she ended up at a state school (my husband and I attended state schools, so no offense intended). Please give suggestions. She wants "the college experience" as well as a superior education. She is not the party type, but is social and has strong Christian values. Here are some of her stats:</p>
<p>Graduates June 07
Ranked #8 in her class of 532(top 1%) CA Dinstinguished school
GPA=4.52
SAT= 1900
5 AP classes taken with grade=A, passed all exams, scored 4 or more on 4 exams
Several Community service hours, but no CS awards to put on application
Involved in several clubs, some w/ leadership roles
Leaning toward business major (undecided)</p>
<p>Have you looked at the College books such as Fiske Guide to Colleges and Princeton Review's Best 361 Colleges? Also Loren Pope's Colleges that Change Lives which profiles a number of smaller, less selective colleges that offer excellent undergrad experiences. Can she take the SATs again in January, because her 1900 could hold her back compared to her cumulative average, class rank and APs? If she could bring it up, it could help alot to broaden her choices. </p>
<p>Has your guidance counselor offered any suggestions? Does your school have any kind of Naviance type system that helps you see where graduates are getting in?</p>
<p>Start by asking her to think about the type of school she's looking for. Where would she like to attend school geographically? What size of school does she want? Are sororities important? Does she want a place that is very focused on business (like Babson College)? Does she want a place that has alot of internships or the coop experience? Drexel and Northeastern come to mind. </p>
<p>There's so many wonderful schools out there that I think it is more an issue of finding the right vibe for her in terms of size, geography, and course offerings- so I would start with those parameters.</p>
<p>The Princeton Review website has a good quiz, counselor-o-matic i think it's called. It lists the students match, reach, and safety schools based on the students test scores, GPA, ect.</p>
<p>Yes, it would be such a shame if she ended up at a school like UVA, UNC, Michigan, Texas, Cal /sarcasm
Why does everyone think state schools are such crap? My mom went to an Ivy, my dad to a second rate state school. Guess who makes more money? Not my mom. <strong>Yawn</strong></p>
<ol>
<li> How big a school does she want?</li>
<li> In what part of the country?</li>
<li> What is the total of her two principal SATs without the writing? That 1900 seems to lag a bit behind her grades.</li>
<li> I went to Yale. My daughter is now at UVA. UVA is a wonderful school as are a number of the other publics. Wonderful! It has done great things for her. Next year she will be in a law school that many Ivy grads would kill to get into. You need to expand your horizons a bit.</li>
</ol>
<p>We live in CA, so she has applied to UCLA and UC Berkley. She wanted to go to an east coast school to experience that way of life, and after visiting Boston she liked Boston College and Harvard. UT Austin is also a consideration since dad is an Alumni and we visited there as well. What is your opinion on her chances at any of these schools?
(forgot to mention she has been working at Starbucks since Jr year)</p>
<p>Yes, her SAts are low for her. She took them twice and only improved a little. She is very studious and does well in school, but standardized testing never has reflected that for her (some people just don't fit in the box for these types of tests)</p>
<p>No offense meant to state schools and their education, but her dad and I went to states because it was all we could afford, we have saved hard to offer her more options than we had.</p>
<p>She should be very competitive for BC but Harvard is a big reach. There are a bunch of good schools in the midwest if she is inclined to look at the plains area.</p>
<p>In East, New England, I would suggest as top flight schools and easier than Yale to get into, but still difficult: Amherst, Williams, Middelbury (beautiful!).
A bit easier to get into: Bowdoin and Colby. A good bit easier to get into: Bates, Hamilton, Colgate.
All of these are substantially smaller than Yale, Harvard, and BC. For a school of that size and not a public, you may have to look in a broader geographic area. Starting at the most difficult to get into level and working down a little bit, I might suggest: Northwestern, Cornell, Notre Dame, Georgetown, maybe Wake Forest. For safer than those, my picks would get small again or public.</p>
<p>Here is another small one that may fit the bill and is a good bit easier to get into than most of those listed: Denison in Ohio. It has a VERY New England feel to it. The area was settled by New Englanders. It is an unusual setup, although very attractive; it is essentially built on a mountainside. Definitely a change of pace from California and not in the least like a large public U..</p>
<p>Question: When you say 1900 SATs- how does that break out? Is it evenly distributed or is she strong in one area and much weaker in another? It could make a difference. </p>
<p>Question: Has she taken any SAT IIs and if so, how did she do on them? If not, take note that some schools require them. </p>
<p>Question: Which AP classes did she take- in which subjects?</p>
<p>I think that that Cornell, Northwestern and Georgetown are very competitive and would not be considered safe at all. Middlebury, Amherst and Williams are extremely selective, as are Bowdoin and Colby. These are also very liberal artsy schools and I don't know if they have much of a business slant. I think A BIG issue for you is finding schools that offer business. </p>
<p>GWU would be alot safer than Georgetown. Actually- I would recommend checking GWU out- it has alot to offer. </p>
<p>Hi. And by the way, I want to thank you for your advice, its been really helpful!
When I say 1900, it breaks down to:
650 Critical Reading
660 Math
590 Writing</p>
<p>My SAT IIs are:
590 Literature
640 Biology</p>
<p>An my mom was wrong when she posted some of my information concerning my AP tests, which are:
AP Art History- 3
AP English Lang- 3
AP Biology- 4
AP Psychology- 5</p>
<p>I also dont think she mentioned anything about my interest in art. One career that I am considering along with Business, is Graphic Design. Do you know of any good Graphic Design schools? Or schools that include both Business and Graphic Design since I cant decide between the two?</p>
<p>WestchesterM. is correct about most schools I noted not being business oriented. For business, Penn/Wharton would be a good addition. Notre Dame and Georgetown also would work well for business - and otherwise.
The schools I noted above are very selective - in order I put them, but, believe me, they are all less selective than Yale.
Lastly, your SAT breakout is good news. Most schools are paying very little attention at this point to the new writing SAT - your lowest. Your 1310 on the other two is still marginal at many of these schools, however. Your wonderful grades will hopefully help with/offset that. Good luck. PS - a great additon to your list if your parents could overcome their feeling about public U's would be the University of Virginia and its general or business programs.</p>
<p>But I don't think 1310 will cut it at Penn/Wharton. </p>
<p>Your grades are high but without knowing more about your school and where the val etc end up, it's hard to put them in context. For example, the val of an HS near me in Westchester County, NY- known for its excellent schools- was not accepted to any of the Ivies. Your standardized testing works against you unfortunately. I don't think Harvard is a possibility unless you have something really unusual going for you in your extracurriculars. </p>
<p>Realistically, GWU with a 25%/75% range of 1860-2090 is more of a match and they do have a good school of business. GWU does offer a Fine Arts major but not Graphic Arts. </p>
<p>Graphic Arts + Business? Tricky- it's hard to think of schools that have both. I do think you should look at some of the state Unis because they are often large enough to offer an extremely wide range of majors. </p>
<p>For Graphic Arts, the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan comes to mind, but they will not have Business.</p>
<p>LOL Javafreek, not only are there state schools that cost as much as private schools, but there are state schools that are much better than private schools. I understand how few (if any) state schools will match up to ivies, but it doesn't sound like your daughter doesn't have a chance anyway, and there are many state schools that match the caliber of a place like BC. Michigan, for example, has an amazing business school, often ranked second to Wharton.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your advice. My daughter has read these posts and is checking out all of your suggestions.
I want to clarify what I meant by "state schools"- in CA we have Cal State schools and University of CA schools. We usually refer to Cal State schools as "state schools" and the latter as "UC". Cal states, while there is nothing wrong with them, in general are more crowded, largely commuter schools, and less of the college experience that my daughter would like. That is what Imeant by State schools. I was not referring to the UC system.
Honestly, as a mom I would prefer she attended a good UC school and not be so far away, but that's part of the process of letting your children spread their wings :)</p>
<p>I wanted to suggest checking out Temple University in Philadelphia. It has a well regarded art school which I believe offers a major in graphic design, and a business school. It's a well rounded private university so that would offer your daughter alot of flexibility to pursue her interests.</p>