Help with "The List"--Safeties Wanted!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, </p>

<p>I’m a rising junior taking an early-ish semi-parentally prodded interest in college stuff. I’m an all-A’s student who maintained a 98 unweighted average in 9th and 10th grade, all honors classes. This year I’m in all honors again with 2 APs. I haven’t yet taken the SAT, but I did well on the PSAT (CR 80, M 63, W65) as a sophomore with no prior College Board test experience. I also took the World History SATII--710. ECs include a cappella group, Amnesty International president, student newspaper managing editor, church youth group leader, first violinist in regional youth orchestra, honors choir, NHS member, sailor, hiker, creative writer. I went to HOBY and have also attended a wilderness expeditions camp in the Four Corners area, which was fun and out of the ordinary. Next summer I plan to get a job/internship and take a college class at a local college. </p>

<p>First question: anything I can do to improve my EC list? I know I’m not really a standout candidate by any means. </p>

<p>Second, I’ve been getting mail because of the PSAT stuff for awhile now. I’ve visited several of the places and liked most of them: </p>

<p>Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Bryn Mawr
Haverford
Skidmore</p>

<p>I want to visit Colby, Bowdoin, Bates, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley, Brandeis, Dickinson, Hamilton, and possibly Mulhlenberg. Maybe Dartmouth, also. </p>

<p>Anyway, the bottom line is: I like small rural or suburban LACs (no preference women’s college vs. coed as of yet). The thing is, I see no good safeties on my list. Any advice? </p>

<p>Sorry for the long post. Thanks for your input!</p>

2

<p>wow, thats a lot of schools to visit.</p>

<p>what else do you like in a school?</p>

3

<p>Oh, yes, insignificant details. :-) I love a tight-knit community, noncompetitive but rigorous learning environment, a wide variety of organizations/interests, good freshman orientation system, gorgeous campus (rural/suburban), trust among students and between students and staff . . . umm, that's all I can think of right now. Oh, yeah, I also liked the idea of a 4-1-4 year for classes and all. Does that help?</p>

4

<p>i think you would definitely get into merrimack college. you could also look at beloit in wisconsin. and some west coast schools would be the university of puget sound, or lewis and clark college.</p>

5

<p>add carleton to match/reach</p>

6

<p>I think Skidmore would be pretty close to a safty for you. You might also like Goucher college in MD, which would certianly be a satfy for you. I also agree about Lewis+Clark.</p>

7

<p>You might consider Whitman for a low-match, and Davidson for a match/reach.</p>

8

<p>I think these might be considered safeties for you: Denison, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, Earlham, Wooster.</p>