Help with where to Apply

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey, I'm a white male from MD with the following stats:</p>

<p>UW GPA: 4.0
WGPA: 4.67
SAT: 2270 (M-770, CR-730, W-770)
SATII: Taking MathII and World History in June</p>

<p>APs: U.S. Gov't - 5
Currently taking English Language, Calculus BC, World History and Physics C
Senior year I'll be taking Environmental, English Lit and U.S. History (Along with Multi-variable)</p>

<p>ECs:
Bass Guitar-
*Play in a yearly school show (9, 10, 11, 12)
*Pit Orchestra (11, 12)
*Jazz Band (11, 12)
*Symphony Orchestra (9)</p>

<p>Newspaper-
*Hopefully, Editor-in-Chief as a Senior
*Online and Print Section Editor (11)
*Staff Reporter (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>I serve as one of seven Youth Commissioners on my county's Commission on Children and Youth (11, 12)</p>

<p>Clubs:
National Honor Society (11, 12)
*President (12)
Peer Mediation (11, 12)
Spanish Honor Society (10, 11, 12)
Science Honor Society (11, 12)
Mu Alpha Theta (11, 12)
Tri-M (11, 12)</p>

<p>I'm not looking for a chance thread, but instead an evaluation of the schools I'm considering applying to and any other schools I should consider. So far, I'm thinking about:</p>

<p>University of Maryland (Safety)
UVA
UNC
Hopkins
Cornell
Penn</p>

<p>Do I need more matches, more safeties or more reaches?</p>

<p>Also, I'm considering majoring in English but with a minor in bio to put me on a pre-med track. With that in mind, would a school like carnegie mellon be good for me? or hopkins even?</p>

2

<p>You look good, but is there a reason why you’ve ruled out LACs? What about the smaller universities like Brown? I tend to think English majors (among others) particularly benefit from the small, interactive classes that LACs specialize in.</p>

3

<p>It looks like you have your one safety (if you are willing to attend it - otherwise it’s not a safety). You should be competitive for all the rest but they all may be selective enough to make them reaches. I think you need to look at matches. Are you a NMF?</p>

4

<p>@ M’s Mom - Well, I visited Haverford, where a lot of my family has gone, and I just couldn’t get used to such a small school. I want a lot of people around me I guess.</p>

<p>@ Erin’s Dad - What’s a school that you would say is a match? We find out if we’re semi-finalists in September, but I don’t think I will be. The cutoff for Maryland has hovered around 220 and I got a 219. I’ll be commended though.</p>

5

<p>2nd page bump</p>

6

<p>Being from Maryland with good but not exceptional stats, I’d say your range of schools is solid but could do with a few less competitive options as well as a few more schools of the same caliber–William and Mary, Washington and Lee, Wake Forest, etc (I’m erring on the Southern side for some reason).</p>

7

<p>thanks glasses</p>

8

<p>Since you could potentially go to med school you should strive to keep your undergrad costs down. You can look here for some schools: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Thanks Erin’s Dad that’s really helpful</p>

10

<p>any other ideas?</p>

11

<p>I agree that you have to love your safety. And IMO, Hopkins, Cornell, and Penn are reaches for EVERYONE, so you need to consider them bonuses and have a selection of matches you love.</p>

<p>Also, apply early action wherever you can get ready! It is great to be accepted and take colleges off the list, and if you get rejected early you can rethink your app or rethink your choices.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

12

<p>Would University of Michigan be a “match?”</p>

13

<p>I think that Michigan would be a match. I would add a few more matches, as most of your schools can be unpredictable. Some suggestions:
Lehigh
Brandeis
Richmond
Emory
Vanderbilt</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

14

<p>Thanks, these are all really good ideas. The thing is, I feel like at a lot of these matches (excluding like Emory, Vanderbilt and Michigan) I wouldn’t be getting a much better education than at Maryland. For example, would any school between UVA and UMD (I don’t mean to put so much reliance on rankings, but it is the only way I know how to quantify tiers) be worth the extra tuition? At what point is it better to just goto a cheaper school if I can’t get into my reaches?</p>

15

<p>Haverford is the smallest LAC—maybe try looking at the bigger ones (Middlebury, Wesleyan) because 1000 students makes a difference. Or Amherst which is almost adjacent to U. Mass. I agree with the point that LACs can have some advantages for English majors.</p>

16

<p>Really haha I didn’t know that. Maybe I shouldn’t have blown off visiting Swarthmore later that day. What kind of advantages specifically? I just can’t see myself at college smaller than my high school, to be honest. Especially for a major I could easily end up changing.</p>

17

<p>Thanks, these are all really good ideas. The thing is, I feel like at a lot of these matches (excluding like Emory, Vanderbilt and Michigan) I wouldn’t be getting a much better education than at Maryland. For example, would any school between UVA and UMD (I don’t mean to put so much reliance on rankings, but it is the only way I know how to quantify tiers) be worth the extra tuition? At what point is it better to just goto a cheaper school if I can’t get into my reaches?</p>

18

<p>anymoreeee</p>