<p>Ok, so I narrowed down my list to 8 schools and I wanted to check with all of you guys as to whether or not I'm too reach heavy, should reconsider some things, etc.
So here's my list:
Brown
Vassar
Yale
Northwestern
Stanford
Boston College
Tufts (probably not though)
SUNY Albany</p>
<p>Would you truly be happy to attend SUNY Albany? If so, the list looks good--top-heavy, sure, but not unmanageably risky. But if not, you need to find a safety that you really do love.</p>
<p>Some of those schools are really different from each other. I think the atmosphere at Stanford, NU, and BC is significantly different from that at Brown and Vassar. Is it a good mix, you ask? Yes, but I don't know if a "mix" is the best way to approach college apps, you know?</p>
<p>And I agree with Keilexandra, SUNY Albany sticks out from that list. It's so far behind any of your other options - it's unlikely that it would come down to that, but even so, you should try to find a safety you can love, not just an "ehh, I won't need it anyway" type school. :)</p>
<p>Thanks you guys for the replies! I realize that SUNY Albany sticks out like a sore thumb, but I was going crazy finding a safety that I could fully see myself attending. If anyone has any suggestions as to what might be a good safety for me, please let me know.</p>
<p>And to Highopes, I know it might seem odd that I would include Brown/Vassar along with BC and Stanford but I can easily picture myself at both a small liberal arts college and a major research university. I know it seems a bit odd, but I'm pretty versatile. </p>
<p>LACs: Think about schools in the Midwest like Grinnell, Macalester, Beloit, Knox. It would also help if we knew more information about you--major, preferences, etc.</p>
<p>^Sure. Well, I'm thinking about a possible major in international relations. But I'm also interested in psychology (yeah, totally unrelated, I know). I'm also interested in languages, but definitely wouldn't want to major in one. I also kind of like math lol and surprisingly had a lot of fun during precalc honors this year and am looking forward to Calc BC. (I'm very sporadic in my interests)
I'd rather avoid colleges that are known to be very conservative. I'm a pretty liberal guy myself. (I know that BC gets a bad rap for being "intolerant" but that's not the impression I got when I visited). </p>
<p>I'm not a huge fan of the midwest personally and wouldn' really like being in Minnesota or Iowa, etc (Even though NU is in the midwest, its right there by Chicago, which is great)</p>
<p>I don't necessarily want to be in a big city, but having close proximity to one is nice (like how Stanford and Vassar have relatively easy access to San Francisco and NYC respectively)
Since this is a safety school we're talking about, I'm not sure how far I'd be willing to go for it. I'd love to go all the way to California for example if it were Stanford I was going to, but I don't think I'd go so far for a safety. </p>
<p>As for greek life. I don't really have any strong feelings towards it. I don't mind if a college has no greek life at all or if 30% of the campus is involved. As long as there's no overbearing pressure to join, I'm alright. </p>
<p>Um, I can't really think of anything else right now, but if I do I'll be sure to let you all know. </p>
<p>BC definitely gets a bad rap. It's a Jesuit school, like Georgetown, and though most students are Catholic, it's a lot more open-minded than, say, Liberty University or something.</p>
<p>If you like IR, you might want to look into Johns Hopkins - not sure how JHU would fit into your list, but you might want to check them out.</p>
<p>If Brown and Yale are your realistic reaches, you should consider SUNY Binghamton or Geneseo for you safeties/matches. They are considered the best schools in the SUNY system. Your number is good. You should not have problem getting into either one.</p>