<p>Don’t rule anything out. If you’ve been taking the most rigorous courses available to you, admissions committees will be more impressed if you get Bs than if you get As in easier courses. If you like the atmosphere at Tufts (or Rice, or any other school) and you think you would fit in there, go for it! Oftentimes, that fit is what ultimately determines whether or not we accept two students with similar academic records.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for other schools on this, but at Tufts, we have strictly need-based aid, and we meet 100% of each student’s demonstrated need, with the vast majority of that covered by grants. Ability to pay should never be a reason not to apply (or enroll, for that matter).</p>
<p>The thing is, I haven’t taken the most rigorous courses available to me, at least through Freshman & Sophomore year). One of the reasons I am in fact applying to Tufts is because of their generous need-based aid, as with WashU, Rice, etc. I have to go apply to schools where I’d get good merit aid in combination with decent need-based aid (Tulane, Case Western, etc.) or selective schools that meet 100% need (Rice, Tufts, WashU). Since I do plan on majoring in engineering, the school I go do does not matter very much - so I am probably going to pick the most affordable option.</p>
<p>If you’re a rising junior, make sure you do take the most rigorous courses available to you. Get in 3 -4 APs each of junior and senior year, do well, and you should be competitive for most of the schools you’re listing.</p>
<p>Alright. I am a rising senior, but I took 3 AP’s Junior year (AP Gov, AP Enviro, & AP English Language). I got A’s every time except second semester AP Gov. Senior year my schedule includes AP Chem, Physics 1, Human Geo, & English Literature. Hopefully you’re right about that!</p>
<p>You should review the stats of last year’s Rice freshman class to see how your class rank compares.
From the Rice website: 82% of the ranked freshmen were in the top 5% of their graduating class. (50% of students reported a class rank).
<a href=“Office of Admission | Rice University”>Office of Admission | Rice University;
Technically its still possible to get admitted, but the odds are difficult.</p>
<p>Remember that WashU likes local kids (pretty much all the elite privates exhibit a home bias, BTW), but CMU’s selectivity varies by major. I’d imagine engineering (CS even more so) is tougher than average to get in to at CMU.</p>
<p>Oh, and Lehigh is a fine engineering school.</p>
<p>Also, what are your test scores? I believe Vandy loves high test scores.</p>
<p>I got a 32 on ACT, 33 superscore. Yes - I have noticed on Naviance, WashU’s acceptance rate from my school is double its 17% acceptance rate. Maybe if I apply ED that will help me out, especially considering WashU superscores.</p>
<p>I think you may need to reevaluate applying to so many really selective schools, but there is no reason to assume it will “go in the trash.” (Most colleges don’t physically throw any applications anyway, many read them electronically) If schools say they use hollistic admissions, then I would take them for their word unless you have reason to believe otherwise. If you have something to show that you are worthy of the school, then one thing is not automatically going to keep you out. </p>
<p>Well, I’m only really applying to 3 “reaches”. WashU, Rice, & Tufts. (I took CMU off my list)</p>
<p>I would be safe calling Lehigh, Case Western, Tulane, Lafayette, and Rochester matches, right? Albeit some of them being higher than others. Nonetheless, I feel like I can be a bit more lenient since I have 2 safeties where I’d love to go.</p>
<p>Did you want to be an engineer? Tulane’s engineering offerings are limited. Lafayette is strong in the sciences but doesn’t have engineering, I believe (but Lehigh does). As for WashU, are they need-blind and full-need? I didn’t think they are.
They are on the list of no-loan schools, though (under a certain income):
<a href=“Loading...”>Loading...;
<p>Yeah, I’m planning on engineering - chemical engineering, specifically. I do have some other interests though. Of the engineering majors in general, I particularly like biomedical and chemical engineering, both majors which are offered at Tulane. I may also be interested in Public Health / Epidemiology, and Tulane has a public health school.</p>
<p>Lafayette does have engineering well, but I haven’t done enough research on how engineering degrees from LACs fare (even with ABET accreditation). I love the “lac vibe” but preferably in a research university, hence my love of Rice, Tufts, Rochester, etc.</p>
<p>I’ll wait to get a better idea of the campuses before I apply ED to anywhere, as well. I’m visiting this WashU this week and doing an interview. Only able to do that because WashU is local, of course. In the next few months I’d really like to arrange a trip to the east coast / out to the east so we can visit Lehigh, Lafayette, Case, Rochester, etc. Rice is sort of in the middle of nowhere in comparison to my other schools so I don’t know when we’ll have the time/oppurtunity to go to Texas. Probably won’t matter anyway, LOL</p>
<p>Wait, is your PSAT good enough for NMF? If so and you’d be happy with the AZ schools, might has well shoot for the moon. Drop the schools which you are lukewarm about (regardless of whether they are reaches or matches) and just apply to those schools you’re really excited about. After all, you can only attend one school and worse case is that you go to a school that you’re happy about. Note that I advise this strategy only if the first part is true.</p>
<p>If you look at the Common Data Set (C7 data point), rank is listed as “Very Important” for Wash U and Rice. In addition, the C9 data point indicates</p>
<p>So, your rank would seem to make Wash U and Rice as reaches. The University of Rochester does not publish their Common Data Set, but with a 35% acceptance rate, I would think URochester would be a target school.</p>
<p>FWIW: When a high school does not provide rank to colleges, Admissions Officers have to guess a student’s ranking. One way they do that is to line-up all applications from a school in rank-order and compare the course rigor of transcripts. They also compare data given by the high school in their profile, which sometimes groups students by distribution of Cumulative GPAs. For example, a college would instantly know where a Boston Latin High School student with a 4.1 GPA would place them in the class, even if the school did not supply specific ranking:
<a href=“http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2013-14%20BLS%20Profile.pdf”>http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2013-14%20BLS%20Profile.pdf</a></p>
<p>Both my kids attended a like school (Stuyvesant, which has a graduating class of about 900 students). I don’t have access to Stuy’s data anymore, but I remember noticing that HYPSM had not accepted one Stuy student with below a 94 average in the last 10 years, regardless of SAT/ACT scores. Although Stuy doesn’t provide ranking to colleges, I would guess that only the top 10% to 12% of students have a GPA of 94+. So, ranking does matter a lot to colleges, especially at powerhouse schools like Bronx Science or Exeter.</p>
<p>My PSAT scores aren’t good enough to be in line for any special award.</p>
<p>@sherpa would getting an eng degree from Lafayette (or any other LAC for that matter) offer me the same oppurtunities that an eng. from a reputable research university would? Of course I’m not expecting something like UIUC, MIT, UMich etc.</p>
<p>@gibby thank you for the helpful insight. The numbers are what worried me most - with 90% of the students in the top 10% of their HS classes, and the common data set says they really value it. Are WashU & Rice “out of reach” or are they still a “reach” within reason? I don’t want to bother applying if how I compare with my peers will be taken seriously enough to where I can’t be accepted because of it.</p>
<p>I know the next point is probably a topic for the college search forum, but do you guys know of any schools that have the same “feel” that Rice, WashU, Tufts, have but are not as selective? I love UChicago, unfortunately they are also way too selective and don’t have engineering. Schools like Rochester appeal to me, with a more intellectual vibe, greek life isn’t too big, and offers engineering but it’s not a “technical” school (ie. RIT, WPI, MOS&T).</p>