I have about 40+ schools now and that’s a long way seeing that I had 100+ before. And my criteria is soooo strict so I don’t understand why I still have 40+! How can I make the final list of about 9/10 or even less ? I like them all 
I do have safety , match and reach schools in the list too
List them out here and tell us what you want/need in a school as well as your stats. A bunch of people here would be more than happy to help you chop a good amount. I cant imagine people having 40 schools on their list!
Check affordability first. See if that cuts any from the list to start with.
To borrow from another discussion…delete colleges that have a
building named after a person who did something shameful. That should narrow the field quickly.
How many of the 40 have you visited?
Try to visit as many schools as you can. That can definitely help you narrow them down
A few characteristics that sometimes you don’t realize are important until you are enrolled:
How compact and conveniently designed the campus is. It really doesnt matter how many acres the campus is…it’s more important how far the dorms you are likely to live in are from the academic buildings you are likely to study in…that’s the distance that you will be dealing with most days. Is that distance too far? Too hilly? Do you have to take a bus?
Quarters vs. semesters…do you have a strong preference?
Does the school have an odd-sounding or confusing name? Will you spend the rest of your life explaining to everybody that you went to Haverford, NOT Harvard? Do these things irritate you? Your college will be on every resume and will come up at most job interviews…if its name is ridiculous-sounding or confusing, is that a problem? For some people, yes; others, no.
Weather. You probably won’t be there in summer, so don’t let that bother you. But you will be outdoors a lot during the other seasons. Weather isn’t an abstraction…it’s real and can affect your mood and motivation.
Do you need to be near a major airport?
Is it important to have stores & restaurants next to campus? Walking distance from campus?
You’re an int’l student with modest stats and big dreams. You can eliminate schools just based on stats.
Will your parents pay full costs? If not, how much will they pay?
Depending on how much your family will pay, your list will change.
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Took it in June for the first time 11th grader, results today.
I am kind of disappointed with my score. One of my reach schools is UPenn and my score was 440 points from their average ! I know some colleges have a holistic admissions process and my ECs are strong but I really want to reach the goal of scoring ivy league average. Is it possible for me to get 440 more points next time? I am VERY dedicated and determined but I need some guidance as I am an international student in a British Overseas territory and the math section is SO different from the math we do. When should I retake? October , November?
I also did no preparation ( smart right?) as I had to focus on a level exams but when I did do it it was on Khan Academy and Method Test Prep… are these good resources?
My Score:
1060
Evidence Based Reading + Writing 600/800 ( It’s alright I guess but I can do better!)
Math ( it hurts to write this) 460/800
Essay: 6/4/6 Reading/Analysis/Writing
My PSAT score was way better! ( I think?)
PSAT Score: 1120
Evidence Based Reading + Writing 620
Math 500
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What’s your budget?
You have lots of schools here, so I’ll just mention that Syracuse was named the number one college town by Travel & Leisure magazine in 2014. Note, however, that SU does have somewhat of a reputation as a party school.
Nova SE, UNC Pembroke, and Georgia State are the least nationally recognized in my opinion. Elon has a good rep but also more regional given its location (although a Carolinian might say that of Quinnipiac). Both are about the same size too. You could drop the first 3 and either one of the 2 depending on your regional preference. With all those schools in Florida I’m guessing you like hot weather so maybe give up Quinnipiac? You’ll need to like cold and snow for Syracuse.
Given the range of selectivity, first determine which are your safeties that you know you be admitted to and know that you can afford.
Then eliminate all of the schools that are less desirable than the safeties.
Also eliminate all schools which are completely unrealistic to be admitted to.
Since you do not post any stats, no one else can help you determine what schools may be safeties and what schools may be unrealistic to be admitted to.
What academic programs are you interested in? You may want to check each school to see what each offers in your areas of academic interest. Most of your other stated preferences appear to be secondary criteria compared to the purpose of attending a university.
We really don’t know anything about you, so we can’t help you reduce your list.
In general, you want to make sure at least one of the 8 is a safety school, both academic and financial. You really don’t need more than 2 or 3 safeties.
Then you want at least 1 or 2 “matches”. Schools you are likely to get into and should be able to afford.
The rest can be reaches. Schools that you may not get into for academics (say Penn) or that you may not be able to afford (unless you’re awarded a scholarships). You don’t have to apply to any reaches, but you never know, and it doesn’t hurt (other than your pocketbook) to apply.
Good Luck!
You could cull by budgetary factors? Several of those are going to be out-of-state publics – which ones depend on where you live – and will therefore likely want you to pay full price, unless you have some automatic or fairly likely merit scholarship there to apply for.
Your previous posts indicate that you’re an international student with an SAT of 1060/1600 and you’re in a single parent household with a couple of siblings who will be entering college after you. How much can your mom pay per year? Start by deleting colleges based on stats, then delete the unaffordable schools.
Remove UC Riverside. If you are an International applicant, you will not receive any financial aid and will be expected to pay close to $55K/year to attend. One school off your list…
Google the school’s Common Data Set. That will give you the middle 50% of each school’s SAT scores. If you are not near the 75th percentile you can remove the school from the list.
If the comment above about having a 1060 SAT is true you can remove UPenn, UMiami, Emory, Northeastern, UC Riverside, Villanova, and Boston U off your list.
- Eliminate unaffordable schools.
1A) Eliminate schools you won’t get into based on your academic stats. - Apply non-binding EA or rolling to schools and if you get in and they are affordable there is no need to apply to schools further down on your list.
- Don’t kid yourself – part of what Wharton is looking for is students with amazing academic stats – if you don’t meet that part of the test, the school does not “perfectly describe you”. If your SAT is in fact 1060 as noted above, move on mentally to schools that you have a chance at.
I will never understand the advice of eliminating the schools that “you won’t get into based on your academic stats.” Once you get to these schools you realize that stats were only one part of the equation and that students who were seemingly unqualified from a GPA/SAT perspective took their chances and got in anyway. If you eliminate every school you aren’t qualified for based on stats then what’s the point of including ‘reach’ schools at all? Obviously your college list should be heavily skewed towards schools you can probably get into – but having one super-reach (which Penn is a super-reach for every applicant, including people with perfect SATs and GPAS), isn’t going to ruin the world. A friend of mine had a woefully low SAT score (like didn’t break 2000/2400) and he got into Yale. He was an exceptional science student who was doing really great research (as compared to other high school students- but still meaningful research) and that was apparently something Yale cared about that year. Had he chosen not to apply because his SAT scores were to low he would have missed the opportunity to go to his dream school. Apply to a range of schools - including super-reaches if the application fee won’t impose a financial hardship on you and your family-- there is no real downside to trying as long as you keep the application process in perspective.
@PennCAS2014 This student reportedly has an SAT of 1050/1600 (avg of 525/section). That is a long way from your friend’s “woefully low” score of 2000/2400 (avg of 667/sec). Encouraging this kid to apply to Penn is not helpful.