how do u find reasonable reaches?

College Search & Selection
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<p>
[quote]
for a little background, my SAT score is 2020 [hoping to get a 30 + on the ACT] but my grades pretty much suck [mostly Bs with a few scattered As in a competitive high-stress school environment, & taking a very difficult course-load (my gc told me she would make a point of emphasizing all of this for me )]. oh & i have a few ECs which show a passion, i believe.

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<p>What is your SAT breakdown? What is your class rank, roughly? Are you in the top 50%? What SAT IIs have you taken? What APs have you taken? What are you interested in? (Not languages, apparently. Since when is it news that languages are a core academic subject? :rolleyes: ) Without that kind of info it is hard to say.</p>

<p>Look at Kenyon, for example: the middle 50% of their CR range is 620-730, M 610-690, W 620-710, ACT composite 27-32. 58% graduated in the top 10%, 87% in the top 20%, 99% in the top 50%. (These stats are a couple years old.) Judging by the info you've given so far, I would say that Kenyon would be a low reach for you. Your SATs are okay for them, nothing stellar.</p>

<p>You mention Northeastern. It looks as if your SATs might put you just into their top 25%, but again, 38% graduated in the top 10%, 76% graduated in the top 25%, and 95% graduated in the top 50%. That means that if you are below the top quarter of your class, you are in the bottom 25% for Northeastern in terms of class rank and grades.</p>

<p>You mention BU. BU is more selective than Northeastern. Over 50% graduated in the top 10% of their class. It sounds as if your SATs might be about at the 75% mark for them, but you aren't in their top 25%.</p>

<p>In sum, depending on your class rank, unless you bring your grades up significantly this year and during the first semester next year, I would not consider either of these schools matches/safeties. Maybe low reaches/matches. Of course, if you are attending a known powerhouse magnet school kind of place--Stuyvesant, TJ, Boston Latin--that would help. If your school has Naviance data, it could help you refine your expectations also.</p>

<p>How this plays in is hard to say:</p>

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[quote]
i kind of am a URM. like, i would consider myself 'other' but anyone could do that, technically

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<p>I think you need to look for some true safeties--and don't forget financial safeties also. Usually people look to their state schools for that. Would that work for you? People would need to have more information about what you want and can afford in order to point you in the direction of suitable schools.</p>

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<p>"There are colleges which function like selective schools but which are not safeties for Ivy League applicants and therefore can be somewhat selective but with a lower level of scores. Find them and get happy."
i guess this is what i'm looking for : D</p>

<p>breakdown of my SAT [taken once] :
cr-640 :\
m-690
wr-690 [essay-9]</p>

<p>i have not taken any sat 2s thus far, but by the end of the year i will have taken bio & ush, & maybe math 2. my goal would be high 600s-700s in each of them : )
as for the act [i think i mentioned this maybe?] but i predict at least a 30 in 1 sitting, but i want to take it multiple times, so it might come closer to a 32.</p>

<p>as far as financial concerns go, money isn't really an issue. i'm an only child, so yepp.</p>

<p>i'm looking to do some sort of psych./bio. combo. in my studies btw.
also, i have no idea about my rank/if my school even does that...do all schools do? i've never heard any one talk about it in my school before, heh. and i wonder, does it compare weighted or unweighted grades?..it really is hard for me to guess, b/c i go to school with so many competitive kids, so i'm at a pretty big disadvantage i guess :&lt;/p>

<p>btw, my mom went to northeastern if that changes anything. but kenyon's ranges sound great. i guess i would need to find similar-ranged schools, maybe closer to a big city..</p>

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<p>With regard to SAT scores, how do admissions officers look at large differences between verbal and math? Does the student's intended major make a difference?</p>

<p>While she'll be taking it again in the fall (she's a junior now) and hopefully improving, right now she has a 690 Math, 600 CR, and (ouch!), 540 writing. But she'll be a Bio major. (I just can't fathom how she is NOT a reader with me as a mother, but that's another story.) </p>

<p>We're not looking for Ivy league or anything... But if she's solidly in the top 25% with that 690 in math, is it a huge reach if she's in the middle on the verbal?</p>

<p>On another subject, are more B's in AP classes "forgiven" so to speak, if the student takes and passes the AP exam, or does that not matter?</p>

<p>(3.7 UW GPA, 3.82 W - She'll have 5 AP classes by the time she's done, and as a rule, her honors or AP classes are 4-5 of her 6 classes a semester - her school is skimpy on weighting.)</p>

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<p>bumpbumpbump</p>

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<p>bumpity bump.
:/</p>

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<p>
[quote]
i'm looking to do some sort of psych./bio. combo. in my studies btw.
also, i have no idea about my rank/if my school even does that...do all schools do? i've never heard any one talk about it in my school before, heh. and i wonder, does it compare weighted or unweighted grades?..it really is hard for me to guess, b/c i go to school with so many competitive kids, so i'm at a pretty big disadvantage i guess :\

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<p>Whether or not your school weights or ranks, they will send something called a "profile" to colleges with your transcript. This is the context in which colleges will evaluate your transcript and GPA. Typically, the profile will show the grade distribution in last year's class. It will also describe the available courses, how many AP exams are taken, what colleges kids attend, and so forth. (Exactly how it is done varies--for example our HS, which is fatally addicted to modesty only lists colleges actually attended by last year's class, while the next town over lists every school kids were accepted at in the last few years--but you get the idea.) I suggest you take a look at your school's profile, and see where your GPA stacks up according to that info. You will probably be able to find it on your school's web site. </p>

<p>
[quote]
btw, my mom went to northeastern if that changes anything. but kenyon's ranges sound great. i guess i would need to find similar-ranged schools, maybe closer to a big city..

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<p>I'd suggest that you take a look at Connecticut College, which is also in that ballpark but less remote. You might want to consider the College of Wooster as a safety.</p>

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<p>bumping this old thread of mine : D</p>

<p>like i said before, i would like to go into bio or psych. however, most of my ECs throughout high school have been related to volunteering/education/literacy/working with kids, type of thing. so if i were to mark 'education' as my major, might this put me at an advantage in the admissions process, seeing as though my ECs are pretty 'focused' in that area?</p>

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<p>really? no one?</p>

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<p>I was reading a book by a former Harvard admissions officer, Chuck Hughes last evening. He made quite a case for how important it is that your school push for you through your guidance counselor and your teacher recommendations. No need to make a big deal about it. Just start a dialog with them about what hopes they have for you and openly compare what they say with what hopes you have for yourself. You have to start with what they think about you and bring that to a place where you can recognize yourself in what they are saying.</p>

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<p>okay, that sounds good. i really need to build a relationship with my GC especially, cause she's new this year :/</p>