<p>SATS--Math: 740; CR: 770; Writing: 760
SAT IIs--Math I: 730; US History: 740; Bio: 760
GPA: 3.7 unweighted
Taking all AP and honors classes offered, very competitive private school in the northeast
Caucasian female
Very good extracurriculars, I'm not going to go into specifics but they're strong and pretty unique</p>
<p>REACH
Princeton
Penn
Williams</p>
<p>MATCH
Georgetown
Colgate
BC</p>
<p>SAFETY
Holy Cross
Villanova
Bucknell</p>
<p>Do you think my list makes sense with my stats? Any changes I should make?</p>
<p>The SAT scores are very good, the GPA is less so...since your ethnicity/nationality isn't anything special, it would really depend on just how strong and unique these extracurriculars are...</p>
<p>While you have a good shot, unless you have a strong "hook", Bucknell, Villanova and Holy Cross are not safeties. I am very familiar with most of the schools on your list and you are competing with many other strongly credentialed candidates. What will set you apart is demonstrating sincere interest in your essays, during your visits and any other Admissions contact you may have.</p>
<p>Depending on where you rank (colleges know even if your school does not officially rank), your matches may really be reaches and you're safeties matches considering the competition this year.</p>
<p>At our E. Coast private, several with stats similar to yours did not get into Gtown last year.</p>
<p>We must have more grade inflation, 3.7 at our schools is just past top 10% most years. You clearly have a good chance for many schools on your list, just be sure you would be happy with what you have on the safety list, just in case.</p>
<p>I really think you have a great chance at your "safeties" but they are competitve schools and they are also schools that look carefully at the candidate beyond numbers. My daughter just graduated from a top NE private highschool and a classmate of hers was admitted to Georgetown, Emory and Carnegie Mellon but not Bucknell or Colgate.</p>
<p>I think you have a good chance of getting into at least one of your reach schools and a couple of your matches. And, unless you get weird recommendations from your teachers and guidance counselor, you'll walk into your safeties. To add to this list, you might consider University of Rochester, Lafayette, Lehigh, Trinity and Connecticut College. </p>
<p>I disagree completely with kaleigh3 regarding HC, Villanova and Bucknell. While they are highly regarded and competitive schools, they will only see only a small number of applicants with your SAT scores. Your scores are well above their 25-75% range. Also your GPA is unweighed in a tough private school. Given the high number of AP courses you've taken, your weighted average will be much higher. </p>
<p>You are in very good shape and have selected well. Best of luck!!</p>
<p>BalletGirl, the fact that the OP has scores above the middle 50 percentile does not guarantee admission. Adcoms keep a close eye on both admission and yield rates, so they will not dish out acceptance letters willy nilly. If you show interest in the school through the supplemental materials coupled with high sat scores and a high gpa, then you certainly have a good shot at being accepted at HC, Villanova, Bucknell, etc. Otherwise, you're likely to be waitlisted.</p>
<p>The girl we know who was rejected from Bucknell and Colgate had SAT scores in the same range as the OP... she visited but viewed Bucknell and Colgate as safeties and I am guessing that may have been reflected in her applications. My point still stands, schools based on a strong sense of community are evaluating much more than numbers.</p>
<p>I agree that those 3 school are not true safeties. I know my nephew was waitlisted last year at Villanova and Bucknell, but was admitted to Colgate and rejected at Holy Cross. His UW GPA was higher than yours and his test scores were slightly lower--I think he had a 31 or 32 ACT. Lots of APs and lots of EC's. While chances are that you are probably admissible at Villanova and Bucknell, I would call them high matches. A true safety is one that you would be happy attending and that you are about the 75% range of test scores. A private school may make the difference for you.</p>
<p>Again, assuming she shows interest through her applications. This is patently obvious. </p>
<p>There are lots of anecdotal stories of this kid or that kid "not getting in with these SAT scores". I'd, instead, play the averages. The process isn't that random or idiosyncratic. If it were and if you believe that it is, than it would argue strongly for applying to a much larger number of schools. </p>
<p>And there is also something of an infinite regress in the argument that strong applicants applying to safeties might not get in because of concerns about yield. Ths argument is then you should target less selective schools. But will that not trigger even greater concerns about yield (with a greater discrepancies between an applicant and a school's median)?</p>
<p>Given that the OP attends a competitive private school, his/her college office has an inkling of which colleges said private school is a "feeder school" for.....It may have great admissions records with Georgetown (as Delbarton in NJ does) and not so great with others....that is what generally distinguishes privates from publics.</p>
<p>kaliegh: your D's friend's experience is not that much of a surprise coming out of a private school; Emory and Georgetown BOTH tend to take primarily from their private feeders.....I have not heard that as much from Bucknell and Colgate (even though they do accept from a multitude of private schools....)</p>
<p>There is nothing random about the process. If it were all about numbers than the process would be fully computerized. </p>
<p>My guess is that the OP probably has much more to her resume than numbers and she will be admitted to her "safeties" and maybe a few of her match and reach schools. My message is just a caution. From what I have seen you cannot treat schools like Bucknell, Villanova and Holy Cross as safeties. Using Bucknell as an example, the OP is within the 50% range of SAT scores for Math and a bit higher for Verbal... Writing is not considered. Her GPA is slightly higher than the average (3.62) but it needs to be without a "hooK". </p>
<p>Another consideration is the economy... will the economy change the Admissions rates to schools with a high price tag?</p>
<p>Rodney - You're probably right about the private school factor at Emory and Georgetown... our private school does great with some really top-ranked schools but for some reason Bucknell and Colgate are not as well-represented.</p>
<p>I believe that for this candidate these are appropriate safety schools. She may need more of them, but she is nearly certain to get into one or more schools of this kind. </p>
<p>Let's review the bidding here:</p>
<p>The OP has combined SATs of 2270 which places her, according to College Board's own statistics, in the 99+ percentile of all female test takers (2006 data).</p>
<p>If you look just at her math and verbal scores combined, she is at 1510, which places well above schools like Bucknell whose mid-50% median is 1230 1400.</p>
<p>She goes to a rigorous private school, has taken the toughest courses including many APs and has a very good unweighted GPA (for this kind of school). She has high scores on her SATIIs, in part, a reflection of the quality of her high school.</p>
<p>There is nothing arrogant in the OP's note and I take her at her word that her ECs are compelling. </p>
<p>I assume her letters of recommendation will be strong and that she'll show the requisite love to her "safeties".</p>
<p>This women is a decent candiate for an Ivy League school. I think she is in easily at Bucknell, Villanova and Holy Cross. </p>