<p>Hi, so my college list so far looks like (in no order of preference:
1. Yale
2. Columbia
3. Princeton
4. Cornell
5. Boston U<br>
6. NYU
7. Penn State
8. Brown
9. University of Pennsylvania
10 . Stony Brook University </p>
<p>I know this looks like a hefty list of great colleges, but my parents said that they would only pay for a top school or a SUNY. My safety on here is stony brook and NYU (my guidance counselor told me he would be surprised if i did not get in). As for Boston U and Penn state, I'm applying to their accelerated med programs which is probably even more competitive than ivies. </p>
<p>Is this a good amount of colleges to apply to? Especially considering the colleges I'm applying for? </p>
<p>I don’t know your stats but I would add another SUNY to your list just in case.
I personally will be applying to around 12 to 15. But, your list is good as it is and you’ll probably get into at least three of those schools depending on your stats.</p>
<p>@xFirefirex
well, just in short,
my GPA is a 5.29/5.3 scale so basically a 3.99/4 (lol)
790 Bio M, will be taking chem and math II this year.
4 AP biology exam
I’m in all honors (mostly honors because my school doesn’t offer many APs up until senior year) and APs, besides history.
I will be taking the SATs this weekend.
Just to name a couple ECs: Time for Kindness Club, Builder’s Club, Varsity Tennis 4 years, Science Scholars (research program), volunteering at a hospital, band, and i paint/draw in my free time </p>
<p>I’m really hoping to get into Yale. It’s my dream school! 
</p>
<p>Those are really good, I’m sure you’ll get into Boston, Penn State, NYU, Sony Brook, and one or two of your reaches.
But Yale is my dream school too! I’ll be applying SCEA. How about you?</p>
<p>Applied to 17, although 9 were UC publics.</p>
<p>@Firexfirex Same!! Absolutely going to do SCEA for Yale. Best of luck to the both of us! </p>
<p>Without full stat, I cannot comment on your chance.</p>
<p>@chocolate108 yes! Best of luck to the both of us! Hopefully we both get in. You should message me if you want to talk more.</p>
<p>@xFirefirex Definitely! Hopefully we can both get in 
</p>
<p>Your list is too reach heavy - you can apply to that many reaches if you wish (reaches if only by virtue of insane admission rates, even SCEA) but you need to be more reasonable for matches and safeties.
You’d need two safeties (a school with admission rates above 40% that you know you can afford after running the NPCs) and at least 3 matches (a school with admission rates of at least 30%). </p>
<p>Another thing I don’t see is financial considerations: does that mean your parents can pay 65k out of pocket, without loans? Or do you need financial aid (need based can be had up to 180k a year at most of the schools on your list). Have you run the NPCs for each school? Each school calculates differently so you have to run the NPC for each. Then show the results to your parents. Most parents fall off their chair when they see the costs.</p>
<p>Do your parents realize how much these schools cost - when they say “we’ll only pay for Ivy or SUNY” have they checked the prices lately or expect you to earn merit money (these schools don’t offer merit money but many parents mistakenly assume so) or just say that to push you but don’t have a real idea of the cost? Don’t let them say “we’ll work it out”. You need an exact number before you start putting all that time and energy into applications and they need to think about it sooner than later. “we’ll work it out” inevitably leads to tears and heartbreak in the Spring, when parents say “Sorry, you got into your dream school but we can’t afford it”.</p>
<p>When they say Ivy, do they mean these 8 schools or would they accept the Little Ivies (ie., NESCAC schools)?</p>
<p>Would they consider NYU? If so, ask if adding Fordham would be acceptable (it’s the other “top school” in NYC). Depending on major, you may want to look at the CUNYs too.
At the very least, I’d add Geneseo and another SUNY (chosen on strength and comprehensiveness of the Honors Program) to your list, plus 2-3 LACs in the NY-PA-MD area. </p>
<p>Can your parents pay for Penn State? (46k OOS)
If so, you could also apply to the regular program and hope to get into Shreyer.
Don’t expect any money from them though, the only guaranteed money is 4k if you get into Shreyer.</p>
<p>Based on what we know here, you’re not out of the running based on academics, so what will make the difference is whether you’re national to international caliber in something or not, and even if you are your odds are only 30%.</p>
<p>I applied to 16 (in order of preference):</p>
<ol>
<li>Yale (Accepted --> Attending)</li>
<li> Columbia (Accepted)</li>
<li>Stanford (Accepted)</li>
<li>Dartmouth (Rejected)</li>
<li>UChicago EA (Deferred --> Rejected)</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna (Waitlisted)</li>
<li>Pomona (Accepted)</li>
<li>UPenn (Rejected)</li>
<li>Williams (Accepted)</li>
<li>Amherst (Accepted)</li>
<li>Bowdoin (Waitlisted)</li>
<li>Haverford (Accepted)</li>
<li>Davidson (Accepted)</li>
<li>Emory (Accepted)</li>
<li>Wash U (Waitlisted)</li>
<li>Cornell (Rejected)</li>
</ol>
<p>I really I didn’t think I had a chance at any of the top 5 schools (I don’t have amazing stats, I’m white, etc). I didn’t apply to any safeties – I would’ve been happy attending any of the schools on my list and figured the odds were in my favor that I’d be accepted somewhere. This wasn’t an arrogance thing – I knew if I was rejected everywhere, I could apply to a school still accepting applications.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I wish I’d applied to Yale SCEA and no where else (but I really thought I would be rejected, and wanted to postpone that decision as long as possible). I do feel bad that I had so many acceptances, and didn’t need to apply to near this many schools (of course, if UChicago had accepted me EA, I wouldn’t have applied to half the schools). </p>
<p>In terms of numbers, it was very doable. I did four applications before I was deferred to UChicago – Emory, Davidson, Claremont McKenna, and UChicago. The rest were very manageable to do in the two weeks or so that I had – and all of my applications were my “best work.” (Though mostly for Yale, Stanford, and Columbia – which also all had the most intensive supplements).</p>
<p>tl:dr — applying to this many schools is doable, but you’ll probably feel bad if you have this many acceptances and kids at your school are rejected to a lot of schools that are low on your list. </p>
<p>@Tanboyrunfast Congratulations on all your acceptances! Wow, Yale is my dream colleges… hopefully I can get in! How did you do it… haha </p>