<p>Hi,
I'm a European (dual US citizen) senior in high school looking to apply to colleges in the US...
A little background info: my SAT's are my 'main' weakness, for top colleges I often don't even fall into the 25th percentile range. The rest of my application, in my opinion is fine, I'm top in my class, have focused/personal ECs, have a rigorous course load (full IBDP), good recommendations, fully fluent in 4 languages, high TOEFL score, etc.
Most of the colleges I have on my list are 'reach' school... (around 10 or even more) - especially because usually the top schools are those who award most financial aid... and I'm searching for colleges that meet 100% of demonstrated need.
Should I apply to all my reaches? How important is the SAT?</p>
<p>How important is the SAT? for some schools not at all; there is a list of sat optional schools here [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>Can you give us a quick list of schools ? </p>
<p>The disadvantages to applying to lots of reach schools is that it is time consuming, expensive and potentially all for naught. </p>
<p>The prevailing wisdom is to have a mix of reach, match and safeties. I would say a list of 6-8 schools isnt uncommon, 10 is a lot, and 14 is a whole lot.</p>
<p>Minimum of one safety which you are sure to be admitted to, sure you can afford, and which is otherwise suitable (has the desired academics, social scene, etc.).</p>
<p>Everything else is optional.</p>
<p>Melinda, keep in mind that although many of the most highly selective colleges can offer full aid (based on their calculations), the chances of getting in to those schools – despite a phenomenal resume – is already very slim and even slimmer with low SAT scores (you don’t say how low is low but presuming). Now… the other option that could provide financial viability for you is to look at reputable schools that accept 40% or more of their students and where your grades and SAT scores are HIGHER than their average.(what others may call your “safety” schools). With your background, you then offer something unique to that school plus help their averages – and in cases like this, you are more likely to be offered merit aid. You want to check the different schools that offer merit aid (some require separate applications, some do not). This takes rigorous research on your part but can be well worth it. I know of a student accepted at Emory who received 50% merit aid at Santa Clara; another accepted at Northwestern who got 100% at Knox; and another student who got into multiple schools and received a 50% merit aid at Kalamazoo plus other need-based financial aid adding up to almost a full-ride.</p>
<p>My list continuously changes, but right now:</p>
<ul>
<li>Yale (where I applied ED… hey… one can dream)</li>
<li>Barnard (and perhaps Columbia, where I would be a ‘legacy’, although I’m not sure whether it would help much)</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Pomona</li>
<li>USC (already applied for merit scholarship consideration)</li>
<li>Dartmouth (doesn’t require my step-father to pay for my education)</li>
<li>Washington and Lee (applied for full-ride merit scholarship)</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Occidental College</li>
<li>NYUAD (no SAT scores required)</li>
<li>Yale-NUS </li>
<li>Stanford/ Harvard - well, my parents want me to at least submit my application</li>
<li>(Hamilton? - can submit IB predicted grades along with TOEFL instead?)… the problem is that I keep adding colleges and not removing any. </li>
</ul>
<p>About my SAT scores: 1890; Spanish: 800; Math 1:590 (but re-wrote today)
Additionally I’m taking the ACT next week and the normal SAT in January.</p>
<p>Why would you think Dartmouth would not require your stepfather to pay for your education? They require the CSS Profile and the NCP as well, I believe. (Ah… correction, I see that they MAY choose to not take a non-custodial step-parent’s info into account. But it does not change my advice below, as your SAT is very low for Dartmouth).</p>
<p>From you list, I would say you have a chance at Occidental and NYUAD – every other school on your list is a reach because of your SAT, and most are very high reaches for you. You may think the SAT score shouldn’t count for much, but they are one of the few tools colleges have to compare applicants to each other. Honestly, if I were you I would focus on the SAT optional list and put in a few applications for those schools instead of spending any more time on reaches, since it looks like you have already put in some applications to reaches (Yale, USC, Washington and Lee).</p>
<p>With those SAT scores you really need to dig deeper and have a more focused, personalized list. I think it’s time to be realistic and not idealistic. Prestige can not buy happiness.</p>
<p>It’s too late for this year, but for others next year:</p>
<p>If you can, apply EA to your second choice school; if admitted and finances work, you have only one more app to submit.</p>
<p>That is assuming that you are completely confident that you know the true order of your choices. My D2 found that when she visited the top colleges she got into and stayed overnight/spent 24 hours on campus, she did NOT want to attend the top colleges she thought she would attend. She ended up picking what she thought was her third choice going into those visits. She had done day visits, attended class when possible, ate in in the cafeteria before acceptances. But the longer visit made a big difference in her perspective of the campus. There is a lot to be said for having more than one choice in the spring.</p>
<p>Outside of Occidental and NYUAD, I think your list is too heavy in reaches. You need to include more schools that meet what you want in terms of your “wish list”, who accept 30% or more of their applicants, and for whom your SAT score is at the 50-75th percentile, minimum. Do you want urban (most of your schools on your list are urban); do you want the schools to have a large international population or not?, campus feeling or not?, do you have a specific major in mind?, do you have certain extracurriculars that you want to continue? I guess what I mean is WHAT COMMON THREAD weaves all of the schools that are currently on your list?</p>
<p>Right now, I’d like to major in economics (preferably Econ and Math joint major) and art, and I would like a college with a strong writing courses, e.g. Journalism (like at USC, Washington and Lee, Northwestern). I’m leaning more towards living in a city, because of internship opportunities, etc. But perhaps I should rethink that…<br>
Since I come from Central Europe I can’t really go and visit collges. This fall I went to an international academic competition in the US and I visited Yale, Barnard, Columbia and NYUNY (where I would spend a year if I get accepted to NYUAD). I love the feeling of all those campuses.</p>
<p>apply to at least one or two safety schools</p>
<p>You should definitely apply to at least a couple of safety schools, but I think your list is fine. These are reach schools for everyone who applies, and even if your SAT scores are a bit low, you’ve got other plenty of other factors going for you.</p>