How Much Am I Reaching?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm currently a junior in Philadelphia, PA, and I have narrowed down my list of "reach" schools to apply to. Now, all I need to know is how big of a reach each one is, as I am sure nearly everyone will agree that the following colleges are reaches for me, in order of preference (yea I know, there are a lot of NC schools, I can't help but love that area):</p>

<p>Duke University ("dream" school, so to speak)
University of Chicago (the school I would be dreaming of if Duke did not exist, lol)
Wake Forest
UNC - Chapel Hill
Swarthmore
University of California - Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Of course, you will need to know my stats.</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
High School: magnet, best public HS in Philly, 99% go on to college
Hooks: none come to mind
Intended Major: Finance (if the school has undergrad business) or Economics (if it does not)
Extra Info: I would apply ED/EA (where applicable)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.05 (weighted, cumulative 9th-11th grades) - My strictly junior GPA would be about 4.1
Rank: 40/540 (~7%)
SAT Reasoning: Math = 760, Critical Reading = 700, Writing = 760, Total = 1460 or 2220
SAT Subjects: Math I = 760, Math II = 750, Physics = 700
ACT: will be taken on April 4th, most likely a score of 33 to 34
Course Load: several honors, only 2 AP's (not the most rigorous available by far, but not terrible)
Senior Year: dual enrollment at LaSalle University (most likely)
Summer: will attempt to get into a business-oriented summer program at a college</p>

<p>School E.C.'s / Awards: none worth mentioning beyond the Peer Mentor program (tutoring), and the National Honor Society</p>

<p>Sports: none so far, EXTREMELY competitive sports HS. Did not make the baseball team last year, but I will try for varsity basketball as a senior (probably will get cut, but there is a chance)</p>

<p>Community Service: 50-60 hours per school year helping in an after-school program for younger kids (over 150 hours by the end of this year, ~200 by HS graduation)</p>

<p>Work Experience: Acme (supermarket) employee since June '08 (12-16 hours per week during school, much more in the summer)</p>

<p>Recommendations: none yet, but I am sure they will be great; I am well-liked by teachers</p>

<p>Essays: excellent writing skills, and I think I can do enough here to maybe make up for any lack of subjectivity. (I am, indeed, much more well-rounded an individual than my transcript may suggest).</p>

2

<p>What strikes me about your list is that all after your third choice, Wake, are harder to get into than Wake. So why so many reaches if you'd choose Wake, which you are likely to get into, over the rest? Why do all those apps? Is Wake a financial safety too?</p>

3

<p>You raise a good point, I really did not consider that. This is only a tentative list of schools I felt I was reaching for (either slightly or otherwise) in order of my preference of attending. In terms of finances, I am not familiar with the aid quality of all of the schools, but I would need help to pay for basically any college (my family's annual income lies somewhere between $65,000 and $75,000). So I'm not entirely sure what you mean by Wake being "financial safety" as opposed to the others. Maybe my perception of Wake is inaccurate, but in any case, I was just trying to get an idea. This is nothing concrete. At any rate, would you care to comment on any of the other schools that I listed?</p>

4

<p>From your school list- </p>

<p>Duke University ("dream" school, so to speak)- Mid-Reach
University of Chicago (the school I would be dreaming of if Duke did not exist, lol)- Mid Reach
Wake Forest- Match
UNC - Chapel Hill- High Match- Low Reach
Swarthmore- High Match-Low Reach
University of California - Berkeley- Low Reach- Mid Reach
Carnegie Mellon- ?? (Don't know much about)</p>

<p>I think i might be too harsh on your chances BUT I hope you applied to more schools, It was a mistake to not take the most rigorous schedule available to you, that will work against you BIG TIME. You are lacking EC's severely for many of these schools, the only school i would bank on getting is Wake Forest.</p>

5

<p>Thanks, jeudi. Yes, I regret not taking the most rigorous course load, as well as not getting involved. I did not realize the importance until it was too late (i.e. - this year). But I appreciate you chancing me.</p>

6

<p>Swarthmore is notoriously hard to get into. I don't think its a High Match-Low Reach at all. Of those schools you listed, it's probably the greatest reach.</p>

<p>Your schools look totally different from each other. UNC and Berekely are huge state schools.</p>

<p>Duke and U of C are major institutions with liberal arts and grad programs.</p>

<p>Swat is a tiny tiny tiny liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon is an engineering school - U of C doesn't even offer engineering.</p>

7

<p>I think it is fairly irrelevant if I intend to apply to both private and public schools. Swarthmore may be as you described, but I do happen to live in PA, so it is not exactly in the middle of nowhere for my purposes (although it may be quite a reach for me to be accepted). And I'm pretty certain that Carnegie Mellon has an excellent undergraduate business school by the name of Tepper (maybe you have heard of it). At any rate, I was hoping that I could get information beyond "Swarthmore is hard" and "the schools you listed are different from each other." Not to act negatively, but that does not help me at all. Would anyone mind answering my initial question?</p>

8

<p>A financial safety is either being able to afford the schools or that the school meets 100% of need. So Wake is not a financial safety, they may give you enough aid to attend but they may not. Duke meets need so if your family can afford it's EFC (now is a good time to run some calculators like the one on this site) it's a financial safety.</p>

<p>Berkeley probably needs to come off the list as it costs $45K for out of state students and they offer no aid. Don't know about UNC, but it can be hard to get aid from out of state publics. Swat meets need, again, if your family can pay it's EFC which usually means you have some college savings. CMU does not. So you need more schools that meet 100% of need on your list.</p>

<p>Money needs to be a criterion in making any list. For someone with your family's income, the very top schools offer excellent aid. Work on bringing the CR score and rank up for a shot at a top school.</p>

9

<p>Duke University ("dream" school, so to speak) -RISK
University of Chicago (the school I would be dreaming of if Duke did not exist, lol)-high reach
Wake Forest- reach
UNC - Chapel Hill-match
Swarthmore-reachh
University of California - Berkeley-reach
Carnegie Mellon-IDK</p>

10

<p>Ice, I have heard a lot that UNC - Chapel Hill is more difficult to get into than Wake. Although that may not be true, do you really think UNC is a match and Wake is a reach? Just curious...</p>