How Much of a Reach are my Reaches?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I have four reach schools right now: Vassar, Carleton, Grinnell, and William & Mary. But just how much of a reach is each of them? I'm not sure how to separate them between low reach, reach, and high reach.</p>

<p>I'm a white female from NJ, probably not applying for much financial aid.</p>

<p>I want to major in Women's/Gender/Sexuality Studies (it has different names at every school). I've been very passionate about equal rights for years and I think that will come across in my application, and definitely in my essay.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA of 3.86, weighted is about 4.7.</p>

<p>Ranked 45th out of about 750 (top 6%)</p>

<p>ACT composite score of 31. Superscored is a 32.</p>

<p>Freshman Year courses:
English I Honors A
Algebra I Honors B+
World History A
Integrated Science A
Spanish I A+
Personal Finance/Civics A+
Speech and Drama I A+
Gym/Health A+</p>

<p>Sophomore Year courses:
English II Honors A
Geometry Honors B
US History I Honors A
Biology Honors A
Spanish II A+
Social Groups and Law A+
TV Production I A
Gym/Health A+</p>

<p>Junior Year courses:
English III A
Algebra II Honors A-
US History II Honors A+
Chemistry Honors A+
Spanish III A
TV Production II A
Sociology A+
Gym/Health A+</p>

<p>Senior year I'm planning to take: AP Literature, AP European History, AP Art History, Physics Honors, Pre-Calc Honors, Conscious of Man (genocide and human rights course), Peer Leadership (a program through my school that counts for a TON of leadership, community service, and all that good stuff both in and out of school, weekdays and weekends. I had to apply and was selected to be part of it), and a required Gym/Health class</p>

<p>ECs: President of the Gay-Straight Alliance at my school (basically re-founded it after it hit rock bottom when other students were in charge), volunteer at my local Pride Center, Rotary Interact (lots of community service hours with them for many different things), Red Cross, Club Hope, Class Council, History NHS, Science NHS, English NHS, guitar lessons outside of school since early middle school, community service at various places (pride center, hospital, old age home, etc) and with various clubs listed above. I babysit neighborhood kids, take care of my baby cousin quiet often and for a generous amount of time, I write poetry in my spare time and run my own poetry blog, go on yearly trips all over the US, etc</p>

<p>Honors: Nothing huge, but I've made the academics high honor/honor roll every marking period since freshman year. I'm also in the 3 NHSs listed above, and hopefully will be in National Honors Society next year</p>

<p>I should get very good recommendations from certain teachers that I've established a more personal teacher-student relationship with (my History/Sociology teacher, Chemistry teacher, Algebra 2 teacher, guitar teacher, etc)</p>

<p>My essay should also be pretty darn good. I feel extremely confident with my writing and that's definitely my strongest point academically. My topic is also very personal and emotionally raw.</p>

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<p>Bump…</p>

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<p>Vassar: Reach
W&M: High match
Grinnell: High match</p>

<p>I already chanced you for Carleton…</p>

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<p>Also, you may want to consider Wesleyan, as well as Smith and Bryn Mawr. Even Barnard might merit a look-see. These women’s colleges are much better than their stats might indicate as a lot of young women do not want to go to an “all girls” schools. I had one DD go to Barnard and the other to Smith. Without a doubt, they were the best schools they got into and were great fits. Small classes, got to know profs, etc.</p>

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<p>@barbfam1‌ I actually visited Smith a few weeks ago, however I really don’t think an exclusively women’s college is the right environment for me. I didn’t really feel like I “fit in,” the way I did at other (co-ed) schools I’ve been to. Thank you for the suggestion though!</p>

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<p>Any reason why TCNJ is a bad idea?</p>

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<p>@Catria‌ I really really really do NOT want to go to college in NJ. It’s complicated, but long story short I don’t like where I’ve grown up and want to experience someplace new. Plus TCNJ is a little big for me, I rather go somewhere that has 1000-3000 students, with the exception of W&M because that’s been my dream school since I was a little girl.</p>

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<p>Perhaps Cornell College as a safety…</p>

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<p>@Catria‌ I’m not sure how I feel about the block plan. Right now I’m considering St. Olaf as my main safety</p>

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<p>Hey, I considered many of the schools you mentioned, including W&M where I am currently attending. You seem to have great grades, have you taken the most challenging courses possible? From my personal perspective, I feel like W&M and Carleton definitely look into your essays to get a sense of who you are.</p>

<p>Obviously you know that some of these are hard to get into, but you seem to have a decent shot. Are you applying for FA at all? I know that Carleton and probably Grinnell promise to meet 100% of aid, how this translates admission wise, I don’t know but you may be able to consider it. W&M net cost might be a little high OOS that I don’t know if every parent is comfortable with, but it is a great school (which is why I am attending haha)</p>

<p>From what I understand, Vassar and Carleton both have a very activist atmosphere (as does W&M) so I think you’ll fit right in. I don’t really like to chance people, but I wish the best of luck on your college journey!</p>

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<p>@shawnspencer‌ Thanks for your detailed response! As far as taking the most challenging courses possible, I’m really not sure. I definitely have a rigorous schedule but I’m not sure if my counselor will mark it down as “most rigorous” or not. My school offers over 20 AP courses, but the most one person can possibly take is 10 I believe (the only kid I know who did this got into Harvard, and a girl who took one or two less than that got into Brown.) I’ll have taken 3 by the time I graduate, but I’ll also have 12 honors classes which are by no means easy. Either way, I feel like I did the right thing for my mental health (I dealt with some pretty bad anxiety but I think it will only hurt me to mention that). As far as financial aid goes I don’t think I’ll qualify for any, so merit from somewhere would be nice but I doubt it will happen especially with my reaches.</p>

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<p>@Tarahific‌ You did the right thing for you, which is what matters. I think colleges understand. If financially it is an issue, there are quite a few schools that have merit, so perhaps consider applying to some of those. There’s a forum of schools that have significant merit aid on here somewhere that you could probably find if you do a quick search of it. 45th out of 750 is really impressive considering the struggles you went through.</p>

<p>Good luck with your search, I love your username btw</p>

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<p>How is algebra I an honors class in your school???..</p>

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<p>@alfawarlord‌ we have the option to take algebra I at the normal level or at the honors level, same with geometry, algebra II, and pre-calc </p>

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<p>@shawnspencer‌ thank you so much you’ve been really helpful! :slight_smile: </p>