<p>(in rough order of admission difficulty)
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
MIT
Stanford
Penn-Wharton
UChicago
Dartmouth
Duke
Vanderbilt
NYU Stern
UVA
UMich
*UT Austin
*TAMU</p>
<p>Some stats: almost perfect 4.0 GPA with 11 AP's + 1 community college class by graduation; 2280 SAT (800 M, 730 CR, 750 W); 800 Math2 SAT2, 750 in Spanish; sucked up majorly to a few good teachers</p>
<p>EC's
-Accomplished boy scout (Eagle Scout with 1 palm, TONS of leadership, 3 major summer treks)
-Accomplished Saxophone Player (district band player 3x, all-state 1x, other nice awards)
-Committed XC Runner (nice regional finishes, probably co-captain of senior year)
-Some more minor club memberships</p>
<p>Is his list too reach-heavy? He's looking into finance (preferably trading or hedge funds) or engineering as career options. </p>
<p>It doesn’t seem to “reach-heavy” to me but I am concerned that these schools have little in common from a personality point of view. There are really large schools and smaller LAC, schools in the middle of a city and those in the middle of nowhere, etc. I suggest he look at more than just the coursework/reputation and figure out what else he wants from the next four years of his life.</p>
<p>Assuming the two stared texas publics are his safeties, I would say there are too many schools on this list and too many reaches, he should have some mid-level matches unless he feels great about going to texas austin. Some of these schools are wildly different, most do not have finance as a major and some do not have engineering or have weak programs. Is he really genuinely interested in Harvard, Yale AND Princeton they have significant differences that should not be overlooked. Or it is just because they are HYP? </p>
<p>The list is way too reach-heavy. Your brother is an amazing applicant, but for most of these schools, he’s just a typical applicant. They’ll have thousands and thousands just as accomplished.
Some students believe that if they apply to all the most selective colleges, they’ll get into at least one of them. Unfortunately, that’s not how it really works, so he needs to find schools with acceptance rates above 35% where he’s near or above the top 25% applicants (type “college data” followed by the name of each college) as match schools – unless he’s top 7% and sure to get into Austin, or top 10% and sure to get into TAMU, and is willing to attend UT Austin and/or TAMU. Top applicants often have reach schools then their state’s flagship. But if for any reason he’d be unhappy at either of these two schools, he should find more matches (he’s near/above 25% applicants, likes the school, and your family can afford it.)
Will he be applying to any Honors programs at Austin or TAMU? His stats would allow him to.
Have you run the Net Price Calculators for each school (each school will calculate differently). If you’re lower income (60k or less) HYP will cost virtually nothing, even his plane ticket will be included in his financial aid package. If your family’s income is between 60k and 150K, it should cost you less than attending a public university in TX. Even if your family is rather well off (150-180k) you would still qualify for financial aid at the private elite universities. However, they do not offer any merit aid: so, if your family makes 200k+ (whihc would be roughly top 2-3% income-wise in the US, but about 40% Ivy League students), he will not receive financial aid: have your parents saved enough throughout the years?
I have trouble imagining a student interested both in Dartmouth and UChicago. Think of “fit” - in many cases, these colleges have 3 times more qualified applicants than they can admit, so “fit” is essential.
Since he’s interested in finance, why not Georgetown or Amherst? Williams, McKenna, Colgate, Bowdoin should also be on his list, but they’d still be low reaches due to selectivity.
For engineering, has he looked into Olin, Harvey Mudd, CalTech RIT, RPI, Rose Hulman?
For UMichigan, since you’re out of state, you should be aware that it’ll be over $50,000/year with no financial aid beside the $5,500 federal loans. Can your family afford to send him to school for $200,000+?
Since UT Austin is rank-based, what’s his rank? If he’s not top 7% but top 10%, with these stats, his odds are very good, but otherwise, not so much. He should apply as soon as the application is uploaded (August? September?) since his odds would be pretty good in the early round of admissions.
While UT Austin and TAMU are the two highest ranked schools in TX, they’re very, very, different in atmosphere. Does your brother have a favorite among those two? Can he find another affordable, safety school that’s similar to that favorite one?
If he okay going to one of them if he doesn’t get into any of the other schools?</p>
<p>^^^It all depends on whether you want a school that suits you or a school that fits everyone else, Daddio. This list of reaches has no logic to it other than each school is prestigious. Maybe the student will find happiness at the one school OP is lucky to get into, or maybe he’ll be miserable because he doesn’t fit in there because of any number of reasons including cost to family and major. IMO, the wrong way to go about things.</p>
<p>If he is a direct admit to UT and TAMU and he would be happy attending those schools then it makes sense to only apply to schools he would prefer to those two. If he is not a direct admit, I’d consider adding one or two safety schools.</p>
<p>bradybest: if he’s top 1% and would be happy at UT or TAMU (and has applied to the honors programs of his choice there - he should), then the list is fine. I second the idea of removing one of the Ivies on the list and replacing it by Cornell.
Take UMich out (unless you don’t need any financial aid) and read The Fiske Guide, Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, and The Princeton Review’s best colleges, to decide on fit, then tailor the list according to his “must have” vs. “would be nice to have”.</p>
<p>I’d also add that a couple of those schools (Duke, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale etc) do not have undergraduate business schools so your brother couldn’t study finance.</p>
<p>Is engineering or finance his first choice?</p>
<p>If engineering is, he may want to drop Chicago (no engineering) and Dartmouth (ABET accredited engineering takes more than four academic years). Also, for engineering, much of the list is not considered as strong as his two presumed safeties.</p>
<p>Wall Street recruiting is driven more by school prestige.</p>
<p>I attend one of the reach schools listed between Harvard and Duke on the list. Does the fact that I attend the school help him get in? Or does legacy only count if your parent(s) went? </p>