How's my list looking?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've made a number of threads here so far while trying to make a list of schools for me. Now I have a kind-of list but the deadline to submit a proper list to my counsellor is tomorrow and I'm nowhere near ready. I can only apply to eight schools - 3 reaches, 3 matches and 2 safeties. Problem is, I am not too sure of my list even now and I'm not in love with any of the schools so far. I am thinking of majoring in psychology although I am VERY unsure. I only know that I won't be going into engineering/premed/hard science.</p>

<p>My stats:</p>

<p>Indian female, moved HS after sophmore year, now in intl school in another country
SAT - 2250. CR - 790, W - 770, M - 690 :( (retaking in Oct)
SAT 2 Lit - 720, Physics - 680. HORRIBLE scores I know so I'm retaking in November
Full IB diploma
Predicted 41-42
Took Indian ICSE exam in 10th grade, got 94.71%, 3rd in school (top 5%)
My new school doesn't rank anymore</p>

<p>Full pay. I am an intl and my EFC would be too high for me to get FA.</p>

<p>ECs </p>

<p>150-200 hours of service including teaching in rural areas, Habitat for Humanity, Mentoring younger students in school
A short-term (2 weeks) internship for a non-profit
Indian classical music for 3 years, choir
co-editor of school newspapers, (chief editor in freshman year but the school only went up to 10th grade), involved in school literary and popular magazine,
MUN for 4 years (twice citywide and won 1 prize in regional level), head of world press in MUN once,
Publicity head of a major charity project in my school. It's a long term project.
Occasional hiking - night hiking and stream hiking also</p>

<p>My list:</p>

<p>Reaches
Amherst College - would it be too snobbish?
Swarthmore College
Maybe WUSTL because it has occupational psych as a major but it's far from the coasts where I have family
Stanford (amazing psych department but it's so selective!)
College of William and Mary</p>

<p>Match
Wellesley - LOVED the area and campus but I am not sure how it will be to attend a girl's school. This might be more of a match/reach though, instead of a true match
Northwestern
USC - worried about safety and kind of disliked LA</p>

<p>Safety
No idea. Maybe BU? UMich if I get accepted EA?
UPitt? I was thinking of applying to either UBC or UoT in Canada as they offer good scholarships to IB students which, while not necessary, are certainly nice to have</p>

<p>Other schools I was considering are
Emory, Columbia, UVA, Tufts (but I am not planning to do polisci so don't know if it's the right school), Pomona etc.</p>

<p>How's my list looking? Are there any other schools you can suggest? How do I narrow this down to eight! Oh I forgot to mention that I seem to like suburban schools the best, with good attention to undergrads, although size doesn't matter much. I grew up in huge but extremely safe cities so while I am wary of "unsafe" urban areas, I also don't want a rural atmosphere.</p>

2

<p>Puturani, I don’t think Amherst would be to snobbish and I think overall you have a good shot at it. Since you have Wellesley have you considered adding Smith, Bryn Mawr or Barnard to your list? I know you are not totally in love with the idea of a women’s college, but the academics are pretty much on par with many other of the schools you have on your list, although they are slightly less selective so they could work as low matches/high safeties for a student with your profile, so I definitely suggest checking them out. For other matches/safeties you might want to consider Reed, Macalester, Bates, Connecticut College, Skidmore, Kalamazoo, and Hampshire. And since you are interested in UMich you might want to look at the University of Wisconsin and the University if Illinois.</p>

3

<p>Thanks missninx. I visited Bryn Mawr and Barnard (my parents don’t like Smith) and of all the women’s colleges, I liked Wellesley the most. I liked Bryn Mawr’s suburban location and loved the fact that I could take classes in obscure languages at Penn so maybe it might go on the list. Where do you think it would fit on the match/reach/safety scale? I’ll deff. check out the other schools you suggested, I’ve been hearing a lot about Skidmore and Reed lately… Kzoo might be visiting so it’s a good opportunity. I was thinking of UIndiana Bloomington as it’s writing program is very good.</p>

<p>Would Hampshire be too “out there” for a pretty traditional Indian girl like me?</p>

4

<p>Well now that you mention it Hampshire might be a little out there. About Bryn Mawr, considering their selectivity rate is 49% and your scores are a little over their average, I would consider it a low match and even a safety for you. Indiana-Bloomingtoon sounds a like a good idea, and you definitely have quite the decent shot at getting in. Have you considered any southern schools like Vanderbilt, Sewanee, and Rice? I feel like you might like those as well.</p>

5

<p>I did. I don’t know much about Vanderbilt but it seemed very Greeky and I don’t drink at all and party very little so I was unsure. I know nothing about Sewanee so I’ll check it out - thanks! I’ve heard it is a Catholic school tho, so would a non-Catholic person fit? Is Rice good for humanities majors? My cousin goes there and it seems very science-focused. Thanks for your suggestions :)</p>

6

<p>Why can you apply to only 8 schools? Is that a limit from your school?</p>

7

<p>^ Yes. Actually I am only planning to apply to 6 schools in the US, 1 in Canada and one where I live. I want to apply to a Canadian uni for the high chance of an IB scholarship and to a uni in my country in case I don’t have the strength to leave home next year.</p>

8

<p>I actually don’t think you would feel out-of-place at Santa Clara University even though it is Catholic. It would make a good safety for you. There is a vibrant Indian community in Santa Clara and many of the students at SCU are not Catholic.</p>

9

<p>Now the question is, how to narrow it down? Would Stanford psych or Columbia be too big a reach for me?</p>

10

<p>Might look at Holy Cross-very good LAC with strong diversity. HC has nice campus 1 hour from Boston.</p>

11

<p>What programs are UW Madison and UNC-Chapel Hill known for? Are they known for over crowding and huge class sizes?</p>