How's my list?

<p>So I'm a junior, and I gotta start getting my list of colleges ready. Could you guys make suggestions of maybe some new colleges, tell me which colleges don't belong on my list and if I have a college misplaced in the wrong category (reach, match, safety). Also I intend on majoring in something like mathematical economics or finance.</p>

<p>About me:
GPA 3.7 W after this year, .4 added for every AP course. I'm taking 3 this year and 4 next year. Upward trend
SAT: first try 2090 780 M, 740 W (8 essay) and 570 CR
Second try is in march. Practice tests suggest about 2200, give or take.
High school ranked around 50th on us news in the country.
Extracurriculars: football and wrestling, 2 years jv, 2 years varsity. Play guitar, viola, drums and piano. I'm in the school orchestra and am going to be 1st chair next year.
Finances: already talked to my parents, wherever I want to go they can afford.</p>

<p>Reach:UC Berkeley
UChicago</p>

<p>High match:NYU Stern (first choice)
UMich Ross
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Low match: UW Madison</p>

<p>Safeties: Penn State
Boston University
Stony Brook University</p>

<p>Penn State is rarely a safety. Even for in-staters it’s a little tough to get into. Your scores are good but not high enough to make it a safety.</p>

<p>I just find it hard to believe that people can see NYU and Carnegie Mellon as “matches”. These schools deny some extremely qualified candidates. That being said, I do think that based on your SAT Math scores you would fare well. CR should be improved for your benefit.</p>

<p>I think that you have some pretty good schools listed, you can take a look at Northwestern, UPenn, Minnesota, and Rochester. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t understand this high school ranking thing from USNews. Last I checked that list was missing more schools than they included. This isn’t a shot at you, I just personally don’t think it indicates much of anything.</p>

<p>What is your UW GPA?</p>

<p>Do you need any financial aid? if yes, this is a poor list. If not it’s just a reach filled list where you may have a chance at a few if you raise your scores.</p>

<p>“Penn State is rarely a safety. Even for in-staters it’s a little tough to get into. Your scores are good but not high enough to make it a safety.”</p>

<p>Although I do believe that you would be accepted to Penn State, there is some truth to this. My younger sisters still have peers waiting to hear back from Penn State with 4.0’s (school does not weight) >2200 SATs and >32 ACT scores from a pretty prestigious prep school… how hypocritical of me.</p>

<p>You may want to add Minnesota to the list – highly regarded for math and economics, and relatively inexpensive (even for out of state), so if your parents’ financial situation changes, it will be an option.</p>

<p>A 3.7 weighted GPA corresponds to what unweighted? Be aware that your high school’s weighting is unlikely to be used by colleges, except indirectly if they use class rank calculated by your high school from weighted GPA.</p>

<p>Not entirely sure. My school only lists weighted.I have a 3.7, but by subtracting the .4 for every AP, I think it’s about 3.65</p>

<p>“Do you need any financial aid? if yes, this is a poor list. If not it’s just a reach filled list where you may have a chance at a few if you raise your scores.”
-Waverly</p>

<p>“Finances: already talked to my parents, wherever I want to go they can afford.”
-OP</p>

<p>If that is the case though, can they just put down a seven figure endowment for you?</p>

<p>Yeah. Like I said, finances are taken care of. If they had to they could.</p>

<p>It would still be wise to include some less expensive schools (e.g. Minnesota and Stony Brook, and your in-state public schools) in your list, in case your parents’ financial situation changes for the worse.</p>

<p>If you need super-safeties, there are also schools like Alabama with Presidential Scholarship (if you raise your SAT CR+M some) and UAB with Blazer Elite Scholarship.</p>

<p>Yeah thanks. That’s exactly why I put stony brook on my list.I’m from ny, so I’d get instate tuition of about $7,000 a year. Also, I took 10 practice tests from the college board study guide for critical reading last week, averaging between 650-700. If I get a 680 that’s a superstore of 2200 right there. I also want that 800 in math. I got 1 level 2 question wrong last time. Hopefully I don’t make any stupid mistakes again.</p>

<p>Bummmmmmmmp</p>