How's my new list of colleges?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys! I’m taking a gap year to reapply after an unsuccessful RD run because I realized I was looking for the wrong things out of my college experience. In other words, I applied for prestige rather than thinking about fit. I had been thinking seriously about a gap year prior to my rejections, so this kind of “sealed the deal”. I’ll be spending my year in Spain taking language classes (all the universities I called were fine with this/I would not be considered a transfer student).

Here’s a little about me:
GPA: 3.9 UW
Rank: 4/180
SAT: 2230 (780 CR/670M/780W) retaking these in June, and I will try the ACTs in June as well.
APs: Spanish Lang (4), Bio (4), Comp Sci, English Lit, Spanish Lit, Calc AB, Psychology
I’m a white female from MA; I want to major in computer science.

Money is not a concern. I have an inheritance that covers the full COA at any college for four years.
I am focused academically and a hard worker. I won “least likely to procrastinate” as my senior superlative. I am mature and I look towards the future. That being said, I am wary of getting in over my head academically. I don’t want a “cutthroat” school. I am on the bohemian side. Not a huge partier but I’m not opposed to them. I am very liberal and would find a very conservative environment difficult. I LOVE travelling and going abroad. I’m a bit introverted and I’m a little worried about making friends in college/worried about huge class sizes. I don’t feel that I would be happy at a large school/huge publics.

I already know I am applying ED I to Tufts. They rejected me in the RD round this year, so I’m assuming I have about a 99 percent chance of being rejected again, so I want to get a list of alternates going.

There are a lot of reaches and matches here. I have a guaranteed spot in CS at Northeastern (deferred enrollment, although they were “sad” that I would be considering other schools during my gap year) but I did not feel that it was a good fit for me. I know that many of these places don’t have CS at the level of MIT, CMU, or Berkeley, but I feel like it’s better to be at a place where I would be happy and successful rather than a place with a higher-ranked program where I would not be happy. I went to an overnight at Umass Amherst (instate flagship with a great CS program) and ran screaming because I just hated the class sizes/overwhelming nature of the campus/huge party culture. I know that this kind of school just isn’t for me.

Matches:
-Brandeis
-Rochester
-Emory (this is a high match, though)

Reach:
-Tufts (probably not happening)
-WUSTL
-Harvard (I’m a legacy and my father wants me to apply)
-Stanford (lol)
-Vanderbilt (too conservative?)
-Rice (rejected RD so most likely a rejection)
-Brown (rejected RD so most likely a rejection)

Any other recommendations for schools I should look into?

2

Have you considered Boston University at all? I know it’s a large school on the face of things, but I found it never felt large when I was actually there. Everything is sub-divided into individual schools, then further into majors, which can make things feel more “small school” within those programs. For instance, my COM class only had 450 and my journalism major a little over 100 students… I knew all my peers, my classes had 20 kids or less, and I got to know all of my professors. I was a German minor, too, and that department is tiny, so it was easy to know all 4 of the FT professors, and most of the other people majoring or minoring in it. And housing is a key way to be part of smaller communities there/find your people. I lived in German House (just 26 residents) for two years, and made some awesome friends.

Anyway, I suggest it because I totally relate to a few things you mention–not wanting the “cut-throat” academic environment, not liking party schools, and a focus on/love of study abroad. I felt exactly the same when I was applying back in the day, and was really, really happy at BU. People are way less academically aggro/competitive, but the course rigor is still excellent. There are parties to be found if you want (though going to MIT parties is actually more popular than BU-hosted ones!), but it’s not a party school. I attended a few parties thrown by the drama kids and newspaper kids, but there was no rager culture where you are ostracized for not going to keggers on weekends. And you can’t beat BU study abroad–they not only offer 20+ country options, but in most cases BU has an actual school in that country (not a sister school, but a BU foreign campus) and they offer robust internship programs/classes/full credit transfer from study abroad.

Have you looked at Reed? It comes to mind, thinking of what you’re looking for. Pomona pops into my mind, too, but I have no idea how either schools ranks for CS.

3

@proudterrier I’m hesitant to apply to BU because I feel that I’ll have the same issues there that I did at NEU in terms of an un-intimate environment. A school that large can be a bit overwhelming to me. I think that I would have larger classes as a comp sci major than perhaps you had studying German and communications. Plus, I would like to have a bit of a campus as well.

Reed does not have a comp sci program, although I do really like the school. Pomona would be very difficult to get into and I believe you actually do it through Harvey Mudd, a school that I could never in my wildest dreams be accepted to with my current math score.

Thank you, though!!

4

bump?

5

Case Western and Macalester should both be in your consideration as match schools.
Note that Case has an EA option.
Although you school list seem to be located in the NE, a little research into these two will show you that they meet
all of your other criteria. Since there won’t be one school that meets all your needs, perhaps you could consider location as a variable.

6

Well, your list seems pretty well thought out, and you are a strong candidate at your matches, so there’s some question as to whether additional suggestions will be helpful or confusing to you. I’ll limit my particular suggestion to one school. I think of Case Western Reserve as sharing some elements with the schools you already have on your list. If you haven’t considered CWRU already, then it’s definitely worth a look.

Rochester, nicely, has an open curriculum (which I believe you’ve stated you prefer) and a traditional campus, so that’s a good inclusion.

7

It’s funny because everything about your description of yourself made it sound like you’d be someone to go for liberal arts colleges, yet you have none on the list. Any specific reason for this? If not, you might want to check them out.

8

I will add Case!

9

@lalalemma I am debating applying to Amherst. Many LACs that I looked at either did not have a computer science program or had a very small/limited program. Harvey Mudd is a notable exception; it is not a realistic option for me seeing as their median math SAT score is about a hundred points higher than my own. A couple universities I’m applying to (Brandeis, Tufts, Rice) have an LAC feel with the resources of a larger school, which I liked.Unless you have some suggestions of your own?

10

Have you considered vassar?

11

The thing I would say about some smaller colleges, Q, is that you can easily find a few that will offer you the full breadth of computer science basics, plus some interesting electives in the field. If your doubt regarding this is your primary reason for mostly excluding them, then some reconsideration may be in order, even if only to make absolutely sure you haven’t overlooked any colleges that might be good for you.

You now are in an “early stage” of the selection process again. You can take advantage of this freedom to enjoy reading through some online course catalogs, but without the pressure of an impending decision.

12

Of the colleges I looked at, aside from Mudd, Williams, Washington and Lee, and Wesleyan seemed to have more robust programs. Williams is rather rural, though, and W&L is too conservative for me. Would Wes be a good choice? Which LAC programs do you find good, @merc81 ?

13

Maybe you can provide us with the full list of schools that you applied to, the application plan (ED/EA/RD), and the result. This will help.

You might think twice about applying to schools that have already rejected you. You’re probably no more likely to get in the second time around. In fact, one could argue that you’re less likely to get in. You’re a good student, so I’m sure you put your best foot forward the first time. Even with Tufts, you might be wasting that ED advantage, with a rejection on file, depending on how much of a reach it really is.

I’m with @lalalemma: your description of yourself screams LAC. Plus, you have 3 matches and 7 reaches (by your own estimation) in your new list. You admitted that you were sidetracked by prestige on the first go, but this new list is reachy too. It makes me wonder what your first app list looked like!

14

Well, start with Wes, which I think, yes, might be good for you. Then go through their CS offerings and compare them to a larger school you already feel comfortable with. Then ask yourself, would the 11 or so CS courses you would realistically take at Wes feel like compromise choices, or would they equal – or possibly exceed in some ways – the offerings of the larger school? Your answer will tell you a lot about Wes’ program. You can use the same method for other colleges, ethier to add or eliminate from consideration.

15

@Dunboyne Yes, I’ll include my results from the first time around! Basically, last year, I fell in love with the idea of going to college abroad- in Canada or the UK. I don’t know what possessed me to think this was a good idea, given that the schools I was applying to abroad were so large/impersonal but that’s what happened. I was really distracted by these apps, because I genuinely thought I was going to the University of Edinburgh or McGill- again, I was in love with the idea of these schools (Scotland is so beautiful! I can travel all the time! I get to live in Europe!) rather than being in love with the school itself. When it came time to do RD apps, I hastily put together a list of schools; as I look back upon my essays, I realize that it was pretty obvious that I was disinterested at the time. It took until Jan/Feb for me to snap out of my foreign phase and realize that the only schools that fit me were schools I hadn’t gotten into yet. So, I would not say that I exactly put my best foot forward with my original applications- you’ll see that they’re all over the map. That being said, here are my results:

Early Action:
-University of Massachusetts, Amherst- Accepted, Honors college
-Fordham- accepted (applied essentially because my guidance counselor told me to)
-Northeastern- accepted

Regular:
-University of Edinburgh- Conditionally accepted
-McGill- Accepted
-UC San Diego- accepted but to last choice residential college, would take 5-6 years to graduate
-Johns Hopkins- rejected
-UC Berkeley- waitlisted
-Tufts- rejected
-Rice- rejected
-Brown- rejected

I know that I may be wasting my time applying to Tufts ED, and that they are highly unlikely to change their minds. That said, I still want to apply ED, because I think the biggest detriment to my app the first time around was my apathy/lack of interest. My “Why Tufts?” essay was essentially just “I like your program” whereas now I could write a “Why Tufts?” novel.

I’d be willing to take Rice and Brown off my list.
My list is super reachy because I have a guaranteed spot at Northeastern (sorry if this is unethical; Northeastern did allow me to do so, however). I don’t need a safety because I already have a “safety” locked in.

16

I don’t know why Mudd and/or Pomona aren’t on your list. They seem perfect for you.

17

@woogzmama Well, I definitely couldn’t get into Harvey Mudd- their median SAT score for math, I believe, is around a 760-780 versus my 670! I’m retaking the SATs in a month but my jaw would hit the floor if my score went up that much.

I will look more into Pomona. A long shot, though- wasn’t 1/3 of their incoming class valedictorian this year? Thank you!

How is this for a list?
Matches:
-Brandeis
-Rochester
-Emory (this is a high match, though)
-Case

Reach:
-Tufts (probably not happening)
-WUSTL
-Harvard (I’m a legacy and my father wants me to apply)
-Stanford (lol)
-Wesleyan
-Amherst
-Pomona (?)
-Brown (rejected RD so most likely a rejection)

18

I guess I hadn’t realized that Math was your weak point. That would make Mudd more difficult, despite the gender advantage. Pomona is a reach for everyone. Scripps might be an option: you’d be able to take some STEM courses at Mudd, while retaining a liberal arts focus. The Claremont Consortium is great for that kind of versatility.

19

You have a safety locked in that you feel isn’t a good fit. So why do you think that next year your impression of Northeastern will change? That’s the whole point of a safety. It’s a school that you see yourself attending, in a worst case scenario. I’d argue that you didn’t really have a safety, and that’s why you’re headed to Spain. If you don’t rectify that somehow, next summer you could be headed to Scotland.

What was the problem with UCSD? Why 5-6 years to graduate?

20

@Dunboyne
I mean, in a worst case scenario, I would be attending NEU. That’s not a terrible worst-case scenario. I just feel like I should have a do-over where I focus on fit and put my best foot forward. Most true safety schools for me would have the same issues that I have with NEU, anyway. What safety schools would you recommend for me?
The sheer number of pre recs unrelated to my major at Eleanor Roosevelt combined with the difficulty of scheduling conflicts mean that it is impossible for me to graduate in four years. Only in a one in a million, best case would I be able to get the schedule to work out so I could graduate in 2019.