<p>While I've been looking for colleges, I've found myself graduating more toward matches/safeties and away from reaches. I'm a decent student but nothing stellar in the world of college admissions. I don't want a cutthroat college, as I think the adjustment to college life will be enough work. I really like schools will I would be a canididate for good merit aide, which naturally drops the selectivity level down a bit. I'm edging more and more toward only applying to CommonAp/no essay required schools because I'd rather write one stellar essay than a bunch of "just okay" ones. My parents think I'm selling myself short and keep telling me that I can "get in anywhere" (ha!). </p>
<p>My current list:
Case Western (match?)
Ohio University (could get great aid here)
University of Illinois-UC (more reachy, also more expensive)
Purdue (I don't like the "one school only" idea, but hey, no essay.)
UMontana (loved my visit, has everything I want, scholarship canididate, but it's 3rd tier)</p>
<p>Maybes (might apply, might not):
UMich (the app is tough, plus incredibly expensive, and I doubt I could get in)
Lewis and Clark (seems nice, but oh so very small and oh so very pot-ladden)
Udelaware (campus looks lovely, and it would be good to apply to one Northeastern school, I think)</p>
<p>Am I selling myself short or are these all really reaches?</p>
<p>ALL of the schools on your list are terrific schools. Find the school that is the best fit for you. It doesn't matter if it's a reach, a match or a safety. Find the one that makes you happy!</p>
<p>I don't know enough about UMontana to comment, but the other schools on your list are excellent, so I would not worry about there not being reaches on your list. You would be able to challenge yourself at any of them.</p>
<p>having just spent the summer in missoula, i don't blame you at all for wanting to go to school there! </p>
<p>don't cut your list just because you don't want to do the applications (this is the temptation i'm fighting now with law school apps...just think that in a few months all this will be a distant memory!) but if you're the type of person who won't wonder "what if" in terms of the reach schools, then I say go for it. Just make sure that each school on your list passes the "if I only got in here would I be happy to go?" test.</p>
<p>There's no point in applying to schools you wouldn't go to, so it's perfectly fine to just apply to any of those schools you listed. By no means are those schools "mediocre". Delaware is gorgeous, it's one of my match/safeties. Don't feel like you have to apply to a Harvard/Princeton/Yale just to say you did. :)</p>
<p>Wolfpiper - congratulations - you have a sane approach to college selection. </p>
<p>I've been following this & similar boards for about 4 years now, and I can assure you that the happiest kids in the spring are the ones who did a good job of targeting a good range of schools where they had a very realistic likelihood of being accepted: they are the ones who have received half a dozen thick envelopes by April 1st, and are happily choosing among a variety of excellent options. Unfortunately, more often than not, kids aiming for reaches are disappointed -- and they tend to be less happy (at least at first) with the prospect of attending a college that they deemed a "safety". My son went off to a college 4 years ago to an excellent and very selective college that was one of his top choices -- only to encounter quite a few students with stellar credentials who were still upset that they hadn't been admitted to Harvard or Yale. He lived in a suite with 4 other guys & it turned out that every single one of them was a NM Finalist... but the guys with the Ivy aspirations still were thinking of themselves as being at a second-rate college because they had set their sights so high. </p>
<p>I don't think of an application strategy like yours as "selling yourself short" - I think of it more as taking control of your own education and future, rather than putting yourself at the mercy of some ad com who will spend 15 minutes at most reading your application and rendering a decision. My son applied to a bunch of very similar LAC's, in terms of size and atmosphere - with the idea of maximimizing his chances at good financial aid; that strategy certainly worked - out of 5 LACs that accepted him, he had excellent packages from 2, a reasonable package from a 3rd, and 2 others that were dropped from his list because their offers fell short. </p>
<p>It really is a matter of control: if you choose among matches and safeties, you will have control over where you go to college, because you are likely to be admitted to almost all of the colleges you choose -- so the choice remains yours. If you add reaches to your list - then the ad coms at the schools have the choice - and all you can do is wait to see whether or not they reject you. I personally think that in a way, students who have lists that are top-heavy with reaches are the ones who are selling themselves short, because they are putting decisions about their lives and futures in the hands of total strangers.</p>
<p>I think that to avoid reaches simply because it moves the locus of control away from the student is unforturnate. It's one thing if the student, eg. the OP, truly finds what they love at their match schools; then there may be no reason to look further. But just because you risk rejection, in my view, shouldn't be a reason not to reach: being able to take a risk, tolerate a disappointment, adapt to new circumstances, and find satisfaction is, in total, a growth experience. Life is full of risks,--and a willingness to take them is not selling oneself short, it's being secure enough within yourself to try hard for something even if you might not succeed.</p>
<p>i wouldn't reject applying to a school as it requires more than one essay. you may find that having to write on a few topics, improves all of the essays. relying on one stellar essay, may not be the best way to go.</p>
<p>your perspective will change over the year, and if you end up with some choice in the spring, that can be a good thing (although can be difficult too)</p>
<p>my S was accepted to one of his reach schools. He was a freshman last year, and had a great year academically. He really stepped up to the challenge</p>
<p>OP
Just a little story about being at what someone else might consider a "third tier" or school under your percieved capabilities:
D was lured to ASU (Arizona) as a National Merit Finalist with a combination of outstanding merit money ,scholarship opportunities,honors college availability and outstanding music school opportunity.In her 4 years there we learned alot about opportunity.She got her tuition (OOS) paid in full, had a yearly stipend that paid her dorm costs for two years and her off campus rent for two years. She was afforded early registration,preferred housing.She got to work with a wonderful mentor from the grad schoolfaculty for her senior honors thesis.While the U is huge, the Honors College made it smaller.And interestingly, we learned that going to a school ina location where there are not many other schools (your choice of Montana comes to mind) makes availability of internships/performance opportunities very accessible.Simply, there's no one else to compete with..D had friends in Engineering..theres no competition in Phoenix for internships...she had friends in Pre Physical Therapy..again..no competition,business....And I could go on...
D applied very successfully for grad school and was accepted at a top University..her acceptance was based on what she was able to do at her undergrad..grades,contacts,thesis....not the name of the school she attended.
Im thinking now if Montana sat so well for you and you'll get opportunities like this...go for it!</p>
<p>Wolf, it is perfectly ok and one our son took for very similar reasons. He had a totally stress free and fun filled senior year and as a bonus received in excess of $375,000 in merit scholarship offers.</p>
<p>He was accepted to every college he applied to and had a wonderful first year at Rensselaer. And although he was in the top quartile of applicants, he was greatly challenged frosh year but came away learning a lot both in and out of the classroom.</p>
<p>You have a great list of fine school. Congratualtions.</p>
<p>One thing that comes to mind, however, is the memory I have of last year's CC applicants coming here after decisions were rendered. I recall more than one student coming here and saying that they had been accepeted to ALL of their schools, and they felt like they may have cheated themselves by not reacing higher. However, thinking back, I think those cases were more about students who felt that they had not accurately evaluated themselves in the admissions process. In your case, you seem to understand that you are selecting safeties and matches, not reaches. </p>
<p>I am more of a "what if" person. My son isn't. He's probably more like you - make a decision and don't look back.</p>
<p>Good luck and let us know how it turns out.</p>
<p>wolfpiper: Your thinking matches my son's. He was accepted at all of his schools except one (waitlisted) and he had no second thoughts. He had many of the same reasons you have for liking his matches - scholarship possibilities, not being overwhelmed by a cutthroat environment, and the opportunities to have a manageable workload and still participate in ECs that he loves. I think you're doing just fine.</p>
<p>The question is - do you want to go to any "reach" schools? If the schools on your list will meet your needs and give you the challenges you need, then don't worry about reaches.</p>
<p>My son applied to 6 schools - all matches and safteys. He got 6 acceptances, 6 offers of merit scholarships, and is happily beginning his 2nd year at Lewis and Clark (not as much of a pot school as is commnonly perceived.) We had a relatively stress free senior year. He figured out what he wanted in colleges and applied to those schools that offered what he was looking for. I think you are headed in the right direction.</p>
<p>I don't know who is ranking UMontana as "third tier." A lot depends on what you are studying there. They have an excellent program in Forestry and Conservation, for example.</p>
You are not alone in that boat. My D is in there with you. Now she just has to convince her schools that she is not using them as safeties for the Ivies.</p>
<p>Outwestmom, I've known quite a few people who chose UMontana for the Forestry program and who got jobs after graduation---but no one in other programs. Montana State has a wonderful paleontology program.</p>