I need help narrowing down my college list!!!

College Search & Selection
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<p>SAT I: 1940 (plan on retaking)</p>

<p>SAT II's: 710 in both US History and Literature </p>

<p>AP classes: US History (Got a 4), European History, Statistics, Biology, English Language and Composition (Got a 5), English Literature, Government, and Economics.
*I haven't taken</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Spanish Club (3 years), French Club (2 years), Student Council Member, UIL Academic Team (Secretary junior year, planning on running for President next year), Debate Team, National Honor Society, Newspaper Feature Editor, won: UIL Journalism accolades, Who's Who in High School, First Place in a statewide journalism competition</p>

<p>Volunteer: Over 300 combined hours </p>

<p>Summers and Winter Breaks: Volunteering at the local zoo, library, and with the historical society</p>

<p>Residency: Texas</p>

<p>Intended Major: History/International Studies or Relations</p>

<p>Rank: 77/466 </p>

<p>GPA: 96.3 </p>

<p>To toot my own horn, I consider writing and speaking eloquently to be my greatest talents. I really don't want to be cocky, but I feel like my essays and interviews might help a lot. But one can NEVER be too sure, so I really don't want to say that.</p>

<p>My list is so long, and I really need help narrowing it down. If the school is a reach beyond all reason, be honest and tell me. Also, if a label (safety, reach, match) needs to be changed, let me know! </p>

<p>I'm applying early action to as many as I can.</p>

<p>University of Alabama-Safety
University of Arizona-Safety
Boston University-Match
Rhodes College-Match (applying early action)
Connecticut College-Match/slight reach?
Bowdoin College-Huge reach
Dickinson College-Match
Colby-Reach
Bates-??
Trinity College-Match
Wheaton-Match
Middlebury-REACH!
Colgate-Reach-y?
Gettysburg-Match-y?
Vassar-Reach
Barnard-Reach (My first choice-considering applying early decision)
Pepperdine-Match
Lewis and Clark-Match
University of Washington-Match</p>

<p>HELP! (and I'll love ya forever) :)</p>

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<p>I would try and narrow down Connecticut/Bowdoin/Dickinson/Colby/Bates/Middlebury/Vassar/Wheaton/Gettysburg (whew!) to the 3 or 4 you like best. Perhaps 1 reach, 2 matches, 1 safety, or some combination like that. Do some research and find which have the best IR/History programs. </p>

<p>I think you have a strong shot at all your reaches, and your list seems realistic. I do question the combination of schools on your list–you have a very wide variety.</p>

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<p>^I agree…do you need Middlebury, Colgate, Colby, Bowdoin and Vassar? I wouldn’t say you have too many reaches or anything, but you have a good number, so maybe get rid of a couple? </p>

<p>Also (and I’m not saying this is a problem at all) - a lot of these schools seem to go really well together, and a lot don’t. For example, you’ve got the kind of outdoorsy, liberal arts contingent - Bowdoin, Bates, Middlbury, Colby, maybe even Lewis and Clark (plus other LACs like Vassar, Dickinson, Conn College, etc.) Meanwhile, your first choice, Barnard, is an LAC, but is very urban. Then some bigger state universities - if you like those, that’s great; just make sure you have safeties you’d be happy to attend. And then Pepperdine, a religious school, definitely has a different feel from many of the others - a slightly more conservative student body, for one. </p>

<p>I’m not saying that you’re too all over the map; I’m just bringing it up. But I applied ED to a tiny liberal arts college, and will be attending a mid-size, tech-focused university, so I understand if you have different reasons for like all these types of schools.</p>

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<p>I have to believe the GPA is weighted (96 and you’re only 77/466?). What is your UW GPA? What can your family afford? Do you have an in-state safety?</p>

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<p>you’re looking at a lot of the same schools as me, especially the northeastern LAC’s.
you might want to consider the location of some of the schools, like with conn coll and trinity, both are similar academically/socially, but hartford, ct is not the best college town or city. You could do the same with bowdoin, colby, and bates too</p>

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<p>@natasharose After a long discussion with my mother, I think I’ve narrowed it down to (out of the ones you named): Bowdoin, Middlebury, Colby, Dickinson, and Connecticut College
I have a huge variety because I’d honestly be happy at a variety of schools, you know? Also, I have to take financial aid into the question-hence the public schools.</p>

<p>@Erin’s Dad: My GPA is actually unrated. My weighted GPA is somewhere around the 97/98 region. My class in particular is so competitive it’s beyond reason. The top 100 kids in our class are all like .0000000012 away from one another. Ugh. It’s insane. I don’t have an in-state safety because Texas’ public school system is mad. University of Texas pretty much only accepts the top 8% of students in a graduating class. They don’t look at GPA, SATs, Extrac’s, anything except rank.</p>

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<p>bumpity bump bump bumpity bump bump over the bumps we go…</p>

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<p>If FA is a concern for you, then don’t apply to all of those OOS schools because you won’t recieve scholarship preference despite how good your grades are. So that can eliminate a few schools right there.</p>

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<p>This is a totally silly question, but something I’ve always wondered: I’m an uber-legacy at U of AZ. Would that help me at all in terms of FA?</p>

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<p>Legacy has nothing to do with FA. Need defines FA. Your record (grades, scores, etc) can define merit aid. Legacy may at certain schools influence whether you are admitted. U of AZ, I doubt it (unless your grandparent left a building to the school).</p>