Harvard
Brown
Yale
Johns Hopkins
Duke
WashU
Pomona
Scripps
Harvey Mudd
USC
UC Los Angeles
UC Berkeley
UC San Diego
Purdue-accepted early
I’ve finished all the apps above and want to apply to Columbia, UPenn, and Princeton.
What do you think about my college list? Anything I should change? Thank you so very much!
GPA: 4.0UW, 4.4W
ACT-34
Good extracurriculars with research at Stanford this summer (Too lazy to post everything
Lks grt. (i m la z 2)
Looks pretty good but a little reach heavy. A ton of schools too. Add a school you know you will get into and can pay for, though the UCs might be good enough.
Are you in-state in CA? Are you applying for Engineering or something else? Have you run the NPC at these schools? Do you need, or are you eligible for financial aid? What does your family say about cost?
If you are happy to go to Purdue, if that turns out to be your only option, then no changes needed though personally I would think it is unwise to add more reaches at this point (which is what they are, for any well-qualified applicant). Some matches would include Case Western in Cleveland or perhaps Minnesota-Twin Cities (very competitive for engineering) or Wisconsin (competitive application for specific engineering majors beginning in spring of freshman). If engineering, perhaps Rose Hulman, also in Indiana.
I’m from the Midwest. And I’m going for a major in science either Chem or bio.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are still good options for an OOS student in science, if the OOS tuition is affordable for your family. Case Western also a good option to keep on the list. With Duke and Wash U on the list, maybe consider Emory. If it were my kid, I would advise not to apply to the 3 additional Ivies, and instead build out the match/safeties. A number of students, and parents, have been posting this week about how tough it is to get deferred or rejected from the ED school. Looking at your list, those schools are almost all reaches for everyone, except perhaps Scripps and USC, and that could be a lot of rejections in the spring. Better to build in some room for good news on your list for April.
If you are happy with Purdue and can handle potentially a lot of rejections, then you’re fine. If not, add more matches. Unless you’re full pay or in-state for Purdue, you should also add a financial safety.
I know National Merit finalists receive half tuition scholarship at USC. So that’s something I’m looking at.