<p>I'm a junior in NJ and I have safeties and I have reaches, but there really isn't anything in the middle.</p>
<p>My safeties: TCNJ, Delaware, Villanova. I'd probably go to TCNJ if it came to those
Then the other schools I'm considering applying to are Duke, Georgetown, UVA, UNC, W&M, and Wake Forest. I think Wake might be a match but I'm not sure I want to go there.</p>
<p>SATs I have a 2070, 760 in Math and 700 in Reading. On SAT IIs, I have 750 in both US History and Biology. 4.3W and 3.7UW GPA</p>
<p>I just want to find a match that I would be happy going to. Thanks</p>
<p>I guess Lehigh and Bucknell are ones I could consider. </p>
<p>To give some more info: I'm looking between NJ and NC on the east coast. Between 4,000 and 16,000 undergrads. I want to study biology. I would like a campus but also a town/city within walking distance. I love the way Chapel Hill is set up, for example</p>
<p>Penn State and Maryland are too big, and Layafette is too small. I'm not sure whether GW has a campus, my sister told me American didn't. If it did I would definitely apply to American</p>
<p>Richmond is a bit small for me too, but considering its location there will be a lot of people around so I guess that doesn't matter much.</p>
<p>UMich would be a solid match for you. Wake Forest and W and M are safe matches as well, maybe even safeties. You've got a sufficient amount of matches.</p>
<p>I guess I'll ask this here. I'm seriously cinsidering Wake FOrest if I don't get into my reaches. My one hang-up is that the social scene there doesn't seem that great. Can anyone shed some light on that?</p>
<p>^ What?! A match is the place you'll most likely end up! It's unrealistic to assume you'll get into your reaches, but if you don't, surely you'd want a shot at something better than your safeties!</p>
<p>In all honesty, just because it's your safety it doesn't necesarily mean it's not worth going to especially if you're perfectly happy with it. Haven't you heard the phrase, "love your safety." You can only love so many schools, and if you love all your schools(say 10 or more) you really didn't do your research a school to see it is a fit.</p>
<p>Simply to add a school just so it can be considered a match, means you aren't looking for a school that meets your needs and fits with your personality. What that shows us is that you're looking for a school mainly because of bragging rights or because of prestige/rank/statistics.</p>
<p>At Maryland, you will be offered honors, which does give it a smaller feel. Catholic University has a nice campus, but it would be a safety for you, not a match. I suppose that you have considered Hopkins already, but ruled it out for some reason (too competitve, depressing).</p>
<p>Your numbers and location are very similar to my son's. He was accepted at Lehigh, Richmond, Wake Forest, and a couple of small LACs in PA. Waitlisted at UVA (his first choice). He also considered (but did not apply to) Bucknell, Emory and UNC.<br>
You have the numbers to possibly get into the Schreyer Honors Program at Penn State (they only enroll 300 per year). I say possibly because some of my son's friends with great numbers were rejected. Yes, it's a huge school but those in the honors program say that it makes it smaller (better advising, smaller classes, etc). I mention this because you said you liked UNC and we thought the PSU campus was similar (although PSU is isolated, the campus is like a little city with lots of restaurants, bars etc). Univ of Maryland and UD - and possibly Rutgers also have honors programs that are worth checking out. If we could do it over again, I would encourage my son to apply to Umich and UNC. After initially liking smaller schools, he decided big campus environments were a better match for him and would offer more opportunities (and he's a huge sports fan too).</p>
<p>^Thats interesting, thanks. I don't know I suppose honors programs make a school seem smaller, but PSU and Maryland are still really big schools. I don't like the whole isolated thing too, which is what kind of bothers me about Wake Forest. The set up of UNC is perfect; it has a great campus and yet is very close to Franklin street which has great bars and restaurants</p>
<p>Yes, my son was less than enthusiastic about WF because he said it was too small and "bubble" like. Franklin St at UNC was a big hit with my son (the State College surrounding area at PSU is very similar - but seems to have even more restaurants and bars). Think about keeping an open mind and visiting one or two of the state schools (UMD, PSU or UD). My son thought he would HATE PSU (and we did too) but he really liked it after the visit -especially after hearing about the honors perks and meeting some of the students in the program. If you like urban campuses, it's not going to meet your needs, but if bars and restuarants are what you're looking for - you should take a look (there are too many to count). UNC may be better school - but you said you were looking for matches (it's very tough to get into UNC out of state as I'm sure you know).</p>
<p>We visited W&M. We (the parents) loved it - we thought the campus was beautiful and were impressed with the academics. My son did NOT like it - thought Williamsburg was a dead town and heard from friends that there were too many kids that study all the time. He wanted a good balance of social life and academics (like UVA or Duke). JMU might be a good safety for you - many go there from my son's high school and they seem to love it. Your profile is MUCH stronger than the typical student there but it's always nice to have a sure thing. What is your major? That made a big difference in where my son applied. He wanted undergrad business (which is why he didn't apply to Duke even though he liked it on our visit). UVA is tops in business - too bad he didn't make it - and his waitlist chances are probably 1 in 1000! He thought about Penn but decided to give up after 27 kids applied ED from his high school.</p>