<p>Hi! I think I'm posting this in the right area. I'm starting a college list (I'm a junior) and I read that it is very important to have safties that you like. So, when I visit colleges this fall or spring, I want to visit some easier schools to get into.
Compressed stats:
SAT: (haven't taken, my practice test range) 2150 to 2220
AP: AP European History 5, AP Statistics 5 (This year US history, Chem, and French)
EC: SADD President, Key Club member, Model UN, Literary Mag Editor, Sci Club member, library volunteer, nature center volunteer, Historical Society volunteer
Hook: history loving white, lower middle class girl - writing a fifty page research paper on women, primary source research
Rank: Number 3 in class of 215, GPA 4.227</p>
<p>Reaches just to see if I can get in:
Dartmouth</p>
<p>Reaches I want to apply to:
Bowdoin
Middlebury
Williams</p>
<p>Matches I want to apply to:
Connecticut College (is this a match)
Mount Holyoke
Colby College (is this a match?)</p>
<p>Safties:</p>
<p>I really need some help! I don't think my matches are exactly matches, and I really want some safties! My only requirements are that they are LAC and in New England. I hope someone can help me! Thanks.
Sara</p>
<p>Thanks, hmom5 and braincamp. Hmom5, I thought Bates was just a little easier than Bowdoin? (Bowdoin is my number one college, and has been for a year) I want one school that will definitely be a saftey for me… one that I know I’ll get into.</p>
<p>I’m looking at Skidmore… a friend of my parents went there. </p>
<p>Also, what do you recommend that is like Bowdoin and Middlebury? Is Conn Coll a match for me? I think it might be a reach. I don’t know how to tell.</p>
<p>Like Bowdoin and Middlebury, but a little easier an admit: the usual suspects are probably Colgate, Hamilton, and Colby. (Not technically New England, in the case of the first two, but close. ) If you are considering Mt Holyoke, also consider Smith and Wellesley. (Not easier, but great schools with a lot to offer a young woman.)</p>
<p>You might want to take a look at Dickinson, Bucknell, and Vassar, too. The first two would be on the safer end of your list, assuming those SATs come through. (And don’t forget to take SATIIs!) FOr a real safety, possibly Wheaton in Massachusetts.</p>
<p>Oops! I can’t believe I spelled safeties incorrectly - I can’t tell you how embarrassing that is. My fingers were a bit goofy from typing so much. I guess you can say I had a long day today - I had two tests and three essays due. I have a feeling that you’re doubting that I’m number three in my class. I made a stupid spelling mistake that will bother me for the next hour. Sorry.</p>
<p>I haven’t visited any because I live in the midwest, and a trip to NE is too expensive for my family more than twice. I’m going this spring break, after my scores come in. I’m taking the SAT in October (eek!). </p>
<p>Colgate and Hamilton: will look into them.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your quick help! I really appreciate it. Since I live in the midwest, most of the schools that my teachers and guidance counselors know about and can advise me on are not what I’m looking for. College Confidential has been a great resource!</p>
<p>By the way, do I need to take the SATII’s? I think only Williams requires them, and Middlebury takes three APs (which I currently have two of). If I don’t have time to take them, I just won’t apply to Williams, I guess.</p>
<p>Most selective New England schools require or “recommend”–ie, require --2 SAT IIs. A few require 3, but since none of them are on your list I wouldn’t worry about it. If you are a junior you have plenty of time to take them. Just schedule a couple for the June date, and take the SAT on the May date. Chem and French would be good: one science, one humanity. Two at a time is the recommended max. The material isn’t necessarily the same as the AP exam, so it’s wise to get a prep book for each for review. </p>
<p>If you need to retest on the SAT or add another SAT II that leaves you October and November.</p>
<p>So “recommend” is code for “require,” now? Heh, heh. So much I need to learn. I think I’ll take Chemistry, Math, and US History… I don’t know how well I’ll do on French.</p>
<p>sara12, keep in mind that in choosing a safety, you need to consider financial aid as well as admissions prospects. You describe yourself as “lower middle class” so presumably will need significant financial aid to attend a private college. I can’t think of a private LAC in New England that clearly is a true admissions and financial safety for you. Connecticut College (among others) seems to be a good match school, though.</p>
<p>Some of the midwestern LACs are similar in quality and style to the New England LACs, may be less selective (depending on which ones you compare), have slightly lower total cost of attendance, and offer merit scholarships (which the New England schools generally do not). One example that possibly could be considered a safety for you is Lawrence University (a LAC + music conservatory) in Appleton, WI. Another is Earlham College, where your chances for significant merit aid might be pretty high.</p>
<p>St. Mary’s College of Maryland is one of the country’s best public LACs (there aren’t too many of them). It has a beautiful water-front campus with much the same look and feel as a high-end private LAC. For Maryland residents it is a wonderful safety choice for someone like you. Even for out-of-state, it would be about $10K-$15K cheaper (before aid) than a private New England LAC. I’m not too clear about their out-of-state admissions and aid policies, though.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has very good FA, better than Bates. Dartmouth and Williams have excellent FA.</p>
<p>If you need serious money, better look to the need-blind schools with deep pockets, not the schools that are doling out merit aid as a yield enhancement tool. Depending on the OP’s situation, a combination of need and merit schools is probably the best bet so that there are choices come spring.</p>
<p>I would say that I’m up for a good amount of need-based FA, but not as much as a typical lower middle class person. My family (when I was born to four or five) was upper middle class, and my parents have been saving for a good while now. I’m applying to the state school honors program, just in a wild case I can’t pay for LAC. One of the reasons I like Bowdoin, Williams, and Dartmouth is the good FA, since my family makes less than 50000 a year. Thanks for the advice tk21769.</p>
) If you are considering Mt Holyoke, also consider Smith and Wellesley. (Not easier, but great schools with a lot to offer a young woman.)</p>