I need some second opinions!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I talked with my guidance counselor earlier this year, and we went over my test grades, GPA, etc., and she came up with a list of some colleges that may interest me, for I am interested in Biology/Chemistry or Biochemistry. I wanted to know if any of these are really that realistic for me. Here are my general stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: Composite: 1880 (750M/540CR/590W) <em>Must re-take!</em>
SAT II: 760 Chem, 660 Physics, 630 Bio, 630 Math2</p>

<p>GPA: 4.35 of 4.60 weighted
Rank: 22 of 631</p>

<p>EC:
Varsity tennis since freshman year
Treasurer of Student Council and Honor Society (9th grade)
Student Council representative/member throughout high school
Class council active member
Orchestra (9th & 10th grade- unfortunately was not able to take it in 11th grade)
<em>I have other smaller EC's, but none are spectacular</em></p>

<p>I am an Asian-American living in the suburbs of Philadelphia.</p>

<p>Courses:
9th: 5 Honors (English I, Spanish II, Geometry, Biology, World Civ. I), 1 Elective course (Orchestra)
10th: 5 Honors (English II, Spanish III, Algebra II, Chemistry, World Civ. II), 2 Elective courses (Latin I, Orchestra)
11th: 5 Honors (English III, Spanish IV, Pre Calc, Physics, American Studies I), 1 AP (Chemistry)
12th (Will be taking): 6 AP (English, Spanish, Calc BC, Physics, American Studies II, Environmental Science)</p>

<p>I could only take 1 AP class as an 11th grader (not possible to take any in 10th grade), because there are only two that are available, and because of conflicting schedules, it was not possible to take two.</p>

<p>Here are the list of colleges that my counselor has given to me, and I feel that most of them are reaches (super reaches too), but I just need to know which ones I have the best chances of getting into. Thank you and I appreciate the time you've taken to help me with this!</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Emory
Brandeis
Cornell
William & Mary
Lafayette
Rutgers
SUNY- Albany
U. Penn
U. Richmond
U. Rochester
UVA
Worcester Polytechnic Inst.</p>

<p><em>I also just needed some second opinions/suggestions, and I also want to see how realistic some of these are. I understand, I have virtually no chance at many of these (eg. UVA), but it would be awesome if you could try to list them from my best chances to slimest! Thanks!</em></p>

2

<p>UPenn - Reach (Reach for the sky, dream schools are always good)</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins - Reach (but reasonable, your an average canidate academically, but are below SAT average by not too much)</p>

<p>Emory - Reach (definite reach, but there are ways of getting into Emory, you could if dedicated, Emory admissions are very comprehensive)</p>

<p>UVA - Reach (extremely difficult for out of state, but you do have a shot)</p>

<p>University of Rochester (same basket as William & Mary)</p>

<p>William & Mary - Reach (A manigable reach, best chances out of your reaches)</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon - Good Match/Reach (It's on the lower end of reaches for you, I'd say it's a 50/50 for you)</p>

<p>Brandeis - Good Match/Reach (I'd say the same that I said for Canegie)</p>

<p>Lafayette - Good Match (On paper, you're a typical Lafayette student)</p>

<p>University of Richmond - Good Match </p>

<p>WPI - Good Match (you have good chances, but still not a safety)</p>

<p>SUNY Albany -Safety (But do not rely on it as your final safety net, the big 4 SUNY's can be wild cards depending on what the pool is like that year for in state students)</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much Cre8tive1 for taking the time to analyze my list. Your list was just about (if not exactly) what I had predicted also. I have read from several sources that it is a general rule of thumb to apply to 2 or 3 Reach Schools, Match Schools, and Safety Schools. How many schools is too many when applying? I have so many in mind, but actually applying might be more than I bargain for. I do not know exactly how long it will take for each application, but I want to invest much more time into my reach and match schools than other applicants do (I usual take a very long time when it comes to things like this). But don't get me wrong, I will certainly be investing a great deal of time into my safety schools as well (because I would not be smiling if I find nothing but thin envelopes in my mail box!) Again, thank you so much for your insight, and it has brought just the confidence and realization I need! Also, any addition opinions/suggestions are always welcome!</p>

4

<p>All in all you need to add in a good safety alongside SUNY Albany, look at</p>

<p>Drexel
Hobart and William Smith
Drew
SUNY-Stony Brook
St. Lawrence
Washington & Jefferson
RPI</p>

5

<p>Nine is a good number,the way I'd do it is make a list of</p>

<p>4-5 Reaches</p>

<p>2-3 Good Matches</p>

<p>2-3 Safeties</p>

<p>Then choose the school(s) in each category you want to attend the most and begin planning your admissions to those 4-5 school. Once you're on track for the first set of schools, move to the next. You'll know when to balance out your number as you go through the first stages of the process, especially the essays.</p>

6

<p>are you ranked nationally in tennis? this girl i know was ranked nationally and she got into JH with a SAT scores a little bit belowavg</p>

7

<p>Unfortunately, I am not ranked nationally :( I wish I had more time to play in tournaments, but I was just too involved with too many things! :(</p>

<p>Edit: Also, what do you mean by a 'little bit', because I'm pretty sure that mine are way below average, but if I pull them up, I can get them only below average :T</p>