Identify my safeties/matches/reaches??

College Search & Selection
1

I am a rising junior at a public high school in the Northeast, and a white female. I know it’s a bit premature, but right now I’m looking to major in International Relations and minor in Spanish. Things can certainly change, but I absolutely know that I will be applying to numerous LACs in the future. Here are some of my stats:

Average: 95.25/100 (Unweighted)
Rank: Will not receive until later this summer, expecting to be top 10 (class of 117 students)
SAT (new format): 1380/1600 without any studying or preparation (taking 2 more times and have been studying)
ACT: Taking in the fall, my guidance counselor expects me to score somewhere between 32-34
SAT Subject Tests: Took World History Subject Test in June, expecting a score in the 700-750 range. Will be taking 2 more subject tests next year (US History and Spanish, most likely).

ECs: JV Soccer 8,9 (Captain both years)
Varsity Soccer 10
Varsity Basketball 9,10
Student council PRESIDENT- 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (will no longer be participating in student council)
Leo’s Club 9,10 (Community Service)
DECA Club 9, 10 (recently appointed Vice President of Finance)
Stage crew 9
I work 12 hours a week at a local plant nursery during the school year, 36 hours a week during the summer

I will continue with varsity soccer, varsity basketball, Leo’s club, and DECA. I am also going to join the Community Service Organization,the Language Club, and National Honor Society (only able to join junior year if selected) next year and will continue with those senior year as well.

Freshman Year:

Algebra
Earth Science (no honors or AP offered)
AP World I
Spanish I-B (honors/AP Spanish is not offered at my school)
Honors English
Electricity
Design/Drawing
Film

Sophomore Year:

Geometry
Chemistry (considered honors because I took this as a sophomore)
AP World II (4 on AP Exam, by the way. Somewhat bummed.)
Honors English
Spanish II (honors/AP Spanish is not offered at my school)
CADD
Meteorology
Marine Biology

Next year I’ll be taking:

Trigonometry
AP Composition
AP Biology
AP U.S. History
AP Psychology
Spanish III (honors/AP Spanish is not offered at my school)

Senior year I will take:

AP Physics
Government
Economics
AP European History
Pre Calculus
Spanish IV (honors/AP Spanish is not offered at my school)
AP Literature

Here’s my list. Please feel free to recommend some other LACs or universities with strong IR programs, preferably.

Middlebury
Carleton
Bowdoin
Macalester
Bates
Colby
University of Vermont

Also, my family has some pretty prominent connections to some really notable Middlebury alumni. Some of the alumni would certainly be able to put in a good word for me/write recommendations (as 2 did for my sister and she applied ED to Midd and was accepted). I additionally plan on doing an internship next summer that would access more Middlebury connections, and would most likely appeal to any school I apply to.

So, can anyone identify my safeties/matches/reaches?

2

Since you took your SATs early, they are likely to improve significantly from their already high level.

Your current choices would all be reasonable destinations for your application. In the interest of caution, however, the schools on your list with acceptance rates below ~25% should be considered to be reasonable reaches. (Though the path at Colby would be easier, in that they appear to statistically favor female applicants.)

In terms of additions, you might like Hamilton’s World Politics major which exists within their very strong government department. They also offer a well established term-length program in Washington, D.C. Unlike many LACs, Hamilton’s admissions (by female/male acceptance rates) are gender balanced.

UVM could serve as a safety for you, but you knew that.

3

@merc81 I have never really given Hamilton enough thought, thanks for that recommendation! I definitely owe their program some more research.
Yes, I figured UVM would be a safety. Do you have any other safety additions? I’m having a difficult time selecting safeties because my heart is so set on Middlebury right now.

4

I expect you to be a Panther some day.

As for a safety you could truly like, St. Lawrence offers a few qualities that even Middlebury and Colby do not. Denison, a somewhat different type of school, could work as well. In the case of these two suggestions, though, I’m not particularly familiar with their IR programs.

5

@merc81

Fingers crossed. Definitely will be applying ED!

I have read briefly read about St. Lawrence, but not much about Denison. I figured that I might have a better chance at LACs in the Midwest, as they do not receive nearly as many applicants from the Northeast as schools like Midd, Bowdoin, Bates, etc do. I’ve been told that the acceptance rate for my demographic at Midd is “less than 10%”… I’m terrified. Hopefully good recs from notorious Midd alumni can help me through!

6

Well, there’s a lot of hyperbole online, should that have been your source. Middlebury’s ED acceptance rate was recently 53%. If you do decide to go this route and put together a well-crafted application, I’d expect your own chances of admission to fall somewhere around this figure.

7

@merc81

Wow, I didn’t know the ED acceptance rate at Midd was that high. Hoping for a tremendous upward trend for my GPA through my junior year. Thank you for all of your immensely helpful advice!

8

@macd123 and @merc81 take this comment by merc81 with a grain of salt. You have to remember that ED rates at almost all schools are significantly higher due to a number of reasons - most notably athlete applications. What this means is that if you’re applying ED as a non-athlete to some of these schools there may be even fewer available spots. It is not hyperbole to state that Middlebury’s RD acceptance rate for white females from the Northeast is below 10%. It’s simply an unfortunate fact.

Keep in mind that everyone on CC has some sort of agenda. For some it will be to come and hype up their favorite school. Often the only way to do that is to choose another (often highly regarded) school and make it look bad by comparison. Remember, that top schools are usually highly regarded for a reason. Don’t chase the hot school (every school gets to enjoy a period of popularity, but things will usually revert to normal). Don’t flee the unpopular school. Fashions change and most schools also experience a down period. View schools over time to judge their relative strength. Good luck!

9

@urbanslaughter : Middlebury’s ED acceptance rate applies to the OP as much as anyone else when considering that she is still in the early stages of her college preparation. (In particular, SHE could be a recruitable athlete, e.g.) The 53% ED rate is only probative as it relates to her eventual outcome, but dismissing it as irrelevant implies an unwillingness to adhere to firm statistics. Bowdoin, for example, also recruits athletes, but their ED1 rate is a much lower 33.7%. Pointing out figures such as this within posts should hardly be considered favoritism of one school over another. Nor should my having suggested that I prefer St. Lawrence in some ways to other schools (especially with respect to architecture and setting) be regarded as the agenda you seem to have felt comfortable implying. If I had no opinion on any colleges, then there’d be little point in posting.

10

St Lawrence and Denison are both great suggestions for non-reach schools. Dickinson is another, in central PA, which has strong International Relations program. St Lawrence is gorgeous campus, school is working hard to diversify the student body, and using merit aid to do so. Great school spirit, D3 sports, with D1 hockey and some great rivalries. Denison will not be as cold, as long, as St L or Midd, has a diverse student body, good merit awards, and the Sen. Lugar program which has concentration in both US govt or international relations.

11

@Midwestmomofboys

Thank you for those additions! I am absolutely going to do some research.

12

@merc81 and @urbanslaughter

Thank you for all of your advice and suggestions!

13

Concurring with Dickinson, especially for IR. Colgate is another school worth introducing into the greater picture.

@macd123 : Wishing you luck moving forward. As I said, I think you will be a Panther someday. However, exploring other options in the meantime can be an educational experience in itself.

14

Not a safety, but have you looked at Tufts? They have a strong IR program.
Good luck!

15

Concur with Tufts for IR.

16

Another strong IR school is Johns Hopkins–but not a safety.

Look at American University in DC–less selective than Tufts or JHU–has an International Studies major.

17

Plenty of very good schools have been mentioned. You already have some reaches and (likely) high matches, as well as a safety, on your list. Some additional reaches and matches/high matches have been mentioned.

I second JHU and Tufts as two universities with strong IR programs.

Probably the most renowned IR program in the US is at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (SFS). It too is reachy, but if you are interested in IA/IR no place is better, by rep anyway. Georgetown has its own app and they make you take three SAT II tests – kind of their own built-in interest-demonstration hurdle. I figured it was worth mentioning.

(and no, I did not attend – no bias here)

18

@prezbucky : There’s been a suggested prohibition against recommending any “favorite” schools (#7) as well – irrespective of their potential value to the OP – so caution with respect to this would also be advisable. :slight_smile:

19

I was referencing that actually. :wink:

I try pretty hard to avoid touting my own alma mater unless I’m pretty sure it could be a good fit for the OP. But avoiding it altogether is like cutting off your nose to spite your face – if it might be a good option, you’re hurting the kid by not letting them know. So I say, with as little bias as possible (of course), loose those arrows if they might hit the target.

20

@prezbucky : Great IR school suggestions (#s 15 and 16) by you and Mondrian, btw. The overall fit might not be there for a student who is drawn to the undergraduate-focused Middlebury, but the recommended colleges are options she should be familiarized with nevertheless.

(Btw, knew you were referencing that.)