I'm not really sure what I should consider my safeties, matches, and reaches...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m a junior at a competitive math/science magnet school and I’m really interested in an International Relations major so I’m wondering what colleges I should consider safeties, matches, and reaches based on my stats and assuming I perform as expected on the SAT I and SAT IIs. So if you have any other schools that you think I should check out, please let me know!

So far I picked out these (but I won’t end up applying to this many):
Reaches: Tufts (Applying ED II because it’s my top choice), Georgetown, Amherst, Pomona, Claremont Mckenna, University of Chicago, John Hopkins, Northwestern, maybe some other small liberal arts schools that I haven’t looked at yet
Match/Low reach: George Washington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Northeastern, William and Mary, Wake Forest
Safety: American University, Elon, UMass Amherst

SAT I: taking it this Saturday, then again during the beginning of the next school year; the practice tests I’ve been taking so far give me a predicted result of 2250+

SAT II: Planning on taking the biology one at the end of this year and then English and one other one at the beginning if next year; so far my biology practice tests are around 740ish and I plan on getting my other ones at least 700+

Unweighted GPA: I predict my final GPA to be at least 92.5 (3.68), possibly slightly higher

Rank: my school doesn’t rank but the highest and lowest GPAs are given in the school profile, right now they are 80.5 and 96.5

Hooks: First generation

Courseload:
All classes are taught at the honors/AP level with the exception of the college credit classes
• Freshman
Marine Bio
English I
Spanish I
Algebra I
Geometry
Chemistry I
Gym
World History
• Over the summer I took Spanish II online so I could take a research class
• Sophomore
Chemistry II
Algebra II
Spanish III
Gym
Aquatic Ecology
Statistics
Research and Methodologies
English II
• Over the summer I did an art pass/fail project over the summer so I could take Spanish IV, then Spanish V
• Junior
Biotechnology (College)
Trigonometry
Gym
U.S. History I
English III
Precalc (College)
Spanish IV
Physics (College)
• Senior
Oceanography (College)
English IV (College)
Spanish V
Computer Science (College)
Calculus (College)
Environmental Science (College)
U.S. History II
Gym

Extracurriculars (including known future ones):

Newspaper (9-10) (club was cut, I was actually elected editor for the next year but never got to do it)

2nd place in environmental science at my school’s science fair (9)

Relay for Life (Captain, head organizer of the event within my school, and on the board for the actual event… three separate positions but I’m not sure if these should be listed separately) (10-12)

Student Council (President) (9-12)

Project Terrapin (environmental group focused on saving terrapins) (9-12)

Girl Scouts (9-12)

Girl Scout Silver Award (9)

Girl Scout Gold Award (12)

Girl Scouts Advisory Board (12)

Created environmental science curriculum for the Girl Scouts, including creating a workbook, which is also used by environmental outreach programs (12)

Hosted a blood drive (12)

Summer blood drive program (11)

Interned with the mayor (11-12)

National Honor Society (12)

Organized an annual yard sale day that donates funds for wounded warriors (11-12)

Took terrorism defense college course (11)

Took a homeland security college course (12)

Worked at the library (9)

Worked at the boardwalk (10-12)

So if you guys want to either chance me for the schools I listed or recommend me schools, I would appreciate it a lot!

Thank you!

2

American University is big on “level of applicant’s interest”, an indication that they do not want to be a “safety” behind Georgetown and George Washington.

3

Not too sure about the schools so I won’t chance but, your EC’s don’t align with your wanted major so that might be a problem

4

Narrow down your reach list to four and start talking to admissions officers at those four. D applied to 9 reach schools this year and as a result her applications / essays were not as strong as they could have been. Applying to a lot of target or safety schools is not a problem aside from application fees. If you want to maximize merit aid, demonstrate interest at schools that give aid

5

Do you live in NC?

6

@CaliCash No, but I really like it there!

7

@ucbalumnus I’m still going to go on the interview and spend time on my application, it’s just that I’m not going to pick them over George Washington or Georgetown. So how would they know that I’m using them as a safety?

8

@TalkTheTalk I know, it was mostly because I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to major in all throughout high school. Being from a math and science high school most of our clubs are science/math related so I don’t have too many choices anyways. I guess the only things I’ve done relating to the major I want is take 5 years of Spanish and the two college courses. So should I apply undecided or would that even make a difference?

9

@Wje9164be Thanks for the advice! I’m definitely not applying to that many reaches, I just haven’t narrowed it down because I haven’t visited all of them or extensively researched them. And how would I go about communicating with these schools?

10

Can you afford Tufts ED?

11

@txstella Yes, I might be able to get some money out of financial aid but I’m in a a relatively good financial situation so it’s not a big deal if I don’t get anything

12

OK. Tufts will cost you about $60k per year. If you can pay that, then go for it. If the $60k makes you and your parents cringe, then don’t apply ED. I filled out the NPC for Tufts and I did indeed “cringe”.

This applies to a lot of the schools you have listed as reaches.

You are obviously a strong candidate. I’d add in some safety schools and delete some of the reaches.

13

@txstella Ok thank you for your help! And I’m definitely going to talk with my parents again before applying ED to Tufts but I’ve asked them previously and they’ve said that cost wouldn’t be an issue even if we do have to pay close to sticker price.

I’m also planning on getting rid of a lot of reaches and adding some more safeties as I visit and research more schools… I just sort of wanted a general idea of how I’m planning it out so far and if the schools I’m considering safeties and matches are actually safeties and matches for me.

Also, am I still a strong candidate even with my GPA? Because I was looking at the average GPAs for some schools and I’m well below average.

14

Amherst, Pomona, Chicago and Northwestern are the most selective of all the schools on your list, with Amherst pretty much being in a class by themselves in terms of selectivity.

If you really can swing a 2250+ you have a good shot at all the schools you mentioned, except for these four.
If you were not applying ED to Tufts, I’d say that would be a big reach for you as well, but ED might just push you over the edge (don’t be surprised if you go from ED to the waitlist).

15

@soze Thanks for your help! I sort of figured that my reaches were really big reaches… But what about Georgetown? Would you consider that up there with Chicago, Northwestern, etc.? Because that’s my second choice of my reach schools and I thought it would be just as big of a reach as the others.

16

If you do not live in NC, UNC Chapel Hill will be a high reach.

17

@CaliCash High reach as in up there with Northwestern, Tufts, etc.? Or more like something in between?

18

It’s almost impossible to get in there out of state. I believe it is 15% acceptance rate for OOS students.

19

@CaliCash Oh wow, well thanks for letting me know! To be honest that isn’t one of the ones I’ve looked into a ton… I might just not apply since it wasn’t even one of my favorite matches/low reaches anyways

20

GT is (generally) a bit less selective than NW or Chicago and quite a bit less selective than Amherst or Pomona.