<p>i think it important to note, amidst this chorus of “reach higher,” that if the schools on your list are where you’d like to attend, they’re wonderful places that would be at the top of many students’ lists. i think we all agree that your unique story and circumstances, if you invoke them well in your essay, will likely get you into even more selective schools. but it seems like your list is rather well thought out, and, as someone who sought out a new england LAC, and didn’t care for williams or amherst, think that it’s sufficient to say you’ll likely get into all of the schools on your list, including the most selective, but not to presume that you should go elsewhere. assuming that bowdoin and middlebury, vassar or wesleyan couldn’t be first choices for top students in this country is a warped perspective of this board alone.</p>