I know my chances are slimmer than slim with my stats being a 3.74 UW/4.48 W GPA and 1530 SAT but should I still apply to Himalayan mountain peak reach type colleges? My parents really want me to try my luck at Stanford, so I’m applying there, but they also said they would like me to apply to one Ivy. I’m applying regular decision for all since I want to send my first semester of senior year grades and my two subject tests (taking in November). I intend to study Neuroscience.
I went to a very competitive high school, so I really don’t want to be placed in that environment again for undergrad. But I’m doing so cuz of my parents.
Is it worth the extra time? (application fees and cost of attendance are not problems)
I think two reaches seems typical/reasonable.
Ask your parents if they can afford it if you were to get in (have them run the Net Price Calculators on the college website).
If you do, you will never look back and say “I should have tried”.
If you do, and don’t get in, then you will think “not surprising I didn’t get in although qhalified as they take less than 10% of applicants”
“I really don’t want to be placed in that environment again for undergrad.”
My experience at highly ranked universities is that they are academically very challenging. The classes go faster, there is more homework, the tests are harder. If you want to work this hard then you should apply. However, for undergrad this is four years of hard work. You need to want to do it.
@DadTwoGirls I want to go to a top school for medical school, but not necessarily undergrad. Thank you for confirming my opinion of top schools though: that they are intense.
This is based on my son’s experience from last fall. He applied to 3 reach schools, 1 low reach, 2 matches, and 2 safeties. He was not accepted at any of the reach schools and it was a pretty stressful situation for him (while he was trying to enjoy all the festivities of senior year). He was deferred, had to do interviews, send additional information, etc. All to be rejected in the end. Also, looking back, I wonder if spending so much time on the essays for those reach schools could have diminished the quality of all of his other essays. He ended up at the “low reach” school and he’s very happy so far but we/I learned a lot from that experience. Just a few things to consider Best of luck to you.
Apply to a couple of reaches, but really load up on likeable safeties. For high-stats kids, there really are no matches. Schools where your SAT scores look like a match are really more like lottery schools. They get tons of applicants, so they easily fill their classes with athletes, legacies, under-represented minorities, students from weird places, students who want to major in weird subjects, etc. Remember that there are many truly great colleges and universities, so don’t fixate on the best-known.
Also, apply to at least one state university with an honors program. That’s my advice, FWIW.
@BSL1199 wow that’s awesome, congrats to your son! Yes, I definitely wish colleges didn’t “lead on” students…when you get all those supplements, you really feel like they want to accept you, and sometimes, they don’t. Thank you
@prodesse my safeties are UCR, Sac State, SDSU, and Creighton (only applying because I got the Application for Driven Students). My matches are UCD, UCI, UCSB, UCSC, UW Seattle. My low reach is UCSD. My reaches are UCLA, USC. My mega reaches are Stanford and (maybe) Columbia. I’d be happy attending any of my safeties and matches. If worst comes to worst, I am going to CC for two years and doing the TAG program to attend UC Davis.
I also don’t feel overwhelmed adding another essay or two to my plate. I started the applications over the summer for the most part, and I’m not too stressed because of school.
As a high school senior, I applied to several really competitive colleges. Only got into one. My stats were fine but, as another poster has already mentioned, getting into a top school is a sure shot for no one (except really important legacies, I guess).
Personally, I’m not a big fan of ultra-competitive academic atmospheres either. My advice to you is to apply to schools that you can see yourself being happy at, and where you can thrive as a student. YOU have to be there for 4 years after all, not your parents. If they are insistent about it, apply to two super reach schools, at the most. Any more than that and you are throwing away money. Also, I don’t know how much of a difference there is between one top school and another. So I don’t see the point of applying to too many of them.
@aladris congrats! I understand but I all of a sudden had this wanting in me, so I just said “what the heck why not” and went for it. But thank you, I totally agree with you.
I think it really just comes down to taking the time to do the app, which is totally up to you, and paying the app fee (which is up to you or your parents). If you are willing to put the time in and pay the fee, AND from your research think you would be happy there and it’s a good fit, and is affordable, then sure!
Best of luck to you.