Hi, I plan on applying to between 12-14 schools (considering the UC’s as one school because they have one application). I was just wondering if my list of schools looked balanced yet also consistent, so come spring time next year I’ll have a school for the next year. I was also wondering which one people suggest might prove the most fruitful for the early round (either ED or EA). I will put a note next to the schools at which I might apply early.
Reaches:
Georgetown SFS (EA?)
Harvard (SCEA?)
Stanford (SCEA?)
UPenn Huntsman (ED?)
Dartmouth (ED?)
Duke
Princeton
Northwestern
Amherst
Claremont McKenna
Matches:
Tufts
Wake Forest
UVa (EA?)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Safeties:
American
UNC Chapel Hill
UC San Diego
UC Davis
UC Merced
My end goal is to hopefully end up at one of the smaller schools on my list, but if that doesn’t happen it isn’t the end of the world. Also, just in case anyone is wondering, I have the stats to get in the door (35 ACT, 4.0/4.8 GPA) and adequate ECs, on this thread I’m just looking for input on my list itself.
Thanks!
Congratulations on your great grades and test scores. I would caution against considering UCSD and UCD as safeties. Maybe look at Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced as instead.
UNC Chapel Hill is not a safety if you are OOS. Tufts would be a reach.
Agree UCSD especially is not a safety. Are you in-state CA? Can your parents afford these schools?
@lkg4answers Of the UCs, I have only listed the ones I am applying to, just because I can’t see myself at any of the others and I don’t want to apply to schools that I don’t think I would be a good fit at.
@TomSrOfBoston I think I will move UNC up to the match list then, but I still hope I can use Tufts as a match school just because my ACT score is well above their 25/75 averages. Maybe I’m just naive and bitterly disillusioned, but if I’m two points over their 75th percentile, how can I not trust that, especially at a school that doesn’t have as strong an applicant pool as a top 20 college?
@Gumbymom I am in-state and my parents can afford these schools. I am just confused why I can’t use San Diego as a safety, especially when they accept almost 70% of students with above a 4.0 (I have the max UC GPA) and almost 70% of students with above a 30 on the ACT (I have a 35). Again, I think this is from a place of naive denial about schools, but to me it doesn’t seen fair.
You are naïve because Tufts admission, along with all the others, involves a lot more than GPA and test scores.
@LAD2266: according to the following link, 44% admission rate for applicants with a GPA of 4.2 or above in 2015 at UCSD. A Match but not a safety and as also stated above, admissions is just not GPA and test scores, especially for the top tier UC’s.
http://universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary
Georgetown - Low reach
Harvard - Reach
Stanford - Reach
UPenn Huntsman - Reach
Dartmouth - Reach
Duke - Reach
Princeton - Reach
Northwestern - Reach
Amherst - Low reach
Claremont McKenna - Low reach
Tufts- Low reach
Wake Forest- High match/match
UVa OOS - Low reach/high match
UC Berkeley - Match
UCLA in-state - Match
American - Low match
UNC Chapel Hill OOS - High match
UC San Diego - Match
UC Davis - Match/low match
UC Merced - Low match
Merced and American are probably close to being safeties. And obviously, ED helps – maybe turns Northwestern/Dartmouth/Duke/Georgetown/Penn into lower reaches. I think SCEA, HPS are still reaches.
Also, what is your intended major?
Some majors at UCs are more popular than their capacity. For example, if you apply to an engineering or CS major at UCB, UCLA, UCSD, or UCD, you should probably move them into a more difficult level of admission selectivity.
@ucbalumnus My intended major will be Political Science most likely – not a very impacted major.
@prezbucky I agree with a lot of what you suggested, however, I think of the UCs, Merced and Davis should definitely be safeties. I already qualified for the top 9% of my class UC thing that grants me admission at, at the very least UC Merced.
I agree with most of the people above regarding the UC’s. UCLA and UCB should be at least Low Reach as UCSD and UCD Match/High Match. Don’t know much about Merc.
If you are in that top 9% and you’re guaranteed admission to a UC – check with @ucbalumnus – then yes, you could count the entire UC system as a safety, since one of them must admit you. But make sure you have that right before counting those chickens.
ELC only guarantees you will be admitted to UC Merced (current default campus, sometimes UC Riverside) if space is available, but not your choice UC campus just to clarify.
@Gumbymom I just tried out the link you listed in post eight and for some reason I found that UCSD had an admit rate of 88% for students with over a 4.20 GPA in 2015. I could have used the system wrong, but if that information holds true would I consider it a safety?
Admit rate for that GPA range is correct, but the stat I quoted was 44% of applicants in the applicant pool had 4.2 or higher GPA’s that were admitted. I believe the admit rate is the # of applicants in the GPA that actually enrolled.
If you want to use UCSD as a safety, you can, but admit rates are more than GPA and test score. Your EC’s and essays and major will come into play. Admissions is not so black and white especially for the top UC’s and top tier schools in general.
@Gumbymom Yes, thank you so much for your insight. I completely understand your point, and I can just hope the work I’ve put in over the past three years will be enough to push me over the edge and into the admitted pool. I apologize if I came across as a little stubborn in this thread.