Is my college list OK?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I am drafting (well trying to) my college list. After long hours spent reading each and every site, watching countless tours on youtube, and planning trips to a few, I have narrowed it down to these top contenders. I have a few questions...</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Does my categorization into groups of safety, match, and reach seem OK? I understand that you don't see my credentials, but I want to know if I've discounted the selectivity of some of these schools. For example, can UCSB really be considered a "safety" while UCSD is in the "match" zone? This is simply what I've garnered from acceptance rates, word of mouth, and average scores.</p></li>
<li><p>My prospective major is either neuroscience/neurobiology or biology (if the school doesn't have neuroscience). I am considering a possible double major and definite minor in linguistics. There are some schools, however, at which I'm considering a different route (simply because I fell in love with a different program); that will be noted. Are there any schools on this list that aren't particularly good for my prospective major(s)?(P.S. I have not decided yet, but pre-med is a possibility.)</p></li>
<li><p>Is my prospective major going to make any of these schools harder/easier to get into?</p></li>
<li><p>I'll make a note next to each school I'm planning on visiting. If there are ANY schools on this list that you think I must visit (or show CONSIDERABLE INTEREST IN), let me know. </p></li>
<li><p>Do you simply not like any of these schools? Any horror stories? It'd be great to know :)</p></li>
<li><p>I am Muslim. Will this hurt me at schools like Boston College and Georgetown?</p></li>
<li><p>Which other safety schools do you recommend? I understand that my "safety" list isn't really a "safety" list... hahahaha</p></li>
<li><p>If you have any other comments, go for it.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Oh! And I'm in California :)</p>

<p>HERE'S THE LIST! It is listed in order of preference (within each category) from least favorite to first choice.</p>

<p>Safety(ish...) :</p>

<p>Cal Poly Pomona: </p>

<p>CSU Long Beach:</p>

<p>UC Davis: Visiting</p>

<p>UC Irvine: Visiting</p>

<p>Boston University:</p>

<p>University of Washington:</p>

<p>UCSB:</p>

<p>Occidental College:</p>

<p>Match:</p>

<p>Scripps College: Visiting</p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO:</p>

<p>UCSD:</p>

<p>Boston College:</p>

<p>University of Southern California: Visiting</p>

<p>University of Michigan:</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University:</p>

<p>Tufts University:</p>

<p>Emory University: Visiting</p>

<p>UCLA: Visiting</p>

<p>UC Berkeley:</p>

<p>Washington University St. Louis: Visiting</p>

<p>Georgetown University:</p>

<p>Northwestern University (EARLY DECISION): Visiting-- interested in doing Biology major with double major in Social Policy @ SESP... bad idea?</p>

<p>Reach:</p>

<p>Rice University: Already visited</p>

<p>Columbia University:</p>

<p>Stanford University: Visiting</p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania:</p>

<p>Pomona College: Visiting</p>

<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH.</p>

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<p>Just a note on Columbia University: if you want the possibility of double-majoring, you won’t be able to there. According to the admissions officer, only about 5% of students double major because the curriculum isn’t designed to allow multiple focuses (the Core Curriculum has mine required classes). She strongly advised those interested in double majoring that they should not view that as a possibility at Columbia in four years, some people who double major have to spend an extra year trying to fill all the requirements. And on top of that, I wasn’t a fan of the campus. It felt more like a tourist attraction than a college campus. But that was just for me personally. The inability to double major was what instantly turned me off to Columbia. Also, Northwestern has a super boring presentation (it’s a PowerPoint) and tour, but don’t let that distract you from the school itself if it’s your first choice. Georgetown and BC shouldn’t care about your religious affiliation. I go to a Catholic school and I know that it’s way easier for kids from Catholic schools to get into other Catholic schools like Villanova, but it doesn’t hurt people who aren’t Catholic (which I’m not). Religion really doesn’t play a role in admissions except at uber conservative schools. Hope that helps! Sorry I couldn’t answer all your questions!</p>

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<p>Without some basic information like your courses, grades, rank, and test scores, it is impossible for anyone to tell you whether your safety/match/reach categories are realistic. In addition, you must also check affordability, particularly with your safeties.</p>

<p>A safety must have a 100% chance of admission, 100% chance of affordability, and be a school that is suitable for you and which you like.</p>

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<p>@430ktk‌ No… don’t be sorry! Thank you SO much for your help. I know I ask so much; I’m just so excited and want to make sure of my decisions!
That’s a SUPER bummer about Columbia :(. I had no idea. Thanks for letting me know.
Hahaha I saw the NU slideshow at the info session and somehow still love it!</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌
4.0 UW in my toughest curriculum I could actually take (e.g. couldn’t take AP calc this year-- not advanced enough; an honors language isn’t offered in the language I take) with 4 AP’s completed and 3 Honors courses. 6 AP’s next year (counting gov and economics separately)</p>

<p>800 Math II. Waiting on Bio and US History… I hope I got 750+ on Bio. Not to sure about US History.</p>

<p>34 on the ACT… retaking this Saturday to hopefully get my super score to a 35 (some schools on the list super score)</p>

<p>I think my activities are pretty good… I could be wrong. Would you be able to tell me whether or not my activities are good enough?</p>

<p>My school doesn’t rank… but I’m definitely in the top 10%. I got a letter from UC’s saying I’m top 9% I believe. </p>

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<p>My deemed “safety” schools, like I said, aren’t really safety schools. Any recommendations?</p>

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<p>It’s a very long list but I assume you’re going to be narrowing them down.</p>

<p>A few pointers, for most students even the most qualified, the following schools would be considered a reach, especially for OOS students:</p>

<p>Boston College:
University of Southern California
University of Michigan:
Carnegie Mellon University:
Tufts University:
Emory University
UCLA
UC Berkeley</p>

<p>I would not say that they are easy to get into by any means and would definitely put them in the “reach” category. I’d recommend doing a little more research and narrowing it down more.</p>

<p>In addition, I would not put any college as a safety that is not also financially affordable. BU is quite expensive and does not give out that much aid. Therefore I would not put it in a safety category because unless you get FA, you may not be able to “fall back” on it.</p>

<p>I HIGHLY recommend visiting all the schools you are seriously considering. You need to do so in order to get a feel for the school. Without it, would you go to a school that you have been accepted to but not visited at all? Makes you stressed out in the long run and interest is important for admissions. If you are not interested enough to even visit, then I’d take them off the list because they are not worth your time.</p>

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<p>It seems you should likely put some of your safeties in match section, some of your match in reach section, and some reaches in ‘take a flyer on it’ section, for the most part. Why wouldn’t NU be a reach?</p>

<ol>
<li>what I know about Catholic universities is that they value a spiritually oriented student for their non catholic population.</li>
</ol>

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<p>If UCR is affordable, you can make it a safety by signing up the program here during June or July:
<a href=“http://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/Admissions/WhyUCR/ourGuarantee”>http://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/Admissions/WhyUCR/ourGuarantee&lt;/a&gt;
and then including it in your regular UC application.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16451378/#Comment_16451378”>Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #300 by BobWallace - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums; lists schools with automatic large scholarships for stats if you need a low cost safety.</p>

<p><a href=“Updated list of schools with auto-admit (guaranteed admission) criteria - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1562918-updated-list-of-schools-with-auto-admit-guaranteed-admission-criteria-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; lists schools with automatic admission for stats that may be safeties if you can afford them.</p>

<p>The UC ELC notification is that you UC-weighted-and-capped GPA is over the top 9% threshold of UC-weighted-and-capped GPA from previous classes at your high school. This may be different from your current class rank as calculated by your high school.</p>

<p>Very important: talk to your parents about what they will contribute, and for information to put in each college’s net price calculator.</p>

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<p>@shawnspencer‌
I’m in state for USC, UCLA, and UCB.
The average accepted GPA and test scores at my school for Boston College/Emory are FAR lower than mine… why would it be a reach? The average ACT at both that have been accepted from my school is a 31.
Most kids at my school with stats lower than mine also get into UMich. I’m not applying for LSA or CoE or anything like that…</p>

<p>CMU would actually probably be a reach… you’ve got a point(:</p>

<p>I never said they were easy to get into. Match is supposed to mean 50% shot. I mean, if I don’t have a 50% shot at BC or Emory or UM… who does…? Not trying to sound arrogant.</p>

<p>I would visit all the schools I’m considering, but I don’t have the time OR money to do so. I’m interning all summer for 8 hours a day at a tech company and cannot miss more than 2 days… So, I’ll probably go when I get in.</p>

<p>@BrownParent‌ My counselor told me that if I apply to NU Early Decision that it’d be a solid match. They have a 33% acceptance rate in the ED round. While I understand the self selectivity of the applicants, I should have a better chance.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌
Okay, well, my school doesn’t rank, so I don’t know. I do know that I’m probably a top-5 student.</p>

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<p>Also, I don’t know how to narrow it down… is there any schools year that don’t really fit?</p>

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<p>Start with the cost. Run the net price calculator on each school. Any that are unaffordable on need-based aid, and have no realistic merit scholarships that can make them affordable can be dropped from your list. If a school would be affordable with a merit scholarship, make your reach/match/safety assessment based on the merit scholarship, not admission.</p>

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<p>Again, you didn’t post any of your stats so it is very difficult to tell. In state will only get you so far for top schools unless they are amazing. With Umich, I would agree with your assessment that it depends on the school you apply for, but matches are usually schools that you have a decent chance of getting into not schools that are uncertain like 50/50. Colleges sometimes make no sense with their acceptances these days and several of my good friends who I believed to be MUCH more qualified than years past didn’t get into schools that they thought they’d get into, myself included.</p>

<p>My good friend who was the valedictorian this year did not get into his top schools - Northwestern - despite having a much higher GPA and SAT scores than the previous year’s valedictorian who attended Yale. He is curently happily attending the state flagship. So colleges are unpredictable and I would be wary of putting so many schools that may be 50/50 on there. There are alot of qualified applicants out there that do amazing things, so I wouldn’t just base it off just your school, the whole applicant pool is getting more competitive.</p>

<p>If you are a top 5 student at your school, then you should have a good shot at many of these, I’m just saying that nothing is guaranteed and that you might want to narrow it down more. Interest does really count. I applied to a couple of schools that I thought were safeties and low matches but didn’t visit, but was eventually waitilisted likely do to that fact.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that many of the schools have anywhere froma 50-100 dollar application fee per school and if you are filing for financial aid it will only increase. Don’t forget the cost of sending SAT scores and transcripts. If you really can’t visit every one, limit it down to a few that you are REALLY interested in and you’d go if admitted. Because with the other schools on your list, you don’t need that many schools to apply to without visiting.</p>

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<p>I agree with OP… Emory, BC, upper tier UC’s, and USC are definitely matches with those stats.
NU early decision should be too. I can comment on EC’s for you-- just message me.</p>

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<p>Also, I may be wrong, but I believe that USC is private and doesn’t factor whether you are in state as a factor for admission and may be actually looking for geographic diversity</p>

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<p>@noel597 I messaged you my activities.</p>

<p>@shawnspencer Sorry you didn’t see my stats :slight_smile: I commented them. Essentially, 4.0 UW with a 34 ACT and what I think are pretty great activities.</p>

<p>Which schools on this list are higher than 50-50 chance? Which schools are out of place and I should get rid of? I like SO many things, so I’m not really good at discerning which schools are the best fit… Any ideas to help me narrow it down? As of now, getting rid of Columbia. I must be able to double major!</p>

<p>Yeah I figured for USC. I’m not really worried as I’m a legacy and I’ve been told that will help a bit…</p>

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<p>OP’s activities are really impressive.</p>

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<p>“Boston College:
University of Southern California
Carnegie Mellon University:
Tufts University
Emory University”</p>

<p>These are private, so being OOS doesn’t matter.</p>

<p>OP since you’re from CA, I’d take out Michigan/any OOS publics. They won’t give you much money as an OOS student. You have the UC’s, which offer some of the best public education. :)</p>

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<p>That’s what I thought</p>

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<p>I have heard that Pomona really needs to be visited. I would eliminate the top third of your safeties. I don’t think you need so many and I would personally not be attracted to those (cal poly pomona, csu long beach).</p>

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<p>^ I’d replace them with UC Irvine/Santa Cruz. With her stats, CSU’s aren’t necessary.</p>