Is my college list too "ambitious"?

Applying to College
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<p>The University of Chicago
Pomona College
Rice University
University of Southern California
Stanford University
Wellesley College
Willamette University
Yale University</p>

<p>Chicago, Pomona, Rice, Stanford, and Yale are all reaches, and Wellesley, Willamette, and USC are targets. I am applying to one state university that will probably admit me.</p>

<p>Should I look for more matches? I don't know if I want to narrow down my list of reaches; they're all schools I would be happy to go to (NOT because of their namesakes!). </p>

<p>If you need my academic standings, please let me know.</p>

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<p>It would definitely help if you posted your stats and extracurriculars.</p>

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<p>SAT: All sub-scores above 700, and I do not plan to retake.
APs (total by the end of high school): 5
GPA: 3.96 weighted by the end of this year (I hope); UW: n/a
If I do well (big IF), my GPA by the end of high school should be a little over 4, don’t know exactly.
Grades: A/B student.
I will most likely be a national merit semifinalist.</p>

<p>Extracurricular activities:</p>

<p>video games (hobby! lol)
viola (of course . . . )
copy editor for school newspaper (I plan to resign.)
volunteer in the music community (random tasks)</p>

<p>Note: I’m really excited for this December because our school has been accepted into the Midwest Clinic. I can’t wait to visit Chicago for the first time, and maybe visit U of C! :-)</p>

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<p>bumppppppp</p>

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<p>Well, with those stats, most likely all of them (I don’t know about Willamette) are significant reaches, maybe not USC.</p>

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<p>@Stevenf: Could you be specific? Which area am I “lacking” in at the moment? </p>

<p>Btw, 5 of the colleges on my list were recommended by my counselor, and I think he does a great job every year with students.</p>

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<p>Well, considering that your GPA is 3.96 weighted and you have very few, if any, extracurriculars I would put you at a high reach/ reach for just about all of them</p>

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<p>@philbinsfirst: Can you recommend some schools that accept people whose profiles are similar to mine? Much appreciated.</p>

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<p>YepYesAffirmativePositiveRoger-VeryAmbitious</p>

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<p>The University of Chicago- high reach
Pomona College - high reach
Rice University - high reach
University of Southern California reach
Stanford University - very high reach
Wellesley College- high reach
Willamette University- i don’t know
Yale University - Very high reach</p>

<p>You are Asian, have a low weighted gpa, and lack strong extracurriculars. Go through the Results threads on here to see what kind of caliber kid gets accepted at these schools. On top of that you don’t have that many APs. The Average Johns Hopkins applicant has 6 APs. I believe that you should add more matches such as BU, BC, Purdue, UMich to your list because at the moment, I don’t believe that you will get into any of the Very High reaches and most of the High reaches.</p>

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<p>@jenga: I did not explicitly say I was Asian. Good guess, though. :-)</p>

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<p>I strongly second looking at the results threads. You seem to be a similar case to my best friend, and she did not get in anywhere besides her safeties and it wasn’t pretty. Figure out what it is that you like about these schools, and use something like the Student’s Guide to Colleges (on Amazon by Jordan Goodman) to find other, less selective schools that have the same traits. You can see my stats where I posted on results threads, and I was rejected by Yale and waitlisted by Pomona.</p>

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<p>I think he guessed that you’re Asian by your screenname.</p>

<p>And, yes, your GPA does sound lowish…what is your class rank? That might hurt you. </p>

<p>I am applying to one state university that will probably admit me.</p>

<p>Which one?</p>

<p>If you’re happy with the idea of attending this school (if necessary) …and…you know for sure that it’s affordable (you know for sure that all costs are covered), then that’s a fine safety. However, it’s a good idea to have a couple of financial safeties…just in case you later decide that you don’t like your one state school (and your other schools don’t work out)</p>

<p>What is your budget? Will your parents pay $55k+ per year for wherever you go?</p>

<p>*Btw, 5 of the colleges on my list were recommended by my counselor, and I think he does a great job every year with students. *</p>

<p>GCs can be very good, but they often don’t concern themselves with cost…so that can be an issue if finances are an issue.</p>

<p>Since you’ll be a NMF, you should apply to a school or two that will give you merit for that.</p>

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<p>I feel this depends a lot on how academically strong your school is (hence people asking about class rank). If the other people at your school applying to these colleges have a better GPA and stronger extracurricular activities, you won’t appear impressive. Five APs isn’t a small number, but it will be looked at in context of how many APs the usual overachieving kid at your school has done.</p>

<p>I know very little about Willamette, but from what I know of Wellesley and USC, your SATs may be within range but your GPA looks quite low. And it’s possible your extracurriculars are more significant than they appear, but then you need to give people more information if you want a well-informed opinion. Do you have any regional/state/national recognition for viola? How many volunteer hours have you put in? When did you start doing these activities (when people post ranges, e.g. “I’ve been on the tennis team since freshman year”) it’s helpful because it shows how involved and therefore how committed colleges might view you to be.</p>

<p>If you love all these schools—sorry, but you do need more matches (from what I’ve gathered from your posts) and it’ll be overwhelming to apply to so many colleges. You have eight schools now + a state school; I’d say all eight schools aside from Willamette, which I know nothing about, are reaches. It would probably be best to find at least three schools that are matches and you’re very fond of, and definitely consider the financial issue too.</p>

<p>So. Eight schools + a state + theoretically three more matches added is quite a lot.</p>

<p>For a personal anecdote: I went through the application process in fall/winter 2011. I’m in California so I applied to 5 UC schools (only one app required for all of them; three were safeties, two were matches), and seven other schools (one safety, 2 matches, 3 reaches, one that I couldn’t figure out whether it was a match or a reach). Coupled with a busy senior year schedule I was already stretched thin.</p>

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<p>What state school, and what state do you reside in?</p>

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<p>I appreciate all of the feedback, folks!
Note: I will now post multiple times to reply to everyone who has answered so far.</p>

<p>@jenga: Thank you for the recommendations. BC, BU, and UMich are all very good schools. However, I’m not interested in any of them. I’ve decided not to take too many APs during senior year (“only” 4) because of a brutal junior year. I took too many advanced classes, and as a result, I did less-than-stellar in almost all of them except for English, language, and orchestra (i.e. I dropped some APs. Gasp!). Thus, I am cautious about what could happen next year.</p>

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<p>Not that ambitious. You are probably not weighing your options right.</p>

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<p>@Chlorinated: I originally was thinking of Brown, but I decided I probably won’t fit in well at the university. </p>

<p>I also know of the caliber of the applicant pools, especially of those who post their statistics on CC. :wink: Yes, I am considered at the bottom. </p>

<p>However, there is a limit to how much I can do without sacrificing too much. I passed my threshold this past year, and the result wasn’t pretty. </p>

<p>I don’t see my “safety” as a “bad” school, per se. It has the academic resources I need (and want), and I am content to go there. I have visited my school’s college counseling office many times, have looked at most of the guides there (College P----r, Yale Insider, The Princeton Review, Fiske, etc.), so I have some good ideas of what each of the colleges on my current list provides. I will look into Goodman’s guide. Much appreciated! :)</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids: </p>

<p>On my username: I thought so as well, though of course, “chan” isn’t anywhere in my actual name. ^^;</p>

<p>On my GPA and class rank: My GPA is “low-ish” because of a not-so-hot junior year, though it’s not considered terribly “low” at my school. Also, our school does not rank; our “valedictorians” are those who have maintained straight As, and thus, their GPAs vary significantly. I also don’t know my “percentile,” and I don’t bother to know.</p>

<p>On my financial safety: Yes, the one state university is such a “safety.” It costs less than the high school I attend now. :slight_smile: Willamette is a less selective school that I like, and I hope to receive some scholarship(s) if I apply and am accepted.</p>

<p>On budget: My parents are willing to pay $55k IF (and only if) I don’t acquire scholarships (which means I still must actively search for them!). I don’t know about the “wherever you go” part, but they are there to support me, and I appreciate their help. :-)</p>

<p>On my GC: He gave all of us (meaning every student in the class) a list of schools to research (mine had about 26), and at this point in the game, he does not want us to be concerned with finances. Because of all those “very high reach schools” on my list, I’m guessing my counselor overestimated my ability, which is surprising! :smiley: (all of those 26 schools are just about top-notch. Eek).</p>

<p>On NMF: I do not yet know whether I’ll be a finalist (though I certainly hope so!).</p>

<p>Many interesting questions that leave me to wonder. Thanks!</p>

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<p>“It’s possible your extracurriculars are more significant than they appear, but then you need to give people more information if you want a well-informed opinion. Do you have any regional/state/national recognition for viola?”</p>

<p>I don’t know how much I should share and still remain “incognito.” :-T
Viola: close to 5 years. Principal chair in every ensemble I participate in (school, state youth symphony, school’s top scholarship quartet, etc.). I used to play for funsies, but I didn’t expect I’d achieve so much, so I don’t know. Maybe I’ll reach new heights, but all I know now is that I have to begin to dedicate serious time. ^^;</p>

<p>So to answer your question, probably state recognition.</p>

<p>“How many volunteer hours have you put in?”</p>

<p>I no longer keep track of hours (because it’s pointless), though I do have the starting date, which is around September 2010.</p>

<p>“When did you start doing these activities (when people post ranges, e.g. “I’ve been on the tennis team since freshman year”) it’s helpful because it shows how involved and therefore how committed colleges might view you to be.”</p>

<p>I view competence as more important than commitment, though the latter probably leads to the former. Viola: not so long. “Community service”: not so long, either. I’ve dabbled in many things (clubs, organizations, groups, etc.), though most of them won’t make the cut on my apps this fall.</p>

<p>“If you love all these schools—sorry, but you do need more matches (from what I’ve gathered from your posts) and it’ll be overwhelming to apply to so many colleges.”</p>

<p>My heart is broken! :slight_smile: I wish to limit myself to 8 schools (with or without the state university – haven’t decided yet). I will look into more matches and go back to square one sometime (maybe, but not necessarily).</p>

<p>I’m not too worried about finances though I will apply for aid. </p>

<p>“So. Eight schools + a state + theoretically three more matches added is quite a lot.”</p>

<p>Insane number for me! :slight_smile: I will cut, cut, cut if I have to.</p>

<p>I am glad you shared your anecdote. It must have been rough. :-\ I will keep your experience in mind as I march into admissions season (quite soon!). </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>