I still don’t think you had any basis to make the comment above and now it seems like even you agree its inaccurate. Making negative prognostications about someone’s future without a basis is, IMHO, obnoxious.
On the other hand, your comments above are helpful.
I agree with @fogcity - if its the money, can you earn some and pay for the test yourself?
“[M]y parents are happy with my SAT score and they won’t let me take it again.” They did you a huge favor judging by this past weekend’s debacle!!!
Your list isn’t reach heavy–those are all appropriate schools for you to apply to. The problem faced by many applicants is that their lists are “safety light.” I don’t think this is an issue in your case.
Ask yourself this question: When next April 1 rolls around, if my choices end up being GMU, JMU and, say, Tulane, will I feel satisfied? If the honest answer is yes, then you are fine. If the answer is no, you need more matches.
I would be happy going to GMU or JMU, but I would be even happier going to William and Mary or UVA. I’ll put it this way: if I don’t get into any of my reach schools, I’ll be slightly sad if I only got into my safety schools. If I didn’t get into any of my reach schools and I got into UVA or W&M, I would be so happy I could forget about my reach schools. So if my happiness is a 10 at UVA or William and Mary, it would be an 8 at my safety schools. But I still think that’s pretty good…"
So long as you’re content to attend a safety school I’d say you’re good to go. Getting rejected is not fun, however, it’s kind of a given when you’re reaching. My personal opinion is that the most interesting schools are your “match” schools. As for being reach heavy, the only thing I think is that you might be setting yourself up for is a lot of rejections. Are you OK with that? That’s $50-75 per crack when you would be perfectly happy at UVA and W&M. Good luck.
Well, being in state, I like your odds at UVA and WM.
My son had a 2100…took the ACT and got a 34. So it can and does happen! Good luck!!!
@fogcity Yeah I could’ve phrased that better. Based on the profiles of African American students at these schools (both on CC and the Harvard Crimson Class of 2018 Interactive Map), they think my SAT score is good enough to not retake the test and spend another $52.50. We are upper middle class, but they are very conservative with money.
@MidwestDad3 I think being “safety light” was one thing I was concerned about. So is the consensus that if I have 1+ affordable safeties that I would be happy going to, I could technically apply anywhere I want? I’m set on GMU and JMU, and I know I can get in, so does it really matter where else I apply? As long as I like the school, etc…
@lvvcsf The money is fine, as my parents have already given me an application fee budget which is ~10 schools.
My parents also want to see what I get on the ACT before I retake the SAT; who knows what could happen? I’m studying a lot now that I don’t have school.
UVa, W&M, GMU & JMU would be 4 great schools to choose from next April. But they are all in Virginia. So if you decide next year you’d really like to go to a different part of the country and your reaches don’t materialize, then you’re stuck. I’m just thinking that a little more attention to matches/low reaches might serve you well in the long run.
@MidwestDad3 I do have Tulane which I would hopefully get into. Based on my current list do you have any match suggestions? I thought about CWRU for a while, but then figured I didn’t like it.
For anyone: I would like to stay east of the MS River and go to a medium sized school: 4000-15000 undergraduates. Those were the first two criteria.
I assume you know that for a lot of these highly selective colleges, like Duke, almost 50% of the freshmen class is admitted early from only about 10% of the total applicant pool. And that small 10% of applicants does not include ANY early applicants to HYP, Stanford etc… You’ll be competing against those applicants in the RD round along with the remaining 90-plus% of the total applicant pool.
@CHD2013 Sorry I didn’t see your comment. My criteria mainly includes: 4000-15000 undergraduates, at least a 5% black population, and to stay mainly on the east coast. The furthest north I’m willing to go is the MA/CT/RI area, and the furthest west is the Mississippi River/LA/MO/IL. I would be majoring in a science, and be pre-med, so I wouldn’t want to go to a stereotypically “cut throat” and competitive school. I want to be in an a cappella group and play a club sport, so I looked for colleges that had that. And I’m also interested in schools with a global focus (I’m in IB so that is very important to me); I would be active in any global health initiatives, etc.
As for Brown and Princeton, haha I realize that they’re completely different in terms of general atmosphere and academics. I like to think of myself as a person who can adapt to different social environments (although I know that probably isn’t true in the end). I visited Brown over spring break, and although it was raining and was cold, I still liked the campus (I could tell through all the rain), and their CLPS program. My only reservation is its biggest allure: the Open Curriculum. I like the idea of the open curriculum but I don’t know if I would succeed in it. Some freedom is perfect, but I’m not sure total freedom is good for me. Lastly, I know stereotypes aren’t always true but they do have some degree of truth in them, and I don’t want to be in an environment where everyone is homogeneous (in this case, liberal). For Princeton, I have reservations about the rumored (or not-so-rumored) grade deflation, but I’ve heard the campus is beautiful, I love the residential college system/eating club system, and the traditions that come with an old school (older than Brown, I believe).
You should add Case Western Reserve EA: they’d probably give you some merit aid and it’d be another match school just in case. You could also check out American U in DC, they’d basically be a safety for a boy interested in the sciences.
You seem to have given this a lot of thought and I think you’re evaluating your options smartly. I still think taking the SATs again could make sense though. The problem with waiting to get your ACT scores is that you lose a lot of valuable prep time. I’m sure your parents have their reasons, but you’ll be spending 4 years at college and they will be paying $250,000 (less financial aid) so I’m having a hard time understanding why it makes sense to avoid a test that can significantly improve your odds of getting into your “dream schools” when it costs less than $100.
A couple suggestions: a) go back to them with a well thought out argument for taking the SATs, or b) prep for the SATs now and if you can get your average practice score over 2200 show them the results and ask again for their permission.
The SAT Prep forum has tremendous information that can help a motivated student significantly improve their score.
If money is no object and you are truly happy with your safeties/likelies, then you can aim for more reaches than matches. Just be prepared for the outcome.
And as an aside, as a general rule, consider any school with an acceptance rate below 20% a reach. But have to disagree that providing stats is “pointless”, especially to opine about your instate options. Also, as a URM, with a bit of info about your stats, posters may be able to better advise.
I think you have a good head on your shoulders and you have a good range of schools. “I would be happy going to GMU or JMU, but I would be even happier going to William and Mary or UVA… So if my happiness is a 10 at UVA or William and Mary, it would be an 8 at my safety schools. But I still think that’s pretty good” As long as you are happy with all your school choices, then imo you have a good list. Not every applicant can say that nor has a good range of schools they’d all be comfortable with. You’ve already gotten the hardest part of the way. Best of luck with college applications & the upcoming year!
For those interested, my list has changed and, sadly, gotten longer. The good news is that I’m closer to eliminating some colleges. We have some visits during the summer so I hope to use those trips.
Definite
Reaches:
Yale, Duke, Penn, Vanderbilt
Matches: UVA, W&M, CWRU
Safeties: GMU
Maybe
Reaches: Georgetown, Amherst, Princeton, Brown
Matches: Wake Forest, Bucknell
Info about me: I’m pursuing the full IB Diploma, 2090 SAT (superscored), 3.96 UW GPA, URM. Intended major: cognitive science/neuroscience/psychology/maybe biochem.
I’m waiting for my subject test scores and ACT score. Not to toot my own horn but I’ve been told I’m a great writer by past English teachers and I have an amazing story to tell for my Common App essays. I’m confident that my supplements will be great too. Recs should be good/great and I have an assortment of ECs grouped by my interests with individual accomplishments: music and theatre, international relations and languages, and medicine and science. I know this was pretty vague but I’ll actually do a chance thread later this summer.