I want to make sure I have a balanced college list, and that I will definitely be accepted somewhere. I know all of these schools are very different from each other, and please dont accuse me of only choosing top schools. I am very flexible with the location, campus setting, etc, so i am also open to any suggestions of other schools i should apply to in case if this list isnt good enough.
So far i am planning to apply to:
Dartmouth ED
Emory ED2
Northeastern EA
UChicago EA
NYU
Vanderbilt
Tufts
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
Lehigh
WUSTL
Johns Hopkins
I realize i have no safety schools— i will apply to my state school if im rejected from any of my ea/ed schools. is this a good idea? Do you think my list is too reach heavy?
sorry i forgot about that!
3.9 gpa, 2220 sat, 800 math 2 770 biology m 710 french (should i send french? my ecs are very french related) i also might take the act since i got a 33 on a practice test soph year, but i dont know if its that necessary.
pretty good ecs (im self studying french/attending advanced classes and have reached a high level of understanding, many clubs and hopefully ill become president next year in french club, as well as basic volunteering) i dont have many but i have shown dedication to all of them, and i also have circumstances that have limited me from volunteering or getting a job that i will explain on my app so i hope they understand.
i feel like my essays are good too, im getting help on them soon.
also, i am interested in bio if that changes anything
for my safeties, i can either do rutgers or tcnj. but as far as i know, my high school sends a lot of students to really hard schools and almost everyone gets into northeastern as well. im not calling it a safety, but i do think ill have a good chance there early action
If there is a difference in admission selectivity by major, then it is likely that changing major later will require another competitive admission process.
Have you run net price calculators on all of the schools?
Yes, I think this list is very reachy. I would not wait until you know the outcome of ED or EA apps before applying to your state safety school. Many state schools require an earlier app if you want to apply to the Honors College or if you are looking for merit money.
@suzy100 even if this list is reach heavy, do you think i will get into at least one of the schools (such as lehigh, nyu, emory, or northeastern?) my goal is not to get into a prestigious school, but to at least go to one of these schools on my list.
Yes, your list is very reach heavy. I’m glad you at least have Lehigh and Northeastern in the mix but I would probably add another couple of schools that would be along these lines in terms of admissions competitiveness (ex. Tulane, Villanova, Fordham among many other choices have non-binding EA). As my D’s guidance counselor said to us “you always want to leave yourself choices” and if things don’t break your way with your current application list you could be left with pretty limited choices… In the end it is your decision – if you could be happy attending your safety schools the list is OK.
thanks! does anyone have any reach school suggestions or think i should take any schools off this list? i would like to have a lot of choices, but i also dont want to have to make more than 14 applications unless there are no supplemental essays.
Make sure that your safeties are schools that you really like and are affordable, so that you will not be posting here in April feeling as if it is a major let-down to be attending one of your safeties after getting denied or waitlisted everywhere else.
What do you not like about your safeties, and what characteristics would make a school desirable to you?
If it is necessary for a school to be highly selective or exclusive for you to consider it desirable, it is likely that you cannot possibly have safeties that you like, because a safety needs to be less selective enough that you are assured admission and therefore would not be highly selective or exclusive.
i would like to get out of nj, but since i am oos for non nj schools wouldnt any other safety level school be more expensive?
and i really dont care about the prestige, as long as the school is nice. i like schools with diversity, nice students, smallish classes, and i prefer a location that has cold winters.
Your theme, aside from Dartmouth, is private research universities in or near cities. If you are happy with this theme, then your list may need little adjustment. But as stated by others, the adjustments you do make should serve to enhance your choices in the end.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ lists a bunch of schools with automatic full tuition to full ride scholarships for you. However, many are in the south, so the “cold winters” may not be there, and diversity may not be that great at some which are 80+% white or 90+% black. But Temple in Philadelphia (does that count as being far enough out of NJ?) is in that list.
Since you have not mentioned your cost constraints, it is more difficult to suggest safeties to you.
@ucbalumnus my income is not very high, but all of the schools on my list state that they meet 100% demonstrated need or at least have great FA. my parents are divorced so the calculators arent that accurate, but im just going to have to trust that colleges will give me aid, and if worst comes to worst ill have to take out some loans. so i would prefer schools that give very generous aid, either merit or need based.
and since i want to go to med school, would i have to go to a rigorous undergrad school?