Is this a solid list of colleges to apply to?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>As the college application process heats up, I really need to narrow down my schools that I am applying to. My wrestling season starts in November, and if I do not have my applications done by then, I have no chance of finishing my apps. I have a list of colleges that I am applying to, and I would like you to tell me if I have to many reaches (chances are appreciated, but not necessary--this isn't the chance forum), or not enough safeties or matches. My GPA is 3.98 (my only B was in the hardest class in my school) and my ACT is 31 (I retook today and am really hoping for a 33, but I am nearly positive I got at least a 32). I am taking 4 AP and 2 honors classes this year. I am the captain of the wrestling team and have dedicated a lot of my time to the sport, therefor limiting me in other ECs. This past summer I spent 6 weeks volunteering in Paraguay and I built a very close bond to my host-brother there--this is the subject of my common app essay. I am also the president of Spanish Honors Society and I am a member of NHS. The schools that I am applying to are:</p>

<p>UW-Madison (in-state)
Hendrix
Claremont McKenna
Duke
Middlebury</p>

<p>My intended major is Economics, but I am also going to take as many Spanish classes as I can. </p>

<p>Thanks for your help and advice,
J</p>

<p>If you need any other information, please don't hesitate to ask</p>

2

<p>I don’t know much about Hendrix but I see that it is #75 or so on the US News list while Claremont is top 12 and Middlebury is 4. If you get a 32 on the ACT you could stand a pretty good chance at Middlebury and Claremont but maybe you should add a few more schools that are similar but slightly easier to get into. Colby, Trinity, Hamilton, Colgate etc. Are you hoping to wrestle in college? What areas are you most interested in for a major?</p>

3

<p>It would be shocking if you didn’t get into Madison. Hopefully you are submitting your app right away, and will have an answer in time to prepare additional applications if necessary.
If you like that school, you need no other safety unless you get bad news.</p>

<p>Presumably you’re male (not many females wrestle) and the LACs will like that. Even Duke may be interested in a good wrestler with strong academic qualifications.</p>

4

<p>Hitch–I am not interested in wrestling in college, but it has been a large part of my life in high school. My intended major is economics. I will definitely check some more schools, and see what comes out of it!!</p>

5

<p>Econ and Spanish are two very respected Dept’s at Madison. Better than any of the others. In state etc… Tough to beat.</p>

6

<p>Frankly, unless Wisconsin or Hendrix is your top choice, I’d add some more schools. Basically, Duke, Middlebury and Claremont-McKenna are reaches, but not unreasonable ones. I think I would put the probability of getting into one of them at around 35%. That would leave a 65% chance that you attend somewhere else. </p>

<p>Wisconsin is a safety if you apply ASAP. Hendrix is also a safety. That means if you don’t add more schools, you have a 65% chance of attending your safety. Not that those are bad schools in any way. If you can add two matches that you prefer over your safeties then I think that you can reduce the probability of having to attend a safety down to around 15-20%. If you add more… you get the picture.</p>

<p>There are plenty of schools in between that I think are matches (between 40%-80% chance of getting in). Nonetheless, consider (going by scattergrams for our school in MA):</p>

<p>Bates, Boston College, Brandeis, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, Emory, George Washington, Grinnell, Hamilton, Kenyon, Macalester, NYU, Northwestern, Oberlin, Occidental, Pitzer, Reed, Rochester, Skidmore, USC, Trinity (Hartford, CT), Tufts, Tulane (almost a safety), Vassar, Wake Forest, Wesleyan</p>

<p>If your school has Naviance, you should be able to get better data.</p>

7

<p>All of this is too broad. It is important to know what you are really looking for in a school, what your preferences are. Thinking about and answering the following questions might help produce a better list of schools that you should think about.</p>

<p>1) Size of school, undergrads (0-2,500; 2,501-10,000; 10,001-20,000; 20,000+)
2) Location (Highly urban, suburban, rural)
3) Geography (are there parts of the country you prefer or some you will not consider)
4) Weather (prefer warm, snow…?)
5) Sports (looking for competitve Div. 1, don’t care…?)
6) Greek scene (thinking about joining, want to avoid even a whiff of it, or in between)
7) Anything else that you might think is important to you personally (you ride horses, like rock climbing, active arts scene, whatever).</p>

<p>These are not trivial considerations because you will be spending 4 years (or more) at this place. You should like the lifestyle outside of academics as well.</p>

<p>And of course there is the famous financial aid question. Will you need it? How much? Is merit aid required or just a nice benefit?</p>

8

<p>rockerdad–thanks a lot for the advice. I have been looking for a match school, but I still haven’t been able to find one that fits me yet. I actually did apply to Tulane, but I did their personal application, which was so quick and easy that I forgot that I applied! Northwestern is somewhat intriguing, but my mom attended, and although this might seem like a stupid reason, I don’t want to follow her footsteps. I will look around a bit more, and hopefully find a good match school. Thanks a lot!</p>