Hello CC I’m a current sophomore in South Carolina and I am beginning to refine my college list. I am trying to create a diverse list of safety, Reach and match schools and I’d like an outside opinion on my list.
In my first two years of high school, I have 16 A”s and 1 B in all honors and 2 AP classes. Translating to a 3.9 UW and a 4.41 W. I attend one of the most competitive public schools in the state
Extracurriculars
I am a top 50 tennis player in the state, having qualified for the USTA Southern championship and state championships.
I have been volunteering with Special Olympics tennis since 5th grade. I recently participated in the Special Olympics tennis North America championships.
I was a page for the SC speaker of the house last year, and this year I will be a page for a state senator.
I have been in latin club the last two years, and was the captain of my advanced latin quiz bowl team at a national tournament.
I have been a student council representative for the past two years.
I have a job coaching kids tennis at a racquet club.
Also I have many New York Times comments of the week, and was recently given a shout out on their webiste for exemplary writing.
My intended major is economics
My current list is
Reaches:
Yale
Georgetown
Bowdoin
Vanderbilt
Matches:
Johns Hopkins (legacy and my mother works there)
UNC
Davidson
Washington and Lee
Safetys:
South Carolina
Boston College
Babson College
Do you have any thoughts on my list or do you think I misjudged a school, any suggestions? Thanks for reading!
Johns Hopkins is still a reach despite your connections. Boston College is not a safety for anyone. UNC is a reach since you are out of state.
Without an SAT/ACT score other chancing is impossible.
I have to agree with @TomSrOfBoston You don’t have any real safeties on that list.
You may want to reconsider what you are considering matches and safeties. Other than South Carolina, I don’t think anything on your list is a safety and you can’t know your matches yet without ACT/SAT scores. Keep up the good work though!
Hard to say without test scores. And without knowing whether or not you’re a recruitable athlete. But legacy and a mother working there is not likely to make JHU a match and not a reach. It accepts something like 11% of students.
I’d say your other three matches would really be at least low reaches, and Boston College and Babson matches. Unless you have a hook (athlete, minority, etc.), it’s really hard for any school that accepts less than 25% to be anything other than a reach. Or any that accepts less than 40% to be a safety.
So I’d suggest look for a couple of more matches (accepts 30-45%) and one more safety (accepts more than 50%). You may or may not want to apply to that many reach-y schools (looks like you have 8), though you could.
A safety school needs to be definitely affordable. Have you had that talk with your parents, run Net Price Calculators, etc.?
come back after you have taken the SAT, and subject tests or the ACT.
did you take the PSAT?
If so, did your score indicate that you would score above the National Merit cutoff for your state?
Be SURE to take the PSAT in Oct of your Jr year. And study for it - A LOT- ahead of time. That’s the one that counts.
Getting a top National Merit qualifying score for your state can increase our chances of acceptance at some colleges , and guarantee your admission to others , with big merit scholarships to make going to college affordable.
right now you have WAY too many reaches. j Johns Hopkins is NOT a match for anyone regardless of legacy or where your parent works, [unless she is tenured faculty.] .
Boston College is NOT a safety for anyone. Or even a match.
A safety is a college-
1] you can afford to go to.
2] where the overall acceptance rate is above 65%.
AND 3] where students with your GPA and Standardized test scores are accepted 80%of the time.
Agree that without scores it is hard to gauge.
Are you recruitable for these colleges? Do you plan to play tennis in college?
Your list is VERY reach heavy as many of your colleges listed as matches and safeties really aren’t in the right categories. You need safeties/likelies and matches.
“Also I have many New York Times comments of the week, and was recently given a shout out on their webiste for exemplary writing.”
^This really isn’t going to help you at all.
Hi, yes I am recruitable for tennis at the D3 level, and I have got a look from Babson. Also, I got a 1400 on the PSAT. What are some safety schools you guys would suggest?
I am considering NESCAC schools where I could potentially play tennis. Would Hamilton College and Connecticut college count as matches or what?
Last thing, I can afford to go to school anywhere so price isn’t an issue.
“What are some safety schools you guys would suggest?”
as we said, wait until you have some standardized test scores.
We’ll be able to help much more then.
your time is better spent studying for the PSAT and SAT. to get those scores as high as possible.
MOST of the colleges on your current list are super reaches for EVERYONE, including the thousands of applicants with 4.0 GPA’s and 1580 SAT scores.
The reason is there are 10-20 students with those type of stats for every opening.
1400 on the psat
"Last thing, I can afford to go to school anywhere so price isn’t an issue. "
Have you had the $$ talk with your parents regarding college?
Are they willing to pay $300,000 for you to go to any college? or only to colleges they think are “worth It”?
Best to have EVERYONE on the same page before you compile a list.
Okay, since my mother works at JHU, they will pay for half of my tuition anywhere, so that is a major help. My nuclear family earns roughly 100K a year, so we can qualify for some financial aid. But my grandpa, who was the CEO of a bank, said he was willing to pay any amount to see me through college, so tuition really isn’t an issue.
With respect to your intended major, you might want to consider Williams, Middlebury, Claremont McKenna, Wesleyan, Colgate and Hamilton for potential reaches and matches:
"1400 on the psat "
that’s good ,but its close to the current cut off. If you can get it over 1470 that will give you some room and insure you become one of the 16000 National Merit Semifinalists.
Thank you for the advice, if I improve to say, a 1490 on the real SAT, what safety schools would you recommend for me? I’m thinking University of Texas could be one.
What are you looking for in a college besides a strong economics program? Size, geographical location, rural/urban, type of students, etc.? Your question is very broad right now because many colleges provide good economics focus.