Junior trying to sort out list

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior at a very competative public high school in upstate New York and I'm trying to get my college list sorted out as early as possible so I can keep my preparation to a minimum at the beginning of next year when I'm going to be taking four APs and will need all the extra time I can get. My stats are... <em>drum roll please</em></p>

<p>Upper-middle class white female in a school that sends lots (LOTS) of students to top colleges. Financial aid not a concern.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA - 3.7 (all available honors and APs, school does not weight)
Class rank - presumably top 20% (school does not rank) in a class of 300</p>

<p>SATs:
Math - 750
Critical Reading - 700
Writing - 800</p>

<p>Significant ECs - Girl Scouts, Musicals and Plays aplenty, Galaxy Literary Magazine, Yearbook, Drama Club, Student Council/Senate, Choir Council</p>

<p>Leadership positions - Literary Magazine editorship for three years (only candidate for next year's Editor-in-Chief), Drama Club Vice President (stepping down next year), Student Government elected position (9th and 10th grade), Yearbook Copy Editor, Choir Secretary (hopefully next year's president)</p>

<p>Athletics - intramural tennis (and I pretty much suck)</p>

<p>Volunteer work - Girl Scouts since kindergarten, Girl Scout Silver Award, Girl Scout Gold Award (finishing this summer), tutoring at inner city elementary school</p>

<p>Honors and Awards - Galaxy Jean Jensen Poetry Award, Silver Prize for best prose at 2005 ESSPA conference, NCTE Award. Currently working on getting a US Patent; if unsuccessful, this will not go on my applications.</p>

<p>Summer programs - Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth 2001-2006 including a session at Dublin City University, American Music Abroad choir</p>

<p>I am also the daughter of a fairly prominent New York Times reporter and best selling author, though my essay just might discuss what a slob he is. </p>

<p>Essays are expected to be very good, one recommendation will be spectacular and the other good. </p>

<p>My concern, of course, is my GPA - all of my Bs/B+s are in math and science courses, excepting an incredibly difficult Music Theory elective sophomore year, but my junior year GPA will be about a 3.93. Since my ECs are above average, I'm hoping that will work to overcome my less-than-stellar grades, but I may be more hopeful than realistic? (My sister, after all, applied to all Ivy Leagues and Seven Sisters schools with a 2.6 GPA and only got accepted to her state safety.)</p>

<p>My college list right now:
1. Vassar
2. Wellesley (legacy of mother, aunt, great aunt)
3. Oberlin
4. Brown
5. Kenyon
6. Williams
7. Skidmore (safety)
8. Sarah Lawrence (safety)
I may also look at Bates, Bowdoin, Carleton, Reed, and Macalester.</p>

<p>Too lofty? Thanks for any help.</p>

2

<p>I really think you can also look at more selective schools like Stanford, Caltech, MIT or the Ivies</p>

3

<p>Your stats are great and could get you in somewhere 'more selective; but because your school sends LOTS of kids to top schools your list makes sense. You sound like a great fit for Vassar and Wellesley especially.</p>

4

<p>bump</p>

<p>My concern with applying to schools like Stanford and the Ivies (I wouldn't go for a tech school, btw) is that plenty of students from my school with near-4.0s get rejected from them every year, particularly Stanford (we used to have a strong exchange with them until one year when they admitted nine people and none chose to go). Though I don't know about those students SATs or ECs, I'm pretty sure they would be sufficient if not excellent, so I'm fairly sure that my chances are minimal in comparison.</p>

5

<p>Scones---your list sounds great. I think it's easy to fall into the cc "trap" that makes it seem like unless you apply to HYPS, you've fallen short. I think you're being realistic and going for what YOU want....good for you! Spend time with your essays, and you're well-qualified for all of your choices. (btw...We're a CTY family, too....D had a couple of good references to the CTY experience in some of her apps.)</p>

6

<p>I agree with astrophysicsmom, your list is right on track. Sure, it won't hurt to apply to more reaches but as you noted yourself, there really isn't a point if you know you have low chances and you already have such a fine list. And it's not like your list doesn't have tough reaches. Brown and Williams are just as selective as Stanford (see collegeboard.com for exact statistics).</p>

<p>By the way, the poster who recommended Stanford also recommended Caltech and MIT? Um...I don't think he/she even read your post. It's pretty clear that you're not interested in a techie school. Some people really ARE programmed into the College Confidential trap...recommending Caltech to a yearbook and lit mag editor with an 800 writing score and no math/science activities. Lol.</p>