<p>I'm having some problems with figuring out a list of schools I'm applying to this fall that I can stick with, so I'm looking for advice on cutting it down and maybe adding some more. Here's my current list: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Upenn, Duke, UChicago, Northwestern, Cornell, Emory, and then UNC-Ch/another safe school. Here's my stats: 10 APs by graduation, about top 5% of class (1/3 people in my school get into schools around/better than UNC in ranking), SATI in the 2200s, SATII: 800, 770, 790. About 5 ECs, probably good essays with average teacher recs (I have unfortunately had new teachers every year), moved a lot. So my parents/friends are telling me to cut out the top schools like Harvard and Princeton because my stats are average I won't have any chances at them and they'll be a waste of money. I actually think that admissions can be bizarre nowadays and applying to more schools will increase my chances of getting into a top school. They also think I should use another school other than UNC-Ch as my safe school, in case anything happens and I fail to get into UNC. I don't want to apply to too many schools (mainly because of the application fee), but I still want to be safe. Any advice on my application?</p>
<p>I second the advice you’ve been given.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with applying to the very best schools, and I’m not saying you won’t get in or anything, but. Bear in mind that these schools rejects hundreds, if not thousands, of students with stats just like yours every year. I would recommend applying to four of the top five schools in the world only if you’re a student whom all of them would consider seriously.</p>
<p>Concentrate on a couple of big names (I’d suggest Princeton and UPenn, for example) and write kick-ass essays for them. Throw in a few more great schools (say, Cornell, Duke and Northwestern) AND THEN, and this is very important, pick a couple of great, but slightly less competitive colleges. Low matches, if you will. Because it looks to me like you’re neglecting the many fine institutions between the Ivy League and UNC on the USN&W Report, which is unwise.</p>
<p>Lastly, choose one other safety school. Always have more than one emergency plan because anything can happen and you should always be prepared.</p>
<p>So, to summarize, I’d say cutting out a few of your reaches and adding a few matches would be a good decision.</p>
<p>I completely understand the idea that by applying to a higher number of reach or extremely selective schools you are increasing your chances of acceptance at one or more of them because I’m applying the same tactic to my college list, but as your list stands now there are about ten reaches. That is simply too many in my opinion. Although Emory and Northwestern, for example, may be matches, I’d suggest cutting down your list of reaches/high matches to five or six, include UNC-CH as a low match(assuming in-state) and finalize your list of eight or so with a surefire admission and financial safety. You could fill this safety spot with an instate school or an OOS or private school that will provide you with guaranteed merit aid assuming your other options fall through for whatever reason. My list initially looked a lot like yours, with a bunch of top schools and one safety, but I’ve come to realize that you have to be efficient with time, money, and insurance of acceptance and such when developing your list of applications. SOme of that was rambling, but hopefully I helped a little. Good luck!</p>
<p>Chances of getting into HYP without a hook, living in a state that sends extremely few applicants or having a truly mind blowing EC are minute. Top 5% and an SAT in the 2200s (hopefully you don’t have an 800W) certainly doesn’t make it impossible, but you need to do the analysis. Just going to the type of school you describe usually means there are lots of students with high 2300 test scores and legacies at top schools.</p>
<p>UNC, instate, looks safe to me however, but check with your counselor.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. I know my stats are not exceptional, but admissions are really weird, so I was hoping that I’ll get into one good school. Someone who’s really smart (literally won like a thousand science/math awards) from my AP physics c class got rejected from Caltech and Princeton, but another average-ish girl (like me) got into both, with no apparent hook, so I’m hoping to get lucky. Another reason I like the top schools is that my family probably won’t have to pay anything because of the generous financial aid, unlike the other good schools, which are still expensive even with financial aid and my mom’s duke employee program that pays like 75% of the tuition. Plus I will apply as an international student, and schools like Duke will compare you with domestic students (which is a lot better) only if you don’t apply for financial aid, which is exactly what I’ll do. Here’s another question: should I apply to Duke early decision? I actually really like Yale, Priceton, and MIT, but might not get into any of them, and applying early dec. to Duke increases my chances, so I don’t really know what to do. (By the way, my SAT is mainly low because I failed the writing section (high 600s), I got 790 on CR and 780 on math)</p>
<p>Your safety should be a college you would attend, if necessary. It should also be a financial safety.</p>
<p>UNC-CH is not a safety school anymore! It’s gone the way of UGA for Georgia residents. I remember when I was in high school UGA was our default great flagship in case we didn’t get in, but some of my classmates were shocked back in 2004 when they didn’t get into UGA. UNC-CH is like that, except times ten because of it’s OOS popularity.</p>
<p>Your stats aren’t average overall; however, they are average for Ivy League applicants. However, there is no one who is exceptional for Ivy League admissions; everyone is going to be average because the base is so high in the first place. Your stats and scores put you right in the middle 50% of who are admitted, so I would go ahead and apply to all the top schools you plan to apply because you are as good a candidate as anyone else.</p>
<p>I think a good first start is reviewing the reasons you are applying to the schools you have chosen. Those schools are pretty diverse - Princeton is in a small suburb at least an hour from two big ciites whereas Chicago and Penn are both smack in the middle of a big city and Northwestern is 2 hours from a large city. Cornell is in the middle of nowhere and is huge compared to Princeton. Maybe get out a pen and paper or a computer document, list each school and then list the reasons why you are attracted to the school (be honest with yourself - no one else is going to read this, so if you have superficial reasons, list them too). A lot of people apply to Harvard (and Yale and Princeton) simply because of the name recognition, even if they aren’t sure they’ll be happy there. Do you just want to get into a “top school” or do you really think you’d be happy at Penn, Princeton, etc.?</p>
<p>I have a special bias towards Duke and Emory - were I to do undergraduate all over again, I think I would go to a larger co-ed university this time, but I would definitely go back to the South, heh. I wish I had known about a larger range of Southern universities I could have applied to before I made my decision, although I don’t regret college. Knowing that your mom’s job covers 75% of your tuition makes Duke an even more attractive choice. I applied to Emory but didn’t go and didn’t apply to Duke for the same reasons - I couldn’t afford it. But again, Duke is quite different from let’s say Penn or Northwestern. Having gone to college in the South and grad school in the Northeast, there are <em>marked</em> differences in the way people are.</p>
<p>If money isn’t TOO much of an issue I’d pick 3-5 of those reach schools (my personal choices would be Yale, Princeton, Duke, and Emory, but that’s based upon my personal preferences and history), then concentrate on finding some mid-range schools. One way that I’ve found to be kind of helpful is pulling up the U.S. News list and looking for schools that are ranked maybe like 30 to 50ish to see what looks like the places in which you are interested. One school I was going to suggest was Wake Forest, which is also in NC. You could also consider Brandeis, the College of William and Mary, Lehigh University, Case Western, Tulane, the University of Miami, Syracuse, and the University of Rochester. You could also consider some great OOS publics - UIUC, Wisconsin-Madison, UW, Penn State, UF, UGA, UT-Austin, Purdue, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota - although you likely won’t get great financial aid.</p>
<p>A good safety for an NC student? Try a different UNC campus, like Greensboro, Asheville, or Charlotte. There’s also NCSU. Sure, they aren’t as prestigious as the Chapel Hill campus, but they are certainly both admissions and financial safeties.</p>
<p>As for your newest question - even if you think applying ED will boost your chances, if you aren’t 100% committed to attending Duke barring some kind of catastrophe…don’t do it! Just apply regular decision. You’re an attractive enough candidate on your own (you aren’t average by any means, you’re just average in the HYP-type pool, but really you’re like in the top 2% of graduating seniors in the country).</p>
<p>Also, it seems like from your comments you need financial aid yet you are considering not applying for it so you can boost your chances. I say, what’s the point of applying for a college if once you get in you realize you can’t afford it because you can’t get financial aid? IMO it’s far better to be rejected by a school because you can’t afford it than to be accepted by a school you really like but then not be able to get financial aid for it. It’s seems counterintuitive to shut yourself out of the aid process just to get in.</p>
<p>I don’t think we should discourage him from applying to many reaches. Let people do what they desire. Stop being envious and discouraging. It’s fine to apply to HYP, the rest of the ivy league, MIT, Stanford.</p>
<p>I applied to a bunch of reaches and got in.</p>
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<p>Erm, applying for financial aid as an international student puts you at a HUGE disadvantage.</p>
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<p>A lot of people say this, but it’s not true in my experience. My school routinely sends a lot of people to good American universities, including some of the most prestigious ones, and their stats are usually comparable (if not slightly weaker in the SAT scores department and generally lacking in awards) to those of American CCers accepted to the same colleges.</p>
<p>silversoul - I want to point out that at Tulane, which was in one of the above postings, the app is free. Better school that the USNWR suggests, because it got a bum PA rap after Katrina. It is top 30 in terms of SAT scores and student quality. Good school for your needs, highly likely you will get accepted with “automatic” $25,000 scholarship, and you would have a good shot at the full tuition scholarship (separate application but still free). If you have questions PM me.</p>
<p>I never considered Tulane before, I think I’ll go and take a look. By the way, the Duke coverage thing is for whatever college I get in (all private schools and public schools if I’m considered out of state for tuition purposes), but the last 25% would still be a big part of my family’s savings. Otherwise, I don’t think it makes that much difference if I had to choose between schools like Emory and UNC, and I hope I can at least get into UNC since I’m already taking classes there as a part time student.</p>