List of schools? Reaches, matches and safeties?

College Search & Selection
1

What schools do you guys think would be reaches, matches, and safeties for me?

My info and statistics are below…

I am a junior in highschool at one of the top 20 all-girls schools in the US

Weight GPA: 4.3 (out of possible 4.6)
Unweighted GPA: 4.0 (this is an assumption, but most likely 4.0 because I have received only As and A+s through all of highschool)

ACT: 32 (I took the ACT twice, and I am planning to retake it and am hoping for a 33, but as of now I have a 32)

Classes: I would have taken 8 honors classes and 5 APS by the time I graduate.

AP Classes: AP biology, AP Calc, AP Literature, AP computer science, AP Spanish

Honors classes: Honors geometry, Honors Algebra 2, Honors PreCalc, Honors Spanish 3, Honors Spanish 4, Honors chemistry, Honors physics, Honors global studies / international relations

Regular classes: Regular ancient world history, Regular modern world history, Regular US history, Regular Enlish 1, Regular English 2, Regular English 3

Extra-curriculars: Volunteer as a tutor for lower-income children twice a week, Russian language lessons to learn how to read and write in Russian, Global Scholars program, started my own eBay business, business and finance program, volunteer for a local breast cancer organization, leadership academy, business summer internship, cashier at target, gold key club (ambassador for my school), started my own club at school with a focus on global studies, babysit, BBYO (Jewish Youth Organization), Volleyball, Pre-collage summer program at prestigous college, service trip to Nicaragua.

I am certain that my letters of rec and essay will be good!

Side note: I don’t really want to go far west because I live in the midwest, and I am looking for a university rather than small liberal arts schools

Please list some schools that you would consider reaches, matches and safeties. Any suggestions and tip are much apprecieted!!

2

I think with your grades and ACT scores that you have a lot of opportunities. I am assuming from your info that you have no hooks and you are female. So you have wide options but you will need to be above average for the class. I suggest looking up schools that meet your geographical and size requirements and then focus on schools in which you are in the upper quartile of accepted students. I would call those safeties assuming the acceptance rate is not too low. Schools where you are 50-75th percentile are probably matches. Schools in which you are below the mean (they don’t list medians) are probably reaches. Those are rough guesses of course. All schools with low acceptance rates (? <30%) are somewhat arbitrary by nature.

3

Among the Ivies, I would target Columbia as an extreme reach. Apply ED. If you don’t get in, target NYU for ED 2. After that your best bet is Brandeis, Tulane, Tufts, Emory. These would be good matches. Safety: George Washington. Hope that helps.

4

Intended or possible majors?

Cost constraints? (Talk to your parents about what they will contribute and run net price calculators on college web sites.)

5

Those are so random… OP, what state do you live in? What is your financial situation? Proposed major? Any thought in goals after college?

6

@VeryLuckyParent Why are you suggesting OP ED at schools they haven’t even mentioned. ED is for an applicant’s top choice, not whatever some stranger picks out. And GW is a terrible safety except for someone who’s high stats and very wealthy, considering their stingy FA.

7

@usualhopeful

OP asked and she asked strangers by definition, so I gave my opinion, based on the data that was provided. She wanted suggestions with the data that she provided. If OP had provided more data, then I would have recommended appropriately, but again that would be my opinion. GW has an admit rate of 43% and is till ranked in the top 60 schools. With her stats that is a safety in my opinion. If you don’t agree, you give your suggestions. And if you think you need to ask her another 56 questions, before you give her a list of colleges based on what she asked, then fire away and ask her, instead of judging others who are just trying to answer her question. Geez.

8

@VeryLuckyParent But OP didn’t ask what their application strategy should be. ED is for a clear top choice after a student has researched and visited; we can suggest schools, but suggesting ED for a school they haven’t looked at yet is too much.

And NYU’s also a poor ED choice for a student who’s not wealthy.

9

@intparent

I assume this is aimed at my recommendations. They may appear random, but they are not. I picked those Universities for a reason. Of course I made some assumptions based on the information provided. If OP had wanted to share more information, she would have, she didn’t so I went with what she gave :slight_smile:

10

Without information about cost constraints, assuming the pessimal situation (parents contribute nothing, but have enough income and/or assets to result in a high net price based on need-based financial aid everywhere), the safeties would have to be automatic full rides from some of the schools listed in http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ , if they have the intended major. Even if the cost and financial aid situation were better, these would still be safeties, though the OP could have other safeties with the lesser cost constraints.

11

Why pick Columbia, for example? The OP’s stats are under the 50% mark, and you have no idea what their major or financial situation is. Yes, it is random (and irresponsible) to just throw out schools without more info than the OP has given. There are hundreds of schools that could suit the OP (“universities not in the west”). NYU and GW are strong in certain majors, not in others, and wildly expensive for what you get, IMHO.

12

@intparent Just because you can’t see the pattern, doesn’t mean there isn’t one. If you still can’t see the pattern in those schools try harder. I chose Columbia and not the other ivies for a reason. Stop being so condescending and judgmental. If you can help, please help in anyway you can. Otherwise mind your own business and stop interfering when others are stepping up and trying to help. I was answering OP’s question, not yours.

13

What do you want to study?
Do you prefer a city, small town, or college town?
What are your financial restraints?

14

I can guess what your reason is… and it is ugly.

15

First you are super confident that my recommendations are random, then you suddenly know what my reason is and are super confident that my reason is ugly. You make this claim publicly with no proof based on some conspiracy theory that has germinated in your head and you have the temerity to call my post irresponsible? I am done engaging with you. Think whatever you want. Good bye and have a nice day

16

@usualhopeful Please read her other posts, if you need more insights on why I recommended the way I did. Again, focus on OP’s question, instead of my answer. If you can, provide your suggestions. If you do, I promise, I won’t nitpick them, based on my experiences. Its not my place to do that. They would be your suggestions based on your experiences and I would respect that you are trying to help, even if I may be flummoxed by your choices.

17

Okay. What would that reason be?

18

@intparent @VeryLuckyParent @usualhopeful @Proudpatriot @ucbalumnus @WISdad23
Hi, thanks for all your comments! I should have included more information in my post, so to answer your questions … I do not have any financial restraints; there is no budget I must meet. I intend to major in something business related or possibly (but not very likely) engineering. However, even though I want to major in something business related, the school doesn’t necessarily have to have an undergrad business school because I am going to go to grad school for my MBA. I live in Ohio. I would prefer a college in a city or in a suburb very near a city. I appreciate any and all recommendations! thanks again! :slight_smile:

19

Your parents are ok with $70,000 per year at the most expensive private schools, or is there a budget that you must meet at list price or with merit scholarships?

20

Okay, so your parents have confirmed that they are willing to pay over a quarter of a million dollars for your undergraduate degree, and you will also be able to fund an MBA (another $120K+)? It is a conversation you really want to have with your parents, as we see way too many parents who say they will cover the costs figure out in April what that really means, then decide not to pay for the places their kid has been accepted. You might want to have them run net price calculators on a few schools (even fairly high earners get aid at some schools, and just seeing the numbers is pretty important before you go too far down the road).

You really want to start by finding a couple of safeties – schools where you know you will be admitted, and you know you can afford them. But they also have to be schools you are willing to attend. Ohio State seems like an obvious choice. If your parents truly don’t care about cost, then maybe you could look at schools like Rutgers, Michigan State, Penn State, Pitt, University of Vermont, or University of Rochester. I would put a couple schools like that on your list – but you should visit, as you want to make sure a safety is a place you could see yourself attending.

Michigan (if could bring yourself to – and it is a great university) would be a low reach. Cornell is possibly a good reach – your ACT is on the low end for the Ivies overall. Northwestern is another reach to consider.

Matches - Maybe Northeastern. George Washington, mentioned above, doesn’t have a traditional campus, but is a large urban university with engineering offered It is probably a low match for you. Boston University would be another low match. Tufts would be a match, as would NYU (again, expensive, campus is not really a “campus” it the traditional sense). University of Maryland (CP) would be another match.

Note that when these colleges have schools of engineering or schools of business, you may need to apply to admission to those schools. So you either have to know what you want going in (if they take freshman admits), or rely on getting admitted partway through your time at the schools (which is a risky assumption). You have to evaluate that for each school to determine what application strategy you want to take.

This list doesn’t touch on southern schools, but there are definitely universities in the south that could work if you want to explore them as well.