<p>Hi all, like the title says. I don't want to make the mistake of overreaching on my safety schools (the ones I've got down at the moment have 20-30% acceptance rates), but at the same time I do not want to end up in an environment where the average student isn't as interested as I am in intellectual engagement. </p>
<p>My stats:
GPA: 4.0/4.17 as of end of junior year, likely one of the top 5 in the class at a very rigorous international school.
SAT I: 2360
SAT II: Math 800, Lit 800</p>
<p>My current top two choices are Princeton and Pomona. I'm active in graphic design and entrepreneurship, and I'll likely do a CS major and a Comp.Lit. minor of some sort. </p>
<p>Need:
- Strength in liberal arts
- Near or in a large urban area
- Prefer Northeastern or California schools, but open to Chicago and St.L
- Good CS department in addition to traditional 'liberal arts' offerings
- A good community of entrepreneurial students</p>
<p>Want:
- Small to mid sized school (honors colleges or special programs at large schools are alright)
- Access to a cultural hub like LA/NY
- A good debate team</p>
<p>carnegie mellon
<a href=“http://www.hss.cmu.edu/”>http://www.hss.cmu.edu/</a> --not reall a safety per say
of course their computer science is world renowned. (separate college in the university) and Pittsburgh is a really cool place. </p>
<p>u of Pittsburgh maybe a safety for you or butler university (Indianapolis)</p>
<p>Also – Northwestern is home to one of the top undergrad Econ departments and graduate business schools in the country, so there are plenty of savvy business types milling around.</p>
<p>Another good option for you in the Midwest would be Macalester College, which is in the Twin Cities. That would maybe be a low match or high safety for you. </p>
<p>It’s gotten so that WashU and Tufts cannot be safeties for anyone (nor can Northwestern or CMU, I agree). WashU and Tufts are going to expect you to prove to them that you want to go there by calling the AO repeatedly, emailing, sending a why I want to go to Tufts email, attending nearby Tufts visits to your area, etc. Other safeties for you that would expect some love would be Colgate, Reed, and Tulane. Remember, a safety has to be a place you’ll surely get into, a place you’ll surely go to if necessary, a place that has your major, and a place you can absolutely afford. </p>
<p>There has been no discussion about affordability yet. Have you run the net price calculators for your safeties or any of the others? </p>
<p>Safeties are so important, you sometimes need to know more about them than your reaches. I suggest you also consider Case Western, UMaryland, and Harvey Mudd (although it is not a safety for anyone). The first of these, and Tulane, are generous with merit. You could win full tuition at Pitt, UMD (maybe), Tulane, and Case. I haven’t considered the debate team requirement.</p>
<p>@jkeil911
I know Tufts/WashU aren’t safeties for anyone - but that’s kind of the problem, I can’t find any reasonable “safeties” that have the student body I’m looking for. Thanks for the other suggestions, I’ll check them out. Affordability is not an issue, my parents have made it clear they’ll pay for everything (Asian parents ftw…)</p>
<p>@bradybest
UChicago and Columbia are amazing! But yeah, again, not a safety or match. </p>
<p>@prezbucky
I’ve heard great things about NW, but I’m worried it might be too large, and it’s definitely not a school I can count on getting in. </p>
<p>@zobroward
I’ve never heard of Butler, that’s really interesting. CMU is wonderful, but it might be a bit too pre-professional.</p>
<p>I know, I’m picky. Thanks again for all the help, you guys are great :)</p>
<p>CMU is a very difficult admit for CS. And Mudd (suggested above) had a 13% admit rate last year. Another vote for Case Western as a possibility. Regarding payment, do your parents know what these colleges cost? Be sure you run some net price calculators with them so they know what they would be expected to pay.</p>
<p>One of my kids was looking for a more intellectual environment last year, but of course had to apply to some safeties. Her full list (ended up admitted to all) was: U Chicago, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Kenyon, Macalester, Mount Holyoke, Lawrence.</p>
<p>OP, don’t do this to your parents. you be the adult in this case and make them sit down and work all this out. sooner rather than later. You don’t want them to feel guilty when the FA packages come in and they have to say no to your #1 thru 4 picks. It happens every year to students and their parents (even Asians :P) because the parents were resistant for whatever reason to talking about their finances with their child. College is much more expensive than it was a generation ago, and most parents have no idea what those price tags really mean for them.</p>
<ul>
<li>They apparently have a really good debate team.</li>
<li>It’s in Atlanta (large city)</li>
<li>Solid Econ/business and humanities.</li>
<li>It is a match or low match for you.</li>
<li>You can spend your first two years at the Oxford campus, which only has like 900 students. That would fulfill your “small size” desire.</li>
</ul>
<p>Macalester fits all of your criteria; Northwestern and Emory are just larger. All three are excellent academically and are either matches or low matches for you. </p>
<p>Emory has a small CS department where advanced CS courses are not offered as frequently as in larger CS departments. Oxford at Emory only offers one introductory CS course, so a CS major transferring to Emory proper or elsewhere would have to “catch up” on other frosh/soph level CS courses.</p>
<p>Macalester’s CS department also appears to be small; most advanced CS courses are offered only once every two years.</p>
<p>However, that may be the tradeoff at smaller schools in general, although smaller schools do vary in the size of their CS departments. Smaller schools focusing on technical subjects include:</p>
<p>South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (admission safety, low cost)
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (admission safety, low cost)
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Colorado School of Mines
Stevens Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Worchester Polytechnic Institute
Cooper Union
Harvey Mudd College (reach)
California Institute of Technology (reach)</p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA should not be considered safeties for anyone, and are quite large. Berkeley is probably a low match for L&S (in which you can declare CS after getting a 3.0 in the prerequisite courses) and a high match or low reach for EECS.</p>
<p>The following would be safeties, or near safeties, for you:</p>
<p>Tulane University
University of Rochester
Boston University
George Washington University
Case Western Reserve
Clark University (near Boston)
Reed College</p>
<p>Not sure that they meet your other requirements, but I will let you figure that out. All are private.</p>
<p>I think Claremont-McKenna sounds perfect for you. I suppose it is not really a safety for anyone, but your chances should be pretty good. They are very strong in government and leadership, with fabulous debating and Model UN programs. You would be able to take some STEM classes at Harvey Mudd. The consortium allows a lot of exchange among very different colleges. There is direct rail service from Claremont to downtown L.A. I second the suggestion of Reed and Swarthmore, but add one more, quirky suggestion: the College of Creative Studies, at UC Santa Barbara - it is a small, self-selecting college within the university, where students can create their own programs of study in disciplines including computer science, physics, fine arts, and literature. I imagine that the university has a debating team, which you would be able to join. </p>
<p>First thought: Are you willing to give Pomona ED a try?</p>
<p>Second thought: I think you are in a great position to apply to many matches so that you have your pick of a school you want to go to… pick 2 true safeties, but I think the key is to apply to many schools because you would be disappointed otherwise and have the stats to get in everywhere…play the numbers game and apply to more than recommended. I would hate to see someone like you shut out of top schools. </p>
<p>First off, my parents are aware of what colleges cost. We’re not expecting any financial aid, so we’ve been taking the net price to be the sticker price + living expenses + miscellaneous. </p>
<p>I love Pomona to death, so ED seems like the natural option, but I don’t want to make that commitment and open myself to regret come next year. Also, “college admissions” are a bit of a social/family affair here, and given that I have the stats, I think my parents/peers/school expects me to buy a few ‘lottery tickets’. I also quite like Princeton, and Columbia/UChicago. </p>
<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions! One more thing, my school limits me to 10 applications in total. Of those, all UCs count as one app (so I guess I can throw in ‘true safeties’ like UCD, though I wouldn’t be so thrilled about the size of the schools). </p>
<p>My current list is:</p>
<p>reach (< 10% acceptance rate)
Princeton
Pomona
Stanford
Harvard
U Chicago
Columbia </p>
<p>Safeties should have 100% admission chance for you, 100% affordability, and 100% suitability (has a good department in your intended major(s) and other interests, as well as non-academic fit).</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh seems to fit the bill. Rolling admissions safety, honors program, cross-registration with Carnegie Mellon, big city, likely scholarship. </p>