Match Colleges/Similar Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am currently looking at the following schools:</p>

<p>Amherst
Bowdoin
Middlebury
Vassar
Colgate
Colby
Dartmouth
Wesleyan</p>

<p>Which ones would be considered "reach" schools?</p>

<p>My SAT scores aren't amazing, but I am looking for a school which places importance on personal qualities. I have overcome a lot in my life and have strong grades, GPA, ECs, and essay. Which schools are best known for a holistic approach?</p>

<p>Are there any schools similar to these that I should look at?</p>

2

<p>People can't begin to guess which schools are reach/match/safety for you until knowing SATs, GPA, class rank. You certainly have honed in on a certain type of school with your listing, but no one can assess until having more to go on with with your profile. If you mean, what schools are like the ones you've listed, but less selective, then would suggest Bucknell, Lafayette, Union, Franklin & Marshall, Hobart, St. Lawrence.</p>

3

<p>It’s hard to say exactly where you’ll stack up at these schools without knowing a little more about your stats. When you say your SAT “aren’t amazing” you might mean it’ a 2100, or a 1800, and that will definitely make a difference. Also, at these kinds of school, epically if your SAT is iffy, there is a difference between a strong GPA of 3.7 and a strong GPA of 4.0. Have you considered trying the ACT?</p>

<p>But, some thoughts: In general, Amherst and Dartmouth are reaches for everyone. Bowdoin, Middlebury, Vassar, Wesleyan, Colgate will probably also be reaches, thought perhaps a little less so, and Colby will probably be a little less reachy than them (maybe more a high match?).</p>

<p>Bowdoin and Middlebury are SAT optional, so if everything else abut your application is strong you’ll probably have a better shot at those two than equivalent schools where you have to submit your SATs; they also clearly value personal qualities. I also known that my school, Wesleyan, does value personal qualities, and I would suspect that most of these schools do. That makes them at least somewhat realistic reaches, but reaches none-the-less. </p>

<p>You might also want to check out Carleton, especially if you’re not from the Midwest. It fits right into your list as a midpoint between Amherst/Middlebury and Wesleyan/Vassar on the “quirky students” scale. Furthermore, while still being a very selective school, it tends not to get as many applicants form the coasts as its coast counterparts purely because of its location. In my experience (from watching my casemates), this means qualified students are more likely to get in at Carleton than its east coast counterparts, because they are looking for geographic diversity. Plus, it’ an awesome school.</p>

<p>You might also want to check out Grinnell, which is another great school that is easier to get into because of its location (to a far greater extent than is true of Carleton). It also fits right in to your list. </p>

<p>Some other schools that would be low reaches/high matches or matches or safeties that seem to fit into your list: Bates, Oberlin, Kenyon, Skidmore, Goucher, Dickenson.</p>

4

<p>^It's funny how you focused on the Wesleyan, Vassar part of her list to suggest other schools and I focused on the Dartmouth, Colgate part to come up with other suggestions. I guess Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury would be somewhere in the middle.</p>

5

<p>Hey guys, sorry about the lack of info. I was using my teacher's computer today and ran out of time.</p>

<p>Im in the IB program with a 3.8 unweighted and a 5.7 weighted. I've taken 3 APs, scored 5s on all of them, and I will be taking another 4 this year.</p>

<p>I play soccer, am an elected member of my schools honor council as well as the scribe (president), I have been the VP of my school's multi-cultural club/religious tolerance club for the past 3 years and am very involved with diversity in my community, I am a founding member of the 2nd chapter Interfaith Youth Alliance here in tampa, I attended a camp in D.C put on by the Interfaith Alliance (one of 40 students chosen from around the U.S) focused on pluralism, I spent the last 2 summers volunteering at Moffitt Cancer center for over 100 hours, and I recently completed training to become a children's grief counselor at the center I attended as a child (after my dad died). I am also in NHS and the normal service clubs.</p>

<p>I have a 2140 on my SATs, but I expect to be able to raise that by 100 points the next time I take it. I take the ACT tomorrow and will hopefully do better on that.</p>

<p>Right now I am just looking for some schools that are similar to the ones I have listed above so that I may have some safety schools. Also, like I said, I am looking for schools that have a holistic approach to admissions - I have heard Dartmouth has a pretty holistic approach...? </p>

<p>I am also interested in the outdoors (I spent 2 summers hiking through a YMCA camp), and thus I do not want to be in a major city</p>