Match Me - PA resident for English + History, PoliSci & Music. Classical vocalist spike. 3.6/33

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Interested in thoughts/suggestions for fit for my rising senior, a future English major with either dual major or minors in history/poli sci and music, classically trained vocalist who has not applied to any competitive singing competitions outside of selection to things like summer arts programs, so has no awards in this space.

  • US citizen/PA Native
  • Public but very small HS (~800 students). Almost half of ranked class qualified for Nat Honor Society (they exclude special needs students, nearly 10% of class, from calculations) and school is top 100 in state (over 700 high schools).
  • Female/White/Jewish/Italian/Scottish
  • Classically trained vocalist for 7 years, studied opera at Interlochen and would like to continue, but also participates in highly selective youthchoir and enjoys choral singing. Possible music minor/dual degree in college - not because interested in performing professionally per se but because enjoy it.

Classical Humanities profile - and keenly interested in traditional liberal arts curriculum.

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.6-3.7 (let’s say 3.6 conservatively - interrogating the calculation because I think there’s an error based on my own) * Weighted HS GPA (4.07 - using “quality points” based on differential credits for classes but with additional weight for AP and Honors classes):
  • Class Rank: top 25%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 33 Superscore ACT (35 English, 36 Reading, 30 Math and 30 Science)

School offers 22 AP classes, most are in maths and sciences. She will have exhausted humanities offerings. By graduation, will have taken 9 honors classes and 7 APs.

AP Lang (A/5), APUSH (C+/4), AP Psych (B/3 - won’t submit the 3), AP Gov (12th), AP Lit (12th), AP Art History (12th)(this isn’t even offered directly but through a virtual HS), and will take AP Stat (12th) for a final required math class.

3-4 Dual Enrollment Classes at local college (4th will depend on workload):
European History (A)
Philosophy (A-)
Women in Literature (taking it now, expect A).

Took accelerated Math classes in Middle School so started HS with Alg 2 in 9th and Trig in 10th. Trig was her only “bad” grade in math - a B - but she opted not to take Calculus to “prove she can” when she will never use it, doesn’t enjoy math, and it would have been mental health negative. Slightly concerned this will be viewed as lack of rigor.

Took Honors science classes in Bio, Physics, and regular Chemistry but only 1 AP math (stat).

Took accelerated French in Middle school so started HS at French II. Due to scheduling conflicts, took French III as a sophmore as an independent study and the lack of structure was not good – got first C+ ever (has 2 as of now). Schedule, again, does not permit her to take French IV so will only have 3 levels (but 2 years of study in HS) for foreign language. She self-studies on her own using Duo Lingo though so hopefully can place into higher levels for colleges that require it.

Peer Tutoring - will serve as peer tutor in English for school credit next year.

Awards
National History Day - 2nd Place Group Exhibit (2019)
Young Playwrights - 2nd Place Award for Original Work (2019)
Music Man - Character Award/Improv Award (2020)
Tri-M Musical Honor Society Inductee (2021)
Interlochen Arts Camp (2023)
ACDA Summer Honor Choir (2023)
National Honor Society (2023)

Extracurriculars
Leadership
Class Vice President (9th)
Arts Editor for school newspaper (10th-12th)
Model OAS (9th-10th, elected President of International Affairs Club, but never served because lost sponsorship from school)
Youth and Government (YAG) - 9th-12th - Asst. Sec’y (10th-11th)
Performing Arts
Vocal Lessons - (7 years)
Concert Choir (11th-12th)
Mixed Chorus (10th-12th)
Acapella (10th-12th)
Thespian Troup 1154 - numerous shows with several lead roles.
Pennsylvania Girlchoir (10th-12th) (placed in highest choir, and selected for most selective ensembles within)
ACDA Honor Choir
Sports
Varsity Tennis (9th-12th)

Summer Activities
Red Cross Certified Babysitter
University of Pennsylvania Journalism Writing Summer Camp (2019)
Harvard Politics Academy at Home (2021)
Student Teacher at Music School (2021-2022)
Country Club Snack Bar (2021) and Country Club Tennis Pro (2022)
Interlochen Arts Camp (Elected IAC over Lamont School Summer Academy as well as The School of the New York Times Summer Program)(2023).

Volunteered for years for local charity that raised funds to support autistic teens to transition to adulthood with autonomy through independent living.

Essays/LORs/Other
*Expect essays to be strong.

Cost Constraints / Budget
*Could use 20-30K/year in assistance. Expect to cover 40K pretty readily.

OK, so DD is extremely talented in English and a high average student overall. Very devoted to learning, and a student of history from out of the womb. Loves reading, crossword puzzles, poetry, traveling, has a highly developed aesthetic, and is a sensitive and feeling person who wants to create beauty in the world, through art. Loves words beyond measure and wants a comfortable life, so is thinking law.

For schools, loves a slightly more traditional take on learning but with the openness of Brown. Will likely ED to Northwestern because Bienen has an amazing opera program, but not remotely a sure thing (she’s new to opera) and NW is impossible to get into. Yale was her #1 dream for years until a recent visit to NW upended that.

Need to know if top schools are delusions with a 33 superscore (will take again in Sept for 3rd and final time to break the 34 barrier). Low GPA of 4.07 weighted (I know everyone says to use unweighted but it annoys me to throw away all the hard work the weighted classes represent by denying their weight). I know it’s all a lottery, even for the “perfect” applicants, but curious for input about whether should limit our “reach” list just to schools with serious music programs that would appreciate her music experience?

Open to all geography except isolated/rural, and very small (less than 500/class). This has eliminated some otherwise nice schools, such as Davidson, Colby, etc. Greatly needs/prefers suburban/urban (not necessarily city school but that is prefereable - Oberlin, for example, was a not starter because of how isolated it is). Schools that are “too” innovative are also non-starters - for example, she had an irrational dislike of Wesleyan as too freewheeling. She wants schools that teach Shakespeare as well as challenge the enduring relevance of King Lear. She loved W&M’s honor code, and their dual degree in Scotland’s St. Andrews, as well as Yale’s intellectualism, beautiful campus and concept of “And.”

One more thing, clinical anxiety cost her more than 2 months of school days either directly or through physical manifestations this year (would love thoughts on whether/how to address this because it really hurt her in her AP classes in particular) - missed 42 days this year and a huge bit last year. My instinct is to have her not dwell on it in apps, not make it an “overcoming” essay necessarily, but to have the counselor letter address it factually – it is a fact that excessive absences due to anxiety and related mental health issues negatively impacted her GPA. Would love thoughts/feedback on this approach and, in particular, people in similar circumstances who were successful with selective schools and how they finessed this issue.

Our GC is a lovely woman, best our school offers, but huge proportion of students stay local for school - big Penn State feeder - so she just doesn’t appreciate the scope of my daughter’s imagination as it relates to college.

What schools am I missing? Any thoughts on the below based on the above?

Schools
Northwestern - ED

Reaches
Yale, Brown, Tufts, Barnard/Columbia, Harvard, Penn, UVA, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, USC, Vanderbilt ,Wash U, Vassar, Wellesley, UC - Berkley (schools strong in Eng/Hist and/or offering Music),

Targets
BU, Bucknell?, Emerson, Northeastern, Smith, Emory, UNC - Chapel Hill, Richmond, W&M, Michigan ?

Safeties (Acceptance 50% or higher)
UMass Amherst, American, Rochester, UCSD, Bard…??? Sarah Lawrence?..

Help. I’m aware that Reaches are infinitessimal chances but are there any you’d take off the list entirely, and if so, why? Other suggestions for Targets/Safeties?

Thank you!!!

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Look into Skidmore.

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What math classes did she take jr and sr year?

Her interests and profile -classically trained vocalist and honor code, especially -tell me she would be a great fit for St Olaf, especially if she got into The Great Conversation/Enduring questions.
https://wp.stolaf.edu/enduring-questions/
https://wp.stolaf.edu/music/
The college is a musical haven, with about 1/3 students musicians of some kind (many, non musuic majors who wanted to pursue high level music alongside their chosen academic field). Music scholarships even for nonmajors. Located in college town (other college: Carleton) 45mn South of Minneapolis.

UCs, Berkeley included, will not be within budget - 75k, no scholarships for OOS.

Smith, Emory, Unc CH and Michigan LSA are reaches, reachable reaches but reaches nevertheless.
Michigan only provides FA to OOS families with income below 95k. Otherwise, expect to be full pay.
Rochester is a low reach too.
Do UMass Amherst and American indicate they’re within budget?
Bard and Sarah Lawrence may be too alternative.
I suppose she’ll.be applying to Penn State and/or Pitt+Honors as safeties (though pursuing music as a non music major may be a bit more difficult).
Look into Lafayette (low reach), Lawrence WI (safety if you show interest now), Muhlenberg (safety), Skidmore (low reach), Agnes Scott (safety if you demonstrate interest).

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Do you qualify for financial aid? If not your COA limit is $70k at most and will eliminate the majority of schools on your list.

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With a 3.6 I think her targets might be reaches (the reason you go by unweighted is because high school weighting systems vary greatly), the rigor will be know by the number of honors/AP’s. If you don’t have financial need then she will need to look at colleges that offer decent merit for someone with her stats.

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A music supplement, if accepted, can help chances of admission. Is she at Interlochen this summer? Does she have any videos of her singing solo or prominently featured? She can include video/recording, music resume and letters of recommendation related to music (including work ethic, working with others, broad interests, etc.). She doesn’t have to plan to major in music or even do music at all, for the supplement to help.

I would not write about how anxiety caused an impact on grades. If the absences need to be accounted for the GC can write that she was out for health reasons. It sounds like she may still be having anxiety and that list of schools might be part of it. It’s great to reach high but she needs schools she would love that are not so hard to get into.

I always suggest looking at the Colleges that Change Lives website for ideas. Skidmore, Vassar, Clark, Wooster, St. Olaf all come to mind. Smith, Barnard? (Barnard is a tough admit but Manhattan School of Music is next door).

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Typically 3.6-3.7 isn’t a competitive gpa for the reach schools you have listed. I would cut that list down and only apply where her music spike might make an appreciable difference. Also, many reach level schools require 3-4 years of foreign language and I’m not sure they consider middle school language towards that. So far as having her disclose her struggles with anxiety, I’d be very cautious about that. Many schools are cautious about admitting students they think might struggle.

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Any discussion of anxiety impacting ability to work does not really help because it could indicate an inability to do work at college. Is she still suffering from anxiety? In my experience senior year is full of anxiety for everyone. Our guidance counselor told me “seniors are a mess.” Added to the stress of applications and academics and EC’s and social media, is the stress of the upcoming transition to college, leaving home and friends. It’s huge.

Mental health is a priority here as you know. It is unclear if she is feeling better but if so, that improvement is recent. One of mine had anxiety in senior year, college freshman year, and then was fine. It can be situational and temporary- or not!

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Your daughter sounds amazing, but I’d agree with others that all of the targets are actually reaches, with the exception of Bucknell and Emerson. (Emerson is a question mark - if she’s planning to apply there to an audition-only music major, that could be a reach as well.) The rest of the schools on the list have admit rates in the mid-teens or lower, and some of the out of state public schools (Michigan UNC-Chapel Hill) are extraordinarily tough for out of state applicants. Also, merit aid is very unikely to impossible at most of these schools, so unless you qualify for need-based financial aid, they won’t make budget. I think Bucknell is likely the only target on the list.

I also would not qualify schools with only a 50% or greater chance of admission as safeties. Safeties are sure things, and you really only need 1-2. American, Rochester, UCSD are targets, especially American (if not applying Early Decision - American’s regular decision acceptance rate is pretty low). Although I think admission is likely at many of the current safeties, you don’t really have a “sure thing” in that group.

Many of the reaches are very high reaches, but if she has 1 or 2 that she’s very very excited about she should apply and take her shot.

I’d take a look at the current list of targets and reaches, which are almost all reaches, and really cull those down to a manageable number, and then look for some additional schools that are true targets and safeties. I’d echo the recommendations for St. Olaf and Skidmore. Maybe LMU would be a good school to consider? Not sure about the music offerings, but what about University of Denver and Fordham?

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This is concerning because missing a lot of college classes will result in either a lot of incompletes, a lot of withdrawals, or a lot of class failures. How confident are you that the issues resulting in these absences are resolved?

Does your family qualify for need based aid? I ask, because many of the colleges on your current list offer need based aid only?

If she doesn’t want to major in music, I’m not sure Bienen is an option for music studies at Northwestern. You need to check about availability for those who are not music majors to do opera studies. It is likely that she could take lessons with a talented grad student.

Reach schools are reaches for all applicants because one thing is…acceptance rates are below 20%.

My opinion only. I think BU, UNC CH, Michigan, WM and Northeastern should be moved to the reach category.

I don’t think UCSD is a target and since the UCs don’t give need based aid and very very very little merit aid to OOS students, this won’t get even close to your price point.

American…plan to show a ton of interest. It’s expected there.

I personally think Rochester is more a reach than a safety. Emory too.

Remember…safety schools are only safety schools IF they are affordable. I’m not sure American, Bard, or Sarah Lawrence will get to your price point.

What is your affordable safety school?

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If her high school offers higher math classes and she decided to not take them, then that is indeed lack of rigor. For most of her list, she will be competing against kids that have taken those classes. Same for foreign language. Accelerated math is less important for a humanities major, but the applicant pool certainly will have lots of kids with more rigor.

As said by others, most of these schools will not meet your budget unless you are applying for financial aid. If you are full pay with a strict budget, your list will need to change quite a bit.

Let us know if you are applying for financial aid and what the NPCs look like. Lots of knowledgeable people here who can help find schools to meet your budget.

Good luck.

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As I was reading your description of your daughter, I too was thinking that St. Olaf would be a great place to investigate.

Will your family qualify for any need-based aid? That will make a huge difference in college recommendations. I agree with others’ comments about the classification of schools and having the counselor’s letter indicate that your daughter had significant absences due to a health concern.

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Another red flag here is the amount of reach schools for a kid that suffers with anxiety. She should only apply to 2-3 reach schools. College applications can be very stressful and a long string of rejections would be hard.

Sorry to say this, but better to hear it now before putting in all those applications.

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In addition to taking UCSD off the list, take Berkeley off too. You will not get the cost of attendance down to your price point.

ETA…if it were me, I’d be looking for a college with rolling admissions that she likes that is affordable. It might be nice to get an admissions decision sooner than later. Since you are instate for Pitt, I would do that school.

At this point you have 15 reach schools…and no real safety schools. Please spend some time finding those sure things that she likes that are affordable. I would definitely suggest reducing the number of reach schools by probably half. It will take a lot of work to complete these applications. Don’t underestimate that.

And one more thing. Re: her anxiety…does she have a good supportive team that has been working with her in high school? If so, how will that be addressed at the many schools that are far away on your current list.

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Haven’t yet read the other responses but a few things stood out to me from what you wrote:

  1. She skimped on math but not humanities. It’s almost like the tennis player with a great forehand and not so great backhand - who runs way over to cover what should be a backhand shot with a forehand instead. In other words, it seems like you are hiding from math.

  2. Your rigor won’t be there on the quant / science side - just looking at the APs you listed.

  3. You say class rank is top 25%. Well top 10% is part of top 25%. Is she top 10% ? 95% of NW admits are in the top 10%.

  4. Have you run any NPCs? You can spend $40k but only need $20-30k in merit. But many of your schools are over $80k. And many offer no merit aid. So, for example, if northwestern offers you no need aid, then where does the other $51,290 come from. Yes it’s $91,290 COA and it’s going to be higher.

  5. The music part may be a savior if she studies it. Having a music supplement maybe changes things - I don’t know.

  6. Mental health is a real issue and many / most schools aren’t truly set up to deal. They don’t have the resources. So a private counselor will cost you. And what will your counselor report or teacher LORs show ?

So here’s my blunt belief - sorry:

I’m not saying not to apply because you can’t get in if you don’t - but this student has very very very little chance at Northwestern. And that’s the same for every reach school.

But go back to the money - USC, Yale - these colleges are far above $70k. So if you run the NPC and are determined to have no need, remove them.

Your targets. Maybe Emerson. Small chance Bucknell and Richmond. Tiny chance W&M. The rest are all high reaches.

Your safeties. Maybe Bard and SLU but how will you afford them ?

You can’t afford any UC.

So is PA your state ?

Look at Pitt, Temple, West Chester, and Millersville. Don’t want isolated but maybe a Delaware, WVU, Hartford, Denver (if you get need aid - won’t get enough merit). There’s other schools - Maine, SUNYs, Kansas, Iowa State, Cincinnati, etc and some larger in the south or west.

There’s also other LACs less down the pedigree scale that will have more $$ - but may be too small - a Wooster, Kalamazoo.

I think the mental health thing is a must to focus on, the budget concerns need to be explored via NPCs because your college cost assumptions are low.

Finally - other than the music perhaps helping - I don’t think your student is close to the candidate for top schools that you think they are - at least based on what was presented here.

Sorry for the bluntness.

Budget first - then develop a more focused and smaller list - apps are stressful so someone with mental health issues shouldn’t be subjected to all this work. That’s way too many high level schools.

Best of luck.

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I agree with @thumper and other posters to remove the UC’s. UCSD would be a Reach school based on her unweighted GPA but she should calculate the 3 UC GPA’s if still interested in applying. Since the UC’s are test blind, GPA is a major factor in the admissions review.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Note: OOS HS Honors designated classes are not weighted in the calculation so only AP/IB or DE courses that are UC transferable.

As an OOS applicant, she will receive no financial aid (need-based) and any merit aid (very little available) is highly competitive. With the UC costs around $72K/year, they do not meet budget.

UCSD OOS admit rate was 31.5% with an average UC capped weighted GPA of 4.21

UCB OOS admit rate was 8.6% with an average UC capped weighted GPA of 4.23

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Re: Sarah Lawrence. We toured a year ago, and fyi, they highly value the “optional” interview.
Is she familiar with SLC? It is quite small (maybe 1400 students total) and has an unusual curriculum- far more “innovative” than Wesleyan, fyi.

Not sure it meets the requirements you’ve listed.

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Agree very much with:

St. Olaf: outstanding music, happy collaborative students who take their academics seriously, open enrollment with Carleton, lots of direct flights to MSP. This school is a match.

Lawrence: outstanding music, strong academics, not such easy transportation however. This school is a likely.

Wooster: I know a student who was very strong in both academics and music who thrived here. This school is a likely.

Muhlenberg: quality music and liberal arts. Might be nice to have an option near home. Safety.

(Also, I realize you didn’t ask for advice in this area, but if anxiety is still an issue, this is my opinion: In my clinical experience it is of the utmost importance to get anxiety under excellent control before going off to college. This is more important than anything else. If anxiety is not under control, taking a gap year and/or attending a local college while living at home and getting focused treatment is what I typically recommend. Effective treatment pays dividends! Clinicians (psychiatrists, therapists etc) who do not have specialized skills in anxiety can do more harm than good, frankly. What is effective for individuals with significant anxiety (enough that they miss school or other activities) is the Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) technique. Sometimes it requires a day treatment program which lasts a few weeks. This is often life changing. I refer to Rogers Behavioral Health in my area, but not sure what you have available in your area. Waiting lists for clinicians who have this level of expertise are VERY long so I encourage families to call ASAP and get on the waiting list rather than “wait and see” how the year goes. You can always cancel if it ends up not being needed.)

Best of luck to your daughter, she sounds terrific!

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I’m repeating this because I think it’s that important. You don’t address how this anxiety will be managed at colleges that are far from home, with no parental support. Remember too, your college student will be over 18 and you parents will not be able to force her to seek help. She will need to do this on her own unless she gives you written permission to do so…and I’m not sure this can be a blanket permission.

I’ve read nothing here that suggests that the attendance issues were resolved in 11th grade.

In addition, I would strongly suggest this family get tuition insurance and make sure the policy covers preexisting conditions.

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I decided to go on ahead and think about a college list for your D. Even though we don’t know whether your family will qualify for financial aid, all of these schools either offer merit aid and/or will be within budget without it.

Although there are a few far-flung schools on the list, the majority are in fairly close proximity to Pennsylvania. Of course, Pennsylvania is quite a large state and has some topography that can make travel across it difficult, so some schools may be farther time-wise than a map would indicate. Additionally, another factor to consider is your proximity to an airport and whether it’s a hub (Philly) or the frequency of flights to/from the airport. Schools that are a direct, nonstop flight away could also be a consideration if the cost of last-minute flights would not be an impediment should an emergency arise. But the proximity to home (whether via car or flight) and the accessibility of related health care services is definitely a factor that would weigh heavily in my consideration.

There are so many schools in my Extremely Likely bucket for your daughter because it is obvious that she is academically strong and a good student that many colleges would be excited to have. Unfortunately, the vast majority of schools on your list are amongst the most popular in the country for students with extremely strong academic backgrounds. In comparison with the pool of applicants she would likely be in, your daughter’s avoidance of the AP classes that were outside her area(s) of interest will be a real stumbling block, in addition to the impacts to her GPA that may have been related to some of her absences.

Generally, all the schools listed below had a pretty good number of English, history, and/or (usually and) music-related majors. That can often lead to having greater numbers of electives, faculty, etc.

You may not have heard of some of the schools I’m going to suggest. One of the sites that I look to look at is this one where it indicates how many alums end up going on to earn a PhD: Baccalaureate origins of doctoral recipients. You can narrow it down by year range (also by type of school, area of study, etc.). Although there is no need to go on for a doctorate in any field, I often find that schools with a higher number of these students (particularly when it’s a higher ratio of the school) might have more of the academic rigor and/or environment that I would like for my own kid. When I do a ratio, I often will compare the number of doctorates received to the number of current undergrads, as it’s not surprising that a school with 40k undergrads will have more doctorates than a school with 2k undergrads, but if that 40k school has 1000 doctoral recipients (1/40th) and the 2k school has 200 (1/10th), the ratio for the smaller school is much higher. For an example of what I mean, this post might be helpful: Match me. High hopes/high stats NJ high school senior interested in Neuroscience or BioPhysics - #62 by AustenNut.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Baldwin Wallace (OH): About 2700 undergrads
  • Butler (IN): About 4400 undergrads
  • College of Charleston (SC): About 10k undergrads
  • Drake (IA): About 2800 undergrads
  • Duquesne (PA ): About 5100 undergrads
  • Elon (NC): About 6300 undergrads
  • Indiana U. of Pennsylvania: About 7k undergrads
  • Ithaca (NY): About 4600 undergrads
  • Loyola New Orleans (LA): About 3300 undergrads
  • Millersville (PA ): About 5800 undergrads
  • Monmouth (NJ): About 3800 undergrads
  • Pacific Lutheran (WA): About 2300 undergrads
  • Slippery Rock (PA ): About 6800 undergrads
  • Stetson (FL): About 2600 undergrads
  • SUNY Fredonia: About 3200 undergrads
  • SUNY Oswego: About 6k undergrads
  • SUNY Potsdam: About 2100 undergrads…also has cross-registration with Clarkson
  • SUNY Purchase: About 3100 undergrads
  • Susquehanna (PA ): About 2200 undergrads
  • U. of Dayton (OH): About 8400 undergrads
  • U. of Denver (CO): About 6200 undergrads
  • U. of Redlands (CA): About 2300 undergrads

Likely (60-79%)

  • Furman (SC): About 2300 undergrads
  • Gettysburg (PA ): About 2200 undergrads
  • Rollins (FL): About 2600 undergrads
  • SUNY New Paltz: About 6100 undergrads
  • The College of New Jersey: About 7k undergrads
  • U. of North Carolina – Asheville: About 2900 undergrads
  • U. of Tulsa (OK): About 2600 undergrads

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Clark (MA): About 2400 undergrads
  • Mount Holyoke (MA): About 2200 undergrads at this women’s college. Member of the 5 colleges consortium with Smith, U. Mass, Hampshire, and Amherst.
  • Santa Clara (CA): About 6100 undergrads

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Brandeis (MA): About 3700 undergrads
  • Case Western (OH): About 6k undergrads
  • College of the Holy Cross (MA): About 3100 undergrads
  • Trinity (TX): About 2500 undergrads

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Most of the schools on your current list

Outside of the Pennsylvania and SUNY publics, the other schools are generally all located in areas with fairly decent population centers. The SUNY publics will match your price for Penn State (except Binghamton, which I did not include). I will let your family determine which of the various schools are too isolated or which are sufficiently close to larger population centers to be of interest.

I would also consider the potential impacts on your daughter if she does not receive an offer of admission from various schools. You may also want to speak to her mental health professionals about this. It can be very psychologically damaging to have lots of rejections (or waitlists, which are usually de facto rejections). If my kid had this profile, I would minimize the number of likely rejections.

Obviously I don’t anticipate your family being interested in all of the schools on the list. I just want to make sure your family knows that there are many options out there for your D to be able to find a good fit that will meet your budget.

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