@homerdog I definitely worried about that too. But D was pretty clear about what academic areas and ECs she felt were important to her. Many of her peers are looking for very specific programs; in fact, our D was less specific than most. But my point was that if your kid has specific interests come junior year, then you have to move away from the generic rankings and that can take a bit of research. I didn’t find that part easy. I think if she’d been more interested in big schools, it would have been easier. Not sure.