Middlebury is her goal, but she needs other options...

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>My younger sister is applying to college this fall, and while she is smart and has great leadership experience, so far she hasn't dedicated much of her time to the 'search' phase of college admissions. She knows she wants to apply early to Middlebury, mainly because she loves Vermont and has visited many times -- NOT because she for sure wants a small liberal arts college. In fact, since she is pre-vet/possibly pre-med, she might be better off at a university that has better research facilities.</p>

<p>Here are some stats and colleges I've thought of for her so far. She's pretty open to look and apply anywhere, and wants to see where she gets in.</p>

<p>GPA: About 3.3, I think
School: Competitive sub-urban private
APs: Chem (will probably get a 4 or 5), next year: Bio, Calc
ACT: 30 (I think 34 math, 26 reading, but not sure)
Extracurriculars: 2 varsity sports (including team captaincies and lots of team-organizing), internship at a veterinary clinic, highly competitive horseback rider (training/prelim level)
Interests: horseback riding, chemistry, medicine, and socializing</p>

<p>Possible schools:
-Clark University
-Boston College
-Cornell Ag. School
-University of Richmond
-Colgate
-University of Vermont
-SUNY Stony Brook
-Rutgers</p>

<p>Thoughts? Advice? Thanks very much.</p>

<p>Okay, just by looking quickly at her stats, Middlebury would be a pretty large reach for her. Her GPA is really low for applying to Midd and her standarized test scores are basically like average, and her EC’s are average. Just so you know, Middlebury recently invested a lot of money into their science facilities and they are great! I’m actually visiting in early August because I plan on applying at the same time with your sister. Here are her estimated chances in my opinion:</p>

<ul>
<li>Clark UNiversity: I don’t know what it is.</li>
<li>BC: Low Reach</li>
<li>Cornell Ag School: Reach</li>
<li>URichmond: Match</li>
<li>Colgate: Low Reach</li>
<li>University of Vermont: Wow, she really loves Vermont! Safety.</li>
<li>SUNY Stony Brook: Match</li>
<li>Rutgers: Safety</li>
</ul>

<p>Is your sister looking for a strong sense of community at a school? If so, do NOT consider SUNY Stony Brook (most of the kids are commuters). Rutgers and UVermont are good safeties for her, but I would really think that she would not be too challenged when she was there. Ideally, the Cornell Ag school would be great for her becuase Cornell has a great amazing fantastic veterinary program. Maybe going Cornell undergrad would give her a step up…? I plan on pursuing animal sciences coupled with psychology, so it seems like me and your sister are very similar. Except for my stats are a tad bit higher (34 ACT and 3.8ish UW GPA). But, if you need any more advice for your sister, PM me!</p>

<p>why not look into Skidmore? good size, nice campus community, good academics, and lot’s of horse lovers!</p>

<p>I’ve heard a lot of good things about Clark U.
Middlebury is definitely a huge reach, IMO. University of Vermont is a good safety(or match?), and the other schools on her list sound good, although they are very different from each other.</p>

<p>Others to consider: Skidmore, Champlain, UNH, Syracuse, Union, Boston U. (maybe easier to get into than BC?), Vassar</p>

<p>+1 on Skidmore. Lots of good schools in upstate NY that are not dissimilar to Midd.</p>

<p>Just gonna toss in here that you shouldnt think you have to go to a large research university to pursue sciences. As has been said, Middlebury’s facilities are really quite impressive, made even more so because undergrads apparently get some of the same opportunities that would be reserved for grad students at those larger schools.</p>

<p>This said, I do agree that it might be kind of a reach based solely on numbers, but rarely is it all about numbers. And this is presupposing quite a bit about relative GPA and how that translates at your school. For example, we don’t have weighted grades and son did not have a perfect GPA (was closer to a 3.7 -although truthfully, Ive never known what it is exactly). However, it was the rigor of his classwork that spoke volumes about him as a student. </p>

<p>Here’s a ? though, Does she have any interest in playing her sport in college? Would she be competitive enough to contact the coach or coaches? There is a reason why there are over 250 team captains represented in the incoming class. Part of it is probably athletic contribution and part of it is probably leadership. And truth is, the only way someone is sure to not go to any particular school would be not to apply.</p>

<p>Agree with Skidmore (size is similar, town more urbanish) and I also think Univ of Vt is a great spot - especially if love VT. While I don’t know much about it, what about Connecticut College?</p>

<p>“She’s pretty open to look and apply anywhere, and wants to see where she gets in.”</p>

<p>I’m a little confused. If she applies to Middlebury early decision and she gets in she will be committed to attending. You got excellent advice from teamfrangela92.</p>

<p>Agree that Mid is very reachy, as is Vassar.</p>

<p>I would suggest Hobart and William Smith and Drew with this profile.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses everyone! Yes, she and my parents know that Midd is definitely a reach. When I said she’s looking to see where she gets in that was assuming that she would be deferred/possibly rejected ED. We are also hoping that she will pull her grades up senior year. </p>

<p>She didn’t like the Skidmore campus but that isn’t everything, so I will encourage her to take another look. Glad to hear that Clark has a good reputation, irunoninsulin. I might go over to that board to see if any current students have advice (will have to check to see if Clark has its own msg board). </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Clark for sure! and same with UVM. I think that Hamilton would probably be a really good idea, and maybe SUNY Geneseo. Also, she should definitely look at Ithaca, and maybe Rochester.</p>

<p>Grinnell, Macalester, Bucknell, Bates, Colby</p>

<p>I second bates.</p>

<p>the Grinnell, Colby, etc. list is still going to be somewhat reachy, as is Colgate. Conn is a beautiful school, lots of the same wonderful things that these others have, definitely academically challenging, but not such a reach for admissions. Remember always that those essays and recommendations–and interviews-- are also a big part of things. It’s not just the numbers, so lots of wonderful surprises can happen! And if you’re not from New England, that’s a plus for all of these schools!</p>

<p>No first hand knowledge, but you might want to look at Mass College of Liberal Arts (in the corner near Vermont) and Juniata in Penn for small schools that are easier to get into.</p>

<p>Definitely second Mass. College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). Really great, small school. Certainly under-rated.</p>

<p>Kids at MCLA can take courses at Williams. I don’t know if any of them go, but it’s officially an option.</p>

<p>And that brings Bennington to mind.</p>

<p>

The option exists in theory, but I believe the opportunity is relatively limited in practice. For this to work, I suspect you would have to have a strong academic record at MCLA, and would have to make a good case that you needed a particular course at Williams that was not available at MCLA. </p>

<p>I know of an MCLA student who came to Williams for coursework in geology (geology is not offered at MCLA), did well, and was ultimately accepted as a transfer. But I suspect that such a move is unusual.</p>

<p>Williams students can theoretically take courses at MCLA or Bennington, although again I suspect this option is very rarely utilized, except possibly for dance or other arts at Bennington. I don’t think MCLA and Bennington have an arrangement.</p>