@dr0wning If you rank top 6% then I don’t think you should be too worried about gpa since universities would take into account your school and class rank.
I wouldn’t say Vanderbilt is a match since it is as selective as Dartmouth or Duke, so I would give you 20%-25% admit rate for Vanderbilt based on your test score and gpa but the university is getting more selective so I can’t be sure. Unless the admit rate is +50% then you can’t be sure if it is a match and unless the admit rate is 100% you can’t be sure whether you would get admitted. I would say if you apply to all 8 ivies aswell as other top schools you have a good chance of getting to atleast 1 of them.
Why not consider Harvard, Yale or Princeton they would all be great for economics especially Princeton? Since your a California resident why haven’t you considered Stanford at all? Would that be too many selective schools? I guess it would be pretty stressful getting your results but could you honestly pass up an opportunity to possibly be admitted to any of these ivies?
State schools are the best safties since they’ll be the ones you’re most likely to get admitted to and the ones that are the most affordable. Besides that, go to the Supermatch function on this website and look at schools with avg scores and GPAs much lower than yours. Research their student bodies and choose two or three you like who you think you’ll fit in with. These will be ones likely to admit you since you’d be a good match, these will be the ones offering the most aid as well.
@okon2122 Yep, I’ve applied to a few UCs (I live in CA) but no CSUs. The deadline has passed, though. Also, I’m not particularly fond of any of the safer UCs. @ali1302 My class rank is unofficial, though. Would the class profile be enough, since 3.8 seems to be considered relatively low here?
I don’t think I would be able to complete the supplements for all 8 ivies by the deadline. I’ve applied to 2/8 but Cornell’s location doesn’t really appeal to me.
Of course HYP would be great for econ and in general but I figured that since the acceptance rate is so low, might as well spend a bit more effort into Columbia/UChicago essays, since I really do like those schools. If I was still composing my list, I’d say that all ivies + stanford is too many selective schools, but I’m nearly done with my original list anyway (just need to finish Rice and Brandeis!) so I can afford to be more… top heavy in my current search. About Stanford, I had heard that the essays were annoying and I didn’t particularly love the campus when I visited, though I wouldn’t mind going there. Also, none of the essays can be recycled, with the exception of “What matters to you, and why?” I think I can reuse my activity/EC essay on fencing.
Hah, to be honest I never really considered it. I just applied to my favorite top schools, though I had been considering Georgetown. But really, the idea of getting into an Ivy is pretty cool!
I’ll update this with whether I got accepted to Columbia or not
Rejected from Columbia. If I get rejected from UChicago next week, I really dont think I could get accepted from Ivies so I probably won’t apply to any more except Brown (already on the list) and Dartmouth (can reuse essay). UPenn is a stretch, especially since I’m really discouraged right now. Thanks for the help.
@dr0wning Don’t get too discouraged, the admissions decision are really random for everyone. I realize Columbia was your first choice but don’t let a rejection letter put you off applying to other schools. Hopefully you could get admitted to Chicago. Good luck.
@Ali1302 Thanks for the kind words and support. I think I was really fixated on Columbia and too emotionally invested that my rejection was a huge blow. After researching Columbia, I started noticing flaws in the other schools that I’m applying to so I really idealized Columbia and thought of it as a perfect school. maybe it is perfect (I won’t think about that anymore) but it’s evidently not a perfect fit for me. I really hope to get admitted to UChicago, thanks!
