<p>I have been becoming increasingly worried about my college list, because most of my schools are very hard to get into. In a nutshell, I am a violist who is recognized in my state, I am the VP of NHS, and have leadership positions at the two places where i volunteer. I am the saludatorian of my class, and received a 2130 SAT. Here are the schools I'm applying to: wheaton (ma), clark university (ma), uconn, amherst, bates, bowdoin, brown, yale, harvard, holy cross, and wesleyan. I want to stay in the New England region, preferably a smaller school. What especially worries me is that most people at my school don't go to NESCAC schools. When I told my guidance counselor I wanted to go to Bowdoin he said "wow. I've never heard that one before." Since I can't really compare myself to people from my school who have applied, I don't even know if I stand a chance at these schools. I was thinking of adding Brandeis onto my list, since someone from my school went there last year. </p>
<p>Is my list fine as it is? Is it too far-fetched? Or am I just having anxiety before the January 1st deadlines?</p>
<p>Substitute Colby for Bates. They are NOT the same thing. Colby gets better students (higher class rank & test scores) and is nearly 3X better endowed.</p>
<p>Brandeis has an ugly campus and won’t feel like New England. Opt for Tufts instead.</p>
<p>If you are not looking for financial/merit aid, your list looks pretty good to me. Wheaton, UConn and Clark are likely schools for you. Make sure you keep them apprised with your interest and visit. Wheaton, I know takes demonstrated interest into consideration. (Not necc with UConn) Some other possibilities are some Catholic schools like Stonehill, Providence. Quinnipiac is another possibility. But I think you have your bases covered with what you have.</p>
<p>Brandeis or Trinity would be a nice additions as you do have a gap between high reach and likely. If you move down into upstate NY, you would have a lot more choices with schools like Ithaca, Hobart-WS, Hamilton, Colgate, Union, Bard, Rochester,Skidmore, St Lawrence.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I actually visited Tufts when my older sister applied - I liked it on
paper, but not when I visited in real life. </p>
<p>Rhg3rd, you make a good point about Bates/Colby. The only tho that had me worried about Colby was its location - I had it on my initial list but opted out due to its rural location. I’m definitely going to think about that, though.</p>
<p>Cptofthehouse, interesting about Wheaton. I will definitely try to do an interview now. I’ll also look into some of the schools you mentioned. I appreciate your input.</p>
<p>So, you are trying to fill the gap between Clark/HC/Bates and Wesleyan/Bowdoin/Amherst.</p>
<p>First, I’d think again about the Colby versus Bates issue. Bates is in the second largest city in Maine, Lewiston/Auburn. It’s a Maine working class place and not some quaint New England college town. Colby is outside of a town 50 minutes further North. If you are truly cut out for college in Maine, why do you want a small city around you anyway?</p>
<p>The obvious leftover New England choices are Middlebury and BC. Middlebury is a great choice, but it’s about as difficult to be admitted as Wesleyan and Bowdoin. Midd tends to be jock, and the town is slightly new age/hippy. Middelbury is a true New England college town and much more of a place than Williamstown. I’d take Midd over anything in Maine.</p>
<p>If you don’t like Tufts, don’t apply. Besides, it’s as difficult as Wesleyan to be admitted. However, I take BC over Brandeis. So, I think BC could be your gap filling choice.</p>
<p>For Yale and Harvard, you’ll need 750+ on SAT subjects to be a contender without 2200=2250 SAT’s. Apply to one if you meet that criteria but not both, and choose the one that’s in your state if you’re a CT/MA resident.</p>
<p>rhg3rd-
Not sure what you have against Bates. According to each school’s common data set, Bates’ SAT scores are actually higher on average than Colby’s. Yes, Colby has a much larger endowment, which does confer some advantages. It’s also much further from a decent city. Although the Bates campus is beautiful, Lewiston is not. Neither is Waterville, the city in which Colby is located. Portland, on the other hand, is a vibrant city 45 minutes from Bates but an hour and a half from Colby. This may be one of the reasons Bates has a lower acceptance rate and a higher yield rate than Colby. Others may be Bates’ short term and the strength of many of its programs. </p>
<p>Colby and Bates are not interchangeable. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you do a search here for Bates vs. Colby you’ll see quite a few threads comparing and contrasting the two. My son looked at both and chose Bates hands down. </p>
<p>The take away is that these are both great schools and the OP should choose the one that suits him or her best.</p>
<p>Back to the original question- Lee, I too think your list is well balanced, but if you’re worried, why not add a school or two?
Some suggestions:
Hamilton
Dickinson
Skidmore
Conn College
St. Lawrence
Hobart and William Smith</p>
<p>“According to each school’s common data set, Bates’ SAT scores are actually higher on average than Colby’s.”</p>
<p>THAT’S TOTALLY FALSE. Per CDS Section C9:</p>
<p>At Bates, 46% of students (230) submitted SAT’s and 21% of students (104) ACT’s. At least 1/3 of students had tests scores too embarassing low to submit.</p>
<p>At Colby, 71% of students (349) submitted SAT’s and 35% of students (147) ACT’s.</p>
<p>So the best 2/3 of scores at Bates are slightly higher than all scores at Colby? Who would sucker for that analysis other than USNWR?</p>
<p>The percentage of students in the top 10% of their HS class tells the story:</p>
<p>Sorry, but they are fairly comparable schools. Both have their strengths, but both have weaknesses – Bates seems to be that it doesn’t have such a great campus/city feel (we saw that when we visited). It doesn’t really match that idealized New England campus vibe. Colby’s student body reeked of students who were unhappy because they hadn’t gotten into higher ranked schools and ‘settled’ for Colby (sorry, but we REALLY got that impression from multiple students at Colby during our visit – bored and entitled was the general vibe). I think of their student bodies as about the same level academically, within spitting distance.</p>
<p>Around here, unless there is a personal connection, no one knows the difference between them. Same kids applying to the schools and it isn’t considered any big difference. Like Gettysburg and Dickinson. You can argue all day as to which is better. Which ever one a student feels is a better fit, or just toss a coin if all else is equal.</p>
<p>Only 33 percent of Colby applicants submitted their class rank. 51 percent of Bates students did so. So does that mean that a higher number of Colby students had class ranks “too embarrassing to submit”?</p>
<p>The point is that these are both good schools and making a decision as to which one to apply to based on statistics is foolish.</p>
<p>If you’re leaning toward Bowdoin in personality and ambiance then I would look at Hamilton, Skidmore, Vassar, Conn College. A little outside of the Northeast, Davidson and Kenyon. Smith and other all women’s schools if you are female.</p>
<p>It’s another reach, but as a violinist you should consider Williams. Even if you don’t intend to major in music, continued involvement in music as an EC is a major factor in admissions at Williams, more so than most of the other LACs on your list (with the exception of Wesleyan).</p>
<p>In any event, I hope you’re planning to submit a music supplement. Indication that you will contribute your skills and interests to the campus community is important in LAC admissions.</p>