<p>i need some constructive criticism regarding my college list </p>
<p>Reaches:
Yale
Brown
Georgetown (to a lesser extent, b/c my parents are alums and my school always sends several people w/ worse stats than me to G-town)
Hopkins
Middlebury
U of Chicago</p>
<p>Matches:
American U
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (oos)
McGill
William and Mary (oos)
UVA (could be reach)
Northwestern
London School Economics (im not really sure where this one goes)</p>
<p>Safety:
University of Missouri-columbia (wouldn't mind going here b/c of the j-school, want to be a journalist, plus in state)</p>
<p>a little bit about me, ACT=33, SAT II: Bio-M 710, US Hist 780, Spanish 730
GPA: uw 3.93, w 4.1 (all B's were in frosh year.)
taking all hardest classes @ my catholic private HS
interesting EC's, but i haven't cured cancer or anything. </p>
<p>If you list journalism for Mizzou, it's a match/safety. There's tons of journalism majors who apply (for obvious reasons), so it can get cutthroat. Anytime a university has a tremendous number of applicants in one major, but not in the others, it becomes more difficult than people realize, because the uni has to balance out those other majors AND the desire to have diversity, etc. You're stats are good - pretty similar to my sister's, actually, and she was accepted, but for journalism they'll take a close look at your writing. Try to get a rec from your last English teacher. My sister was OOS, and for journalism, I don't know if that helped or hurt. Not saying you won't be accepted (I would think you would be!) but admissions are so crazy now! As was pointed out, though, American should be a safety, so you should have your bases covered either way.</p>
<p>American would be a safety. UVA is a match. LSE is definitely a reach (for anyone, especially American students - unless you can pay your way, look for a British School like LSE or Oxbridge for Graduate; they offer scholarships then). W&M (oos) & Northwestern are reaches. I would add Tufts as a reach because of your interest set would match their focuses.</p>
<p>London School of Economics would be a reach.
It's basically like Harvard to get into. Something like 10% in but it's a lot harder than Harvard once you're there.
Great school though.
American would be a safety.
I agree with WorldbandDX, you should add Tufts. I'd say as a match though. My bro got in there with a 32 ACT score.</p>
<p>if youre into journalism, northwestern should be higher on the list. also look at W&L. one of the few accredited journalism programs at a top LAC.</p>
<p>LSE is not that hard, if you have a 1500 SAT score (old SAT) and 6 5s on relevent AP tests you are almost guaranteed a place. but lse is kind of weird, its either all or nothing. if you dont have at least 4 5s on APs you probably wont even be considered.</p>
<p>Michigan, UVA, and W+M are safeties. American and Missouri are "full-ride" safeties.</p>
<p>Georgetown, Hopkins, and Chicago are low matches.</p>
<p>You have a 3.93 and a 33, you are underestimating yourself. You have a good chance at any school in the country if you write good essays and have solid recs/ECs.</p>
<p>doesn't the LSE give conditional admissions offers? i mean to say, if u already have some AP test scores that are high and plan to take some in may of ur senior year, they would say that you would have to get xyz scores on APs to be guaranteed a place at the school</p>
<p>Why does everyone keep insisting Chicago is a match for people? Chicago is not a match for anyone unless they have major legacy or parents as faculty and they went to the Lab Schools. Seriously. I live in Hyde Park, my husband is a med student, I know the undergrads and faculty, and I've seen the stats. Chicago is in that range of unis now where it is not going to be anything but a reach for anyone, especially considering how fast their application numbers are rising, and especially since they select for a very specific kind of student. And it is DEFINITELY not a LOW match! Are you kidding?</p>
<p>That was my point w/ UChicago and especially Tufts - they aren't matches for anybody. They're reaches. B/c UChicago has a largely self-selecting pool that makes them more of a match/reach, and Tufts is as selective as GU, Duke, etc with same/higher SAT's. Also, the phrase: "Georgetown, Hopkins, and Chicago are low matches." doesn't make the least bit of sense.</p>
<p>It has a 40% acceptance rate because no one applies there unless they are stellar. It's not an Ivy, where people apply with no hope of getting in just to say they applied. Chicago applicants are extremely self-selecting because of its reputation as having a very unique student body.</p>
<p>And finally, the OP has very good stats. But keep in mind that once you get to a particular tier of schools, no one has more than a 50-50 shot, and often less, because of the number and caliber of students they draw. Yes, the OP should shoot high. But that doesn't mean that a well-crafted list of reaches, matches, and safeties isn't important. Just ask Andi's son.</p>
<p>Trust me, Chicago has a social life. There are plenty of keg parties - I used to live in a building full of undergrads. We had to move - it was hell what with the parties. But also, Chicago's social life is not quite limited, or even defined, by the usual college standard. Someone around here posted a link to the article about the scavenger hunt - that gives you an idea of what students here think of as "fun." And Chicago isn't really competitive in that the students compete with each other - it's just really, really, REALLY hard, in a think-for-yourself-outside-the-box-solve-the-world's-problems-in-20-different-ways kind of way.</p>
<p>A match is a school with 50-75% a chance. It's not a guaranteed admit, like a safety. Andi didn't have a safety. This is a different situation. No one is suggesting that Chicago is a safety. Rather a low match for someone who has near perfect statistics.</p>
<p>Except it isn't a low match. And that isn't the definition of a match, anyway. A safety is a 50-75% chance. A match is less, but better than 25%. And that's for the specific applicant - the OP does not have a 25-50% shot at Chicago. Everyone who applies to Chicago has near perfect statistics. And I mean EVERYONE. As they sure as heck don't admit 50% (even the 40% is an exaggeration, as was previously stated, as the pool is very self-selecting), I can't imagine why you would think it is a low match. Again, Chicago is not a match for anyone, anywhere. If you don't believe me, come sit in on a freshman class here. Or ask a Chicago student what he had on his app. I'd pit these students against any Ivy kid, anywhere, anytime. They're brilliant.</p>
<p>And having a bunch of reaches and one match is not a good game plan, either. In fact, I believe Andi's son DID have some matches. But matches aren't guaranteed. The OP has one match/safety and one safety, and then a bunch of reaches. I think that's a bad game plan.</p>