<ol>
<li>Kenyon College</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna College</li>
<li>Rice University</li>
<li>Whitman College</li>
<li>American University</li>
<li>Occidental College</li>
<li>Colorado College</li>
<li>Trinity University </li>
<li>Earlham College </li>
<li>The College of Wooster </li>
<li>Illinois Wesleyan University </li>
<li>Truman State University<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Important information to know about me </p>
<p>ACT - 28 (I've only taken it once, plan on taking it at least one more time, if not twice)</p>
<p>GPA/Course Load - All As with a few Bs, huge upward trend, have taken all honors and AP courses</p>
<p>Activities - Cross Country, Track and Field, Theater (have been in 7 plays), Sports Editor for the school newspaper, anchor for the school newstation, founder of Campus Libertarians, co-founder of Dream Team (promotes sobriety for the student body), and member of the debate team </p>
<p>I plan on doubling majoring in history and theater. I prefer going to a small school that has a diverse political voice (not super conservative, not super liberal). I really don't want to go somewhere cold, but I'm willing to as long as I am getting a superb education. I live in St. Louis, Missouri. I go to an extremely competitive college prep school (#27 in the nation). 12% of this year's graduating class will be attending Ivy League schools in the fall. 100% of students go to four year college. </p>
<p>As of right now I'm thinking I should rule out Rice since it is more of a super reach than just a reach. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>I should also note that one of my recs is going to be written by my AP European History teacher and adviser, who went to Kenyon (my top choice). My other rec is going to be written by my drama teacher, who has directed me in 5 plays and knows me very well.</p>
<p>You should definitely <em>not</em> drop Rice! It may be a reach but I would not consider it a “super reach” … I think u have a lot of safetys frankly… maybe replace American Univ with Georgetown?</p>
<p>Obviously that’s a weak spot, but you can improve it. Otherwise you look pretty strong. The mix of sports, theatre, journalism etc looks good imo… and u said ur grades are moving strongly upward, what’s not to like? ;)</p>
<p>Have your parents told you how much they will spend each year on your education? if not, you need to find out. If they can’t afford to spend much, that can totally change your list.</p>
<p>I don’t see a lot of safeties. I see a lot of high and low “target” (a.k.a. “match”) schools, and a couple of reaches (Rice, CMC).</p>
<p>In fact, the only school that looks like a real safety on your list is Truman State. Even there, your ACT score puts you smack in the middle. But I assume that as a Missouri resident, your admission is reasonably assured. The others (#4 - #11) are expensive private schools with admission rates as low as 26%. </p>
<p>I’d agree, though, that you don’t need so many target schools. Not for admissions anyway. For aid, maybe you do.</p>
<p>Yes Truman State is my financial safety. I come from a pretty affluent family, and money is not really a huge issue. </p>
<p>I consider Earlham and Wooster to be safeties (my ACT is in the 75th percentile at both of those schools). I also consider IWU to be a safety, just because of how much the Dean of Admissions likes me there and the fact that lots of kids at my high school use IWU as a safety. </p>
<p>tk, if I have too many target schools, which ones would you recommend me taking off? And what schools do you think I am a target for?</p>
<p>Yeah…Not to be argumentative, but #5, 9, 10, 11, 12 … that’s five safeties, and you could possibly add Whitman which accepts almost half of apps…*</p>
<p>The ACT is really his only weakness. And I’m confident he can get that up!</p>
<p>My son’s profile is pretty similar to yours and from your list he was accepted at Occidental, Whitman and Earlham. It is always a bit of a guessing game but I don’t think you have much to worry about based on what his experience was this year.</p>
<p>Since cost is not an issue, yes, you could put some of those schools in the safety category. It depends on your tolerance for risk and how many schools you apply to. If you apply to all 12, you should get in to many of them.</p>
<p>CMC and Rice are your “reach” schools. You say Truman State is your safety. I’d say the others range from safety/low match (9,10,11) to high match (Kenyon). </p>
<p>I hesitate to suggest removing any of them without knowing what attracted you to them. In my opinion it’s usually unnecessary to have more than 1 or 2 true safety schools, unless you are very cautious or just like having a lot of choices.</p>
<p>If you are interested in theater, what about Carnegie Mellon, Vassar, Skidmore, Middlebury? These schools all have outstanding theater depts., plus you would find all your other interests satisfied because they are great liberal arts schools. Most importantly, not every LAC has a strong theater dept. (Oxy does, by the way!).</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice tk. How many high matches do you think I should have? How many low matches? What has attracted to me to most of the schools on those lists are the vibes I get from the student bodies and programs at each particular school. For example, at Whitman they have a program where you can graduate with a bachelor’s degree and a JD from Columbia in NYC in six years. </p>
<p>mom2dogs I used to consider Skidmore and Vassar. However my parents refuse to let me look at schools in the northeast, so I have had to rule out a bunch of schools (Wesleyan and Bowdoin were the other two).</p>
<p>One way to reduce the number of applications is to take advantage of early options. If Kenyon is your clear top choice, and cost is not an issue, then apply ED there. Colorado College and Rice have non-binding Early Action, so apply to at least one of them EA. Check on application deadlines at the other schools to see if any occur later than the ED or EA notification dates (which could start arriving by late December in some cases.) If so, you could delay applying to any of those schools, especially the ones you don’t prefer to Kenyon, CC or Rice. Then reassess the less selective (or less preferred) schools on your list as the early notifications roll in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely apply to Rice and CC early action. My parents won’t let me apply early decision anywhere, or else I would just apply early to Kenyon.</p>