<p>As the title says, I'd like some help finding reaches that aren't TOO out of my league (i.e. Harvard).</p>
<p>Summary of My Stats:</p>
<p>Junior in CA, Female Asian, 1st Generation
GPA: 3.5 UW 4.0 W
Rank: Top 15%
SATs: (Practice) 2050 - 710 CR, 640 M, 700 W
Good amount of ECs, officer positions, community service, etc.</p>
<p>Although I don't really care where the school is located, I'd like it to have a strong science program (especially biology...I love biology) with the opportunity to do lots of research. I'm a pretty adventurous and independent girl, though, and I like to try new things...so perhaps being near a city would do me best. A laid-back atmosphere would be nice, as would a pretty campus.</p>
<p>Other than Carnegie Mellon (which I love to pieces), I'm having trouble trying to find a reach where I can see myself enjoy attending, and harder yet, a reasonable (is that even possible?) reach that isn't overly crazy (I draw the line at anything above Johns Hopkins just because). I don't care much for brand-name schools as much as I care about finding a good match.</p>
<p>As of now, I'm considering Wake Forest and Vassar, but for some reason, they just don't feel quite "right".</p>
<p>That being said, any advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is a very small science-and-technology school in Southern California. It's part of a five-college consortium, the Claremont Colleges, that are all basically in the same campus. You can cross-register at any of them. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and I've had a lot of friends who love it there. (Plus, it's competetive without being too much of a "reach.")</p>
<p>RWT, you really should re-do your SAT. If you can raise your Math by 60 points, you will change your chances. Anyway, here are some reaches that are good in Biology:</p>
<p>Cornell University
Emory University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Chicago
Washington University-St Louis</p>
<p>I think you might want to shoot higher anyways, for your "reaches"--at least "higher" than JHU. Being a first generation applicant definitely gives you an edge.</p>
<p>University of Chicago, U. of Rochester, Rice, Tufts, Barnard. At Barnard, you would be able to take any Columbia University courses that you wanted to, and it is a match to slight reach for you.</p>
<p>While I agree that your Math score certainly won't help you get into Mudd, if you retake it, your chances could improve dramatically. I would also like to suggest the other four Claremont Colleges - they are generally less tech-y, but you could still take bio at Mudd. Scripps might be a match/slight reach, but you'll have to take into acount that it's a women's college. I'm not sure about the other three, but it might be worth checking out.</p>
<p>UCSD - strong sciences with research opportunities. Your stats match if your ECs are strong - beautiful campus, serious students, laid-back atmosphere, but because of it's point system, you can never be sure about getting in.</p>
<p>Look into Whitman College, Grinnell College and Scripps/Claremont/Pomona if you like LACs.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice everyone; math has always been one of my harder subjects, but I'll be shooting for at least a 680 on the Math this April when I take it for the first time.</p>
<p>Ever_After - I'll be sure to look into the the Claremont colleges; they look very promising. </p>
<p>AcceptedAlready - I'm definitely considering doing EDI for Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>ASAP - I agree with Whitman and UCSD; they're already on my list! :)</p>
<p>University of Michigan, UT Austin, go for Olin even mebbe...</p>
<p>And do <em>not</em> discount yourself from Harvard or MIT or whatever... just apply anyway; if they think you can survive and do well there, they'll let you know by admitting you... if not, no harm no foul ;) </p>
<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-very good in biology and pre-med with plans to build a brand new science building. HC likes to recruit California students and offers merit aid to good applicants. The campus is very nice and only 1 hour to Boston. Another good LAC is Bowdoin. Bowdoin and Holy Cross are both SAT optional.</p>
<p>As of now, I'm looking into Rice, USC (not so sure about this one), and UCLA (just 'cause I'm in-state) on top of Carnegie Mellon. What do you guys think? Plausible or too out there?</p>
<p>vassar and wake forest socially are verrrry different. vassar is EXTREMELY liberal (granola, if you will). Wake Forest is mostly white, preppy, rich people. If you haven't visited them yet.. I def think you should.</p>
<p>If you end up liking Wake Forest more.. look at Bucknell, Colgate, Bates
If you end up liking Vassar more.. look at Reed, Wesleyan</p>
<p>One school that I think is a mix of Vassar and Wake Forest is Bowdoin College. It is in Maine but about 30 min away from Portland which is a very "young" city. It also has a great science program!</p>