Hey everyone,
I am having an exceptionally hard time finding a couple colleges I want to apply to. I have narrowed my list down to 24 and would love any input to help me further. Any information you guys could give me to narrow down my choices or compare colleges would be greatly appreciated.
I have lots of reach schools right now, but thats mostly because I don’t know how to narrow those down.
I’m playing on applying to 1 safety, 2 match, and 2-3 reach. Thanks!
Safeties:
U of Utah
U of Denver
Match:
Boston U.
Northeastern
NYU
UCSB
UCLA
USC
U. of Michigan
U. of Pittsburg
U. of Washington
(extreme) Reach:
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Harvard
Northwestern
Stanford
U. Berkley
U. Chicago
U. Penn
Vanderbilt
Yale
Your reaches are all over the place. It looks like you just chose a bunch of prestigious schools that have little in common. What are you looking for in a college?
We need to know more about you in order to help.
TomSrOfBoston is spot on - your matches and reaches have very little in common, and it’s unlikely that they’re ALL good fits for you. Think about school size, urban/suburban/rural, weather, class sizes, campus culture…all of the factors other than ranking.
I see in one of your other posts that your stats are great and that you want to go to law school. With that in mind, it would be wise to run some NPCs on these schools. The last thing you want is to drain your resources (parents, loans) paying for a big name undergrad and subsequently not be able to afford the law school (or other grad school) you want to attend.
Are you a California resident? If not, can you afford all the California schools? If not, cross them off.
UCLA is unlikely to be a match unless you have a relatively unpopular major paired with stellar stats and ability to pay.
What are your state, stats, and budget?
Most of your “matches” regardless of your stats would be reached by virtue of their selectivity.
In addition, a good list should have 2 safeties that you like and can afford, and, considering how selective the other schools are, you should have 4-5 matches then only add the 3-4 reaches.
@TomSrOfBoston You are completely right. I want to apply to some top caliber schools but I am unsure how to find the one that is the right fit for me. I have never been able to visit the east coast and am unsure what to major in. I guess I’m just looking for the best eduction I can get, while living in a medium-large city. I want the college to have a solid social scene as well. Basically, I don’t know anything specific enough to help me narrow my list down.
@catbird1 My home state is Utah and I’d be fine going to the U of U. However, I’d also love to go to school in California. Any college that isn’t significantly better than the U of U academically isn’t really worth it for me. Thus, if I am not going to Cali the main schools I am considering are the top notch schools on the east coast. What really differentiates all the ivies though? I don’t know what I want to major in so specific programs don’t stand out. Other than that all I really have are stereotypes of each ivy/reach school.
@twoinanddone No, I am not a California resident. Do California schools not have financial aid and/or scholarships? For pretty much every school on my list, that is what I will be relying on.
@MYOS1634 the only safety I am truly considering is the U of U. It is very affordable and I know I will get in. So unless I am going to a VERY good school, I will probably end up going to the U for a solid and affordable education.
My state is Utah.
My stats can be seen in by “need college recommendations post” (great grades, solid test scores, alright extracurriculars)
My budget isn’t unlimited. I will be relying on financial aid and/or scholarships. That being said, my family has enough money to pay for a solid college education.
@twogirls You’re right. Ive made a couple posts that should give you more information about me. If you need more to give recommendations to narrow my list, just ask. I just really need help with this.
The UC’s do not give any financial aid to out of state applicants, so cross them off your list.
You need to go to the website of these schools and do research. For example Columbia is known for its rigid core curriculum while Brown is the opposite with an open curriculum. Also Cornell is in a remote college town.
Also go to youtube and search for each school. Each college has a channel there with videos. You can see a campus tour, interviews with faculty and students who describe what they like about the school etc.
You can go to reddit and see what students are talking about.
I see you’re interested in going to law school after college. To get into the top law schools, you need a high undergraduate GPA and recommendation letters. I would take that into account to fine tune the college list. Assuming cost is not an issue, it is easier at a smaller college than at a large university. Here are a few thoughts:
- I would replace all colleges (yes, all) under your Match category with a few liberal arts colleges and a couple of mid-sized private colleges. You currently only have large public universities and large private colleges (USC, NYU, BU, Northeastern) under Match.
- Slim your colleges under Reach based on the environment/location
- Add a couple of top liberal arts colleges to your Reach list
@fivesages The OP states that he will be relying on financial aid.
The OP said “Budget should really be too much of an issue.” in the other post where expressed interest in going to a law school afterwards.
Cross all the California schools off unless you have $50k+ per year. There is no need based aid for OOS students, and the merit based is very competitive. For many of the other schools on your list, most aid is need based. You really need to figure out, using the NPC and accurate information from your parents about assets and income, what your family can afford.
I have to admit that U of Utah is one of my favorite hidden gems. It has some really good programs, it has good financial aid, it has D1 sports, it’s a nice size.
I agree with what other posters are saying. You need to remember that top colleges are all very, very different. For example, take social life: Penn, Northwestern and Vanderbilt social lives rely quite heavily on Greek Life; Stanford, Yale and Brown students spend the majority of time on campus; alternatively, NYU and BU have no campus so students spend a lot of time in bars and other places across Manhattan/Boston.
You said you wanted a medium-large city so in which case I would cross off Cornell. I would also cross off all public colleges (unless you parents have the ability to pay) since you will most likely receive nothing in financial aid.
I know a director of admissions at a certain college who suggested that if you find yourself struggling to work out what you’re looking for in a college to read articles about the pros and cons of each aspect of a college personality (location, size, Greek life, academic atmosphere, core vs open curriculums, a campus vs ultra urban, party or sport focused etc.) and then almost design your dream college in as much detail as possible and then use that model to see which colleges fit the best and fit your most important criteria.
@TheGr8Gatsby @twoinanddone thanks so much for the info! Do UC schools not give scholarships for highly qualified students?
@fivesages I am not very interested in a liberal arts college. Why should i replace all my current college choices with them?