Would really appreciate any suggestions for MATCHES.
Some info about me:
4.0 GPA (unweighted)
1530 SAT
Rank – 2nd in my class
decent extra curriculars and work experience
undecided, but might study Econ, Law/Gov, pre-business, maybe something with math?
things i don’t like at all - science and art
My current list:
Reach:
Dartmouth
Brown
Matches: (thinking about adding emory?)
Rochester
Safety:
SUNY Stonybrook
SUNY Binghamton
My issue has been finding matches that are not too small… I prefer medium sized schools.
Also, in terms of location: before i only considered schools in the Northeast, but now am willing to consider everywhere but the west coast
Thank you for reading this long post and helping out a stressed out senior!
William and Mary seems like a great fit–about 6500 undergrads, beautiful campus, nice town, drivable from NY. It is expensive OOS. Boston College, Villanova, and Holy Cross might also be options. I"d think they would all be matches. Good luck!
What kind of cultural fit are you looking for? What extracurriculars are you interested in continuing to pursue in college? And what’s your preference in terms of urban/rural?
Northeastern and BU are other schools in a similar category to Rochester and Case with good size and good programs. Note that Northeastern is a co-op school.
Along with W&M, you might want to consider Emory, Wake Forest, Tulane, U Miami, UVA, and U Texas.
Note that W&M and UVA can be tough admits for out-of-state students, but I would still list them as high matches rather than as reaches for a student with your stats.
UT might be a bit large for your tastes, but it has strong departments in your areas of interest, a prestigious honors program, and a location in one of the nation’s most “happening” cities.
@xhaavic I’m looking for a school that has a liberal student culture. Doesn’t have to be as liberal as Brown or a LAC, but I just want to go to school somewhere where I would be accepted for who I am, as a woman of color. In terms of extra curriculars, I’m interested in club sports, outing clubs, Model UN, maybe dance, and am willing to try new things. Not really into Greek life. I don’t have a preference about urban/rural, as long as the campus itself is contained (not spread out like NYU)
@Undecided2018, have you looked at either Hamilton or Wesleyan as both meet most of your criteria, except size as medium sized are hard to find, albeit as schools with different vibes.
I have basically your same stats (3.9UW 1530) and I can tell you Emory is not a match. I got in but I saw plenty people with even higher stats (1550+ 35+) getting denied/waitlisted, even at Oxford. I go to Tufts right now and I can tell you its a great place with great students, an intimate environment, and extremely helpful faculty (my English professor who works only part time was able to sit down with me 5 times just to help me on one essay even over the weekend). I think along with Tufts and Emory, you could add some more low reaches like Cornell, WUSTL, Rice, Carnegie Mellon, or consider Tufts’ LAC peers in the NESCAC(Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Colby, Amherst, Hamilton, etc.). For matches, just add 2-3 because I think you can get in all of them(schools like BC, NYU, Brandeis would all be great).
Seconding Case Western as a match.
UVermont Honors as a low match to safety.
Macalester would be a great match for your interests - it’s small but the campus is contained and most importantly it’s in the middle of a huge city.
Based on what you said, I don’t think BC or Villanova woukd match what you want.
Due to your stats, you should consider a match any school with 25-35% admission rate where you’ve expressed interest.
SUNY Geneseo is mid-sized and would be more residential than SB.
Out of all the suggestions and considering your comments, I would say that Case, Northeastern, Tufts, and Tulane would be good additions. Tufts would be a reach and the other three high matches, but between those matches, I would feel comfortable expecting at least one acceptance.
Oberlin sounds like a great fit also (although relatively small, about 3000 undergrads)–liberal, nice campus, near Cleveland (an underrated city), match. Also Macalester, though it is slightly smaller. Rochester does seem like a good fit too.
I would think Case Western, but it is very much a STEM school. You can major in other things, but I suspect that culturally there might be too much science discussion/focus to make it desirable.
@Chembiodad yes, I checked out both. I liked Hamilton - the people, professors, open curriculum, etc - but wasn’t sure how I felt about how small the school was.
@Bjklw2a Thanks for your advice. It was really helpful to get some insight from someone with similar stats. I’m glad to hear you are having a good experience at Tufts. I will definitely look into Tufts and consider applying.
@MYOS1634@PengsPhils@TTG Thank you for the suggestions! I will look into the schools you mentioned.
@undecidedd2018, while Hamilton is much smaller than Dartmouth or Brown, the campus is very spread out so it feels bigger than most LAC’s - the campus is almost 2,000 acres which when compared to most is 4-5x as large.
If you haven’t had a chance to take a tour, there are some great youtube videos that will give you as sense as to how large Hamilton feels.
@undecidedd2018, unlike many that have one quad, Hamilton was originally two adjacent schools (Hamilton was originally a men’s school and Kirkland was a women’s school) so that combination and the resultant 130 buildings on campus really changes the feel.
Wake Forest U and U of Richmond might be worth a look. You might get some merit at UR, too, and you need to apply by Dec. 1 to be considered for merit. I have a UR graduate and a current senior, both have had phenomenal experiences there. There are students from all over, 38% students of color, around 10% international, too. UR’s new president, Ronald Crutcher, is African American, and is actively working to increase diversity at UR. Student profile: http://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/index.html