Hamilton or Williams will be almost impossible with a 1340 SAT. Perhaps look into Conn College for as another LAC suggestion. It’s still a reach, but more of a reasonable one. Agree with the poster who suggested Muhlenberg. Good pre-med program and could be a match
@Apple23 wrote:
But, on another thread I have read:
[quote]
[snip] beyond hinting that this institution is of course impossibly, and therefore desirably, selective, it ignores the reality of who actually attends certain colleges. Middlebury, for example, recently enrolled 43% of its class from the compact New England states, so obviously it accepts a large number of students from its home area. In any case, sophisticated colleges that consider geographical diversity consider region as much as state. A COLLEGE IN NEW YORK STATE MAY VALUE A QUALIFIED APPLICANT FROM ITS OWN NORTH COUNTRY MORE HIGHLY THAN ONE FROM A CHICAGO SUBURB, for instance. [emphasis added]
Is it possible both statements are true?
^That last sentence was not part of the quote. It’s a question. Is it possible that Hamilton gives preferences toward New York State “North Country” residents?
You seem to know a decent amount about Geneseo/SUNYs. I have recently found out about Geneseo’s Edgar Fellows program. I understand that they require a 1450 for the SAT. Assuming I can raise my SAT to that, would I be a likely applicant?
Not sure if you are familiar with Geneseo or SUNYs, but if you are, would I be a possible candidate for Gen’s Edgar Fellows program if I bring my SAT to a 1450?
I am familiar with SUNY schools…not quite as familiar with Geneseo other than the students I know who were accepted/waitlisted. I am not familiar with the Edgar Fellows program but it is certainly worth investigating.
Thank you!
Of course, raising your SAT scores will increase probabilities if acceptances and merit money! How much and where, can’t say but with your spread of schools, I would say, yes.
I don’t want to scare you or overstate the case. Geneseo with its accept rate and your stats already in the upper 25% of accepted students, it should be a safety. It’s also affordable with no financial aid or merit contingencies. It’s not a firm safety because it’s a RD school and you aren’t gonna know you are in until spring, and because it’s a top choice for many high achieving students, and it’s a relatively small school. Also, be aware that the statistics for test scores released are for ENROLLED students. Not for those who applied. I think that a lot of those who applied and ended up going elsewhere had higher stats, maybe a lot higher. It also favors males because a lot more females apply and end up there giving it a rather lopsided gender balance.
I’d put it on the crest of a safety and a match. It’s a very good school to have on your list.
Geneseo actually gives out some merit money, and maybe, maybe you’ll even get some, depending on what the student mix is that year. I think over 10% of the kids get some merit. You have a heckuva better chance getting money than getting into that highly selective Edgar Fellows. program. They only take about 25-30 incoming freshmen, from what I understand. Look it up—I don’t remember if it’s an auto consideration or if you have to apply for it or if they invite you.
Geneseo has ED and takes virtually everyone who applies that way, but hardly anyone does. It remains a safety school for good students in NY. It also has a very low yield because a lot of the high stats applicants find other schools they prefer. That it doesn’t have EA makes it s bit of a chance till the end, and I would pick a SUNY with EA as a true safety for you. Get that distraction out of the way. It’s $50 per SUNY school, one app, last I heard. Well worth the investment
It sounds like Binghamton and Geneseo are excellent choices! Geneseo is a match, Binghamton, match to reach. You might also consider SUNY New Paltz and Buffalo. Maybe throw in Oswego and/or Oneonta as safeties.
If your stats go up, you could consider some of the upper tier Liberal Arts Colleges, often known as “Hidden Ivies”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Ivies. A lot of these schools offer “need” based aid, vs. merit aid, since all of their students are really bright and would be considered meritorious. You will need to run net price calculators to see what the cost would look like. The less competitive in this list would be: Connecticut College, Deninson University, Dickinson. (Check the stats, I could be wrong). These are all excellent schools.
You might consider another group of Liberal Arts Colleges that are less competitive, but have excellent Biology departments and excellent records of getting you into grad/med school and offer excellent educations. Plus they often offer excellent merit aid because your GPA and SAT’s would come in at the higher end of their spectrum. So these might be quite affordable, offer a great education and give you a great experience.
Some mentioned: Muhlenberg, others would be Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and St. Lawrence.
An excellent source of these types of schools are known as the Colleges that Change Lives consortium. It’s based on a book by Lauren Pope. But a sampling of these school is found on the website: https://ctcl.org/ Here’s the list in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleges_That_Change_Lives. In the Northeast you could look at Allegheny, Juniata, Ursinus and Clark. Allegheny and Juniata are excellent in the sciences. A lot are in the Midwest.
Best of luck.
Your parents want to pay no more than $30k a year. I just glanced through your thread and though I might have missed it, I could not find what your NPCs are for schools like Williams, BC , Hidden Ivies etc. Are you eligible for financial aid from the $75k range schools? Should they even be on your list? Williams gives great financial aid if they deem you eligible but zero merit money. Run the NPC and see what Williams expects you to pay.
how accurate are the npc’s (if i use with a tax return form) that are specialized for the specific school?
thank you so much for the links and the advice! i appreciate it 
If you use AGI from tax 2018 returns, don’t have a family business, your parents not divorced , nothing unusual, assets staying pretty much the same when you actually do the fin aid forms, the NPCs should be close.
I would do a couple at least for each type of school, like SUNYs, full met LAC ( Williams and Hamilton) and that should give you an idea what colleges expect your family to pay.
If a college gives very little or zero merit money, and say, you have a huge gap in what your parents want to pay and what financial aid you can expect, that’s an unaffordable school.