@meeplesyrup check out the University of Richmond in VA. 31% admit rate last year. They meet 100% of demonstrated need, and also offer 45 full tuition/full ride scholarships to oncoming class each year. I have a recent UR graduate and a current UR student, both with high stats. Professors and academics, advising, career/grad school placement, research opportunies, at UR are excellent, and they have felt intellectually challenged.
UR guarantees a paid research experience for all interested students, and a high percentage of students study abroad. UR’s campus is gorgeous, about 10 mins from downtown Richmond, a really fun city with lots of great restaurants, museums, parks, and outdoor activities. UR has also been recognized for being very supportive of LGBQT students.
Franklin and Marshall in PA is another lovely LAC with a lot to offer high stats students, it also meets 100 % of demonstrated need. It was in my oldest D’s top 3, and a family friend 's D currently attends and really loves it.
Also, check out William and Mary in VA. They generally do not meet need for admitted OOS students, but will meet 100% of need for very high stats OOS students who are admitted as Monroe Scholars (their honors program).
After having gone to several college visits, research and everything short of traveling Northeast I’ve worked out a solid list of schools to which I am applying:
Safety:
University of Utah (Honors College)
Utah State University
Lewis and Clark College
Match:
Occidental College
Boston University
Reed College
Brandeis University
Reach:
Vassar College
University of Southern California
Dartmouth
Pomona
Yale
University of Chicago
Harvard
Stanford (top choice)
I have also looked into applying to Canadian schools (specifially McGill and UBC).
Thats a good list. Keep in mind that there are fees that go along with applying. If you need to cut back, I’d take 2 or 3 of your reaches off the list. If you do the NPC and one of your reaches is affordable and a first choice (Stanford), I’d ED. The NPC should be reliable if there are no quirks in your family income situation.
Well, I’ve gotten my early action results back. I’ve been admitted to Stanford’s Class of 2022 on REA, with an extremely generous (estimated) aid package. I’ve already applied to USC and the University of Utah (as I didn’t know about Stanford yet), but will most likely become a Cardinal.
While I am not going to apply to many of the schools that were on my original list, I feel like this experience has been incredibly helpful in terms of clarifying what I wanted to get from a college. I’m thankful for all the posters for helping me along this fun journey. Thank you all : ).
I hope that this thread can be helpful to future prospective students trying to figure out where to apply.