I am guessing, based on what OP’s remaining list of schools, he is likely being rejected by Stanford. Penn and Columbia are not discussed, but since HYP is on the list, they are likely not his first choice, based on snobbish nature of this thread.
@artloversplus, well if a snobbish vibe from a high stat applicant comes through in one’s application, they are likely to be denied at every highly selective schools as it isn’t the 1980’s anymore…Obviously, Penn and Columbia, along with every other top-20 school, would likely yield the same result as HYPS if that’s the case.
Are you a national merit semifinalist? If so, I would look at schools that reward that designation with honors programs, generous merit packages, etc. There are a handful of public flagships in this category as well as USC (deadline may have passed for merit consideration) and Northeastern.
While not really safeties for anybody, somewhat “safer” but still prestigious options for you would be Wash U, Vanderbilt, Rice.
Mid-sized urban universities that would be matches for your are U of Rochester and Case Western (great school; demonstrated interest is important, they like high stats).
You might like Macalester - nice urban/suburban location in St. Paul and a somewhat easier admit that Carleton.
In terms of reshaping your list, I would remove Harvard as you didn’t really care for it. Maybe also Dartmouth, given the Greek life and rural location. And Rice because you don’t like the weather. I would keep Chicago, for sure. Also a reach but ticks many of your boxes.
Your credentials are superb but having a backup plan is essential in this crazy admissions world. Having seen very qualified students from the HS classes of 2016 and 2017 get rejected at places that I thought were sure bets was very eye opening. One top student was rejected everywhere except to two state flagships in our region; he attends one of them in the Honors Program. Another got rejected or waitlisted at Case, Rice, Chicago, Northwestern, Wash U, Vanderbilt and some Ivies, and got a single Ivy acceptance. A quietly humble student got accepted nearly everywhere, including Harvard. The lack of predictability makes those genuine safety/matches really important.
I think OP knows that the list is problematic thus the post
So summarizing advice
Remove: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell
Consider (in no particular order): Northeastern, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Bradeis, Washington University St. Louis, Emory, University of Rochester, McGill in Montreal, William and Mary, Macalaster, Carleton, University of Rochester, Richmond, Wake Forest, NYU and BC.
And learn if you match what they want. As a former poster used to say, it’s like romance. You can list everything you want in a partner, but if you don’t match what they want, no date. Thats not just stats.
So far, all I see from OP is stats. That’s not a way to pick top holistic targets.
Wow, some of you guys are being really harsh to the OP. This is a 17/18 year old kid who just got rejected from his first choice. He’s been told by everyone around him to have certain expectations, and now he’s realizing that those expectations aren’t accurate. I think he’s come on CC for a little help, not to be kicked some more when he’s down.
@melvin123, you are misreading the postings as while everyone is obviously rooting for the OP, they are also paifully aware, as either current college students or parents thereof, that the advice provided by OP’s GC was uninformed and would have very likely resulted in an unintended outcome - rarely has the group heard a GC profess a 80% or 90% chance of admission to a top-20 school and that’s probably why the alarm bells went off so loud.
@Chembiodad There was a very nasty post that was quickly deleted by the mods.
“I am guessing, based on what OP’s remaining list of schools, he is likely being rejected by Stanford.”
I also guessed this based on at least two things. Stanford is a reach for everyone and very strong students are often rejected there. Also, OP is interested in Operations Research. Stanford has a VERY strong program in Operations Research.
I did my masters in OR at Stanford. It was (and presumably still is) quite a large program and there were students there from all over the place – students had done their undergrad at many schools including many in-state flagships. Some of the students including me had at least some work experience after their undergrad. Thus it appears that a person can do a bachelors at any of a relatively long list of very good schools and still have a decent chance of getting into the master’s program there. There were undergrad math majors and CS majors and probably others in the program.
I agree with other posts that thinking about strong safeties might be as important or more important than filling up a list of reaches. It is pretty easy to list Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Cornell, and a few other schools that are very strong at math and OR. It is a bit more work to find almost as strong schools that are a certain admit. I also agree with two posts above that suggested that McGill is worth considering.
So knowing a little more, for a rural location that OP is in and based on the academic and athletic achievements accomplished OP likely stands out in a superstar way in that community. This could be the first superstar like this GC has encountered. I think it is the wrong strategy to focus on the tippy top when the next layer down offers amazing opportunities. OP, I think is coming to understand the global competition and adjusting accordingly. Many great suggestions here.
@Zion101 Colleges need to understand what opportunities were available at that type location. That works in your favor.
However, the location includes a university where a parent is a faculty member, and the OP has made use of academic opportunities there (taken several college courses there) as well as extracurricular activities there. So it is not like the OP’s rural location is a limited-opportunity one that a college may consider as such when evaluating his/her application in context of opportunities.
@ShrimpBurrito. that’s sad to hear as we all know that OP is looking for thoughtful, actionable feedback.
I also like you adding Macalester and Emory. I missed where you are from, but it sounds like not the Midwest or South. Both of those are in or near cities.
@ucbalumnus That is true. Hadn’t seen the college opportunities. Though certainty seems the high school didn’t have so much. Never heard of Math Olympiad.
@Zion101 In the real world, adults are not obsessed with tiers. HOWEVER, a school like UW is in the top 8 for CS in the US ahead of some of those Ivys that kids are fascinated with. UIUC and GTech are also top tier for CS. They reject perfect stat kids for CS. For low admit rate schools, admissions is a casting call not an awards ceremony. Add UW back in if you like in. It is a top top school for CS and truly innovative.
Note that there are multiple UWs (Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming).
If you mean Washington, note that both CS and math are competitive admission majors. CS is known to be highly competitive; it is not obvious how competitive math is.
UIUC is also highly competitive for CS.
Math Olympiad is very well known. They have competitions nationwide and internationally. IIRC, in the US they are mostly for the lower/middle schoolers, like the other middle school competiion, MATHCOUNTS. In HS, they typically enter the AMC 10 and AMC 12, or the AIME, or the USAMO.
U Washington. I thought OP had visited Seattle but I could be losing track.
Does the school your dad teaches at have tuition reciprocity with any other school, @Zion101?
There’s a lot OP hasn’t said, that posters are responding to.
Thought I might give my two cents on your list.
If you want a cityish school then Dartmouth and Cornell should be taken off your list—especially since Greek life does dominate the social and party scene (especially at Dartmouth).
Carleton does have access to Minneapolis/St. Paul, but it’s by no means close; it feels like a rural school.
I personally can’t judge that your list is top-heavy given that mine is as well, but do know that admissions is very much a chance process. I had a friend last year who got into Harvard but was rejected from USC; I have a friend who got into MIT but was rejected from UMich. Even those “matches” can be difficult and risky to get into. I, for example, was admitted to Yale last year but was rejected from UVA. I would argue, like others in here already said, that your guidance counselor is being a little too optimistic. Though, it’s hard to say whether you’ll get in or not because we, unlike the AOs, do not know your school, where you’re from, you’re family history, your essays, etc… I’d argue that test scores don’t really help you in college admissions. Looking at the top universities, as long as you have a 33 ACT (sorry I don’t know SAT scores as well as I know ACT) then you’re fine, then it comes down to ECs, essays, etc…
As for your sport, I might consider taking the recruiting path, at least for the D3 schools. You can always try your sport for a semester and then stop if you’re not enjoying it. At a D3 school, you don’t sign anything; it’s only at a D1 school where you would have to worry that if you stopped your sport that you would lose scholarship or other facets.
Good luck to you!