<p>Hey,
I am trying to decide by Friday which schools I'm going to apply to, all for regular decision of course. If you could please tell me what you think of the list so I can narrow it down (it's pretty long!!!) it would be really nice.</p>
<p>About me:
GPA: 3.96, All IB classes
Rank: 12 of 609 weighted, 23 of 609 unweighted
SAT: 2160, R-720, M-690, W-750
SAT IIs: Lit-720; Spanish-680 but I'm retaking it b/c on the "real" practice test I got a 790 and Spanish is my favorite/best subject. I'm also taking the Math iiC this Nov.
Lots of extracurriculars, some leadership positions, I have some awards, etc. but nothing AMAZING.</p>
<p>I want to study International Relations, and also want to study Spanish, Chinese and Arabic.</p>
<p>Schools on my List:
Brown
Claremont McKenna
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
Macalester
Middlebury
Pomona
U. Penn
University of Washington-Honors
Whitman (in washington)</p>
<p>Most of them are pretty good for Internat'l Relations, but I don't know which to apply to. I am absolutely sure I want to apply to University of Washington, Whitman (my 2 safeties), Brown, and Pomona or CMC (or maybe both).
What do you guys think are the best ones to apply to???</p>
<p>If they all offer the subjects you want, then you should apply to all of them. They seem like good choices to me for IR and languages. Ten is a reasonable number of applications.</p>
<p>Good schools. Would you be happy at UW if you don't get into the honors program? It is VERY selective. It is common for applicants to get turned down for spots and yet accepted to Ivy League schools. There aren't many available openings for the large number of applicants, but then you could also apply for departmental honors.</p>
<p>Georgetown and Claremont McKenna would be great for your areas of interest. You don't care about the size of the school or the location? Your choices are excellent but all over the place. Have you visited or are you planning on visiting in the Spring? Campus culture would vary greatly. Good luck! Congratulations on a successful high school career. You are sure to land somewhere amazing!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, and encouragement!
I might wind up going to the UW regardless of whether I get into Honors or not, depending on the aid I receive. I like Seattle, but I kind of want a social life that's a little more centralized, I think.</p>
<p>I'm not really sure exactly what I want in a school! I don't want as humongous as a state school, but about half the schools on my list are medium-sized, and the other half really small. I think I just wanna be on the coasts, but I'm also applying to Macalester because they have a really good National Merit Scholarship that I could have. I was gone all summer on an exchange to Spain, so I am waiting until spring break and then I am visiting the schools I get into. (hopefully plural!) I think the reason it's so hard for me to decide which schools to apply to is because I haven't been able to visit any campuses except for Whitman and UW. I really need to get the sense of a campus before I decide!</p>
<p>Alright thanks again for the suggestions! You're very kind.</p>
<p>all your choices seem to be pretty good. I visited CMC and Pomona a few weeks ago and stayed over. I like CMC a lot!! Everybody there was just really friendly and it had a great atmosphere. At pomona, people seemed quite reserved and they were always......politically correct. Also, people seemed a lot more stressed at Pomona than they were at CMC. so if i had a choice between the two, i'd pick cmc</p>
<p>10 schools isn't that bad. But if you really wanted to narrow your list further, I would remove Johns Hopkins (their school of International Relations is primarily geared toward the graduate level), Pomona (CMC is better in International Relations), Middlebury and Whitman (you are in at Washington for sure).</p>
<p>If you are hoping for financial aid, applying to a number of different schools is important. If you really are less interested in one or more of your schools, delete, otherwise, go ahead and apply. It's an investment.</p>
<p>I think the list is too top heavy. Every single school but UW is at best a reachy match and maybe all reaches. Whitman might be matchier if you were from another area, but I think Whitman is pretty tough these days.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Dickinson? Very good in areas you like, and a bit safer stats wise. IMHO you should find 2-3 Dickinson level schools and take out some of the reaches, unless you are totally content to go to UW. </p>
<p>Furthermore, you will likely get better aid at schools that give merit aid; I think your whole list is need based. So a safer match might also be a better financial aid package.</p>
<p>I agree with SBMom that your list might be a little top heavy. Both Whitman and U of W Honors are probably matches (which means not 100% chance)and the rest of the schools are reaches for everyone. You have really good stats, but college admissions have gotten scary competitive. I know a couple of local vals with better stats who were rejected at all of their reach schools and ended up at their match schools. </p>
<p>I was reluctant to post because I don't want to be a wet blanket. You could possibly get into any of those schools, but if it were me I'd want a couple of solid match/safeties. With your stats that would still include very good schools.</p>
<p>How could we forget Tufts?! Snuffles is quite right. Tufts is one of the top 2 or 3 undergraduate IR programs and a very good place to spend 4 years.</p>