PLEASE !!! Help Me Cut My List Down to Size

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've consolidated a list of colleges but I have too many and I'd like to cut them down to size because I don't have the time, money, or resources to complete them all. I'm looking to apply to about 8 or 9. Are there any negatives to these colleges that might make me reconsider applying to them? {Note:Money is also a big issue for my family and I am aware that some of the colleges are a bit on the pricey side, any suggestions?}</p>

<p>Reaches:
USC School of Cinematic Arts
NYU Tisch
Vassar
Wesleyan</p>

<p>Matches:
Bard College
Colorado College
Occidental
Kenyon
Chapman University (Dodge College-Film)</p>

<p>Safeties:
Florida State University (in-state)
Sarah Lawrence College
Bennington College
University of Central Florida (in-state)</p>

<p>General Stats:
State: Florida</p>

<p>Ethnicity/Gender: African American Female</p>

<p>Intended Major: Film Production or Screenwriting (Possible Double Major/Minor)</p>

<p>GPA:3.3 UW, Hopefully by application time (Really worried about GPA because I had a really bad Junior Year (depression, family issues, etc)</p>

<p>SAT: Took first in June (1950). PSAT Score-189. Retaking SAT soon</p>

<p>AP Courses: (Frosh-Junior): AP Chemistry, AP World History, AP French Language, AP Human Geography, AP Physics, AP US History, AP English Language and Composition, AP Statistics)--Plenty of Honors Classes through the years as well</p>

<p>Senior Year Courseload:
AP US Government/AP Macroeconomics
Nutrition and Wellness I
Anatomy and Physiology Honors
AP English Literature and Composition
Newspaper Staff (Honors)
AP Psychology
AP Drawing Portfolio</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (most notable):
French Club Member (3 years), French Honor Society Officer (1 year), French Club Officer (1 year), Crew Athlete (2 years), Beta Club (1 year), Link Crew Leader (1 year)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (for Senior Year):
Varsity Crew, Newspaper Editor, Literary Magazine Writer, as well as other writing stuff</p>

<p>Awards:
None at the moment, but I'm hoping to win some Creative Writing Awards/Scholarships this summer as well as compete in some competitions (YoungARTS and Scholastic Awards).</p>

<p>Community Service:
Volunteered at a nursing home. (200 + Hours)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Summer Job at Panera Bread</p>

<p>Reccomendations:
Probably from my AP French Teacher (Sophomore Year) who is also the sponsor of the French Club, AP US Government Teacher, and AP English Literature and Composition Teacher.</p>

2

<p>its easiest to chop down on the safeties- these are schools you know you can get into and you know you can afford, so having more than two is dumb. right off the bat eliminate two of the safety schools that you don’t think you’ll enjoy.</p>

3

<p>It’s unusual to have 4 safeties. 1 or 2 should be enough if it is an otherwise well-chosen list. If money is a big issue, then Bennington and Sarah Lawrence are not good safeties because they are so expensive. The “safety” concept should cover aid as well as admissions.</p>

<p>Wesleyan and Vassar may be unrealistic for your grades and test score (especially since your senior courses do not include math or foreign language). I don’t know about NYU Tisch or USC film school. Do they require portfolios? Bard, Colorado College, and Kenyon all look like low reaches to me.</p>

<p>Dropping Vassar, Wesleyan, Sarah Lawrence and Bennington would get you down to 9.
Or, you could keep SL or Bennington and drop other match/reach schools. In deciding which to keep or drop, you can compare aid prospects by downloading each school’s “Common Data Set” file. Section H has the average percentage of need met and average need-based package size. Some schools (like Bennington) do not seem to make a CDS file available. In that case you can at least look up the “Financial Aid Rating” on Princeton R*view. Bennington’s is 79; SL’s is 88; Colorado College is 89; some of your others are in the 90s (Bard, Occidental).</p>

4

<p>^^Thanks. I’ll cut down on some of my safeties.</p>

<p>^ OK. I might have to take off Benn and SL as safeties and find one that is a more financially stable fit for me. I was going to take off Wesleyan, but keep Vassar since Wes seems a little out of my league academically. I am trying to raise my gpa and I do plan on retaking the SAT. The reason why I don’t have any math is because I forgot to note that I am still finishing up my AP Stat course online and as for foreign language, I finished AP French my Sophomore year (I may take a Latin course this semester online though).</p>

<p>More feedback would be greatly appreciated.</p>

5

<p>Forgot to say that NYU and USC are heavily based on Portfolio as well. Right now I’m looking for a LAC that would be considered a safety.</p>

6

<p>bump bump bump</p>

<p>anyone?</p>

7

<p>bump bump bump Please I need more responses. I think I’ve narrowed down my list to:</p>

<p>Reaches (2):
USC SCA
Vassar </p>

<p>Low Reaches (3):
NYU Tisch
Bard
Colorado College </p>

<p>Matches (3):
Occidental
Chapman
Sarah Lawrence College or Bennington (although I might change for a cheaper LAC)</p>

<p>In-State Safeties (2):
Florida State University
UCF</p>

8

<p>Your real safeties should be safeties for both admissions and net cost after non-loan financial aid.</p>

<p>First, determine which schools they are.</p>

<p>Then, eliminate all schools that you would not choose over the safety schools.</p>

<p>Then, eliminate all schools which are realistically out of reach for either admissions or net cost after non-loan financial aid.</p>

<p>You may also want to consider which schools have a broader selection of courses and majors if you are not absolutely certain of your intended major. For example, Sarah Lawrence College is rather specialized and does not offer advanced level courses in many subjects.</p>

9

<p>If you get 1390 or above (math + verbal) I would put Wesleyan back on the list because you don’t want to cut down on reaches too much either. And they have such a great film program (more film “studies” than production, I think). Being african american may help too. Bard has some sort of early admission program, so if you could get in there early you could drop some schools you care about less. Not sure about the film programs, but maybe Colby, Hamilton, Skidmore. Some of them care about interviews, so check that out for the ones you decide to focus on.</p>

10

<p>bump bump bump</p>

11

<p>What I did was eliminate any colleges I wasn’t really enthusiastic about, and then added two safeties and schools my parents wanted me to apply to X) I ended up with 7.</p>

<p>But yes! Same as others say, make sure you have at least one ‘financial/academic/you really like it there’ safety. :)</p>

12

<p>So do you guys think it worthwhile to apply to my Reaches/Low Reaches. I just want to know if I’ll even have a chance getting in.</p>

13

<p>Hi AppleBeam,
I know you have a lot of private schools on there. If cost is an issue, you may want to add a couple public schools to your list, unless you can raise your GPA to receive merit-aid from many of these private schools, it’d be expensive.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that film programs are very competitive. You’ll be competing with other students with higher GPAs at NYU, USC, and Chapman. These are powerhouses in the film programs.</p>

14

<p>NYU, Bennington & Sarah Lawrence are not realistic if you are high need applicant.
If you decide to apply to any of these 3, just know going in, your need will not be met.</p>

15

<p>I would replace Occidental with LMU. While Occidental is a great school (Obama went there), LMU has a better reputation in LA for film.</p>

<p>[LMU</a> School of Film and Television](<a href=“http://sftv.lmu.edu/]LMU”>http://sftv.lmu.edu/)</p>