Please help me edit my college list! More matches and safeties?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone,

I’m a rising junior and am about halfway through college tours. However, I keep finding new colleges and want to be able to have a more concise list so I can plan out tours for the school year. I know for some, college tours aren’t helpful, but I personally find being able to ask specific questions to tour guides, seeing the campus, and feeling the vibe of the students and campus is essential for me.

Here is my current list…I’m not sure if these categories are right, so please tell me if I placed a school in the wrong category!

High Reaches:

  1. Princeton
  2. UPenn
  3. Columbia
  4. Northwestern
  5. John Hopkins
  6. Cornell (Debating as environment is beautiful but very rural)

Low Reaches:

  1. Carnegie Mellon
  2. Lehigh

Matches:

  1. Northeastern
  2. RPI
  3. Case Western

Safety:

  1. Rutgers (my school is a feeder school…I’d be fine with attending Rutgers)

BS/MD Programs

  1. RPI
  2. Lehigh
  3. UMiami
  4. Penn State
  5. Case Western

It looks like a lot of apps, but 3 of my BS/MD schools I am also putting on my list for undergrad!!

Do I need more matches and safeties?? I feel like my list is reach heavy, but again I’m bad at deciding these things for myself…I’ve done a ton of college research, but I have a hard time considering schools matches…

Prospective Major:
-Biochem, Molecular Bio, Computational Bio, Bio w/ focus in Genetics

Basic Stats:

ACT: 35 C (35 E, 33 M, 36 R, 36 S)
GPA: 97.02/100 unweighted (no weighted)
APs: 5 on Chinese and Calc BC, 4 on AP Environmental Science

Highest Difficulty Courseload

Junior Year
-Multivariable Calc
-AP Chem
-AP Economics
-AP Spanish Language (only in grade)
(no AP english or history permitted until senior year)

EC’s (not gonna list them all as there’s too many, just a few so you can get an idea if my match, reach, safety schools are categorized right)
-Cross Country and Track (JV)
-President of a local music service and performance club
-Co-founder of a Red Cross Program, state wide recognized volunteer, exec of red cross youth council for a year (quit to become more involved in other program), took a lot of disaster courses and have certifications in hazards, sheltering, cpr etc.
-Volunteer at hospital as a mentor/teacher in recreational therapy programs for children
-3 years on class council (only student with 3 years, most have been for 1 or 2)
-American Cancer Society Fundraising Team Captain and Treasurer since freshman year; number 1 fundraising team in school
-Chinese Tutor on weekends, occasionally babysit and teach piano//viola//violin
-Piano (many awards in national and international [small] competitions, 7 times at Carnegie Hall)
-Viola (regional and state orchestras, performed in Carnegie as well)

Awards//Honors
-Science Olympiad (just joined last year, regional medal)
-Columbia SHP (accepted freshman year)
-Scholastic Gold Key
-A few more school-wide awards that aren’t that important

Summer Activities

Freshman Year:
Intern at Hospital organizing medical records, filing accounts and checks, and working with donation database; recreational therapy volunteer
Sophomore Year:
Research Internship at top research lab in computational biology//biochem, completing individual project in homology modeling

Sorry that this is so long!!! Any thoughts and answers to my questions would be amazing!! Thank you so much in advance!

2

I would definitely recommend some more lower matches/safeties- your application is definitely impressive but you do want to have your bases covered when it comes to college admissions. I would encourage you to think deeply about what type of college you want, size, opportunities etc. as this will help you narrow down your list even more.

3

@yonceonhismouth

I only have a few search criteria…I thought the post was a little too long, but thank you for the advice!

Criteria

  1. Medium Size (no more than 30,000 but no less than 1,000)
  2. Research Opportunities
  3. Diversity
  4. Urban/Good College Town
  5. Top Program in Biochem//Molecular Bio, but not everyone is a pre med
  6. Focus on Academics and fun organizations…I don’t want the sports team to be the main focus or greek life to take over
  7. Not a school with too much partying and alcohol (unless for BS/MD; those programs are so intense and are more isolated)

Do you have any suggestions for matches? I was considering UConn and TCNJ for safeties as well, but wasn’t sure yet as I feel like UConn has too much emphasis on sports.

4

Have you considered the UC schools?

5

@yonceonhismouth well, I am an NJ resident, so I feel like they would be too far and very expensive. But thank you for the suggestion!

6

Cost constraints?

Pitt and URochester might both be good options, URochester as a match and Pitt as a safety with a good shot at significant merit.

7

@usualhopeful I was actually looking at UPitt a little as I have a few friends going. I will definitely look at their website as I heard their bio program is good! I will also look into Rochester :slight_smile:

For costs, my parents claim not to use it to limit my search; I try to ask for exact contribution amounts, but they won’t give me any. They say that cost shouldn’t be a limiting factor as they think I’ll have no college choices if my search criteria becomes too narrow? But I don’t expect to receive financial aid (if any, very little)…as long as the institution is a good fit and good for what I’m studying, they seem willing to pay. I guess $60K a year is the maximum? But since I am a rising junior, my main goal is to plan out tours and start researching more, looking more in depth at places I’m interested in.

I think I will add Stony Brook as well for a Match/Safety!

8

Okay, I made a few changes. Does anyone else have any suggestions or edits for me? Thank you in advance!

High Reaches:

  1. Princeton
  2. Columbia
  3. UPenn
  4. Northwestern

Low Reaches:

  1. Carnegie Mellon
  2. Lehigh (also applying BS/MD)

Matches:

  1. Northeastern
  2. RPI (also applying BS/MD)
  3. Case Western (also applying BS/MD)
  4. University of Miami (also applying BS/MD)

Safeties:

  1. Rutgers
  2. UPitt (also applying BS/MD)
  3. Stony Brook
  4. Penn State (also applying BS/MD, not really interested in undergrad)

Total: 14 Schools, will definitely narrow down once I tour more of them! 6 BS/MD extras, but those programs require tons of applications.

9

Like a pp mentioned, I’d put U Rochester on the list for a visit. They seem to have everything you’re looking for (including a BS/MD possibility) and your stats could get you nice merit aid. Two of the schools you’re considering (Case Western & Pitt) tend to go right along with those who also look at U Rochester especially if they are interested in research as that school has a research focused culture among (most) undergrads (in various majors).

You will know with a visit if they appeal to you or not.

10

I agree with others to add U of Rochester- great school!

11

If you are only interested in the BS MD program at Penn State, but are not interested in regular undergrad there, it should be classified as reach if the BS MD program is a reach.

12

@ucbalumnus that’s true! However, since all BS/MD are reaches, I just didn’t bother mentioning their category anymore. I still am going to tour Penn State and do more research on it; since I still have to apply to the undergrad to apply to the BS/MD, I guess it’s just worth it to have it on the list as a possibility.

Do you have anymore suggestions for changes or other schools? Thank you for your reply !

13

anyone have anymore suggestions for matches, edits for categories? do I have enough matches? I know this is a lot of schools, but I will narrow a few down after touring, I’m simply posting this thread to ask for advice before planning tours, especially if I need to add more further away places :slight_smile:

High Reaches:

  1. Princeton
  2. Columbia
  3. UPenn
  4. Northwestern (also applying BS/MD since they can choose to give you an app or not, not too much work and worth a shot?)

Low Reaches:

  1. Carnegie Mellon
  2. Lehigh (also applying BS/MD)
  3. Northeastern? Match or Low reach?

Matches:

  1. U Rochester (also applying BS/MD)
  2. RPI (also applying BS/MD)
  3. Case Western (also applying BS/MD)
  4. University of Miami (also applying BS/MD)

Safeties:

  1. Rutgers
  2. UPitt (also applying BS/MD)
  3. Stony Brook
  4. Penn State (also applying BS/MD)
14

Move Penn State into the reach category, since you are only interested in attending if you get into the BS/MD program, not as a regular undergraduate student.

15

High Reaches:

  1. Princeton
  2. Columbia
  3. UPenn
  4. Northwestern (also applying BS/MD since they can choose to give you an app or not, not too much work and worth a shot?)
  5. All BS/MD programs (NW, Lehigh, URochester, RPI, Case, UMiami, UPitt, Penn State)

Low Reaches:

  1. Carnegie Mellon
  2. Lehigh
  3. Northeastern? Match or Low reach?

Matches:

  1. U Rochester
  2. RPI
  3. Case Western
  4. University of Miami

Safeties:

  1. Rutgers
  2. UPitt
  3. Stony Brook

@ucbalumnus okay, I’ll structure it like this then ! It makes it look a lot more reach heavy, but all BS/MD’s are reaches, so there’s really nothing I can do about that!

16

If you think Cornell is too rural then Penn State will probably fall into that category.

17

Look into UNC Wilmington. With your stats, you would definitely get into the excellent Honors College. Great school for biochemistry and in general. 10 minutes from some of the finest beaches on the East Coast. Gorgeous small port city that has the top riverwalk in the nation. It’s also the perfect size for your criteria at 15,000 students. Many New Jerseyans, as well as Marylanders, New Yorkers, etc attend as OOSers, so you wouldn’t feel out of place at all.

18

@Dolemite thank you for your response! I never knew Penn State was rural; I’ve only been to the campus once about 8 years ago. Do you think it’s still worth a visit, or is it too like Cornell? I definitely prefer urban//suburban campuses though.

@LBad96 thank you for the suggestion! I will look into it! I was initially looking at Chapel Hill, but it appears to be a large, sports oriented school (twice as big as Wilmington). Do you think it would be a safety, with the Honors College being a low reach?

19

Since you are in NJ and not that far I’d visit just so you see for yourself. That being said State College is very rural, not extremely diverse and PSU is huge and extremely sports oriented.

Since you are just a rising Junior you might investigate UNC-CH and Duke and it would be a nice visit and convenient to see both. Chapel Hill and the area of Durham where Duke is located are both nice but not particularly urban in the true sense.

20

@Dolemite okay! I have looked into UNC-CH a little; it seems too sports oriented for me…and Duke is such a reach ! It might be worth a visit though! I guess CH would fall in the “Low Reach” range considering I am OOS and it has a 30% acceptance rate total.

I’m aware PSU is huge…hence why I’m not 100% sure if I would be interested in it for undergrad. I think I’ll just cross it off the list. I only really put it on for the BS/MD, but seeing I already have 7 options, I think I’m set for that category.

Thank you for your suggestions!