<p>
</p>
<p>Agreed. I did the latter. Worked out quite well :)</p>
<p>Hmm…though I am Catholic and went to the RNC, I am by no means a staunch Republican. I would classify myself as a moderate. I am socially liberal and economically conservative, and a realist on homeland security and foreign relations. Don’t take liberalism (Brown, etc) as a sign that I wouldn’t fit in…I’m pretty socially liberal. Yes, I know I’m Catholic, but not all Catholics abide fully by the exact creed set out by the Vatican. </p>
<p>Keeping that in mind, do you think I need any safeties?</p>
<p>I was assuming San Diego was your safety.</p>
<p>Allradiance. All of the colleges mentioned in this thread lean left. Some are just more tolerant of the other guy’s opinion. </p>
<p>I have nothing against the Midwest or the South. I’m a Michigan grad myself. But if you’re trying to get to a manageable number (10 to 12) and you include HYP, both West coast and Northeast, large, medium and small and urban and non-urban, something has to go. </p>
<p>If you want to, you go ahead and apply to HYP but maybe not count on them as part of your 10. I think you have a reasonable chance of acceptance but the overall percentages are extremely low for everyone.</p>
<p>Have you visited any of the East Coast schools? Which appealed to you in ambience?</p>
<p>How’s your money situation? Do you need or want financial aid?</p>
<p>I live in Asia and have been involved in international trade my whole career. I interact frequently with “official Americans” at the Embassy’s diplomatic and economic sections. Because I’m interested in education I always note where they did their undergrads and I can tell you that the list is wide and diverse. The graduate degrees are primarily Georgetown, Princeton, JHU – the usual suspects – but for undergrad I’ve noted a surprisingly high percentage of small LACs. </p>
<p>If you wouldn’t mind attending one the UCs then you’re all set for a safety. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then yes, you need a safety. You might consider applying early under Michigan’s non-binding rolling policy.</p>
<p>I agree that the OP needs a safety. If you are considering the UCs as a safety, be aware that you might not get into the one you want. As long as you are okay with UCI or UCR you have no worries. If your safety is UCLA I’m not sure you have a safety.
Also I hear nothing about Financial Aid. Can you afford full freight at these schools?</p>
<p>My family’s combined income is slightly over 100k, which is slightly problematic for some of these schools. My parents say that they can afford to pay the first year if it would help me get in, because a previous college counselor informed my parents that need-blind might not always truly mean need-blind. However, any way to ease the financial burden would be good.</p>
<p>allradiance, frankly I do not believe you need a safety. Most people here consider all top 30 schools unreliable but I do believe that you should have no concern about making some of the less selective ones (particularly Tufts with your staff connection). Simply put, a student of your type will not find himself without a solid college by the time senior year ends.</p>
<p>allr, slightly over 100K with another kid in college may qualify for need based aid. Have your parents use an on-line calculator to get an idea of what your family could expect. </p>
<p>Paying for Year 1 and winging it for Year 2 sounds like a very stressful proposition. I’d be inclined to go with ED for the admissions boost, but take your chances with need based aid.</p>
<p>I’d have to say I disagree with monstor. Everyone needs a safety. Increasing the number of colleges that you apply to doesn’t increase the likelihood that you will be accepted by one. Sadly, this board of cases in point.</p>
<p>Duke and Notre Dame are good choices-academics and strong alumni networks. Another school is Holy Cross(near Boston). Holy Cross is a Jesuit school with many alums in politics-Supreme Court, Senator, and several Congressmen.</p>
<p>considering you are in CA, UCs are probably back ups. with your pf, probably cal is a backup.</p>
<p>my opinion, in no particular order:</p>
<p>Yale
Brown
Harvard
UPenn Wharton
Dartmouth
Pomona
Amherst
Duke
Georgetown
UC System (Berkeley, LA, San Diego)</p>
<p>btw, i don’t know where your friend got the idea that duke has rampant racism or something on campus… don’t just take one person’s opinion as truth.</p>
<p>My sister goes to Duke, and she says segregation is actually a big issue there (we’re asian). Apparently asians usually hang out with asians, and the southern white rich jocks tend to group together at frats and parties. So socially, there might be a bit of an issue there.</p>
<p>
I disagree. Rather than waste time making points that have already been made, I’ll simply point you to the classic thread.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html</a></p>
<p>
As I stated above, self-segregation is exactly that – self-imposed. If one makes the effort, it’s certainly possible to have a diverse group of friends at any top university. (From what I know of Duke, the students seem very friendly, so I highly doubt significant effort would even be required.)</p>
<p>^i haven’t seen this extreme form of self-segregation… my friends don’t mention it either.</p>
<p>wait, doesnt that list constitute of too many reaches and not enough safeties?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>To me, that’s not a very good discriminator for schools of this caliber. PS/Government is a basic, bread and butter liberal arts major; it’s likely to be decent at all these schools. In my opinion, factors that can make a much bigger difference in the college experience will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>school size and structure (LAC vs. University)</li>
<li>the political/social climate (including the sports and Greek scene)</li>
<li>the curriculum model (Open Curriculum vs. distribution model)</li>
<li>internship opportunities </li>
<li>religious affiliation</li>
<li>state vs. private</li>
<li>geography (warm vs. cold, urban vs. rural)</li>
</ul>
<p>Measured against the above criteria, some of the choices in the OP’s original list are all over the map. Notre Dame, Vassar, and Berkeley are way different from each other. The real common factor appears to be “prestige”. One sees this so much on College Confidential lists. There’s nothing at all wrong with seeking out quality, but you may be happier with the outcome if you can identify some clear preferences among factors like the ones above. Visits can help. One strategy is first to identify your dream “reach” school and itemize about a half dozen features that make you like it. Then seek other reach, match and safety schools with similar features.</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I trimmed my list to</p>
<p>Yale
Harvard
UPenn Wharton
Princeton
Dartmouth
Wesleyan
Pomona
Amherst
Duke
Tufts
Georgetown
Notre Dame
UC System (Berkeley, LA, San Diego)</p>
<p>Can you guys help me think of some safety schools?</p>
<p>If you apply under the Early Response system, then frankly I think that Michigan would be a safety given your stats. In any event, you would probably find out by early December, which would give you a chance to add more safeties in the event you were somehow deferred or, although I can’t see how, rejected.</p>
<p>My suggestion would be to apply to Michigan in September and Yale SCEA. (SCEA is non-binding.) Depending on the results, you can decide how many of the other schools to apply to at that point. (I think that your a capella tenor/counter tenor EC is going to help you more at Yale than elsewhere.) </p>
<p>Note that I don’t know how the UC application process would affect Yale SCEA…does when you apply make a difference at the UCs? Is their admission rolling?</p>
<p>Wait, a question to Consolation/midatlmom or anyone else who can answer-</p>
<p>You’re allowed to apply ER to somewhere like UMichigan and still be eligible for SCEA and ED?</p>
<p>Don’t apply to Berkeley anymore. Berkeley needs more representation from the white community. not trying to be biased or prejudiced here. Just thought that there are many schools out there where there’s a need for more representation from the Asian communities.</p>