Please help- need college suggestions

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi all,
I am a junior in high school and have just begun looking into and touring colleges. I have a few schools that i would consider reaches but want to broaden my horizons. Right now, my top reaches are Dartmouth, Yale, and Georgetown. I also like Boston College (legacy) but think it may be a target.

Guidelines:
I live in Massachusetts and want to stay somewhat in the area- new england, new york, pennsylvania, dc, etc
I see myself at a small to medium sized school (3,000-10,000)
interested in biology/neurology/genetics program

My scores and grades:
I took the december SATs and got a 1450, but will retake them and my goal is a 1500
Unweighted GPA- 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 8.0)- 6.7
Im guessing top 2-5% of my class
I have taken 4 APs (environmental science, english language and comp, stats, and chem) and plan to take 3 more next year (calc BC, physics, bio)

Extracurriculars:
Student Council (elected)
Red Cross Club
Students Against Destructive Decisions Club
Ecoteam
Interact (volunteering) club
Samantha’s Harvest (Down Syndrome Awareness) Club
4 year varsity gymnastics
3 year varsity tennis
Teach gymnastics at local YMCA
Hope to have a reseach internship this summer

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks so much!!

2

What was it you liked about Yale, Dartmouth, and Georgetown? That might help (as I wouldn’t necessarily think of them as similar beyond not being small LACs.)

3

@gardenstategal Thanks so much for responding! I’m really just beginning to look and thought between prestige, acceptance rates, and location they could be a good fit. Honestly I’ve based it mostly on online college match services, but do not know much about the schools themselves as I’ve only visited Yale. Do you know any other schools that may be a good fit for my credentials?

4

The size range eliminates many excellent smaller schools. Tufts? Penn?

The reality is that there are a ton of great schools, some more selective than others, in your preferred geography. If you don’t know exactly what you want to study, make sure you can stay flexible for a while. What kind of environment appeals to you? Urban? Rural? You’ll also want to have a handful of good low match/safety schools. Once you start looking at schools that are this selective, there are no guarantees even when there is a good probability that at least one will take you.