<p>I have the list of reach/match schools that I plan on applying to, but am in desperate need of safety schools that will not only accept me, but offer me a fair amount of merit aid. </p>
<p>I have a 4.0 UW gpa, and a 4.4 W. I took APUSH and AP Spanish Language my Junior year and received 5's on the test (I switched schools junior year to attend a school that offered AP courses). Senior year, I will be taking AP Calc AB, AP Physics B, AP Spanish language, and AP Comp. Gov. </p>
<p>My test scores aren't anything special (2220 SAT, 33 ACT), and for the SAT IIs, I received a 720 for US History and a 700 on Spanish. </p>
<p>As far as extracurriculars go, they were somewhat disrupted with the school change junior year and are relatively average. This is just a brief list of my extracurriculars; for the safety schools, I hope it is sufficient. </p>
<p>Community Service
I've volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and am currently in a youth group working on raising money to build a house for the organization. I was accepted into a summer program that worked with local non-profits who wrote grants to our program, ultimately donating $10000 to the organizations as we saw fit. I feed the homeless the first Friday of every month and work with the developmentally disabled community.</p>
<p>Debate
I began debate my junior year (it was not offered at my previous school) and excelled, winning a variety of awards and 2nd in the state competition. I will be an officer on the leadership team my senior year.</p>
<p>Piano
I have played piano for the past ten years, receiving top marks in the yearly competition I've participated in.</p>
<p>The best place to start with safeties are in your state of residency. They may or may not provide the highest amount of merit-aid, but you have to see the net amount you will end up paying. Many times it is less than what a private school costs because the in-state tuition is usually a lot less to begin with.</p>
<p>(this is just a side note, did you mean something else when you said you took AP Spanish Language your junior year and are taking it again your senior year?)</p>
<p>Regarding the topic of safety schools in general, it’s tough to really make that call, because schools can unexpectedly reject you, even if you’re above their stats. For instance, a friend of mine was recently accepted into Yale and Princeton, but was rejected by a second-tier state school.</p>
<p>As far as choosing schools, you haven’t really given much information as to your interests! Are you interested in humanities, math, science? What schools are you looking at as non-safety schools? Which regions are you willing to go to school in? Are you looking to live in a big city? It’s tough to throw out suggestions when the category to choose from is all colleges!</p>
<p>Sorry for the confusion. I’m taking AP Spanish literature, not language, and my interests lean towards the humanities.
My current college list includes Stanford, Duke, Georgetown, Pomona, WUSTL, Rice, George Washington, UNC - Chapel Hill, UV - Richmond, and University of San Diego (my only safety school). The list is changing as I add and subtract colleges to make my final list, though this is where it currently stands.
As far as location goes, if I can’t go to a school I really want to go, I might as well go somewhere where I’m happy living. The west coast (Washington, Oregon, and California) would be my first choice, though I am not closed to the East Coast or the South, and large cities or suburbs are preferred.
I’ve gone to small private schools, so I hope to attend a college with a smaller undergraduate population.</p>
<p>I hope this helps, and I really appreciate any feedback. Thanks!</p>
<p>My family can afford $25,000-$30000 a year, not including student loans. I’m most likely not a candidate for financial aid (though I will still apply), so the more merit aid I receive, and the less my parents have to spend, the better.</p>