<p>GWU: show them lots of love. Visit, and have a strong essay about why you want to go there (which is not equivalent to saying that you love DC). They’re notorious for turning down students who they think will go elsewhere. One of D1’s friends was accepted to Georgetown and Columbia last year, and was waitlisted by GW. And she honestly loved GW and had done all the “right” things to demonstrate that. American will be an easier admit, but make sure you like the school.</p>
<p>If you like GWU, look at Boston U and Pitt, two other urbanesque schools which should be safeties for you. Pitt has a nice honors college, and offers cross-enrollment with Carnegie Mellon. They also offer some generous merit money that actually lures people away from tippy-top schools. Pitt has rolling admissions, so you could have an acceptance in hand by October. </p>
<p>Concur that you should look at Rochester and USC. Don’t spend your money on UCs as an OOSer. </p>
<p>Did you have a strong feeling about women’s schools?</p>
<p>I don’t think I mentioned whether I’m male or female, but I guess it’s obvious? Haha I’m not considering any women’s schools. Thanks for the advice on GW, I really liked it there (and a big part of that is DC) but it’s really the only urban school I’d consider. I looked at American and didn’t like it at all; I’m not really sure why. </p>
<p>I like the sounds of Dickinson, Colgate, and U of Rochester… are those safe enough or do I need more options? Thanks for all the suggestions : )</p>
<p>Providence College and Syracuse are great safeties for you - i dont know if you can call Colgate a safety… you DEFINITELY CANNOT call Tufts a safety… I don’t know why anyone would think that georgetown or tufts could ever be safeties</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one mention univ of michigan as a rolling safety with an early admission. That is the SOP for the ivy hopefuls at our HS.
I think schools like providence, syracuse, american, are such super safeties that unless you expect to get lots of merit you will be far above the average applicant.
If you’re in conn, look at sunys binghampton or geneseo for low tuition with good programs and smart NYS kids. They are not too far away. Union is also a favorite for pre meds and I think you can get a merit $ there.
I like the USC suggestion as a safety if your willing to go cross country.</p>
<p>Tulane would reject you because your stats are too high.
Look into Case Western Reserve. There are famous authors in the English Department, and opportunities for pre-med. They would give you merit money. I agree with Rochester and Brandeis also.
Penn State Schreyer Honors College: 100% med school admission rate. Not a safety (regular Penn State would be for you) but I think that you would get into the Honors College.</p>
<p>I would agree with Case Western and Michigan. I used the former as a backup but not Michigan because I wouldn’t have been able to afford out-of-state tuition. Otherwise, I also had Union College in NY and Trinity College in CT as backups. Trinity gave me an awesome merit scholarship, too.</p>
<p>How about St Lawrence University in up-upstate NY? It’s named after the river, and not religiously affiliated. It would REALLY be a safety school for you, but it’s a great place. It has an acceptance rate of about 40%, median SAT much lower than yours but that might garner you some great merit. It’s a very outdoorsy, social place. The school has a great alumni network, a very well established study abroad program, fantastic hockey program and a beautiful campus. I feel like Bates as a safety school isn’t really all that safe. I would think you would be assured acceptance with merit at SLU. If you’re looking for LAC safety, check it out and see if seems interesting:</p>
<p>I think Rochester is pretty safe for you and I believe you will get merit money as well. In addition, they have a medical school on campus so you could get some undergrad experience there as well.</p>
<p>How about Hamilton, too? Less competitive than Colgate, should truly be a safety for you, but a fine enough school to offer you a lot of opportunities if you ended up there.</p>
<p>USC is not a safety school these days. Last year over 37,000 seniors applied. SAT and ACT scores of enrolled freshmen have risen each year. On the USC Forum there was a list of National Merit Scholars who posted they had not been admitted. For the class entering in 2012 USC will be using the common application. It is expected to increase the applicant pool. After California the largest numbers of U.S. applicants now come from Texas, Illinois, New York, Washington and Massachusetts. The generous merit scholarships are highly competitive. About 22,000 last fall sent in early applications to qualify for merit scholarship consideration. John Mork donated $110 million this year to add to the funds for merit scholarships. The Annenberg Foundation added $10 million for scholarships awarded to outstanding students enrolling in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.</p>
<p>National Merit Scholars who are admitted are offered a half tuition scholarship, plus a $1000 per year scholarship from the National Merit Foundation.</p>
<p>I think USC is a good safety with your stats, but Boston College, NYU, and Tufts are some other good choices. If you don’t plan on doing SCEA, consider applying EA to Chicago. I had similar stats (probably not as good) as you, and I was admitted to Chicago EA. I considered sort of a “safety” despite applying as an impacted economics major. </p>
<p>Thank you for all of the advice! I’ve been doing some reading and like the sounds of Bates, Hamilton, Colgate, Dickinson, and U of Rochester… anyone have any suggestions as to narrowing those choices down?</p>
If you’re looking for LAC safety, check it out and see if seems interesting:</p>