<p>My D is a Jr with a list of schools she's interested in. She is all over the place as far as the types of schools she's interested in. She doesn't have a typical profile of the school wants, if she likes the school it's on her list. Can you tell me if each school would be a reach/match/safety?
Princeton
NYU
Columbia
American University
Syracuse(Newhouse)
Marist
Ithaca
SUNY Geneseo
Penn State University Park</p>
<p>White female attending a NYC specialized HS (test to get in, very competitive and nationally known). She commutes an hour and a half by bus/ferry/train each way just to go there and will be making sure the schools know this (main reason why she doesn't have more EC's). She can't take too many APs because her school has "majors" where 2 or 3 periods a day are classes for the major. Her major is media arts (she wants to study journalism and poly sci). Major classes include journalism, video editing, computer graphics etc.</p>
<p>GPA-3.8 UW(school doesn't weigh). Mostly honors classes.
AP French Jr year (taking the test in May)
AP Govt, Calc and English Sr year
1410 old SAT 630V 780M, took new SAT last week, should do better in verbal and should do very well in the writing section.
700 Math I SAT II, will be taking SAT II in French, Math II and English</p>
<p>School EC's
NHS-will most likely hold office next year (have to be a Sr to hold office)
4 Year Varisty Letter in Softball-Captain Jr & Sr year
Writer for Satire magazine
Chosen to attend Lead Conference in RI, 1 of only 4 selected from NHS members in her school.
School leadership commitee</p>
<p>Outside EC's
4 years travel fastpitch softball
National Society of High School Scholars</p>
<p>Community Service
Student Docent (tour guide) at the nations only Tibetian Art Museum (2 summers)
Shoveling for Seniors-shovels snow for a senior citizen, got commendation from the mayor
Math tutor-since 8th grade, tutoring a neighbors child
Little League softball coach assitant
March of Dimes walkathon 5 years</p>
<p>Ma'am, ur daughter is very talented, HOWEVER she will need a HOOK at those two IVIES aforementioned. LIke, volunteering in Uganda for a month or something. Im serious!</p>
<p>I would have to disagree Slipper. Obviously Columbia is more selective than NYU (btw. both are my alma maters-NYU undergrad, Columbia grad; I think NYU Stern might be more selective than Columbia..but Im not sure)...there is no issue there. The issue here is the chance of the OP at getting into these schools. </p>
<p>I think Columbia with an average SAT score of 1409 (according to Princeton Review's website) is a match, and possible slight reach...especially if the OP were to apply ED and have a strong score on the new SAT which has an emphasis on writing, and the OP seems to be good at it. That being said, the OP's chances at Columbia are fairly decent, it doesn't mean she is getting in, but she's within striking distance...Princeton is a totally different story....I don't think HYP are matches for anyone.</p>
<p>Columbia College's acceptance rate is about 8% RD, 11% overall. Excluding URMs, atheletes, legacies, special hooks, etc the average SAT would be much higher. Its not that far away from Princeton. </p>
<p>NYU is a much easier acceptance to come by. Kids I know got into NYU that couldn't come close to Columbia College.</p>
<p>"Excluding URMs, atheletes, legacies, special hooks, etc the average SAT would be much higher."</p>
<p>True, but every selective college in the nation has students in these catagories.</p>
<p>"Its not that far away from Princeton." </p>
<p>That depends on how you define "far away"...in mere acceptance rate, I'd say of course you're correct. But differences between the 2 schools are not in acceptance rate alone, the student bodies at the big 3 ivies are more competitive than the other 5 ivies in every respect.</p>
<p>I went to a top private high school that sent a significant number of students to ivies and other elite private colleges every year....based on what I've seen, people with 3.9s and 1520 SATs usually waltzed in Columbia and the other lower ivies no problem, but often were straight up rejected from HYP. Define it how you want, but I think there is measurable difference in selectivity between the big 3 and lower 5.</p>
<p>hey jwblue, did you get your mba from columbia? what area of finance are you working in currently? also, stern definetely has better stats than does columbia.</p>
<p>Columbia is still not a match for anyone. I also went to a top private school, and the same people that got rejected from Columbia with 4.0 1470 waltzed into NYU.</p>
<p>Also, you have to realize the lower Ivies have also become considerably more selective over the years. The Average SAT at Columbia in 1996 was a 1330.</p>
<p>Quakerman, I went to CAS at NYU, not Stern, my grad degree is in Math. I currently work at a hedge fund, I used to be an i-banker.</p>
<p>Slipper, I understand the lower ivies have become more selective in recent years, but so have most other elite colleges (apps. to NYU have almost doubled since '96; and I know it might be overrated, but look at Wash U). But my point is that there is still a very real gap between HYP and the other ivies, although I give you that it has probably narrowed, but its still there.</p>
<p>The average SAT at NYU is 1352, at Columbia College its 1409...which is a 57 point gap. This gap is narrower for an academic NYU school like CAS (average of 1321 in '96, and 1371 in '01), and for Stern there is no gap between it and Columbia (Stern's SAT average is 3 pts higher). Contrast this to HYP where the average SAT is 1500 or very high 1400s....usually a difference of slightly under a 100 points (at least 70 points) from Columbia. The 4.0/1470 from Exeter or Deerfield who waltzed into NYU has a pretty good chance of waltzing into Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and Penn (SAS not Wharton-Wharton is closer to the upper ivies) as well, especially if he applies ED where he won't be subject to strategic admissions to increse yield. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the difference is not in SAT alone, the student bodies that HYP are just more qualified than the other ivies....i.e. more intel winners/semis, more math olympians, more accomplished musicians, heck Princeton usually has better athletic teams than Columbia as well. The gap between the big 3 and the lower 5 is not insignificant.</p>
<p>Jwblue, you make the claim that the differences between HYP and the lower 5 are not insignificant, and your justification is SAT scores. Looking at Princeton/Stanford and Dartmouth its only a 30 point difference, which is a real, but not substantial difference. In fact the difference between Dartmouth and Columbia is 20 points! and no one is arguing that Dartmouth is substantially better.</p>
<p>5 Princeton University (NJ) 1370- 1560
6 Stanford University (CA) 1340- 1560
7 Dartmouth College (NH) 1330- 1530</p>
<p>I have never said the difference was "substantial" but its certainly not as small you claim either. Also, I never mentioned Stanford, and I agree its pretty much equal to HYP. </p>
<p>Out of the lower ivies, Dartmouth is the most selective one and its also the smallest, so thats not the best example of a "lower ivy". However, it is clear that schools like Penn SAS, Brown, Columbia, and Cornell are a notch below HYP in selectivity, and the notch isn't as little you seem to imply. Again SAT averages don't tell the whole story, the big 3 can fill an entire class with 1600s but they don't. How many 1600's or even 1510's (the 75th %ile) get rejected from Columbia?...a few I'm sure, but its the exception, not the rule. </p>
<p>My point here: There are going to be a good number of people out there including the OP for which HYP is a reach/major reach and Columbia is a match/slight reach...I don't think you can just lump them togather.</p>