Reaches / High Matches

College Search & Selection
1

Hey, CCers. I already did a match / safeties thread, but I need some reaches and high matches. I’m going to be a junior in five weeks, so I am slowly running out of time to build my list.

STATS:
3.87 UW, 4.17/4.8 W (two B+s in 8th grade, one B+ in 9th, one B+ in 10th – all in honors classes)

  • More than sure I can pull off all As for the rest of high school, because I have developed some very good habits in this school year.
  • We are on the semester system, so these are not year grades. I got an A+ in both of these high school classes the second semester.
    11 APs
    32 on the ACT
    Projected 1470 on the SAT

Intended major(s): Political Science, Statistics, Finance

ECs (current):
Founder, President of the Political Science Club
Founder, President of FBLA
Core Student Body Leader
Elected Peer Leader in a bullying organization at my school
Class Officer in Student Council (running for Treasurer – highest position open)
Committee Chair on my school’s board (chosen by principal / superintendent)
NHS (you can only be a junior+, but I just recently got in for next year)
OMUN (running for office)

  • I'm hoping to pay 35-45k per year for undergrad (going to law school)

INCOME BRACKET - 210k+ (somewhere around here), but I have four sibling who intend on going / are in prestigious colleges. My step-dad saved nothing for my step-siblings, so my mom is kinda pushed into the position where she has to use her income to help pay for their college. Apparently, if I need help paying for law school, he refuses to help me. That’s quite interesting.

Preferances:

  1. South, Midwest, East
  2. Hoping for a medium to large school (I am very social)
  3. I really want to enjoy my college experience, but I do take my education seriously, so I hope I can find that balance
  4. I want research opportunities / internship opportunities
  5. I want somewhere near a major city or a larger college town

Thank you very much for helping me! It’s been quite a journey so far.

2

Oh! I also have an internship with an attorney who is running for HOR.

3

Which state are you in?

4

@washugrad Ohio

5

Anyone, please?

6

UMD College Park
Some of the DC schools have great poly sci programs - Georgetown (high reach), American, George Washington, Catholic…

NYU

7

@momofsenior1 Thanks! Also, how would Georgetown be a high reach? I could see a match, but my SAT score would be above the average.

8

The acceptance rate at Georgetown is 16%. It’s a reach for anyone. And you initial post said you are projecting your SAT score. Your act score is the average for Georgetown.

9

Case Western Reserve University

10

Tulane

11

@bopper @2more2go Thank you!

12

While non-custodial parent and divorce makes financial aid planning more complicated, my guess is that $210k income is going to mean you are full pay for college. So, if your goal is get your cost of attendance around $35-40k, when most schools are running around $65-70k, that means you are looking for 1/2 tuition merit scholarship. To get that size merit award, you are looking for schools that are safeties or maybe low matches for admissions purposes – where you are among the highest achieving applicants. Your in-state publics may also meet that target cost of attendance since they will be less expensive for instate students. Ohio State has a superb Poli Sci dept. How complicated adding a finance major might be depends on the school, since finance is in the B school and that means meeting the requirements for both College of Letters & Science and Business.

13

It is a high reach because the stats on ACT and SAT scores are very misleading. Even above median is a reach because of the low numbers of admitted students. What the “accepted” stats don’t tell you is how many of the applicants who were rejected or wl’d also met the median score. you are talking about a pool of very qualified applicants. That shouldn’t stop you from applying, but make sure to understand that just because you fall “within range” your application is being considered along with thousands of other applicants with the same credentials for a slot. Good luck , and try to enjoy senior year.

14

For some perspective: I had a 1570 SAT and a 3.9 UW (and decent EC’s, good essays) and I was rejected to almost all of my high match/reach schools, despite having scores above or at their averages.

15

@Midwestmomofboys With 4 siblings in college as well (or some of them anyway), don’t you think the EFC will be much lower, assuming the parents don’t have a ton of savings?

16

@RandyErika @Midwestmomofboys I ran the NPC for Emory and Case Western, and it came out to be around 40k for each (used official documents).

17

Would University of Florida be a viable option? My family lives in that area, and I absolutely love Florida.

18

High Match/low reach - UofM, Northwestern, UVA, College of William and Mary, Maybe UNC (OOS is tough), NYU, BC
High Reach- Duke, Georgetown, Penn, Columbia, UNC (see above line), Vandy
Dream Reach- Princeton, Harvard, Yale, UChicago

Solid Match: Pitt, OSU, IU, PU, Wisc, Minn, UICU, MSU (I don’t know much about the deep south schools)

19

Wait you’re only a sophomore, you aren’t in that much of a rush.

20

Georgetown is a very high reach. D this year goes to a top 50 is public. #1 in large state. Eth competitive 4.0 uw 1540 sat 34 act valedictorian 13 aps and no lower than a 4. School leadership ecs academic decathlon only girl on team varsity sports captain Spanish club pres bets club pres works and volunteers. And a nice normal down to earth kid. Waitlisted after deferred ed. Gtown let’s you in by major. So it depends but brutal this year. Doesnt mean you couldn’t get in. Stats are only one component But that’s the trend at anything in the top 30. Massive competition. So just have a great selection and expectations. You’ll have a lot with your positive and proactive approach. Good luck!