Recommendations for matches? My school is on a 7 point scale, so I'm not sure about gpa

College Search & Selection
1

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

3.5 UW gpa, but my school is on a 7 point scale so anything below a 93 is a B+. If I calculate my gpa on my percentage grades for a 10 point scale, I have a 3.7 UW. My school does not weight or rank.

I have taken the highest available classes and have taken APUSH (10th grade, got a 5 on the exam) AP AB Calc, AP Stats, AP Physics (11th grade, haven’t gotten scores back yet) and will take AP BC Calc, AP Psychology and AP Physics C next year.

ACT: 34, SAT Math II 780, Physics 710

EC: I have a part-time job (20 hours/week) and am involved in mostly social justice/volunteering. In terms of leadership, I am treasurer for one club. I have been involved in three sports, but nothing outstanding.

I’m in state for Wisconsin, so obviously UW Madison and UM Twin Cities are on my list, but I want to make sure I am being realistic in terms of admission so any suggestions are appreciated.

In terms of cost, I am fortunate that my parents can pay but they want a good value, so I would choose Madison over, say, an OOS public school because of the cost. The problem is no one is guaranteed admission to Madison.

Right now I think I want to be in some kind of applied mathematics, but I want some flexibility in case I change my mind.

Wish list: small - medium size, large town or city, good internships/study abroad, mentorships with faculty would be a bonus. I would prefer liberal atmosphere but not too politically charged. I’m pretty low key, so I’m not looking for a super competitive environment but I like being around people who are smarter than I am if that makes sense.

I like Case Western, University of Rochester and University of Richmond, but those are reaches, I think.

Thanks again for your advice.

2

Congratulations on your hard work and success! It’s great you have a job. I think that’s one of the best ECs, and not even really an EC, more important life experience.

I’m sort of assuming it will work out for Wisconsin or Minnesota-TC. So you’ll probably have a great, affordable large school choice. But it sounds lie you would really prefer a smaller school, but one that is more in line, in terms of cost, to those two schools.

Maybe take a look at Denison; it gives good merit aid. It’s near Columbus, which is a pretty large city. Maybe also Holy Cross in Worcester–excellent academics, claims to meet full financial need. Since you seem to like smaller/medium urban schools, maybe Rhodes College in Memphis. Wonderful LAC, beautiful campus. Check out the website. I don’t know about financial aid there.

https://www.rhodes.edu/content/about-rhodes

https://www.rhodes.edu

Otherwise, you might google "colleges that offer generous merit aid’ and “colleges that meet full financial need.” Lots are hyper-competitive, but not all.

And take a crack at CWRU (“Crew”), Rochester, and Richmond. They are reaches, but you are certainly a reasonable candidate at all of them. CWRU gives good merit aid to a high % of students. Richmond CLAIMS to meet full financial need. I love Rochester, especially for your interests.

What about University of Kansas as an odd backup in case UW and UM did not work out, which would surprise me? Lawrence, like Madison is a great college town. I’d think you’d get some money there.

Don’t worry about the grading scale. Schools will understand how things work at your school and take that into consideration. Good luck!

3

Thank you, @TTG . I appreciate the input and they all seem like really good suggestions, especially Denison. Memphis and Lawrence seem like a cool places to go to school as well so I’ll read up on them.

You’re right in that, while I have toured a few schools and I like Madison and Minnesota, the smaller schools felt like a better fit for me. My parents are okay with paying the tuition at Rochester or Richmond but I would feel guilty if I got into Madison and then made them pay so much more.

And thanks for the reassurance about the grading scale. It makes it hard for me to assess what kind of applicant I am.

4

And if you visit Lawrence go visit Manhattan and Kansas State too. They have a very good mathematics department with excellent professors. Manhattan is a great college town too and you would get excellent merit scholarships.

5

I’ve followed UW admissions for the past 5 years or so and, while it is increasingly competitive, I do think a 34 for an instate applicant with a solid unweighted gpa in most rigorous curriculum is certainly a match. Do apply early, and don’t skimp on the effort spent on your essays. Does your school have Naviance to help predict outcomes with your grading scale?

Denison offers good merit aid – up to 1/2 tuition automatically without a separate application – though that would still mean cost of attendance would be around $40,000. Denison has majors in Math, Comp Sci, as well as Data Analytics, plus 25 minutes from Columbus, with internship opportunities etc.

If you want to keep the big flagship option, if UW does not work out, then Iowa would be another flagship to consider, as well as Indiana – both give merit awards to out of state students and have Honors programs which might be of interest.

6

Thanks, @momocarly and @Midwestmomofboys, for taking the time to give me suggestions. And thanks for offering some hope to getting into UW Madison.

Now that I’m reading this, I don’t think I posed my question the right way. I don’t necessarily need merit. I just added that I’m considering Madison because, despite its size, a good value and a good choice.

So here’s my question:

Given my stats, what are some good matches for me with an interest in Math/Statistics? I have enough reaches and likelies but I’m having trouble objectively categorizing schools as matches. Is NYU a match? Is Boston College? Could I get into McGill or U of Toronto? I see the requirements, I fit them, but since everyone says it’s a little capricious as well, I don’t think it’s enough to know.

Thanks again.

7

Oh, and I forgot to answer: our guidance department says that there’s a lot more to admissions that test scores and grades, so they don’t recommend using the scatterplots because there’s too many other factors. They think I have a good chance at Madison but said that you have a good list because on any given day…

8

Based on 3.7/34, here are some smallish private U’s (under about 15,000) and LACs that are probably matches or high matches:

Private U’s:
U of Rochester
Tulane
Boston College
Wake Forest
Lehigh
Case Western
Brandeis
SMU
Villanova
Pepperdine
Marquette

LACs:
Reed
Oberlin
Macalester
Richmond
Kenyon
Bucknell
Lafayette
Pitzer
Holy Cross
Trinity College
Connecticut College
Union
Whitman
Dickinson
Occidental
Rhodes
F&M
Sewanee
Gettysburg
Earlham
Lawrence
Beloit
Kalamazoo
…and probably 20-30 more. Basically, schools ranked about 25-75 in the USNews LAC ranking, plus Reed.

9

There have been quite a few good suggestions so far. I would also look into the University of Tulsa…I toured it and I liked it a lot.

10

Although Rochester might be considered a reach, it is not unreasonable especially if you have strong recommendations, write an awesome essay and demonstrate interest. If not an on-campus visit, attend an off-campus visit in your state or if an admissions session if a rep is visiting your high school. The same applies for Brandeis and for all the schools on this list.

11

Thanks @prezbucky , @ShoutTurkey and @bookmama22. I feel a little more hopeful after reading your suggestions. I definitely have Rochester and Brandeis at the top of my list but felt I was getting too many reach schools. It is reassuring to know that I have a shot at some of my more selective schools.

I think Lawrence and Marquette would be on the more likely side, is that correct? The people in the admissions office at Lawrence were some of the nicest people I have met visiting colleges and their physics department seems really good.

12

I think Prez Buckys list is a bit reachier than that for some of the names. Admission to these schools will require an excellent application including all the pieces coming together.

The low reach chance type to get in ea or rd. More likely to the wl schools (which has been almost the same thing as a flat out rejection but the pain lasts a little longer )

Tulane
BC
Wake Forrest
CWRU

High match and tough. 50 50 or less

Conn coll
Villanova
Rochester
Lehigh
Brandeis

The others are match schools and much more likely. A few are safeties in today’s reality.

13

I’d have Tulane, BC, Wake and CWRU in high match territory – 25-40% chance of admittance. We may have different ranges. Mine are:

High reach: 0-5% chance
Reach: 5-15%
Low reach: 15-25%
High match: 25-40%
Match: 40-60%
Low match: 60-90%
Safety: >90%

Lawrence and Marquette are probably low-end matches or actual low matches. But still match-range, technically.

Some of these don’t like kids thinking of them as safeties, but the 3.7 (instead of a 4.0…) might mitigate their fear a bit. Still, it is a good idea to express genuine interest if you are going to apply.

14

Agree with numbers above. Seem about right

15

I appreciate the input, @prezbucky and @privatebanker.

If I am reading your comments correctly, I need to examine my list because I thought College of Wooster and Lawrence would be my likely schools (I have visited both and they seemed pretty receptive) but you’re suggesting Lawrence is a match instead.

Can you double-check my thinking on this?

Reach: URochester, Case Western, Richmond, UW Madison, Brandeis, BC

Match: Minnesota TC, Lawrence, Marquette

Would Purdue/UVM be a safety?

Sorry to prolong the discussion but your advice is helpful.

16

Oh and I am still looking at the other schools recommended by others: Denison, Kansas and Indiana.

17

Remember this pertains only to you and not the schools as a general rule. Congrats and keep up the good work through next year. Especially first semester. If I am capturing the profile correctly. 3.7UW 34 ACT. Lots of APs with good exam scores, a part time job and one ec with leadership. A few sports as an activity but not a passion or recruiting opportunity. And no idea of how good your essays will be in relation to connecting the dots with your social justice interests. Assuming good to very good range. Or recommendations from teachers or GC. I am
Assuming standard and positive. Only a guess of course.

As I look at that and this is my opinion only.

Two of what I would call a reach.

For you this would mean (IMHO) a possible wait list or if RD only, a possible rejection or wl as easily as an acceptance based on this years results. And some direct knowledge of a dozen kids similarly situated to you from ne and Florida in this year’s process

Reach

CWRU
BC

High match. For me means 50 50 acceptance ea or rd

Rochester
Richmond
Brandeis
UW Madison In State (this could be a solid match but defer to prezbuckyd knowledge of the UW UM and Lawrence choices tbh)
UIndiana business school

Match. Better than 50% odds but no guarantees

Lawrence University
Purdue OOS
Dennison
UIndiana a and s

Likely. Better than 75%

UVM
Marquette
Minnesota In State reciprocal
Kansas

18

@privatebanker, thank you for taking the time to lay it out like that. I appreciate it.

Seems like I have enough reaches and matches and now need more safeties.

19

Not necessarily. If you have one or two excellent schools that are likely or nearly guaranteed admits. That you can afford. That you would be very happy attending. That’s all you need. Focus your time and effort on the matches for diversity of choice. I bet you get into almost every school in the list tbh. As long as there’s nothing wrong in the application.

20

Assuming the GPA is 3.7. ACT is quite good, obviously.

Well, Lawrence and Marquette are probably low matches – but not safeties. Your GPA would need to be above the 75th percentile (in my Safety Rulebook. lol) for them to be safe, or what passes for safe these days. Lawrence especially is a really good school – much better than its selectivity suggests. And you’re half an hour from the Packers.

Vermont and KU OOS are probably matches or low matches. With OOS publics, best to be conservative – matches.

UW in-state is probably a match – probably a bit more likely than not to admit you in-state. I’d put $20 on it but not the house. OOS it would probably be a low reach or a very high match.

Minnesota is a bit less selective than UW.

You have plenty of matches at all levels – high to low. I think Case, BC, Rochester, Brandeis and Richmond are all right on that high match/low reach border. Your ACT is at or above the 75th, which is good, but GPA is probably around average for them. So in all your stats at those five might be above average. However, also take into account the admit rates in the RD rounds for those schools, which are probably (check CDS…) in the 20s%. Above average stats with an RD admit rate in the 20s – to me, that’s right on the low reach/high match border.

I actually don’t see a true reach on this list. Ivies and other top-20ish private U’s and top-15ish LACs are schools you might consider true reaches, like:

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, UPenn, Caltech, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Hopkins, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, Wash U, maybe Georgetown and Notre Dame – those would be true reaches. True low reaches could include Emory, USC, Tufts, CMU (well Eng or CS would be a reach at CMU…).

In the LAC world: Williams, Amherst, Swat, Pomona, Middlebury, Wellesley (women), Haverford, Carleton, CMC, Hamilton, Colby, Mudd – maybe a handful more – would be your true reaches.

If you like any of those, it wouldn’t hurt you – assuming you have the time and cash – to apply. But if you are happy with your list as it is – once you add a true safety, that is – that’s fine too. You’re considering a lot of good schools already.