<p>I am looking for a match/safety school. I was thinking a tech school, because I am female and would therefore have a bit of an edge in the application process.</p>
<p>Interested in studying: computer science, creative writing (english), and linguistics. There's a catch: I want a reasonably small school. It seems hard to find a place with all of the afrementioned three that is not HUGE.</p>
<p>EC's:
German
--German club 2005: co-treasurer + historical society, 2006: secretary + historical society 2007: historical society
--State 2004: 3rd - directed dialogue 2005: 2nd varsity pass auf, 3rd -extemporaneous speaking, 3rd - reading comprehension 2006: 3rd - skit, 2nd scrapbook
Latin
--Certamen team - 2006 3rd - fall classics lower, 3rd - Vista Ridge Certamen
--Latin state 2006: 4th play, 6th greek life & lit, 6th advanced poetry reading comp., magna cum laude - pentathlon,
--National Latin Exam 2006: maxima cum laude
Writing
--Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival haiku contest
--(school) LitMag Published and Staff 2004: 3 pieces accepted, 2005: 1 piece accepted, alt. pub. Co-editor, 2006: 1 piece accepted
Computer Science
--computer programming team 2006: HP Codewars participant (14-16th place)
--Austin Digital Inc employee from March 15th, 20 hrs/wk: program in C#
--STAC 2006-2007 Student Technology Administrative Council (fix the school computers)
Aikido
--1997-2001, 2003-2007 (8 yrs) Aikido is a Japanese martial art, 4th kyu (blue belt) CIT for Aikido summer camp 06.
--Aikiteens club
Fencing
--2004-2007 18th in 06 Pougeardeiu, 2nd U16 2005 national qualifiers: 12 hrs/wk
Community Service
--NHS Member - 05-07 3.5+ GPA 25 hrs/semester total hours: 50
--SMILE Member (Students Making an Impact on Lives Everywhere) 2004, 2006-2007 Community service club</p>
<p>Current List of Schools:
Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Rice, Stanford, Tufts, University of Rochester, Yale...</p>
<p>For a safety, you should consider Case Western. They have a slightly skewed male:female ration, which would help you, and though it doesn't have a large national reputation, it is a good school and a great backup for someone like you. They're very strong in Computer Science, and also have solid programs in the humanities. There aren't specific majors in creative writing or linguistics, but they do have classes... think about it.</p>
<p>tufts is a match for me? <em>does a dance</em> RPI. Case Western. Lehigh, Northwestern. I shall look into them... Thanks! keep the suggestions comming!!!</p>
<p>Union College in Schenectady NY, or Smith College if you don't mind an all-women's school. Smith is really dedicated to enhancing its science/engineering/computer programs.</p>
<p>Don't discount the role of geography in determining what is a match for you. If you are from NJ, CT, MA etc. Tufts may well be a reach. . As a woman, your academic interests will work in your favor & your idea to look at tech schools is solid. Another possibility is a school like Wake Forest--a bit bigger than the traditional LAC but with solid programs in your areas of interest.</p>
<p>gellino: I am flattered, CMU is definately on my list (already) ... but I think that it is a reach for me... maybe HSS is a match for me <em>knock on wood</em></p>
<p>chedva: ah... an all-girls school is out for me. I think I would explode. <em>boom!</em> although thanks for the suggestion; if I were a different person, I think smith would be perfect (= very good lead, but just not for me). I will however look into Union</p>
<p>If I'm to be honest, your current list has way too many reaches. Your stats, all of them, GPA, SATs, class rank make them all highly unlikely. I would look at Lehigh, Union and Smith as matches good for engineering.</p>
<p>suze: I am aware of this fact, which is why I posted this thread... I chose schools based on where I feel I would be happy and go with no regrets, but I want to add maybe 1 or 2 safeties, because they are, as it were, safe. All of my schools are reaches, and the hope is that one or two will let me in.</p>
<p>ida, I guess I just don't understand why you would do that to yourself. With over 500 CC posts, you must realize how few people defy those kind of odds. The odds at your reach schools, if you look closely, are really poor. Not being in the top 10% of your class at top colleges is reserved for recruited athletes, URMs and the rich and famous. Your math plus cr is also an issue. I certainly understand taking a chance on a couple of schools you love, but I can't imagine so many super reaches. Will your safeties look good in April with a bunch of rejection letters next to them? There are pleanty of good, realistic schools and all I can say is that I'd prefer to get with reality now.</p>
<p>That is a good point, but I really don't want my choice of schools to be ruled by who I think will accept me. I think my safety will look good no matter how many rejection slips it sits next to, because I will only apply somewhere I could go without regrets. That said, I am hoping that (on this thread) people will point me in the direction of some more realistic schools that will make me happy... Besides, I would rather take a gap year than attend a school I don't like. (Thank you, by the way)</p>
<p>I agree, I did not apply to any true safeties, knowing a gap year would be fine. In the end I got into my top choices and chose a gap year too. Here's the thing, my stats were in range for all of my schools. By in range I think you need to back out the hooked: athletes, URMs, prodigies, legacies and development candidates who comprise about 50% of the class at the top schools. If you're not in one of those groups, you will need to have above average stats. So if the average SAT is 1460, if you're white or Asian and not in one of those groups expect your SAT needs to be higher. If 90% are in the top 10% of their graduating class and you're not, and you don't go to a top 25 high school, expect you need to be well under top 10%. The unfortunate truth is that top colleges keep coming up with the same or better stats year after year. Better at all the top schools. This will be the hardest year in history to get into a top college. So my thinking is that if you can love Amherst you can love Grinnell and a whole lot of other small LACs.</p>
<p>how does one take out the hooked scores from the average (or what do you do?) Is it just a random estimate or what?
I didn't know hooked were near 50% at top colleges, I always assumed around 25%...That's good to know.
How much higher should my SATs be? (I'm taking them on Saturday, wish me luck!!)
I'm not at a top 25 HS (though my magnet would be top 10 if it were considered alone) mine is <em>goes and looks it up</em> ranked 166
I would love to find less popular schools that offer what I want. Less popular would mean smaller and easier to get into, but I can't find one with good both CS, english + foreign language programs.</p>
<p>I, too, am looking for just your type of school for my son. For now he is hoping he can get into my alma mater which is Rice, but his stats may not be up for it. Please post if you find your perfect school. I have heard the University of Maryland honors program is very good. You might also consider the College of William and Mary.</p>
<p>ricegal: what is your son interested in studying? I beleive I posted my current list of schools, all of which look fantastic to me. If you tell me a bit more about your S, I can maybe make suggestions?</p>
<p>Ida: My son isn't quite sure yet but most likely computer science or business. He is only a sophomore so needs more time in more courses to decide. GPA = 3.6, 4.0 weighted. He's at a demanding public high school. SAT II Math level 2 score 760. Hasn't taken the regular SAT, but if PSAT is any indication he will probably score in the 600's for English and writing and 780-800 for math. I know all the highly ranked computer science and business schools. I would like to know some good safety schools. Right now since we are in CA, the most well-known safeties seem to be public schools, but CA schools are severely impacted (thank-you Enron). Very difficult to change majors without adding a year, especially at Cal Poly. He has also stated that he wants a small school. I would prefer that he go to a place where he can actually interact with his teachers and where he will have flexibility to take courses he is interested in. Sounds like what you are looking for as well - small and flexible. The problem is that this usually means LACs which don't offer a BS in CS or a business degree.</p>
<p>okay, I know notihng about buisness, but there are tons of small tech schools.. A lot of places mentioned here, actually:
RPI, Stevens, Rose-Hulman, lehigh, cal-poly as you mentioned. Of course, these schools may be terrible at buisness, I dont know. Rice is much kinder to OOS-ers <em>grrrr! stealing my spot at rice!</em> and from what I've heard they are really into kids with strong ECs. Of course I think all of the places I am applying are wonderful.<br>
if you just want the algorithm for how I found places to apply:
make a prioritized list of things about college. section 1 is "If the school doesn't have it I could never look at applying" section 2 is "I really want this but if everything else is perfect it wouldnt matter" and section 3 is "this would be really cool" ... Then haunt princetonreview.com and (I highly suggest) "the insider's guide to the colleges". Don't go by the 'whats important to you?' type lists on places like princetonreview.com, though. Don't even look at them. Only select things that immediately come to mind.</p>