Safeties/Matches for someone applying to Harvard, Amherst, Brown

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well, my top three schools right now are Harvard, Amherst, and Brown. And yes, I know these schools are "reaches for anyone". That's why I'm looking to choose a few more match/safety schools. </p>

<p>I want places LIKE H,A,B, preferably in the northeast, focusing on NYC, Boston, Providence or Amherst. More widely than that, I'd say Massachusetts, Connecticut, NYC, Rhode Island, and southern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I REALLY don't want to be in the middle of nowhere - I need at least a large town/small city (like Amherst). I want to major in English and double major/minor/cerificate in Film/Cinema Studies if possible. </p>

<p>At the moment the only safety on my list is UMass Amherst, and that's only because I know I wouldn't be totally miserable there because their English program is decent, and that is where all my friends go. For matches I only have Tufts, suggested by my mom and some adult friends. </p>

<p>The problem is really that I don't have a lot of resources for learning about the kind of places I'm looking for. My highschool has a huge vocational department, and three career-oriented "academies", that sometimes eclipse the needs of other students.</p>

<p>Stats:
-SAT 800V/680M(my calculator died, this will go up when I retake it next weekend)/790W
Junior Schedule (highlights)
-AP USH 5 - highest in class
-AP Physics C 4 - highest in class (is there any way the schools I apply to will know this?)
-Independent Study: Creative Writing (I designed my curriculum and wrote a novel that I'm rewriting and looking for an agent right now; ditto to above question)
Senior Schedule
-AP Psych
-AP Euro
-AP Calc BC
-AP Lit&Comp
-H Spanish 5 (they would not run AP because I was the only one who wanted to take it who didn't already speak Spanish - again, will the schools I apply to have any way to know about this?)
-Intensive ("normal" level) Sociology (there is no Honors or AP - ditto to question above)
-National Honor Society Normal Rockwell Chapter Student Teacher's Aide Program in freshman Intensive Biology class (this is a volunteer thing; I'm only getting 2 credits for it when it would be six)
Extra Curriculars (highlights)
-went to New England Young Writer's Conference (Breadloaf) (11)
-founded film production company Half&Half Films (11,12), wrote two screenplays for the company, am actor/crew in another member's movie right now
-performed with Shakespeare&Company's Fall Festival of Shakespeare (10,11,12) (education program of professional theatre company)
-member of independent student theatre company Troupe Taconic (9, disbanded; helped write the revue we staged)
(note: i've been in one play a year 8,9,10,11, and will do two this year with the spring musical - sorry, a digression, but we are doing Jesus Christ Superstar and I am psyched)
-editor of school literary/art magazine (11,12)
-co-editor of lit mag with Word Street literacy center (10, 11, 12)
-volunteer tutor with NHS, Word Street (11,12)
-volunteer at children's library (12)
-worked as a hostess at a restaurant in the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a year (between 10, 11), gave most of the money to my mom
-National Merit Scholar Commended Student - only one in school</p>

<p>(Note: I have a reasonable explanation for why I didn't start a lot of these things until 11th or 12th grade. It has to do with my dad telling me I had to stop trying to take care of everything at home - there are 5 kids still at home, 7 overall, and my dad has epilepsy - and get a life. It's why I was working, and also why I quit. Again, how can I let the schools I'm applying to know this?)</p>

<p>My teachers' and supplemental recommendations (the supps are from the teacher I TA for and from the founder/director of Word Street) will be brilliant. I think my counselor rec will be better if I show her this list - she doesn't know me very well, but she likes me, she knows my stats, and she is impressed with me. I'm sending an excerpt from my novel and a clip from my movie, where I can (if not, an excerpt from the script), as supplements as well. My essays are great as well.</p>

<p>So the two main issues are which safeties and matches I could pick, and how to tell the schools all this extra stuff that they might not otherwise get. Sorry this is so long. I am just nervous because I think it is way late in the game to not know this stuff. And thanks.</p>

2

<p>Go to PrincetonReview.Com and use the college finder to find some colleges which offer Communications. With those scores and ECs you should be able to get in anywhere (and with seven children in the family should probably get good aid). As far as explaining some issues, you might be able to use your applicatoin essays to clarify things if the question is open ended enough.</p>

3

<p>" More widely than that, I'd say Massachusetts, Connecticut, NYC, Rhode Island, and southern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. . . . I need at least a large town/small city (like Amherst). I want to major in English and double major/minor/certificate in Film/Cinema Studies if possible."</p>

<p>This one's easy: Wesleyan University in Middetown, CT. Strong English Dep't; highly regarded film studies department; in a pretty much okay large town. A notch below Amherst in selectivity; and often overlaps with Brown in applicant pool. Would probably be a high match for you.</p>

4

<p>If Amherst is a reach, so is Tufts. Many cross-admits.</p>

<p>By the way, Tufts' English Dept. is superb as is the relatively new International Letters & Visual Studies major -- which combines philosophy, literature, film, and art history. It was started by a former professor in Harvard's Environmental & Visual Studies program, who is now a dean and professor at Tufts.</p>

<p>You can consider, in addition to Tufts:</p>

<ul>
<li>Wesleyan (match)</li>
<li>NYU (safety)</li>
<li>Brandeis (safety)</li>
<li>if you're a girl, Wellesley (match/slight reach)</li>
<li>BU (safety)</li>
<li>Sarah Lawrence (safety)</li>
<li>Bard (safety)</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ul>

5

<p>Erm Tufts is a reach, NYU is a match imho, others are probably safeties though. Check out UVM (great college town), BC is prob a match and not as incorporated into the city as BU and NYU are, Union College in upper NY is a great school and a match for you, Stonehill is a great school in MA. This should give you some material to start researching.</p>

6

<p>Check out Vassar. Very similar vibe to Brown, Wesleyan.</p>

7

<p>"If Amherst is a reach, so is Tufts."</p>

<p>No. Amherst is measurably more selective than Tufts. If Tufts is a "reach" then so is Wesleyan. In fact, both are more like "high match" (or, if you prefer, match/reach).</p>

8

<p>I think that tufts is a reach if OP does not show the school any love as they may think s/he is using them as a fall back.</p>

9

<p>I think that tufts is a reach if OP does not show the school any love as they may think s/he is using them as a fall back will will make it harder to be admitted</p>

10

<p>i definitely agree with the wesleyan suggestion- awesome for both english and film.
vassar, conn college, bates, skidmore all might be worth a look</p>

11

<p>Yes, I have heard rumors about "Tufts syndrome". But I think a lot of schools are similar, Tufts gets a bad rap because it is so geographically near Harvard - IMHO. I like some of these other suggestions too... some of them overlap with ones I was considering, and some are new to me. Keep it coming! :)</p>

12

<p>Vassar could be a great match.</p>

13

<p>And no, they won't know or care if you got the highest AP score in your class. This is college, you're competing against everyone, not just your school anymore.</p>

14

<p>The questions you have regarding whether the schools know this info (top AP score, AP Spanish not offered, etc) should be in the letter the GC writes. It can also be mentioned in the rec letter. The number of kids in the family and dad with epilepsy can also be mentioned by the GC, so it is going to be important that you sit down with the GC and make sure he/she knows what to include. My guess is that your school doesn't have many applying to HYP, so the GC might not know exactly what to write in the letter.</p>

<p>And Visirale -- it does matter how the rest of your school did -- it is like class rank, you are judged based on how you are in relation to the class pool. It might be minor -- but it adds up.</p>