Safety School Suggestions!!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I've been having a really hard time deciding what "safety" type schools I want to apply to, and I was wondering if you guys may be able to give me some input. Ill post my resume below, but I know that I'm interested in schools that are in suburbs or near a decently sized city or town (not in the middle of nowhere). I'm open to anywhere in the US, so just let me know what you guys think may suit me. Thanks so much in advance!</p>

<p>Class of 2013
White - Upper Middle Class</p>

<p>Major: Most likely biology - Following a pre-med path
Class Rank: Our school doesn't rank, but within top 5% (Top 17 kids - unknown beyond this specificity)
Average: 94 through junior year</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2270 (800 CR, 730 Math, 740 Writing)
SAT II: Math I 700, US History 770, Biology-M 680</p>

<p>AP Scores: AP US History - 5, AP Physics B - 4</p>

<p>Honors/AP Classes Taken:
Spanish 2H - 93
Spanish 3H - 92
Spanish 4H - 94
English 11H - 94
H Geometry - 87
H Algebra 2/Trigonometry - 92
H Pre-Calculus - 91
AP Physics B - 94
AP American History - 94</p>

<p>My school only offers 2 AP courses through junior year so I've taken every single honors and AP class my school provides through junior year (most rigorous schedule available).</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP US Government
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
AP Spanish Language
College Composition/Art of Film</p>

<p>Clubs:
Red Cross Club (2 years)
Habitat for Humanity (2 years)
Midnight Run Club (Charity club; President, 3 years)
Students for Senegal (Charity club; member 2 years, board member 1 year)</p>

<p>Other ECs:
Food Pantry Volunteer (4 years)
Youth theater group (3 years)
School Planning Council (2 years) - work with administrators to develop programs at school
Student Interviewer for new guidance counselors applying for job at my school (2 years)
Varsity Cross Country (3 years)
JV Tennis
Varsity Indoor Track and Field
Varsity Spring Track and Field</p>

<p>Awards:
National Honor Society
Introduction to Architecture Award
Research Scholarship from Cornell Medical Center</p>

<p>Work experience:
-Soccer Referee (4 years)
-Internship at Weill Cornell Medical Center (Recommendation letter from the doctor I work for and 1st author on pending publication of 2 academic papers + acceptance into national meetings on area of study)</p>

<p>Love to hear what you guys think!</p>

2

<p>What can you afford to pay per year? And do you expect to qualify for need-based aid? With your stats it won’t be hard to find schools where admission is certain, but safeties need to be guaranteed affordable also.</p>

3

<p>if you tell us which schools you like as matches and reaches, we can recommend similar but safer schools</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the quick responses guys. </p>

<p>So far my reaches and matches are:
Northwestern
Georgetown
Duke
Princeton
Cornell
Stanford
UVA
Boston College
Harvard</p>

<p>Kind of hard to find matches, but they all share common characteristics that I listed above. I love an enclosed campus feel.</p>

<p>Also costs aren’t a huge obstacle. At any school I apply to I’ll be applying for financial aid, but I have family friends (who are slightly better off than my family is) who got zero financial aid. Honestly I can’t tell you if I will qualify for aid. My families income isn’t extraordinarily high for the community we live in, and, based on regional and state taxes, we have the spending capabilities of an upper middle class family, although most surveys would classify us as closer to an upper class family.</p>

5

<p>

You could have made it easier and just said “I come from an upper middle class family”. You won’t qualify for FA except at the tippy top schools. Try looking here for potential safety schools: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>USC [ Southern Calif, USNWR # 25] would probably be a match for you.
Apply to USC before Dec 1 in order to be eligible for one of their 350 1/2 tuition merit scholarships or 140 Full tuition scholarships[ you can apply early at USC even if you apply elsewhere SCEA ,as it is required for scholarship consideration .] </p>

<p>If you are a NMF and are accepted at USC you WILL receive an automatic 4 year 1/2 tuition scholarship. </p>

<p>Wash U might be a reach/ match, but they are notorious for wait listing hundreds of qualified applicants that dont apply ED. </p>

<p>Rice would probably be a match and it has an excellent premed program and is affiliated with some top Hospitals in Houston.</p>

7

<p>Thanks Erin’s Dad and menloparkmom.</p>

<p>Are there any schools in the northeast that you would suggest?</p>

8

<p>You could consider countless schools in the Northeast, including the following:</p>

<p>Tufts, Amherst, Holy Cross, WPI, RPI, Lehigh, Lafayette, Rochester, Wesleyan, BU, Union, Fordham, NYU and Stevens are a quick handful that come to mind that are not in the middle of nowhere and have strong science departments. Some may give you some strong merit scholarships. There are many, many others.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, many of the non-downtown Boston or NYC schools in the Northeast are located in dumpy cities. Many of the name non-Ivies in the Northeast are located in the boonies, such as Williams, Colgate, Bucknell, Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. Bear in mind that in college, your life generally revolves around the campus, and there will be at least 2000 kids there, all your age, so being in a college in the middle of nowhere isn’t the same as living in bumpkinville as an adult, on your own.</p>

9

<p>Holy Cross-very good school with one of the better pre-med programs. HC has a beautiful campus and strong school spirit.</p>

10

<p>I would think that University of Rochester would be a relatively safe choice and it meets most of your criteria. Tufts is obviously not a safety, but I think you should definitely take a look at it. Although you haven’t mentioned size, you seem to prefer mid-sized schools, but I would encourage you to take a look at some of the larger “small” schools, including University of Richmond (probably a safety for you), Wesleyan and possibly Vassar.</p>

<p>I would rule out BU and NYU since they don’t have a campus, but if you don’t mind going further south, Emory, while not a safety, would meet your criteria. Finally, you might consider throwing in an application to McGill. It’s about half the price of American schools and it’s a beautiful school located in a fun city.</p>

11

<p>I would look for a few schools that are a tad easier to get into - the places you listed are all very competitive to get into. If you want in/close to cities look at Fordham (you might get a large merit scholarship), URochester, Tulane, Johns Hopkins. NYU and GW have more open campuses so they may not be what you are looking for.</p>

12

<p>For safeties, check out university of Illinois, university of Wisconsin-Madison, notre dame, university of louisville and case western reserve.</p>

13

<p>Be aware that USC with half tuition scholarship is still close to $37,000 per year. The full tuition scholarships would leave a remaining cost of around $16,000 per year.</p>

<p>What is your state of residency? Your in-state public universities may offer schools which you will surely be admitted to and which will be relatively inexpensive.</p>

<p>If you do make National Merit Finalist, look also at Texas A&M; if you designate it as your first choice, its scholarship (which includes out-of-state tuition waiver) leaves a remaining cost of around $12,500 per year. That could leave more for medical school.</p>

<p>You do not have to major in biology to do pre-med.</p>

14

<p>Hey guys thank so much for the help. I live in NY so Binghamton is a school that immediately comes to mind for me. </p>

<p>I’m entirely open to moving southward in my search for schools, and I’ve thought about university of Richmond and Emory. All of the schools I listed are my reaches or potential matches - I don’t consider any of them safeties. I’ve looked at GW and decided that schools laid out like that are not for me. Unfortunately I’m not a national merit scholar finalist because I did just average on my PSAT, although I’m happy with my SAT grade itself. </p>

<p>All of this advice is extremely helpful, and I’d love to hear more! Thanks!</p>

15

<p>If you really want to save money for medical school, you may want to see if you like any of the full-ride schools in the automatic full tuition and full ride list thread.</p>

16

<p>Also consider Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh</p>

17

<p>Many of the schools listed are NOT safeties - Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Amherst, Wesleyan… NYU would not be a safety either due to the cost.</p>