Hi everyone!
I am a current high school senior and I’m really struggling with the college search. I have good scores and a good GPA and I think meaningful activities, but I’m worried I’m getting my hopes up. I don’t want to apply Early Decision anywhere because financial aid packages are a consideration of mine.
My stats are:
SAT: 1550 combined, 750 ERW and 800 math
ACT: 34 composite, 32 science, 32 math, 35 english and 35 reading (probably only submitting SAT)
SAT Math II: 770
Unweighted GPA: 3.9 (my school doesn’t weight, but all my classes are honors/AP)
AP’s: Psychology, French, Chemistry, Calc AB, Calc BC, Statistics
Activities/Awards:
National Merit Semifinalist
National Honor Society
President of French Club
Founder of French Conversation Club
Local French class at Alliance Francaise
Summer French course abroad in France
National French Exam medalist (x2)
Leader of Diversity Club
Volunteer work at local autism education center (my brother is on the autism spectrum)
Academic Competition team (but only senior year)
Physician shadowing
Freshman year I did a lot of athletics and singing activities but I’m not including them on the common app because I didn’t enjoy or pursue them.
My recommendations are definitely strong, I obviously haven’t read them but I have one from my French teacher and one from my biology and anatomy/physiology teacher. My essay is also strong, I connected my love of language with my passion for science, and how I have found ways that they are more interconnected than people realize. My top schools are Bryn Mawr College, University of Richmond, and Barnard College. I am not aiming for any ivies, but I witnessed so many of my peers get rejected from what seemed like safeties last year, and I am terrified it is going to happen to me. I am applying to Richmond EA, but the decisions come out after the ED II deadline passes. I am now worried that my safeties (American, GW, Franklin and Marshall, Villanova) are not really safeties. Should I just apply to BMC (my first choice) ED because of the risk of not getting into any other schools
Your safeties are matches. You need at least one safety that is a guaranteed admit that is affordable. Look at the acceptance rates, not where your stats fall.
You are overqualified for American. That’s not a good thing because American routinely rejects or waitlists obviously overqualified applicants who don’t apply ED. Look at American’s Naviance scattergram if you need proof. You will probably get into Nova, F&M, Richmond, and BMC but their admission rates are too low to qualify as true safeties - call them matches. I’d say GW is the closest thing to a safety on your list assuming you can afford it, and Barnard is a reach. If I were you, I would find another safety for your list. You might also want to think about another reach school, maybe Georgetown.
I think BigChef nailed it. American wants to protect its yield and it knows that realistically, you will get into someplace better and not go there unless they have to give you a lot of money. American is not alone in this regard. Others who are known to do this are BU and NYU, and many more. That’s where it can get dangerous: apply to too many reaches and too many safeties looking to yield-protect and you could get jammed out of a lot of schools. I’ve seen it happen quite a few times. Barnard is a reach but you have a very decent shot and should surely apply. Your academic stats and ECs are great (although so many kids are getting 34s on ACTs these days) but involvement in sports and the arts would make you better-rounded. I would throw in a couple more reaches and safeties. I agree that you will get into Nova, F & M & GW. I think you have an excellent chance to get into Bryan Mawr, especially as an ED. I also think you would likely get into Vassar. Now for the harder ones: Georgetown is a good pick for a reach, as are Emory and UVA . Additional likely matches you could consider (and who would probably view you as a realistic candidate and not a yield crusher) are Haverford, Middlebury, William & Mary, Colgate and Hamilton. If you want to throw more safeties into the pot just for peace of mind and to protect yourself from yield preservation, I would consider U Pitt (rolling admissions a plus there) and UMass Amherst.
You wrote, "I witnessed so many of my peers get rejected from what seemed like safeties last year, and I am terrified it is going to happen to me. "
The key words there are “what seemed like safeties”.
Who, exactly, determined that the places were likely to be safe? Guidance counselors? Students themselves?
The only true safeties are places that offer automatic admissions for students with your stats. There are plenty of places that do - mostly public universities but also some privates. Any place that has admitted every student with your profile from your high school in past years can be considered reasonably safe, but again every year there are nasty surprises when admissions policies change.
If BMC is truly your first choice, and if you have run the Net Price Calculator at the BMC website and it looks likely to be affordable, then it is perfectly OK for you to apply there ED. If you have run the NPC and it doesn’t look so good to you, and you’d rather compare aid packages, then wait and apply regular decision.
How much money do you need? Go spend some time in the Financial Aid Forum, and get a sense of the places that would be happy to guarantee you admission and throw a lot of money at you for your stats.
I actually already applied to Pitt a few weeks ago and will likely hear back within two weeks. However, I really am drawn to smaller liberal arts institutions, and am having trouble finding safeties that I think I would actually be happy at. I was thinking about Mount Holyoke, but I don’t love New England. I am also applying to Case Western EA, but that is definitely not a safety either.