<p>Bates College<br>
Bowdoin College
Brown University<br>
Claremont McKenna College<br>
Colby College<br>
Davidson College<br>
Hamilton College<br>
Haverford College<br>
Pomona College<br>
Washington University in St. Louis<br>
Wesleyan University
Georgetown</p>
<p>I'm interested in pursuing a Public Policy Analysis major or anything Gov/Policy related. </p>
<p>I'm torn between ED1ing Wesleyan or Hamilton, and I plan on Regular Decisioning the rest of the schools on this list (I know they are way too good for me). I need some safeties or matches that, while less competitive, are comparable to these colleges. Here's my resume: </p>
<p>I am the field hockey captain, President of my school's NHS chapter, first chair cellist, an actress in my school's drama each year, and editor of the School Newspaper. I've also tutored for a nearby low-income neighborhood, been extensively involved in other leadership: including Class Presidency and School Senate membership, participated in the school musical, and played basketball for two years. I also help lead Service Committee (school-wide blood drive, fundraisers). I've taken every AP and Honors course that my school offers and recieved all As. So like a 4.33 weighted and a 4.00 nonweighted GPA I think. </p>
<p>My test scores aren't horrible (well my math is), but they're not great:
660 Critical Reading
610 Math
730 Writing</p>
<p>And ACTS are a little worse
32 English
31 Writing
26 Math
26 Science
27 Reading</p>
<p>So 28.</p>
<p>But a lot of these schools are test-optional? I would appreciate maybe a "chance me" and help finding a safety school (or a match school). </p>
<p>You really should look for your safety and match schools first (as the odds are very high that you will end up at one of them). You should figure out which schools on your list are test optional. Here is a list (but look at the footnotes where they are noted):</p>
<p>Your test scores are going to be quite low for pretty much any of these schools that aren’t test optional. I don’t see a hook, so your odds are not going to be very good for those schools.</p>
<p>Also, have you run net price calculators for these schools? A safety has to be truly affordable. What is your state of residence? Have you considered American?</p>
<p>how much will your parents pay? For a school to be a safety, you have to know that you have the funds to attend, as well as knowing that you’d be accepted.</p>
<p>What’s your parents’ budget? Have you run the Net Price Calculator on these colleges</p>
<p>Your odds of getting in are very low (unless you have a hook you haven’t mentioned. A “hook” is that you fulfill an institutional need, ie., they’re specifically looking for people with some of your characteristics).Honestly I wouldn’t waste an ED app on any one of these colleges, but after all you may want to use ED to recalibrate your list.</p>
<p>Where do you live?
What are you looking for in a school (laid back/competitive, politically involved and liberal/conservative, influential Greek Life/no Greek Life, intellectual/preprofessional…)?</p>
<p>I will presume that you and your parents are mindful of finances, and will exclude finances from my suggestions. Your list consists primarily of small, liberal arts colleges, and so I suggest New College of Florida. My son is there now. He had lower grades, higher test scores, and comparable extracurriculars. Claremont-McKenna was one of his reaches (he did not even attempt the Ivies or ultra-selective colleges like Pomona). He did not get in, but applied because he had enough leadership activities on his resume to feel it was worth a try. He has the same academic interests as you (ie. public policy/poli. sci.). You have a decent shot at Occidental, and they have some intriguing options like the “Campaign Semester” and a semester at the UN. Willamette is a solid low-match for you, if not a safety. They offer a 3-3 BA/JD program, and they are right across the street from the Oregon Statehouse for internship opportunities. Goucher is also a low-match, with easy access to DC for internships. If American is not too big for your tastes it would also be a low-match (even a modest rise in test scores would make it a safety, with a strong likelihood of merit aid). Considering the list you have, I think you could just spend a few minutes on the “Colleges That Change Lives” site, and find a few places where your stats are well above average and add them as safeties. Many are test-optional, also. </p>
<p>My parents will pay the highest tuition if they know I’ll be happy there. </p>
<p>Right, I want to use ED for that extra boost. So there’s no way to concretely define a hook because it all depends on how the college reacts to my resume. What if my mom has breast cancer, I’ve recently been in a car accident, I have a brother at Georgetown, and I’m a Mennonite? Are any of those “hooks?” If I don’t submit my test scores, what’s wrong with my application? LIke what drags it down? Are my ECs not strong enough? </p>
<p>My NHS chapter has developed a pretty strong relationship with a Romanian school, so I’ve helped lead a fundraiser “Penny Power” to pay for a furnace for that school, and I’m selling tons of cookies (bc I’m passionate about food and education) each month this year in order to help pay for one of those Romanian kid’s college tuitions. Someone in my area recently committed suicide, so I’m working to coordinate a Suicide Prevention and Awareness Night (with a speaker and a Robin Williams movie). I’m also running the Blood Drive this year, even though blood freaks me out. </p>
<p>I’m in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, so I don’t live anywhere super far from the schools I’m looking at. </p>
<p>Laid back, politically involved–not necessarily liberal, but definitely not conservative, no Greek Life to only some, and then preprofessional definitely: I want to go to Law School. </p>
<p>I think you will probably get into some of the colleges you listed above, with better odds at the test-optional schools, but I don’t know if any are true safeties.I was pretty generous in my definition of a safety. You’ll find people here on CC telling students with test scores >2200/33 and high GPAs that they need to apply to colleges with 75%+ acceptance rates. </p>
<p>The College of New Jersey is another possible safety. Costs are roughly the same in and out of state for both of these and your test scores are fine. </p>
<p>To me it seems that the schools on your list are reaches/maybe high matches with your standardized test scores. I agree that you can look at some test optional schools. Or else I’d look at some more in the range of Skidmore, Bates, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall with maybe Muhlenberg and or Goucher as a safety.</p>
<p>None of those are hooks. A hook is being a recruited athlete, an under represented minority, a legacy, or having some unusual or outstanding accomplishment. </p>
<p>When you say your parents will pay the tuition, have you run the net price calculators with them? Just to make sure they know what full price really is these days (although if I read your posts correctly, you probably have a brother who is full pay at Georgetown?).</p>
<p>My son has similar interests with higher test scores and GPA and some of the same colleges on his reach list as yours (Hamilton and Haverford) but has decided not to apply to Brown or Bowdoin (schools he really likes) because he does not think he has much chance of being accepted. He also realizes he will probably end up at a match or safety so he built his list starting with safeties that he would be happy to attend.</p>
<p>Some of his safeties that might work for you are Beloit, St. Lawrence, Dickinson, College of Wooster, Muhlenberg and St. Mary’s. He also really liked Goucher, but will probably not apply. </p>