<p>I have been looking for some match and saftey and match schools (as most that I like are probably considered reaches) and I am having trouble figuring out what schools qualify as which. I am very interested in physics and astronomy. I would like schools that are strong in sciences but have a good engineering program if I decide to do that, I haven't been exposed to any engineering type things so I don't know if I would prefer that to a more traditional science education, but it is a possibility. Stats: 31 on ACT (have to retake regardless as part of high school testing req), I have a cirriculum so challenging our consuler had to make exceptptions for me as most students aren't allowed to take so many hard classes, 4.0 uw, NHS cum laude award in progress, I have been a mentor to autistic children for 7 years, varsity swimming 3 years, tutoring high school students since 9th grade, girl scouts gold award in progress, in a garage band and have various awards from high school. I have recently toured and liked: Harvard, Princeton, MIT and U of Mich. I live in Michigan. MIT is my favorite, I loved the atmosphere. The fin aid at HPMIT would be full ride for me if I got in. So yeah any suggestions on safties and matches would be great. Also what would U of Mich be considered in my case?</p>
<p>Schools are considered your safety if you are sure to get in. Safety is recommended to be sure you don’t get shut out and believe me, it has happened to top students here before. You might like to consider applying Early Action to Michican. It is non-binding, and by doing so, you will get your admissions decision early. This way, if you are in, you have your safety and all your other schools can be reaches. However, this may not allow you to use EA at one of your more desired schools. Carefully read the policy on that. But I think you are in at Michigan.</p>
<p>Match schools are schools where you are well in range of stats of accepted students and they have reasonable acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Reach schools are schools where you may have some areas in the lower range of accepted students. Some schools are reach just because of the extremely low admit rate. That includes HYPSM as well as many other top ranked schools with tiny admit rates, because they must reject many qualified students due to volume of applications.</p>
<p>Be aware that for Engineering, many schools require you to apply to the School of Engineering directly (Michigan.) Often you cannot transfer in later.</p>
<p>Yeah if I went to mich I would probably go in for a ba. Thanks</p>
<p>Safeties good in the things you’re interested in: Michigan State, Arizona, Colorado-Boulder, Waterloo (Ontario), Toronto (Ontario), Purdue, Case Western Reserve, Wisconsin.</p>
<p>^ Case Western is not a safety, more a match.</p>
<p>How many folks with a 4.0 unweighted/31 ACT does CWRU reject?</p>
<p>You should be thinking BS not BA.</p>
<p>Yeah a BS if that’s the way it is at UMich then, I didn’t check, but that would be my intention.</p>
<p>What was your Math ACT score? Which SAT Subject tests did you take and what were your scores? What about Rice? Ga Tech? Virg Tech?</p>
<p>33 on ACT math and 660 on SAT II math. I took these as a 10th grader and with no prep so when I take them both again this year they should improve.</p>
<p>And if possible I woul like to go to someplace in the Midwest or on the east coast. I need a winter and I can’t stand super hot weather all the time, coming from Michigan too hot is like 80 and 90s. I can deal with it for a little while but nothing where hot is the norm year round.</p>
<p>You might want to look at the average stats of the incoming class of the students at the schools you picked - Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UMich - and see where your GPA and scores fall. Will they be reaches, matches or safeties? What about these schools do you like? Location? Size? </p>
<p>After you identify 5-10 criteria that are important to you in a college, select 10-20 schools that meet these criteria. After researching these schools on one of the general comparison college web sites, see if you still like them and if they are reaches, matches or safeties. Keep doing this until you have 2-4 in each category. This is one way to develop a list of schools you want to attend. The only major differences between each school is the difficulty getting in.</p>
<p>Is there a reason why the University of Chicago is not on your list? Its Astronomy and Physics departments are really awesome. </p>
<p>Also, at Michigan, it is perfectly possible to transfer from LSA to the CoE. Many students with 3.3 GPAs in the required science classes (Calculus 1, 2, 3 and DFQs, Physics and Computer Science) do it.</p>
<p>I didn’t even think of U of Chicago. But it is now on my list. Do you think that is a match or a reach?</p>
<p>Chicago is almost always a reach, but if your essays are good, your chances improve significantly. You definitely have the grades and ACT scores to get in.</p>
<p>Thanks. I would be happy at Chicago I think, I love the city.</p>