Sanity check on S’s college list

Parents Forum
1

Looking for a sanity check on S’s college list. Any feedback much appreciated.

S’s stats

UW GPA 3.90 ish
ACT: 33 (took it twice) 34 superscore STEM subscore 35
AP Macro/Micro/Comp Sci (5s)
SAT Math 2 800, Bio 700
Top 10% of 350

Senior course load: 5 APs Chem, Bio, CalcBC, Lang. CGov. Spanish honors. Would have taken more APs junior year but some are only offered every other year.
ECs good, Recs good (he hopes), Essays good
No hooks. Asian. Dual citizen (Aus)
Public school. Northeast.

Intended major: Chem or Bio.

SAFETIES
Umass Amherst (early)
Syracuse

MATCHES
Brandeis
Boston College
Northeastern

REACHES
Williams
Yale (early)
Brown
Columbia

REACHES 2 (he may add one of these)
Stanford
Duke
Northwestern

Would you add or remove anything on his list?

Thanks!

2

I am confident that he will get into his safety schools. If he likes them and they are affordable, then your list looks good. Knowing me I would probably add another safety.

3

Since you are the parent, have you checked the net price calculator on all schools to check that they are likely to be affordable?

If a school is only affordable if a large enough merit scholarship is earned, then the reach/match/safety assessment must be made on the basis of the scholarship, not just admission.

4

Looks quite sane (assuming affordability on the matches and safeties). Good luck!

5

I think it looks good. Since he doesn’t seem to mind cold/snow, has he looked at University of Rochester? I am risk averse and we were looking for merit. So I would be more likely to add something in the match and safety categories so I could be certain he would have options in the end.

6

Assuming 1) schools are affordable and 2) he would be happy to attend a safety school then the list looks fine to me. I might add another match or two but that’s just me.

7

Thanks very much for the feedback. Yes we’ve used the Net Price Calculators provided by all these schools. We’ve budgeted for 4 years each for his sibling and him for almost full cost at a private school, but it would be nice to have something left for graduate school. With UMass in-state tuition we can stretch to grad school too unless there’s a major unforeseen job/financial issue.

We’d love to get some merit aid and Northeastern & Syracuse have some scholarships he might qualify for. Brandeis and BC is less of a chance. The reaches all seem more generous but not counting on him getting into any of them.

Please do suggest any safety/match schools that might be a good fit for a kid that loves science but is interested in exploring other areas too. Would love to add some safeties and matches.

8

Thanks for the suggestion @LeftofPisa We’ve not considered Rochester so that might be an option.

Also, he did not like BU and NYU for matches even though we visited. Did not feel like a campus to him.

9

Dickinson, St Lawrence, Rhodes (if he wants to head south) as matches with merit.

10

I would add Northwestern and Duke. If he wants to go to a reach school then he will need few more to improve his chances. If Ithaca isn’t too remote for him then I would also add Cornell.

11

Thank you…will research the southern schools @Midwestmomofboys I think he looked at Rhodes but the others are new to us.

He’s definitely interested in Duke & Northwestern @oldfort Let’s see if he runs out of steam getting the other apps done or has any energy to put into the last three.

Good luck to all your kids!

12

Yes, I would add Northwestern. Maybe have a better chance there than at some other of the reaches and it seems a better fit than some of the matches.

Both my children loved Northwestern - D chose to go elsewhere but S is also applying this year.

13

He should probably have someone proofread his applications to make sure that he doesn’t say Northwestern when he means Northeastern and vice versa.

14

I also think your list is good: American has a nice campus in DC.

15

How about Vassar? They recently built a brand new Chem building.
Johns Hopkins also comes to mind as being strong in the sciences.

16

American isn’t known for science. Rochester is the obvious missing school, but I think he’s got plenty of schools on his list.

17

He liked JHU but it seemed more of a low reach than a match/safety. Did not like Vassar or American that much though my D ( a year behind him) likes them both. I think we might add Rochester to round off the list and hope for the best.

Feel much better about his list now. Thanks so much!!

18

LOL @Marian Yes, mixing them up would be awful!

19

@silver67, I think Rochester may be one of the schools that considers interest but he has time to do that still.

20

I think it’s a good list. Rochester would be an excellent addition, but they do consider interest. meeting with a travelling ad com would help.

I would consider adding Pitt, since they do give merit money to OOS students and have a highly regarded Honors College.