Seeking suggestions for 1-2 more high match/reaches

College Search & Selection
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<p>Son #2 is a senior and we are fairly far along in the college process. He has a clear number one ED choice as well as a few matches and safer schools. However, if ED does not pan out, we are thinking he needs a couple of more high match/low reach schools to fill out his complete college list. There is only one other school so far (in addition to his ED school) that he is really excited about although he would be "fine" at a few of the others. </p>

<p>We live in VA - son would prefer not to be more than about 5-6 hours from home, but is willing to branch out a bit if necessary (for example, we are considering Emory as a reach b/c it seems like a good fit and is an easy one hour nonstop flight from DC to ATL). </p>

<p>Interested in a small-mid sized school (about 2,000-8,000). Not urban like GW, Pitt or NY, but American-type campus okay. Wants to major in history and thinking law school, but who knows.... Not really interested in fraternity scene (ok if school has, just doesn't want it to dominate school life or be a must in order to have a social life). Cost is not a deciding factor. Not really looking for a super competitive intense place, but does want others who share his love of learning/reading and have intellectual curiosity. </p>

<p>Top 5%</p>

<p>4.0 UW (all A's)</p>

<p>9 AP's (including Calc AB and BC, Physics, Eng Lang and Lit, US Hist, World Hist, Govt, French). So far three 4's and one 5 (AP Calc AB).</p>

<p>SAT's (weakest part of app - solid just not special): Superscore of 660M/700CR/700W. (Yes, a 5 on AP Calc, but a 660 math...not really representative at all, but he's tried a few times. Too late to take on the ACT and SAT math just not a click). </p>

<p>Stong EC's but not that unusual: 4 year varsity athlete, 4 years choir (all-district jr. year), 4 years musical, debate team, prez of youth group, summer job, internship, special olympics coach, and more. A few decent awards, but not super big. </p>

<p>To give a feel....Favorites so far = Franklin and Marshall and William and Mary. Did not love UVA. Liked American and Richmond. Safer schools - Mary Washington and VA Tech (hopefully with honors program option). Not really interested in Lehigh or Bucknell. Thinks Wake and Washington and Lee may be too fratty/conservative. </p>

<p>Going to visit Vassar and Skidmore as potential reach/match options. Also considering Emory? Tufts? </p>

<p>Are Emory, Vassar, Tufts totally out of reach? Other possibilities? Anything we should drop? Add? Consider? Just don't want to miss anything great, but don't want to go crazy or focus on schools where no real chance. We are running out of time for visits. :-)</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

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<p>I am only familiar with Emory but I think it is a high match. I wanted to remind you that Emory likes demonstrated interest.</p>

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<p>Take one more shot at the math sat</p>

<p>my son raised his math SAT score from a 660, to a 700, with zero studying</p>

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<p>Lafayette?</p>

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<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>@moreover - you really think high match? Not crazy reach? we are aware they care about interest(and he has already contacted them and requested info) so the big question is whether it is worth the time and expense to go visit -if the school could be a real possibility, we may go for it, but if just not realistic we don’t want to “waste” our time. Thoughts? </p>

<p>@floridadad - thanks. He is registered for October so could make a last minute call to go try SAT one more time, but after 3 tries, we are thinking we need to assume this will be the score. Practices have often been over 700 so you never know, but it is probably not a good idea to count on it at this point. </p>

<p>We’ve considered Lafayette as well as Dickinson and they are sort of on the list in the back of our minds. Do you think Lafayette could be too party/fraternity oriented? Definitely a possibility. </p>

<p>Anyone else have thoughts on whether Vassar or Emory could be good reaches? Any other schools we be overlooking? :-)</p>

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<p>travel, I think you’re stressing way too much over your son’s SAT scores. All A’s, top 5%, sports + music – this is a winning combination. Nothing wrong with his choices, but in my opinion he could aim higher.</p>

<p>I would take the SATI one more time then forget about it. Again, this is just my opinion, but I believe that strong grades, rank, ECs and life experience can compensate for relatively weak scores, especially at LACs and mid-sized privates. Admissions understand that not everyone excels in math! I’m not so familiar with the ACT so I’m not sure what you mean by too late to take on. </p>

<p>What I would concentrate on is crafting a compelling application. Submit a music performance recording, even if he has no intention of majoing in music. Schools need singers for all those a capella groups. :)</p>

<p>Make sure his essays and recommendations are as good as they can be. They need to communicate a strong sense of who he is and what he will bring to the community. If interviews are offered, make an effort to take advantage of them.</p>

<p>Is he interested in participating in varsity sports? If yes, contact the coaches now. </p>

<p>Are there any diversity factors: First in family, ethnic, racial? Significant life experiences? If not, don’t worry, selective colleges are full of smart, talented middle class kids.</p>

<p>Tufts would be a reach, Vassar would be a match, Skidmore almost a safety. I’m not familiar with Emory’s admissions. </p>

<p>Some other LACs to look at: Reach/Match: Haverford, Bowdoin. Reach: Wesleyan, Williams. Williams is definitely selective, but they really like students who have all three, academics, sports and arts, and who indicate that they will contribute to the campus community across all three.</p>

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<p>

Lafayette has de-emphasized its fraternities in recent years. When I attended many moons ago ('82 grad), there were 14 fraternities. Now they are down to five.</p>

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<p>If you go to Tufts to have a look-see, why not check out Boston College?</p>

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<p>I think you should go visit Tufts. It’s a reach, but might be worth the visit.</p>

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<p>Agree about BC, would applicant object to attending a Catholic school?
Very selective, too.</p>

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<p>Many thanks to ALL who have responded. </p>

<p>@momrath - I really appreciate your input. It is sometimes hard to get perspective on how strong a candidate he may be (we live in a pretty small area where very few kids go out of state - we do not have many kids go to top schools). It’s good to know my gut feeling that he could add a few more reaches and perhaps be competitive at some of them is not totally off base. He is truly an awesome kid with many strengths and interests. He has had 2 interviews so far and they went very well - I agree that giving attention to essays and interviews will be a good way to strengthen his overall chances. He is not a super star in any one thing, but loves the things he does and will want to be active in campus activites.
In his case, I don’t think a music recording would be strong enough to help, but I do think he plans to emphasize his commitment to both sports and the arts. He will not participate in his sport (swimming) at the varsity level, but is very interested in club level/intramural stuff…and will swim for fitness and pleasure no matter where he ends up as it is his favorite form of exercise as well as his mental health/stress decompressor. :slight_smile: In fact, Haverford might have been a top choice for him if it had a pool. I think Williams might be too competitive and out of reach, but I think he’d like Bowdoin (if he’d go that far) and Wes might be ideal - we will look at that much more closely. One of the reasons our list is a bit limited is because up until very recently he insisted he did not want to be more than 4 hours from home. </p>

<p>@LC82 - thanks. I’ve been doing some more reading as well and agree it would be worth a visit. </p>

<p>@buzzers, jshain, SLUMOM…I’m sure he’d be happy to visit Tufts although I do think it is a pretty high reach… He is not interested in a Catholic school although I have heard only great things about BC (and 2 cousins of mine are current students).</p>

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<p>TF, Growing up in a small town (if that’s what you mean by small area) can be a plus in admissions. I can’t stress enough the importance of diversity of all types at selective colleges. I also can’t stress enough the importance of multifaceted talents and activities at small – and some medium sized – colleges. </p>

<p>I’m obviously not in a position to judge his musical talent, but I wouldn’t eliminate the idea of submitting a performance supplement. What the colleges are looking for is not professional level talent, as they would at a conservatory. What they are looking for is someone who will continue to participate in musical activities and contribute to the many campus groups that need commited singers.</p>

<p>Same for sports – some schools, notably Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin – are known for active healthy student bodies. This doesn’t apply exclusively to varsity or team sports, but is part of the school’s prevailing personality – healthy body, healthy mind kind of thing – and carries over to club and impromptu sports and outdoorsy activities. Exactly as you say, a mental health/stress decompressor.</p>

<p>My suggestion would be to visit some of the New England, Upstate NY campuses – Williams, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Amherst, Hamilton – to get an idea of how he relates to the ambience. He sounds like a good fit for all of them. Also, closer to home, has he considered Davidson? I like Wesleyan a lot, but the culture is somewhat different. Skidmore, Vassar, Haverford wouldn’t seem to fit as strongly as some other LACs.</p>

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<p>Liberal arts schools in Pennsylvania and south are more fratty and conservative, so looking at some northeast liberal arts schools does make sense. I would be concerned about a 1360 too, though, because it’s below the median for schools like Williams, Amherst and I think that makes it tough. Definitely look at Middlebury which is a little bigger than some LAC’s (2400 students); he is also below the median but a little less so. They accept 3 SAT II’s as an alternative, though, if that helps. Hamilton and Trinity would be more likely. Maybe add one reach but not high reach LAC (Middlebury/Bowdoin) and one high match LAC (Hamilton/Trinity)?</p>

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<p>Lots of good LACs here in PA, but, yes Hitch123, they are very fratty/conservative. Lafayette’s admissions director was very clear that the 35% of Greeks dominate the social scene. Franklin and Marshall is not much better.</p>

<p>Other than Haverford, Dickinson is the only school (in PA) S is willing to explore further.</p>

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<p>Thanks again - many good suggestions and interesting points of view. It seems that reputation and impression vary a lot by school and individual experience. </p>

<p>For example, our perception while visiting F&M (and we spoke to at least 8 students and spent a lot of time talking with our fantastic guide - who was not Greek) was that fraternity life was active, but not overwhelming or necessary for a happy social life. Others have a different impression. When my husband was a student at Dickinson (and that was MANY years ago, he felt that joining a fraternity was a “must” for social life but that seems to have changed a lot). I have always thought of Lafayette as fairly fraternity-oriented, but the statistics (Fiske 2011 says only 20% of men are Greek) don’t seem to indicate this is so (and the stats vary as Lisabees heard it was 35%, although there may be higher participation among women). Also according to Fiske, 34% of men at Hamilton participate in fraternity life which is higher than the stats for Richmond, F&M, Lafayette, and Dickinson. Of course, it is not just the % that matters, but what other options are available and how vibrant the campus culture is in general. </p>

<p>By the way, we are not against Greek life - DH, DS1, and I were all Greek. Just that for DS2, so far, it is not his inclination, and he does not want to be in a place where it dominates the social life. Also, the presence or absence of fraternities is by no means the only or even primary consideration in finalizing his college list. </p>

<p>To jump around a bit…
If he WERE to add more of a “super reach,” do others agree with hitch that Midd or Bowdoin or possibly Davidson would be more likely than Amherst or Williams? They all seem super competitive and probably just a notch above his stats. I think he’d like all of them (and maybe Wes). He is not interested in Hamilton for whatever reason. And not Trinity either. And if we are starting to talk about major distances from home, he has always been intrigued by Kenyon.He still wants to visit Skidmore and Vassar so I think we will visit those two and perhaps add in one or two more schools and call it “enough.” It gets to the point of overthinking, and you can’t look and consider everywhere.</p>

<p>A good solid LAC with good history program and strong law school admits, a pool (club swimming a bonus), good music/arts/choir, at least a small Jewish population, and genuinely nice kids who like to learn without being cutthroat will make him happy, whether it is ranked #4 or #40. Close to home and/or easy to access from DC.</p>