<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Wash U</li>
<li>University of Michigan </li>
</ol>
<p>I have other choices further down the list, but I’m pretty confident I can get into UMich. I originally thought the fewer schools I apply to the better, but then a professor advised me to expand my list to as many as 12 schools! </p>
<p>Is it better apply to a whole range of schools just to have a lot of options or to minimize your list for the sake of focus? What if I get into Mich early rolling?</p>
<p>If I were to add schools I would add: (Northwestern, UCLA, Duke, Notre Dame, USC, Princeton, and Rice)</p>
<p>Rank your schools in terms of how much you would want to go there. The assumption is that you would go to any school on the list over any school lower on the list. It is important to have at least one safety. </p>
<p>Apply to UofM as early as possible. If you get in, you can cross if schools that are lower on the list if you really want to. Apply to all schools higher on the list.</p>
<p>The three others on your list are really selective. If you would be incredibly happy at UofM, then apply to those three and nowhere else if you wouldn’t go to any other school over UofM (other than the three, of course). If you get rejected, apply to all schools including the safety.</p>
<p>This is assuming that finances won’t be a problem. Where do you live? Are you in-state anywhere? If finances are a problem, make sure that you can afford OOS Michigan tuition.</p>
<p>Yes you need to apply to more than four schools. Make sure you apply to 2-3 safety schools too. College admissions around this time is extremely competitive at the top-ranked schools. There is a high chance you may get rejected by all four schools. If finances are an issue, do not apply to more than 8 schools.</p>
<p>Well Umich (Ann arbor presumably) does have about a 50% admission rate with a relatively low range of SAT scores. Someone with scores about 2100 would be above the 75th percentile.
So couldn’t someone with a 2100+ SAT score consider Ann Arbor to be a safety school, considering it has a very high acceptance rate?</p>
<p>Tyler, do you plan to apply to these four RD or not? As I said, PLEASE apply to UofM as early as possible, because it has rolling admission. You will find out your decision before you have to apply to other schools (I hope several weeks). You need to be prepared to apply to a safety in case you don’t get into UofM. Basically, you need to have a backup plan in case you get rejected. I think that Stanford SCEA still allows you to apply rolling admission to UofM. you might consider applying to both of those early if you have good stats. Go from there, once you get your decisions in early to mid December.</p>
<p>But definitely have a backup plan in case you get rejected from both early.</p>
<p>Unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll get into UM, I’d tack on a few safeties. There’s always that story of the kid who got rejected from all the universities he applied to…</p>
<p>If you just want to get into the “best” university you can, where the ones on your list are all highly selective, I’d consider applying to a few more on your list.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s exactly what I’m planning on doing. I’m going to submit my application to UMich by the first week of September, and then apply to Stanford SCEA. And if I don’t get into UMich rolling, I’ll apply to UIUC regular, which I do not want to attend but am a shoo-in for.</p>
<p>Okay, sounds good. So, here would be the final plan if I were you. Mine will be somewhat similar:</p>
<p>1) Focus on getting the UMich app done ASAP</p>
<p>2) Focus on getting the Stanford app done ASAP</p>
<p>3) Complete your list, including safeties, matches, and reaches. Then rank the schools according to where you want to go.</p>
<p>4) Complete as many supplements as possible while waiting for the results. I would focus on the schools that are above UMich on the list if you are really confident you’ll get in there.</p>
<p>5) Just apply to schools more highly ranked than the highest-ranked school you get into early.</p>
<p>I am assuming you are an Illinois resident. If you are an engineering major, I would still consider applying to Northwestern in addition to Michigan and Stanford. It has a respectable undergrad engineering program and would be an “in-state” school for you.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to factor in financial considerations, if you’ll need financial aid. Getting $$ from Michigan if you’re OOS will be tough. So think about financial safeties as well, unless money is not a concern.</p>