<p>It seems like the schools I have found are either reaches or safeties</p>
<p>Schools I like (reach types): Duke, UVA, Davidson, William and Mary, Wake Forest</p>
<p>Money is somewhat of an issue. I don't want a big school; UVA is the only exception. It seems the schools I like are kind of southern and homogenous, but why I like them has more to due with weather, campuses, and social life. I'm from NJ and pretty liberal, but I've looked at some liberal- type safeties like Goucher and Guilford but I'm not sure if they are too far out there. And its tough to get info on them because they are small and not that well known.</p>
<p>If wake forest is a reach for you then i don't know what to say because you'll be limited to top 50 schools. Check out some average LACs in the top 30 and perhaps some schools like Urochester and George Washington.</p>
<p>Oh okay. Then why'd you list it as a "(reach types)". </p>
<p>It'd be better if you listed your stats since nobody really knows who you are anyways. Maybe you should look at Brown too since it is pretty liberal and a few LACs on the west coast (mainly CA).</p>
<p>Reache types as opposed to safety, but whatever. An actually I'm not really sure whether I'd expect to get in, but that not really what I'm even asking about.</p>
<p>My stats are 3.7 UW GPA with honors, AP, basically hardest possible courseload. 1510/2230 on the SATs. Pretty good ECs although nothing spectacular. So basically what I'm looking for are schools that I can get into but aren't significantly below my level either, not extremly expensive, and in an atleast pretty warm climate on the east coast</p>
<p>I like Brown, but there is no way in hell I'm going to get into Brown. So I;ve forgotten about it</p>
<p>No, I think cesky is very realistic. Wake probably is a solid match. The others are reaches in varying degrees. UVa is notoriously hard for New Jerseyans to get into without really stellar numbers or URM status, and 3.7 is excellent but not outstanding; ditto for the test scores. William and Mary likes to present itself as top notch and maybe it is, so again, a reach for an out of stater. Duke is always difficult, lacrosse scandal notwithstanding, and gets a very strong applicant pool, turning it into an alternative to Penn for northerners who a couple of year ago would have been sure Ivy admits. Davidson is small, doesn't seem to fit your other choices; your numbers are certainly within its range but it is probably still in the sort-of reach category for you unless there is something in your ECs or recs or essay to really catch the eye; I suspect with its recently rising profile, being from the North is no longer much of an edge for the average strong applicant.</p>
<p>I think your safeties show too much of a gap--there is a large middle ground between your reaches and Guilford. You might add also another matchy-reach/reachy-match like Vanderbilt--if you are a student at a strong high school your numbers make you a very solid candidate there, and it has a fine national reputation. You need some solid matches in the Wake Forest category. What about ignoring weather and looking at places like Brandeis, maybe even Colgate, and other cold-weather schools (Bates, Hamilton)? Or, returning to the South, what about being adventurous and looking at Tulane? What about the University of Richmond, which gets some very positive reactions and some not-so positives (and for which your numbers are very strong)? For smaller southern schools that aren't as hard to get into as Davidson but are still really good, you might think about Sewanee (University of the South) and maybe Rhodes.</p>
<p>
[Quote]
I think your safeties show too much of a gap--there is a large middle ground between your reaches and Guilford. You might add also another matchy-reach/reachy-match like Vanderbilt--if you are a student at a strong high school your numbers make you a very solid candidate there, and it has a fine national reputation. You need some solid matches in the Wake Forest category. What about ignoring weather and looking at places like Brandeis, maybe even Colgate, and other cold-weather schools (Bates, Hamilton)? Or, returning to the South, what about being adventurous and looking at Tulane? What about the University of Richmond, which gets some very positive reactions and some not-so positives (and for which your numbers are very strong)? For smaller southern schools that aren't as hard to get into as Davidson but are still really good, you might think about Sewanee (University of the South) and maybe Rhodes.
[/Quote]
</p>
<p>Thanks. The gap is exactly why I started this thread. I've looked into Richmond, and I have noticed what you have about people having different reactions to it. It is also quite expensive for being for what it is. Davidson really is my first choice school. Its smaller than the others but feels bigger than it is. I guess I could open up to goign north a bit but I'm NOT going to a school in the middle of nowhere; being from north eastern NJ, I wouldn't be able to stand it. I'll look into some of these, thanks</p>
<p>I also thought of Vanderbilt right away, like Mattsmom. Rhodes is a good choice. Goucher is a good choice. How about Southern Methodist University? (maybe too conservative). How about Furman?</p>
<p>I think your stats are excellent and that you have a great chance at all the schools you listed (UVA somewhat less). 3.7 with hardest courseload is fine. Your school might not have the grade inflation that many others have.<br>
I would look at Colgate and Rice.</p>
<p>Elon gets far too much attention in these forums. The notion that it comes close to Davidson or Wake Forest academically is beyond a stretch. Wofford though only 1000-1100 students is stronger than Elon as is Furman. Rollins and Stetson in Florida are more in Elon's category.</p>