Suggest Some Safeties To Go With With These Reaches?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>MATCHES AND REACHES:
Amherst, Bowdoin, Brown, Colby, College of William & Mary, Dartmouth, Grinnell, Macalester, Oberlin, Pomona, Rice, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Vassar, Wesleyan, Yale</p>

<p>SAFETIES I'M ALREADY CONSIDERING:
American U, Lewis & Clark, UCSD</p>

<p>SAT: 730 CR, 670 M, 740 W
GPA: 3.7 UW, 4.15 W</p>

<p>Can someone suggest a few more safeties that seem to match with the other schools I have. (I think it's probably easier to suggest similar schools to ones I already like than to give you a long list of all my preferences, right?)</p>

2

<p>Earlham, Pacific Lutheran?</p>

3

<p>Just to let you know…the way the UCs have been with admissions, UCSD may NOT be a safety. </p>

<p>How about a Cal State?</p>

4

<p>You’re right, and I have heard that about the UCs, and that’s one reason that I’m looking into more safeties.</p>

<p>However, I am pretty far above the UCSD admitted student as far as stats go. It still should be relatively safe, right?</p>

5

<p>What state are you in?
Could you raise up your SAT Math score a bit more?
I think if you apply very early and if you’re in Michigan, U of M could be… kind of a safety.</p>

<p>Wisconsin Madison might be a safety too.
Northeastern?
Syracuse?</p>

<p>Also I suggest that you cut down on your college list so you can concentrate on each of your essays :slight_smile: but that;s just my advice!</p>

6

<p>What will your family be able to afford? Do you know what your EFC is?</p>

7

<p>I don’t know where you are in California, but I suggest finding out about the particular UC and their admissions strategies. Some UC’s (I think San Diego is one of them) has a points system.</p>

<p>Your stats are EXCELLENT and on any given year you could get into any or all of them…but because of the budget and the cutbacks there seems to be no rhyme or reason to some of the rejections.</p>

<p>My advice is to make sure you have a couple of safeties that you would really like to go to. And watch out for the particular major you apply to.</p>

8

<p>Puget Sound, Willamette.</p>

9

<p>Since you like Grinnell and Macalester, I suggest taking a look at Kalamazoo and Beloit. Like Macalester, Kalamazoo is in a city, and it’s academically intense, with a structured liberal arts curriculum including wide distribution requirements. Beloit is more arty, and like Brown it doesn’t have many distribution requirements. At both schools you’d expect small classes and close relationships with your professors.</p>

<p>UCSD is not at all a safety for you. If you want a UC safety, look to Santa Cruz.</p>

10

<p>Very few in that top list would be a match – perhaps the midwestern LACs, but definitely not Cal or UCLA unless you are ELC.</p>

<p>UCSD is only a safety if you are ELC. I know of a few kids in our HS who were accepted at Cal or UCLA but rejected by SD.</p>

11

<p>Of all the schools in the top, I’d say only Macalester would be a match. Maybe Vassar too. The rest are reaches, high reaches, or ultra-high reaches.</p>

12

<p>I second Beloit and add, in a similar vein, Knox.</p>

13

<p>U Michigan, U Maryland, UVA, BU, BC</p>

14

<p>Third Beloit (my safety for Grinnell and Macalester and I just HAPPILY sent my deposit last weeK)</p>

<p>Others Like Beloit: Knox, Lawrence U, St. Olaf (not super similar but great LAC), Kalamazoo, Cornell College</p>

15

<p>I also agree with the Beloit and Kalamazoo suggestions. You might also want to look at Goucher, Bennington and Bard.</p>

16

<p>I would say you need more match schools too. I’d look at Bates, Skidmore, Trinity, Conn College.</p>

<p>You will be doing lots of supplements for major reach schools, you may want to cut a few in favor of matches. Colgate also fits with your list and may be a more realistic reach than some of the others.</p>

17

<p>Wow! Thank you everyone for the responses! This is very helpful, especially the insight into UCSD. I will definitely look into Beloit and Kalamazoo, since so many of you suggested it. I’ll take a look at the others too. </p>

<p>By the way, my “list” of schools in the original post isn’t by any means a refined list. I definitely expect to be refining it and most importantly cutting it down in the next few months.</p>

18

<p>How about St. Mary’s College of Maryland? That could serve as a good alternative to people interested in LACs.</p>

19

<p>Bump. Beloit and Evergreen State look interesting.</p>

20

<p>Fordham,Tufts. Did you mention Berkeley there anywhere? I have friends who got into Berkeley but not UCLA or UCSD, and even one who got into Stanford and not UCSD. When people are saying its not a reach, they aren’t lying. What about Cal Poly SLO?</p>