Suggestions for safeties and matches?

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<p>I’m a low-income junior in Michigan from a rural school district, which means they offer very few ECs or opportunities for advanced students. My family’s low income (~22,000, single parent w/ one child) means I’ll need almost my entire tuition covered by scholarships, grants, and work-study. I’m planning on studying music in some capacity, so a good music program/music school is a must, and I’d like it to be 5,000+ students somewhere near a city. I’ve been looking into schools, but all I’ve been able to find are mostly reaches, so I’m hoping I can get some good advice here on safety and match schools.</p>

<p>Colleges (basically all reaches):
Washington University in St. Louis
Pomona
Oberlin (mainly for their amazing conservatory)
Northwestern
University of Chicago
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>GPA: 3.94 UW, though it’s on track to rise to a 4.0 this year
Class Rank: 13 out of 190, though again, it’s going to be higher
Honors and APs: Honors English 10 and 11, AP Bio, AP World History, AP Calculus, AP Composition. No test scores yet as I’m either currently taking them or will be taking them next year. I’m taking five of the six APs offered by my school, btw.
College Courses: 1 year of German/French (next year)</p>

<p>Tests
PSAT: 207 sophomore year, prob. around a 225 for this year; no idea at an actual SAT projection as I haven’t taken a practice yet.
SAT IIs: I haven’t taken any yet, though I’ll probably take World History this year, possibly Biology depending on how I do in the class.
Prac. ACT: 30 overall, with 33 English, 32 reading, 31 science, 24 math (horrible, I know). I’m aiming for about a 32 when I actually take the test.</p>

<p>ECs/Volunteering/Whatever</p>

<p>Music:
4 years in marching band ranked top ten in the state, 1 year as section leader, 7 years in my school’s music program
3 years at Oakland Hills Music Camp, 3 years at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, 1 year at Interlochen
2 years of jazz band; 4 years in a community band; membership in several honors bands/orchestras, both state and local
Gave music lessons for several years
I play piano, trombone, and tuba</p>

<p>Volunteering:
All kinds of tutoring, in and out of school
72 hours in two years of various volunteering through NHS
Nursery/babysitting at my church
I’m planning on finding some other volunteer opportunities around my town within the next year, as I know my hours are way too low.</p>

<p>School Activities:
NHS for two years
Quiz Bowl varsity for four years
Student council/steering committee
Task Group 5, a kind of volunteering group that works at improving life in the school and around the town
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<p>I don’t understand. Many schools use that 4.333 scale, because of A+ grades are given “extra” weight, and/or AP/honors are given extra weight. Are you downgrading your GPA based on a 4.0 scale?</p>

<p>Are you applying to schools that will refigure your GPA that way?</p>

<p>Do you have to do that?</p>

<p>M2CK, I think apps ask for GPA out of a 4.0. The actual GPA and how it is scored will come with the transcript.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids: My school just uses the 4.333 as the top grade for A-pluses. I double-checked, and there’s absolutely no weighting; the AP teachers voluntarily give all their classes a three percent grade boost every marking period. And yes, I recalculated it based on a 4.0 scale. It’s kind of frustrating to see it that low, but it just gives me added incentive to raise it, I guess. ;)</p>