Suggestions for safety schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So it seems like so far my list is mainly high matches and reaches, so I was hoping maybe you guys would have some suggestions.</p>

<p>So here are my stats for the most part</p>

<p>Asian male from NJ
Difficult Public School (consistently ranked in top 10 public schools in NJ, every year ~5-8% go to ivy league schools)
Income: 200k+ (will this help me anywhere? my guidance counselor said at most places no, but is that entirely true?)</p>

<p>SAT: 610 CR 730 M 750 W (my total score went up 240 from Oct 06 to May 07, will that look fishy?)
SAT2: 740 Math 2, 560 Bio, 640 Chem
ACT: 33 (32 E, 34 M, 31 R, 35 S, 30 E/W, 9 Essay)
GPA: 4.2 (W)/4.3 (my school does GPA wierdly, an A in a regular class is a 4.3, but in an AP or Honors class is a 5.0, then they go down .3-.4 each step, so like an A- is a 4.0 i regular and a 4.7 in AP/Honors)
Rank: School does deciles on weighted GPA, I'm in the 2nd one, but ranking wise I'm towards the top of the range of that decile, so I'd say 10-15%</p>

<p>Course Load:
9th Grade (hardest): H English, H Alg2/Trig, H Physical Science, French 3
10th Grade (hardest): AP Bio (3 on exam), H Intro to Analysis, H US History, H English, French 4
11th Grade (difficult, but not most difficult): AP Chem (4 on exam), AP Calc AB (5 on exam), H English, US History 2, French 5
12th Grade (one of most difficult): AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP French Language, AP English Lit; I wanted to do either AP Stat or AP World, but neither fit in my schedule so I took Sociology and Intro to Econ, will that look bad?</p>

<p>Class Size: 252
School Size: 1053</p>

<p>ECs (I know they're lacking, any ideas on anything I could do other than more community service?)
Viola: 4 years
Piano: 12 years
Orchestra: 3 years
Teaching Piano: 2 years
Babysitting
NJ Math League: 4 years
Book Club: 4 years
Volunteering: mainly at Susan G Koman, but I suppose it might look good since I'm a guy?</p>

<p>So yeah, that looks like it. If there is anything that I seemed to have missed
just say so and I'll try to get it. Most likely I'll be submitting my ACT scores.</p>

<p>I'm planning on majoring in either business or economics (business over econ unless business isn't offered)</p>

<p>U of Chicago (EA)
NYU (Stern)
USC
BU
Brown
Rutgers</p>

<p>So that's pretty much all I have right now. Rutgers is still a toss up if I apply since it doesn't appeal to me, but since I'm in-state I've heard I should have a really good shot. But other than BU, the rest are high matches or reaches, so any suggestions? And how would you rank those for me? For the most part I want to be in a city as well.</p>

2

<p>Syracuse and GettysBurg.</p>

3

<p>Oh, I forgot to mention photography in EC's, but I'm not sure if it's worthwhile since I'm not planning on sending a portfolio since I'm not planning on majoring in any sort of art, but would it be worthwhile to send one if I can get one together?</p>

4

<p>Thanks Olasco!</p>

<p>And I don't know if this will affect anything, but my sister goes to USC. Also, my family are British citizens (Permanent American Residents), but are in the process of applying for American citizenship. Also, only my dad went to college (in Hong Kong) and my parents moved to the US when I was 3. Not sure if that will affect anything. I've also done a fair amount of travelling in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.</p>

5

<p>No it wont affect you and the fact that you dont need aid may help you in some schools.</p>

6

<p>Fordham, American, Northeastern could all be safeties</p>

7

<p>anyone else? and what are my chances at my current list?</p>

8

<p>no one else?</p>

9

<p>I would add Virginia (business) or Michigan (business) or UCSD (econ) to your list of match schools, Miami of Florida as a safe match school for business, and Indiana and either Fordham or Rutgers to your list of safeties (all top business schools).</p>

<p>P.S. BU (a good business program) is already a safety school for you in my view--so you may not need that many more.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I was actually counting on BU being a safety, especially since almost all people from my school who apply get in there, normally around 10-15 apply a year from a class of around 200 students.</p>

<p>And calcruzer, do you really think UVA, UMich, and UCSD would be matches? I considered UVA and UMich before, but I thought UVA would be a reach and UMich a Match/Reach for me since I'm out of state. If they would be a match though, then I'll have to look into them again.</p>