hi guys! I’m going to be a senior next year and i was looking through my college list and I realized that basically all of my schools were reaches. So, based off my stats what do you think would be good target or safeties?
ACT: C32 E34 M31 R34 S30 superscore:33
UWGPA: 3.99 (one A- in AP Physics)
wGPA: 4.13
Rank: 2/350
Took 4 APs junior year and taking 5 senior year
Extracurriculars: Key club secretary, Student council secretary, math club member, nhs, varsity soccer all years, varsity cross country(joined junior year but was on varsity first year I joined), volunteer at a home for severely mentally and physically disabled people every week
State: IL
School type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income: 200k
My current reach schools are northwestern, tufts, washU, duke, uchicago, Vanderbilt
I’m open to looking at any state and my family doesn’t have any financial restraints. Also I usually prefer most mid-sized schools.
I’m interested in studying either psychology or economics
Privates: NYU, Wake Forest, Tulane, Boston College, U of Rochester, Brandeis, Northeastern, Boston U, Lehigh, Reed, Oberlin, Bates, Macalester, Colorado College, U of Richmond, Lafayette, several others
Match/Low match:
In-state public: UIUC
OOS public: Most others not mentioned under low reach/high match category
Privates: UMiami, George Washington, American, SMU, Occidental, Holy Cross, St. Olaf, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Sewanee, Lawrence, Beloit, Franklin & Marshall, many others
Safeties: Other Illinois state schools, less selective private schools
Definitions:
High reach: 1-5% chance
Reach: 5-15%
Low Reach: 15-25%
High Match: 25-40%
Match: 40-60%
Low Match: 60-90%
Safety: 90+%
I would agree saying the Vanderbilt is a reach schools, as I have heard that they seriously consider standardized testing scores and 32 is a bit on the low side for them. Safeties and targets may be Lehigh, Holy Cross, local state schools, UConn, Syracuse, and Elon.
You might also consider Miami University in Oxford, OH (one of the original “Public Ivies”), you would be very competitive there in terms of admission.
You are right in Tulane’s sweet spot, but you must show interest. Emphasize the research oriented nature of the school and the opportunities for undergraduates (do that with as much specificity as possible), the high student satisfaction, the international focus, and not only the culture of New Orleans but also the opportunities to make an impact on some of the very needy communities in the city. Best of luck to you!
@citymama@usualhopeful: Unless an applicant is a D-1 athlete, a URM, a first-generation college student, or has much more impressive ECs than what the OP has presented, then the reality is that Duke and Vandy are not going to take them without a 33+ ACT and a weighted GPA of 4.5+; and even then I suspect that more in the way of ECs will be required. Vandy and Duke both have an overall acceptance rate of 12%, and they will have the pick of applicants with amazing stats and ECs. I’d say that the chances of the OP getting accepted at Duke or Vandy is like the chances of me hooking up with Kim Kardashian: Possible? Yes. Likely? No.
Seems like you prefer schools in/near urban areas. You might consider Fordham (you can apply non-binding EA as a safety), Villanova, GW. URochester, BU, BC, Brandeis to name a few. Run the Supermatch function to the left.
@gandalf78: I think your analysis is off. You’re basically saying that an unhooked applicant with average to above-average numbers for these schools has virtually no chance of getting in. Or, put another way, that virtually all applicants with below-average numbers that get in are hooked. These are not small schools, so even if the percentage of hooked applicants is significant, they still have to accept many others. And I don’t think the percentage of hooked applicants is even that high (maybe 25%). As others have said, these schools may be unlikely, but certainly not impossible.
Unhooked applicants with average numbers and average ECs (for these schools–obviously the original poster is a very accomplished girl) stand very little chance of getting into these highly competitive schools. That is reality. Read the forums for these schools and look at the kids who aren’t accepted. It’s ridiculous but it is reality. Definitely apply to some of these reaches and it’s entirely possible to get into 1 or more of them but there are lots of kids with great stats who don’t get into any reaches. There seem to be a lot of students who only apply to reaches and safeties they don’t want to attend. @honey15 is doing a good thing looking for the target and safety options and trying to convince her that her reaches are likely doesn’t do her a service. Look at a school like Columbia. They have over 50% of their students with some type of diverse background. That statistic doesn’t happen accidentally. ED would definitely be a good option to get a better chance at a highly competitive school if there is an obvious choice since finances aren’t an issue.
Your statement doesn’t follow (and overall you seem to be half-agreeing/half-disagreeing).
I (and I believe the others) might agree she stands “very little chance” of getting in to Duke or Vanderbilt (or some of these other reach schools). No one is saying she shouldn’t look for targets and safeties. The point is, “very little chance” is not the same as “not going to happen”. Saying she shouldn’t bother applying to these schools, without a more comprehensive consideration of her whole situation, is what would be doing her a disservice. She might really like them, they might be very good fits for her, in which case, she should give them a shot.
(These comments are a little bit about slight differences in semantics; but there is a significant distinction here.)
Most of us are parents communicating with very sensitive young adults. Trying to nicely make them understand that for these schools they are average if not below is being helpful. There are huge numbers of kids just like this that we see every Spring not understanding why despite being constantly told by parents and their schools that they are the best of the best that they aren’t accepted to any of these top 20 schools and they have only safeties they don’t like to choose from. There is a delicate balance between the reality of admissions and a student like this that is clearly talented just perhaps not in the specific ways some of these schools seem to appreciate more.
You were certainly among the more optimistic posters on this thread. This entire thread has become a total waste of time for the poor OP. She’s a good student asking the right questions but instead of getting help she gets a bunch of adults arguing over slight differences in statistical interpretation. Nice.