<p>Hi! My grandmother for each of her grandchildren's junior summer would take them on a trip of their choosing. In my case, my options are limited. I would really want to explore Europe, but she wants to investigate our German lineage only. So, I decided on a trip that would traverse the county and allow me to visit each college on my list. However, before I do that, I want to narrow in on about 15 colleges. My SAT, while not taken, is, based on practice tests, about a 2250. I have a 4.0 GPA , I'm 1/85, and I heavily delve into my extracurricular activities, earning me both state and national recognition. I'm from the rural Texas Panhandle, so no hooks besides geographic diversity. The schools on the list below have the majors I want, and I'm not concerned with the reputation of individual programs. At this caliber, they don't really make much difference. Additionally, I would be excited to live at any of these institutions. Please inform me if this list includes the proper amount of match, reach, and safety schools. Here it is:</p>
<p>Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Columbia
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt
Rice
Oberlin
NYU
USC
UT-Austin
University of North Texas</p>
<p>Looks like you have two safeties, UT Austin and North Texas, based on your class rank (which should make you an auto-admit to any Texas public university). You can remove any other schools which you do not desire more than these two.</p>
<p>Depending on your possible majors, there may be differences in major strength and subarea emphasis between the schools (particularly at the smaller schools). Checking faculty rosters and course offerings may be helpful.</p>
<p>Take the trip to Germany. Get her to fly in to London and do a few days there first. Do you really just want to pick you colleges based on what they look like when no one is around?</p>
<p>Oberlin seems out of place within the context of the list. What is it about the school that attracts you? You have a number of reaches. Maybe more match schools. I’d wait to see how well you do on the SAT before finalizing the list for yourself.</p>
<p>Your list is “high reach” heavy. You need additional match schools. Even USC with a 19% acceptance rate may prove to be a reach for you. Identify 3-4 match schools with acceptance rates in the 30+% rate selectivity to add to your list. NYU is one such college. Other possibilities include Boston University, Northeastern, Lehigh, George Washington University, Tulane. </p>
<p>Further consider replacing 3 of your high reach colleges with reach colleges, possibly Emory, Tufts, Boston College. In practice visiting colleges that are very selective is not particularly productive. Unless you are an extraordinary candidate those college select you rather than you them.</p>
<p>While being top of your class gives you a clear advantage for Texas publics the small size of your class and the location/nature of the school makes it is very hard to gauge what being valedictorian means in a national context. I would guess that very few students from your school go out-of-state to college.</p>
<p>The OP does not “need” any schools other than safeties. Any reach and match schools are completely optional, once the safeties are selected. Indeed, if the OP ends up liking a Texas public university for which s/he qualifies for automatic admission and can afford as his/her first choice, s/he may have just that one school on the application list.</p>
<p>Your list is reach-heavy. BUT if you are an auto-admit to UT-Austin and you like the school, then it is fine to focus only on schools you would prefer to UT. If that is not the case, then you need to add another one or two safety schools (other than U North TX).</p>
<p>I vote with BrownParent…take the Europe trip. Would this be your only chance to get to Europe? I think the purpose of a grandparent trip is to share the experience of a lifetime WITH them. College visits are very student oriented, and honestly, if you visit all these colleges on a single trip, they may start to blur together.</p>
<p>It may be hard to feel this as a young person, but grandparents can invest a ton of time, energy and money into you, and yet not all grandchildren are as emotionally invested in their grandparents. Of course, most grandparents will go and do no matter the return on their investment.</p>
<p>Thirty years from now, you may not even remember a whirlwind college tours trip. But making memories with someone who loves you, in a faraway land…those memories could end up being priceless. Take the trip, and take time to ask questions. Discover all kinds of neat things about your grandparent, how they lived, what were their favorite things growing up. It’s your lineage too. And surely you can ask for stops at some of your interests along the way.</p>
<p>Yes, don’t drag your poor grandma on a trip to tour 15 colleges. Think of it from her viewpoint – no matter how much she loves you, she really wants to take a “trip”, not go shopping for colleges with you. 15 colleges in one trip would be mind-numbing, too. Be kinder to her and go to Europe. You might ask if you can do one other country besides tracing German heritage, I bet she will agree.</p>
<p>Count me with the go to Germany contingent. Okay, you want to see all of Europe, that’s understandable but this trip you get to see Germany with your grandmother. This is a great opportunity to focus on one country and on one relationship. You can see the rest of Europe later.</p>
<p>Going on a college tour (especially 15 schools all over the place) sounds exhausting. It’s like you are awarded a wonderful vacation opportunity and you chose to turn it into a business trip.</p>
<p>BTW, you’re very lucky to have such a grandparent who invests so much time and effort into her grand children. Don’t take this for granted.</p>
<p>Germany is a great country to visit! So much to see, great culture and food, friendly people, lots of people speak English, trains run on time. My son loved it when we went there and he was younger than you.
Touring a bunch of lottery schools over the summer is a waste of time. Visit some match school and safeties instead. If you are one of the 6% that gets into Harvard, then go visit it.</p>
<p>Go to Germany, connect with your past, and enjoy the big screen TVs put out in the many cities to watch that wonderful team in the World Cup, mid-June to mid-July.</p>