<p>Hi, I'm a senior in New York. My GPA is ~3.95, probably has gotten lower, ACT: 35.
I am interested in pursuing mathematics, biology, AND (here's the kicker) the visual arts (drawing, painting, etc.) I'm also planning to become fluent in Mandarin during college.</p>
<p>I have a list. it's pretty late in the game to make additions, but I've only ended up <em>really</em> liking: Wesleyan. It's a target school for me, so I was hoping to find a reach that I would love too. I don't have any other requisites.. that's the problem. </p>
<p>So far here is my list in order of preference at the moment: </p>
<p>I am thinking about: Middlebury. My friend who has the same interests as me is applying to Davidson and Reed as well. Are there any other obvious colleges/universities I am overlooking?</p>
<p>I agree with mini: No reason to look for a reach if you love Wes. Wes was a low reach/high match for me, but I applied ED because even though I may have gotten into a more selective school, Wes was the perfect school. </p>
<p>Anyway, Brown is the obvious reach for most people who like Wes. Yale and Amherst are another two popular ones.</p>
<p>I agree that you could use some safer safties. Maybe Skidmore? </p>
<p>You could also check out Swarthmore and Haverford. </p>
<p>There really isn’t a point to applying to a school that’s harder to get into than Wesleyan but you like less. I mean it’s a lose-lose situation: either you get in and still go to Wesleyan and you wasted your time applying to the reach school, or you get rejected and it sucks (getting rejected always sucks even if you didn’t want to go there) and you still wasted your time applying.</p>
<p>If you’re going to apply to a school that’s harder to get into than Wesleyan, it should be one that you would rather go to than Wesleyan, and it sounds like that’s not the case with anything. Going down the list of preference, it should pretty much be just getting easier to get into.</p>
<p>“There really isn’t a point to applying to a school that’s harder to get into than Wesleyan but you like less.”</p>
<p>It doesn’t work that way. Harder applies only to the statistical average, not to an individual applicant. chicasso may have what Wes wants but not what Brown wants, or vice versa.</p>
<p>I agree with vossron. There’s no reason to seek out a reach and try to like it more then Wes just because you think you should have your hardest school be your number one school, because that’s silly. But if there are schools that are harder to get into than Wes that you also like, even if not as much, those is certainly worth applying to. Admissions are quirky enough at this high a level that maybe you’d get into one and not the other.</p>
<p>Look into…
Michigan State University
University of Michigan- Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin- Madison
Universit of Minnesota- Twin Cities
Ohio State University- Columbus
Pennslyvania State University- University Park</p>
<p>Safer schools which meet your needs might include Bard and Skidmore, if you are female Smith (which I think, in the areas you named, is at least equal to Wes) and Bryn Mawr. Don’t know about the Mandarin, though - you’ll have to check.</p>
<p>If you’ve considered Brown, Wash U, Yale and Tufts and can’t really like any of them, then I don’t think anyone on CC can be of much help. Those are four of the most popular schools in the country and I’m not sure I’ve ever read students on CC who dislike them.</p>
<p>I agree with adding Reed. I strongly suggest you add U of Chicago as well attracts the same type of students, has the core, and one of the best language programs in the country]</p>
<p>I don’t know about the others, but the Reed art department graduates a higher number of seniors than the average Reed department, i.e., it’s not a tiny backwater department. Clearly Reed is not known as an art school, but as a well-rounded LAC, art is a respected discipline. [About</a> the Art Department](<a href=“http://academic.reed.edu/art/]About”>Art Department - Reed College)</p>
<p>As I read it, the OP is premed, and would like some visual arts on the side. Chicago and Reed offer art classes.Here is a link to Chicago’s art dept.
[Department</a> of Visual Arts DoVA: Home](<a href=“http://dova.uchicago.edu/]Department”>http://dova.uchicago.edu/)</p>
<p>RISD dual degree sounds nothing like “some visual arts on the side”.</p>
<p>But, in any case, there are so many better choices than Chicago, Reed, Swarthmore, and Haverford.</p>
<p>In any case, what he needs are SAFETIES with math, biology, and STRONG visual arts - Chicago, Reed, Swarthmore, and Haverford don’t qualify on either count.</p>
<p>Oops! I didn’t see the abbreviations[ RISD, etc.] Only glanced at the majors he listed and made an assumption based on the order they were listed. My bad.</p>