To Many "Reachy" Schools--Help me narrow them down?

<p>^Thanks. I bending towards schools in New York and California, as they may offer me more connections and networking there during and after college. Also not a fan of Chicago.</p>

<p>I totally agree with the previous assessments, but with one exception; not every school is what it appears. Grades are important but they are not everything, and yes, your SATs could be improved, but put that aside for the moment. It sounds like writing and theatre are your loves. I am quite familiar with both Wesleyan and Vassar - both incredible schools, but of the two, I would strongly consider Vassar. Vassar is a “writing” school and looks at much more than the grades; they look, in depth, at the essay. If you are a writer, you could make a very strong case for yourself with a fantastic essay. No guarantees, but you will never know unless you give it a shot. On the plus side for you, as well, is that Vassar is needs-blind! Good luck!</p>

<p>[LMU</a> School of Film and Television](<a href=“http://sftv.lmu.edu/]LMU”>http://sftv.lmu.edu/)</p>

<p>I think people are being way too pessimistic. Being an African American female could be worth a lot; we don’t really know how much, but there have been cases here where it made a big difference. The Math SAT doesn’t seem all that relevant for a Film major, and R/W scores are fine. So by all means get some safeties, but you’re not necessarily out of the running for any of these schools.</p>

<p>You really need to rethink your list. With a sub-3.0 GPA and 1950 SAT (1230 CR/M) and rank outside the Top 25% your reaches are not reaches, but super duper unrealistic reaches. </p>

<p>You list the number of AP classes, but not the scores. How have the scores been? If you have a bunch of 4s and 5s, that might help.</p>

<p>What are you looking for in a school? You might want to start a new thread and ask for suggested schools to match your stats and interests and financial situation. Your stats are solid enough that there are lots of great schools where you could be admitted and have a great experience, just not as selective as the schools on your reach list.</p>

<p>@rawmama Thanks for the input. I’ve been switching between Vassar and Wesleyan. Wesleyan seems to be more involved in the film community because of it’s well established studies program, but Vassar is also high up on my radar and also offers a film production major. I think it might be easier for me to get into Vassar, but I don’t want to give up the reputation of Wesleyan in regards to Film. I also like that Vassar is so close to New York.</p>

<p>@quakerstake I have highly considered LMU. I might place it as a match/low reach.</p>

<p>@misterK Thanks for the optimism </p>

<p>@sacchi I’ve passed 3 of my AP exams. I’ve made multiple threads for suggestions, but the responses are always inconsistent with each other, so I’m often up in the air on where I should apply to.</p>

<p>This is probably too far from Florida (Vancouver):</p>

<p>[Department</a> of Theatre and Film at UBC | Film Production | Prospective Students - Bachelor of Fine Arts - About](<a href=“http://www.film.ubc.ca/film_production/programs_bfa_about.shtml]Department”>http://www.film.ubc.ca/film_production/programs_bfa_about.shtml)</p>

<p>Applebeam,
If you’re going OOS for your safeties, and would like to be in CA, try the Cal State schools as well. With your financial situation, CSU’s would be less expensive. Try CSULA, they’re probably not as impacted as CSULB or CSUF.</p>

<p>If you need a lot of need-based financial aid, you should look at schools that are need-blind and meet need. </p>

<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>A lot of the schools are very selective, but some are not too bad, like Knox, Lawrence, Beloit. U. Richmond and U. Miami are more reasonable reach schools.</p>

<p>Vassar and Wesleyan would both be very reachy, but might be worth taking a try at. </p>

<p>Have you thought about any of the women’s colleges? They tend to be relatively less selective than their academic strength would imply, and tend to have good need based aid.</p>

<p>How about SUNY Purchase? They are known for their arts programs and aren’t as selective as some other schools, and the SUNY schools have relatively low OOS tuition.</p>

<p>^^Thanks OCELITE. I’ll take a look at each one.</p>

<p>^Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll try to consider each one. I know Vassar and Wesleyan are out of my reach but I’ll at least try my chances at one of them. I did consider Smith, Scripps, and Bryn Mawr for a while, but I just don’t know how I feel about attending a single sex college. I’ll also check the SUNY schools, as well.</p>

<p>[Academic</a> Programs - Roy H. Park School of Communications - Ithaca College](<a href=“Roy H. Park School of Communications | Ithaca College”>Roy H. Park School of Communications | Ithaca College) Ithaca College, a possibility. </p>

<p>[Bennington:</a> Visual Arts](<a href=“http://www.bennington.edu/Academics/AreasStudy/VisualArts.aspx]Bennington:”>Visual Arts Major | Bennington College) </p>

<p>Bennington College (Vermont)</p>

<p>Neither one of these meets 100% of need, but take a look!</p>

<p>Check out the UNC School of the Arts in Winston Salem…</p>

<p>[University</a> of North Carolina School of the Arts](<a href=“http://www.uncsa.edu/]University”>http://www.uncsa.edu/)</p>

<p>FYI, read the article linked below to look for schools that are more aggressive about enrolling low-income students, as they may be more willing to admit you and give you a financial aid package that makes it possible to attend, and provide the resources to help you be successful if you did enroll.</p>

<p>[Pell</a> Grants: The Cornerstone of African-American Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/65_pellgrants.html]Pell”>Pell Grants: The Cornerstone of African-American Higher Education)</p>

<p>The women’s colleges are particularly strong in this regard. Even if you aren’t sure if you would want to attend a women’s college, it may be worth applying to some, so that you have options to choose from. I would be surprised if you were accepted at many of your listed reach schools, but wouldn’t be surprised if you were accepted at Smith or Mount Holyoke, for example.</p>