To Whoever Isn't Sick of These, I'd Appreciate the Chance

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Sex: Female
White
School: Public
State: Indiana
Anticipated Major: Undecided, perhaps anthropology or linguistics...at any rate, it'll be humanities-focused
Rising senior</p>

<p>School:
Class Size: 550
Rank: 1
Curriculum: IB Diploma candidate, AP/IB classes whenever available
Grades: 4.3 with our weird weighting system that doesn't kick in until junior year...</p>

<p>APs (only offered starting junior year):
U.S. History (5), U.S. Government and Politics (self-taught, 5), Biology (will take), English Language (will take), Calculus BC (will take), French Language (will take)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-JV Swimming (9-10)
-Violin/Orchestra, first chair as a senior, gold awards at state music competition 4 years (9-12)
-Key Club (9-12)
-Model UN (11-12)
-NHS (11-12)
-Diocesan Youth Council peer representative (9-11)
-French Club, treasurer (9-12)
-Latin Club, secretary (10-12)
-Work 20 hours/week at Kumon tutoring center (10-12)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
-2 weeklong summer workcamps (11-12, 50+ hours)
-volunteer through Key Club (9-12, 20 hours)
-work with youth group 2 hours/week at nursing home, soup kitchen, etc.
-volunteer at archaeology lab at University of Chicago twice a week during summer before 12</p>

<p>Other:
-Summa Cum Laude National Latin Exam
-state level of National Geographic Bee 2 years</p>

<p>Tests:
SAT: 2320
Math: 770 / Reading: 760 / Writing: 790
ACT: 34 (Math: 33/ English: 36/ Reading: 36/ Science: 31)
PSAT: 234, most likely National Merit Scholar Finalist (? guess I would find out in September ?)
Subject Tests: U.S. History 800, plan to take Math II and French in the fall, hopefully 750+ on both</p>

<p>Recommendations: Should be good</p>

<p>Essays: I have to get started on those soon...I hope they'll be good as well. :)</p>

<p>I would really appreciate hearing my chances at the following schools, but I'm also wondering about some good safeties to include. Any suggestions about where to focus in the coming months (i.e. essays, etc.) would also be helpful! Thank you so much for your time!
Georgetown University
Princeton University
Boston College
Yale University
Harvard University (does graduate school count as a legacy?)
University of Notre Dame (legacy)
University of Virginia
Colorado College
Pomona College
Stanford University
Amherst College
Indiana University Bloomington
Brown University
...it's long, I know. I have to narrow it down soon!</p>

2

<p>You are competitive for all of those schools, as you probably know. As you probably already know, too, some of them (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford) are reaches for nearly everyone.</p>

<p>Indiana appears to be your safety. That ought to work. Moving up in selectivity you have Colorado College and BC, which should be very likely admits. Between those two and HYPS, you have a bunch of schools that should be high match or low reach schools for your qualifications. If you applied to all of them, chances are you’d have at least one or two choices (maybe more) in addition to Indiana, CC, and BC. Then you can choose based on cost or whatever else you decide is important.</p>

<p>So it looks like a good list, a little long which is o.k. at this point, and maybe a little unfocused with respect to size, location, and other factors. Colorado College is an excellent back-up choice in my opinion (solid academics, great location, interesting “block plan”, and apparently solid for anthropology), but what does it have in common with UVa or ND?</p>

<p>The University of Chicago is one of the strongest schools in the country for anthropology and linguistics, and is an easier admit than HYPS, Brown, Amherst, or Pomona. It may be easier than Georgetown or ND, too. Plus, it offers some merit scholarships. UPenn also is good for anthro/linguistics. Another LAC with linguistics is Swarthmore. A good, somewhat less selective choice for anthropology would be Bryn Mawr (or possibly Beloit). In fact all the top Philadelphia-area schools (Haverford, Swat, Bryn Mawr and Penn) give you the consortium advantage you get with Amherst or Pomona (with perhaps a little academic edge for your interests).</p>

3

<p>Here’s a suggested alternate list:</p>

<p>Crapshoots for Everyone
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
drop Princeton (excellent but not as strong as the others for your interests)</p>

<p>Reaches or High Matches
Brown University
Georgetown (good linguistics)
Pomona (good linguistics)
add Swarthmore (better than Amherst for linguistics)
add Chicago and/or UPenn (better for linguistics/anthro than ND, UVa)</p>

<p>drop Amherst, Notre Dame, UVa (excellent but not as strong as the others for your interests)</p>

<p>Likelies
Colorado College
add Bryn Mawr (or perhaps Beloit for possible merit aid)
drop Boston College (not as strong as the others for your interests, yet more selective)</p>

<p>Safety
Indiana University Bloomington</p>

<p>That’s about 12. Consider reducing to 8-10 by eliminating 1 Crapshoot and 1 or more Reaches after visiting. If money is an issue but you do not qualify for need-based aid, add additional likelies that offer merit aid. Chicago and Colorado College each offer a non-binding Early Admission option which is nice, and both offer merit scholarships (meaning you could have good news on both admissions and aid by late December or so.)</p>

4

<p>Wow, thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response, tk. You brought up some very good points.</p>

<p>I know, my list is extremely scattered – mostly because I legitimately liked all of these places and could see myself happy across a wide range of locations and sizes. I have visited everything except the two California schools, which I will look at next month, and Colorado College, which is a recent add to my list (and which I’m glad you think is a wise choice because it seems awesome). I liked different qualities about each school I saw.</p>

<p>I hesitated to even put an anticipated major, because I’ll probably be one of those people who changes five times. Currently, I am interested in anthropology/linguistics/archaeology, but who knows what I’ll love next month? It’s kind of a pickle for me, because I don’t want to choose a school solely based on an area of study, yet at the same time, I want to have resources available for whatever I do choose to major in. Do most undecideds weigh this heavily in college selection?</p>

<p>Thank you for suggesting Swarthmore – I considered visiting it on my East-coast trip, but ultimately didn’t have the time. Is it pretty comparable to Amherst in feel?
My dad actually works at the University of Chicago, and I have worked with an archaeology professor there, so I’ve seen first-hand its great anthropology department. However, I just don’t love the urban campus (same with Penn) or its closeness to home. I’m kind of conflicted about applying there, but maybe I’ll reconsider. I’ll look into Bryn Mawr too. Thanks again!</p>