<p>Hi, I have too many colleges in my list. could you help me cut some off? Thanks!</p>
<p>Caltech
MIT
CMU
New York U
Northwestern
Rice
Columbia
Cornell
Stanford
U Chicago
Johns Hopkins
U Penn
Washington U in St. Louis
Penn State</p>
<p>I can’t tell you what schools you should/ should not apply to. However, I would recommend cutting it to 8-10 schools. You’ll want to have at least 2 safeties, and since I don’t know what kind of student you are, I can’t pick those. Basing it off of the list here though, I am assuming that Penn State is your safety?</p>
<p>You seem to have a lot of schools that are reaches for anybody, no matter what kind of student you are. MIT, UPenn, Columbia, Caltech, and Stanford are all high reaches, while Cornell, Northwestern, WashU, Chicago, Rice, Hopkins, and CMU are all slightly lower reaches/ maybe high matches. NYU would be an in-betweener here. </p>
<p>But basically, you have too many high- reach schools. Pick the ones that have programs for what you are interested, not just basing it off of brand-name recognition. You’ll definitely want more matches- schools you feel comfortable getting in, but are a little bit higher up than your safeties. What about your state school?</p>
<p>My state school is my safety.</p>
<p>Should I put high reaches + safety? No lower reaches, no matches.</p>
<p>Your list is all over the place. Caltech, MIT and CMU suggest you are interested in Engineering and yet, you have Chicag, NYU and WUSTL on your list, two schools that are not noted for having strong Engineering programs.</p>
<p>It would help if you explained your reasoning. Also tell us more about your intended major (if any) and your academic credentials.</p>
<p>Yes, I am interested in Engineering, Science, Math. </p>
<p>Qualified for USAMO, High Honor for USNCO, #1 for a few statewide contests. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>How about stats like your GPA (weighted and unweighted), test scores (SAT, ACT), class rank and ec’s? It will help us give you a better idea on your list.</p>
<p>GPA is good, but not very high. Don’t know the ranking.
SAT will take soon. Hopefully 2300+,
PSAT 237</p>
<p>My list had 15 schools on it. Not helpful info I know, but just thought I’d share. I cut it down from the original 24 it was before…</p>
<p>How much can your family afford to pay for college?</p>
<p>Which of these schools have you visited, and what did you like about them?</p>
<p>What does your high school college counselor think of your list? Have students from your school with similar stats to yours been accepted at MIT/Caltech/etc?</p>
<p>High reaches plus one safety is not a wise application strategy unless you already know that you would be happy to attend your safety and that your family can afford it. Otherwise, high SAT + “good but not very high” GPA + talent for math may not add up to good admissions results. I get a sense that written language isn’t your strong suit; if true, that’s going to make it more difficult for you to submit strong essays. </p>
<p>Add some matches after you trim down your list. Take a look at U Rochester, for starters. If you don’t love your current safety, find one that you WILL love and can afford. Visit it, if at all possible. Also, plan on applying EA to MIT, Caltech and U Chicago. If you get in to those schools then youll be able to use them as your safeties IF your family can afford them. If you are turned down, that will tell you that you should adjust your list towards less selective schools.</p>
<p>I agree; you need matches. And depending on what that GPA is, and what scores you actually get, and what other qualifications you have, you may need different reaches.</p>
<p>True! Essay is difficult for me.</p>
<p>I know I wouldn’t be happy with my safety. </p>
<p>Would you ask your family to pay some colleges ranking higher than your safety by 20, 40, or 60?</p>
<p>One other suggestion: you’ll definitely be a National Merit finalist, so take a look at the National Merit forum here on CC for a list of schools that offer big-$$$ aid for NMFs. There are a lot of schools that won’t be of interest, but others would be good contenders for admissions matches. I’m thinking USC–excellent engineering program, and half off of tuition guaranteed.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with your list at all.</p>
<p>Firstly, all the top 10 schools are about 10% or lower admit rate even for stats-matched applicants, so the more you apply to, the better the chance you will be admitted into one.</p>
<p>The critical issue is not how many reaches (whether 2 or 15), but the appropriate number of matches (3-4?) and a couple of Safeties. Reach to your heart’s content so long as matches and Safeties are in order.</p>
<p>If you have the time to:</p>
<ul>
<li>write intelligent essays, especially the one entitled “Why XX?”, or its variant “What would you hope to accomplish at XX?”, then go for it.</li>
</ul>
<p>If your recommenders:</p>
<ul>
<li>don’t mind doing one generic reco for the Common App, and maybe one or two letters that are specific to XX college, then go for it.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are stories of kids who applied to 12 of the top 20 and were admitted to none, so I don’t know how anyone can say that X is too many.</p>
<p>I would recommend finding a couple more schools in the 20-35 range, like USC, Boston College, Wake Forest, Lehigh, etc. that would be near safeties for you. Why is NYU even on your list if your intersts lie in STEM??</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Then it’s not a safety. 
You’ll need to find another option. People here are really good at suggesting ideas for safeties if you give a short synopsis of your stats, your interests, and any financial considerations. I’ll give another plug for looking at the National Merit forum for schools that love NMFs enough to give them lots of money.</p>
<p>How about Schreyer honors at Penn State? A tough admit, worth a look. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Depends on the family and what they can afford. I’m not your parent 
so my opinon means nothing because I’m not paying your tuition bills. Discuss this with your parents, and have them run one of the online FAFSA estimators.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>I will try Schreyer honors at Penn State. I love Penn State.</p>
<p>Right now, I don’t like business, but, if I change my mind, I might apply to STEM.</p>
<p>Definately apply to Penn State, but not knowing exactly what your looking for in a school overall can be difficult in directing you to the right schools.</p>
<p>Right now, I am interested in Engineering, Science, Math.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion, but make sure you can easily change majors/schools within the school you enroll in! Sometimes it can be difficult, depends on the school.</p>
<p>I would take off WUSTL, Northwestern and UChicago for the following reasons:</p>
<p>UChicago - no engineering
WUSTL - not well known for engineering
Northwestern - school of engineering is pretty separate from the other schools</p>
<p>I would apply to engineering and then switch to science or math if you don’t like it. Much harder to go the other way. It’s best if you go to a school like Rice or CalTech or MIT where you can switch to math or science without switching schools.</p>
<p>CMU is a little dicey, too, in that regard because the school of engineering is pretty separate from the school of hum and social sciences. I’m not sure how Cornell and Columbia are in this regard.</p>
<p>^At Northwestern, you can easily double-major in engineering and a science or switch from engineering school to arts and sciences school. It’s no big deal. I would keep Northwestern due to its strength in wide range of disciplines including engineering, math, sciences (esp. the top-ranked chemistry), or business-related fields (econ & industrial engineering/managment sciences). Not to mention the awesome program in ISP (integrated science program).</p>