<p>my list is seriously reach-heavy and i definitely need another safety. ideas? i like cities, size doesn't matter, but i want to stay new york city and south, both coasts.</p>
<p>GPA: about 3.75 UW, 4.57 W... 12th out of a class of 561 (top 2%)
SAT: 2300 (790M, 750CR, 760W)
SATIIs: will take next weekend. practice tests say above 700's
ACT: 34
APs: 5's on all 4 tests I've taken - Bio, Chem, US History, European History</p>
<p>EC's: decent, lots of leadership. field hockey development team, varsity fh captain, student council president, peer mediator, etc...</p>
<p>essay: pretty good, nothing tear-jerking or life-changing but funny and somewhat unique</p>
<p>my list:</p>
<p>reach!
Georgetown EA
Columbia
Stanford (super reach!)
UCLA
Penn (maybe, still have to visit)
UVA (same as Penn)
Pomona
Duke (super reach!)</p>
<p>high match-ish
USC
UCSD
Wake Forest (will only apply if i do not get into Georgetown EA)
Barnard (same as Wake)</p>
<p>safety
Scripps (low match ish...high possibility of scholarships)
Maryland</p>
<p>so you have 2 safeties and 14 schools on your list, and you STILL want to add more? I’d take off some of those if I were you… why would you need 3 safeties?</p>
<p>And I don’t think a person with 2300 SAT would call UCLA a reach.</p>
<p>OP, If you are full pay then you have a pretty good shot at UCLA. If you’re not full pay (you need FA) then take it off your list. You won’t get any aid. What little they have goes to instate students.</p>
<p>Full pay makes a difference at second tier private colleges. Not a factor in UC admissions, I don’t know where you got the idea.</p>
<p>OP - UCLA is a reach for you OOS only because you don’t have any leadership stuff other than sports. UCLA is pickier than Berkeley on that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>are you a NMSF? If you are, then get your app into USC by Dec 1 AT THE LATEST. Then if you are accepted by USC, [and I’m pretty sure you would be] then you will receive an automatic 1/2 tuition scholarship. You should expect to get a thick envelope by late Fed- early March.</p>
<p>The UCLA common data set surprised me ([UCLA</a> Office of Analysis and Information Management | AIM](<a href=“http://www.aim.ucla.edu/cds/cdsformC.asp]UCLA”>http://www.aim.ucla.edu/cds/cdsformC.asp)). The most important things weighed in admission are GPA, Scores, Rigor, and Essay. State Residency, Class Rank and Recommendations are not considered at all. ECs are only at the important level. On that basis OP should have a good shot. There is still the FA question to consider.</p>
<p>You’ll need a UC GPA >4.0. You can figure it out on Pathways when you do your app. If you make that cut, your essay will determine whether you get in or not. Lot of people apply to Berkeley and LA, only 22-24% are admitted.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments guys! They’ve been really helpful. </p>
<p>Erin’s Dad - I am full pay so hopefully that will help. and thanks blaw, I think I have a >4.0 but I’ll have to check…and no menloparkmom I’m just commended ): I live in CT so the cutoff’s high, I’m planning to get my app in by Dec 1 anyways though.</p>
<p>^^ Actually, if your UC GPA is high enough, with your SAT scores you might get in without them ever looking at the essay. Essays and ECs are mostly used to pick from “maybe” candidates after the highest and lowest scoring have been weeded out for automatic acceptance and rejection, respectively.</p>
<p>I know that’s most how it works for UC admissions, although being OOS might change that. Not sure.</p>
<p>YOu don’t need any more safeties, but if you want a few to consider substituting for those you already have, I’d suggest the University of Rochester and Pitt.</p>