Hi guys, I’m having some serious issues narrowing down my list, especially with my reaches.
Stats:
GPA: 3.7
ACT: 32
Good amount of ECs with leadership & lots of volunteer work; no hook
Pretty sub par for an asian female on CC
Planning on majoring in econ or finance
Reaches:
Barnard
Carnegie
Georgetown
NYU Stern
Berkeley (OOS)
U Chicago
Michigan (OOS)
UNC (OOS)
Notre Dame
UPenn
UVA (OOS)
Wash U St Louis
Matches:
Babson
BC
Emory
U Southern Cali
Wake Forest
W & M
Will you be applying to Wharton at Penn? I think that might be an extreme reach for you, if so. What especially attracted you to each school on your list? If brand prestige is your sole answer, then you should probably think about scratching that particular school. If you want an urban setting, like NYC, Chicago, Philly,et al, why bother with Notre Dame? Have you visited some or all of the colleges on your list? A lot of people walk away from Wake Forest, for example, with very strong favorable or unfavorable opinions.
Without knowing more, I would say could eliminate most of the schools except for Wake Forest and Babson as very high reaches with your GPA and ACT score combo. The GPA is also a bit low for BC and Michigan OOS thought he ACT would probably be ok.
At Wake Forest 93% of students are in the top 25% of their high school class. Check out the common data set for accepted/matriculating students for each school (found online) to see what range you fall in for each college you are interested. Also, use naviance if your school has it to see if other students with your stats are accepted or rejected. Good luck!! Common data set and naviance will help you create a realistic list so that you have lots of great options come April. You have nice stats and lots of schools will be thrilled to have you.
I would eliminate Penn, NYU, and the OOS schools. Wharton and Stern are extreme reaches and likely would be a waste of money and time. The OOS schools are all very difficult to get into and very expensive.
Most of the OP’s OOS options do give decent aid to OOS students except Csl and W&M, but I agree that you have some very high reaches if you don’t have a hook. Your GPA is in the low end, and you don’t have high test scores to help offset it.
I don’t think you should consider BC, Emory or USC matches. Maybe high match/low reach, but not true matches.
My definitions:
Low reach: 15-25% chance
High match: 25-40% chance
Your ACT is above average, barely, at those three schools, but your GPA is not. I don’t think you have much more than an average chance of admittance at those three schools, which would be their overall admit %.
I think your true matches - Babson, Wake Forest and William & Mary - are fine. And if you have three safeties, you’re obviously good there too.
You do have a lot of low reaches and reaches on your list, increasing your chances of being admitted to at least one of them. I bet you will have a fun choice to make. Good luck!
All of the schools on your list are very good. Talk to your parents and be sure they are affordable as well.
I must say that I agree that you have way to many reaches and that many of your “matches” are really reaches (especially if the GPA you show is weighted). I would say you should include true matches and one or two safety schools (maybe look into Fordham or Tulane which both have non-binding EA).
Of the schools you listed, Barnard does not have a business program (although I’m guessing they have an economics major) and you are not clear as to if you are applying to the b-school of some other schools. Here is some unsolicited advice…There is a big difference between studying economics and going to a business school and you should figure out in advance which avenue you want to pursue. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and the subject itself gets very theoretical at the higher levels. If you go to a business school you will take a business core curriculum with classes like finance, accounting, management, IT, etc. as well as a major in a business discipline. I’m not saying one is better than the other but they are very different. If you haven’t done it yet, look up the curriculum you would take for a liberal arts economics major and a business major, see what you prefer, and apply accordingly.
A vote here for Cal. Sure, its a large public that won’t offer much more than the publics in your state, classes will tend to be large and impersonal, advising up to you to go and find, etc. But as a CA resident we can really use your contribution to the UC system via OOS fees. I’m on a campaign to raise $1million for UC, which only means I need to help convince 10 OOS kids to attend. I sure hope you’ll be one of them!
I’m not concerned with getting aid/not getting aid… money is not my driving factor for applying/not applying. My gpa that I listed is my unweighted and my weighted is 4.7
Take Cal off of your list; the UW and SAT scores are not competitive for OOS stats.
($55k per year would not be worth that finance degree, but If you and your parents are willing to spend $220k over four years, choose another UC since it would help @mikemac 's fundraising for our state)
@blueberry16
All of those have very well respected b programs, so that should not be your driver for narrowing you list.
I would focus on getting rid of all but 2 on your reach list, and of those, I think your best chances are at Mich and CM.
Of your matches, a few are actually reaches, leaving you with just a couple of matches. You may want to add another true match. I’d hate to see you get shut out of these 2 categories…good luck!
It’s really tough to suggest which ones to cut without knowing what it is about each program that you found appealing. Have you had a chance to visit each, and talk with people there? What is it that you like between Chicago, CMU and Notre Dame, for example? The programs at the schools you list are pretty much all highly ranked so, yes, it is “worth it” to apply insofar as you would receive an outstanding education there.
EDIT: OK, I glanced through your other threads. You are from PA, you really want to go to a top 30 school, and you are pretty stressed out about it. In that case, I would nail down 3 safeties that you really like (and can see yourself happily attending), another three matches, and then I would apply to as many of the reaches you think you can manage adequately. I respectfully differ from HRSMom–by cutting out all but 2 reaches I think you are virtually assured of getting shut out. So get going on your apps Aug 1, and spend as much time on each as is humanly possible.
A piece of advice, research these schools more. Try to imagine yourself in the town/city of each school and really try to think if you will be happy there. When I applied to colleges, I focused WAY too much on rank/prestige of where I was applying and not enough on location and weather.
Write out a list of qualities in order that you want in an ideal, “perfect” school. See which schools match your list! Remember, try to focus less on rank/prestige. Trust me, once you start college and are taking classes, etc., it won’t matter.
@Midwestdad3
Don’t disagree if she has the time to do all the apps well and specifically to that school as you note…I’d rather see 5 good reach apps, 5 good match apps than 15 “meh” apps.
My safeties are Pitt, PSU, and Northeastern; I have done lots of research on my schools so this is just not some random list I threw together; I have visited most of these schools as well. Side note: I have no ideal school I want
@blueberry16 Although I think you have more than a likely chance of admittance, I would not consider Northeastern as a pure safety. It has recently become tremendously more selective, increasing their average admitted stats every year. Like I said before, I would be surprised if you were declined from the university, but I just wanted to tell you not to rely on it with 100% certainty.
In terms of narrowing down your list, I would automatically remove UPenn, Michigan, and UCB due to low admission chances/ aid. I would keep Notre Dame and WUSTL because you seem to have a decent shot at these schools and they have highly regarded programs. I have heard nothing but great things about those schools. Keep 1 or 2 more reaches and add more matches. There is a lot of risk in your list right now, so ensure that you would be happy attending one of your safety schools.
To give you some perspective on NEU: my S has a 4.0 and a 34, and it is considered a match for him, not a safety. I would not be suprised if you were WL or rejected. It has become very competitive.
No one thinks you just threw the list together, but we do think you are being a bit too rosy in your expectations. I’d listen to the advice if I were you:). Good luck with it.
Consider looking seriously at the Weatherhead School at Case. While it may not be a true safety for you, it is certainly a match and I think you might find a lot to like there. Again, you want to do everything you can to increase the likelihood that you will have more choice than Pitt or Penn State in the spring. There are many CC threads by frustrated applicants who didn’t spend enough time on the “match” school segment of their list.