Urgent: Need More Matches!

Hi everyone! I have learned the lesson about applying to too many reaches all too late- and I need more matches, low or high! Are there any more that have a deadline Feb 1? I have a 1530 SAT, never got below an A, increased AP course load by one every year, and am ranked 1/300 with a 5.16/5 GPA. Will be applying to WPI against my will, but I also need some more… I like STEM, but would prefer a more liberal arts approach. Any recommendations will be appreciated- I am not too picky about size or campus or anything like that. Thank you in advance!

What state do you live in? What is your budget? Would you prefer a large or small school? Do you have an likely major in mind?

@DadTwoGirls I live in NH, and would aim for max. of 40-30k a year, the rest filled with need based or merit aid hopefully. Any school larger than 3,000 and smaller than 40,000 works for me! I think I will major with something in STEM but would not fit well in a tech/engineering school like WPI.

Forbes Top 21 STEM Schools

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States Naval Academy
Cornell University
Rice University
United States Air Force Academy
California Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd College
Carnegie Mellon University
Johns Hopkins University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Cooper Union
Case Western Reserve University
United States Coast Guard Academy
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Colorado School of Mines
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
University of Portland
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Clarkson University

Union and Lafayette are strong in STEM, but have very good liberal arts. U of Rochester should also be a nice match

Dickinson accepts applications till Feb 1st (to pick up ED2 NESCAC kids so you’d be in good company).
Very good for science.
Express interest NOW by filling out the request info form and clicking every time they send you an email.
Can you still apply to UNH and UVT honors?

From another thread - OPs stats. OP, did you apply early action anywhere and what were the results? I feel like UConn, UVM, and St Alsams are lock if you can afford them. Likely Northeastern also.

Marist College and Bryant University would be great options to add with a February 1st deadline. That said I feel your list is fine as long as you can afford the options. Please Run net price calculators and review with your parents, on the lower end schools.


Hi everyone! I already submitted my application everywhere so this is pretty much useless, but my mother wanted some other people to weigh in. Here are my stats etc:

SAT I: 1530 (770 M, 760 RW)
ACT: never took
SAT II: 760 Biology E, 790 Math 2, 800 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 5.16/5
Rank: 1 out of ~300 (?)
AP classes: I can only take 4 classes a semester but APs are all year, but I escalated from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 each year! So far all 5s and a few 4s (darn AP Physics!!! so hard lolol); no IB offered
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing major…
-National Merit Semifinalist
-March for Science Video Contest Winner
-Girls Impact the World Film Festival Green IS Category- 2nd Runner Up
-Northern New England Science Olympiad, Ecology- 3rd Place
-Society of Women Engineers Certificate of Merit: Highest Honors
-various state Science Olympiad awards related to envi sci (ecology, dynamic planet, geologic mapping, etc.)

Extracurricular activities/ Work experience (place leadership in parenthesis):
-field hockey (JV captain… I was not good lolol)
-school math team (captain) and state math team
-Science Olympiad
-TEDx speaker about women in STEM
-city sports programs volunteer (fhockey and tennis)
-Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society… the goods
-founder of the Arts and Crafts Club (sounds really lame but we have so much fun and so many snacks haha)

ESSAYS/RECS:
Common App: I tried my hardest, but I can’t write brilliantly. 7/10
Supplements: Some were really great, others not so much… average 7/10
Rec #1: I got to read it for typos, and I liked it! It was short, but it was from my math teacher about how I’m a great problem solver… it was very sweet :’) 9/10
Rec #2: No clue! Probably 8/10
Rec #3: ONLY DARTMOUTH peer recommendation that was a long one from my bff but made me cry… 9/10

OTHER:
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major : Environmental Sciences, if second choice added Film Studies
Domestic or International (state or country in parenthesis): NH, USA
Race and/or Ethnicity: white, Russian (first gen American represent!!!)
Gender: female
Income Bracket: ~150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Recruited Athlete, Famous, High Donor): nope

WHERE I APPLIED (ranked fav to least fav):
Dartmouth
Rice
Tufts
Emory
Cornell CALS
Northeastern
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill EA (I know, OOS sucks)
Wesleyan
UConn
UVM
UNH
Saint Anselm

I also applied to Harvard SCEA against my will and was deferred to be inevitably rejected

Most of these are impossible to tell, but I would especially appreciate feedback on Northeastern and the bottom 4! Those concern me the most… My college list also looks very wonky but I really don’t know what I want and I don’t think I would specifically dislike a small, medium, or large school. Also, if you guys have any rolling admissions/deadline coming up colleges that you think I should consider, please let me know!! Thanks in advance

Can you afford the last four? If honors college is by application, did you apply?

Oberlin apparently extended its deadline to Feb 1 and has a strong environmental science program. However, the vibe at Oberlin would be different than schools like Dartmouth, Rice, Emory. St Lawrence in upstate NY has a Feb 1 date and has big sustainability and environmental science program.

University of Wisconsin has excellent sciences, and would run about $46k per year for an out of state student (tuition and room and board), with a Feb 1 deadline. UW does not do much merit or financial aid for OOS students, so the cost should be expected to be the list price for OOS students iPurdue and Indiana also have Feb 1 dates, though the dates have passed for merit money. Minnesota Twin Cities may also still be taking applications.

Dickinson changed their deadline to 1/15 this year. If it is a school you’re considering you may want to call. My daughter received an email that they would accept her application up until 2/1.

Rose Hulman also Feb 1 deadline.

University of San Francisco may be of interest.

Check out the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin.
Michigan apparently tries to meet full demonstrated financial need for OOS families making up to $90K/year.
Run the online NPCs. Michigan may be a rather high match (at least).

Some LACs in the midwest and PA have late deadlines.
Earlham; Allegheny, Juniata, Muhlenberg.

Google is your friend
(“schools with February application deadlines” or some such).

If you like STEM but prefer a liberal art approach, you may want to stay with larger colleges/u. As they tends to have more majors/choices if you would like to change your major.

Why not UMass/Amherst. You have UVM, UNH and UConn, might as well add UMass and URI. I amm not sure if you have a recommendation letter from your guidance counselor. A peer recommendation letter usually does not carry much weight. Two letters from your teachers and one from your GC are al, you need to submit.

With your stat, I am inclined to think you may get in at Cornell. Hope you write an excellent essay showing your interest/passion. As for Northeastern, I know several students with lower stats than yours got accepted. If your are not accepted, it could be that they think your are over qualified. UVM, UNH, UMass, your would have a good shot at being accepted and could be offered the honor program at UMass. Good luck.

@rphcfb, every highly selective liberal arts colleges, whether 1,300 students such as Haverford or 2,500 students such Middlebury, has robust offerings of every STEM major, except most don’t have engineering - some do such as Harvey Mudd and Swarthmore, amongst others. There was a thread that compared Math departments at Amherst and Penn - there wasn’t any distinction.