<p>The OP has expressed concern about being waitlisted at schools because of lack of interest up until this point. Each school treats this differently. You can see if they track demonstrated interest and how much it matters in the common data set. Emory is one that wants to see the love. If you want to go, make a visit. American and GW are very much like this now with students that are close enough to drive. If you can come on a Saturday afternoon, but haven’t bothered…eh, they might not be interested either. The vast majority will not care. </p>
<p>When you are looking at schools that offer merit aid, be sure to check submission dates. Many give preference to students that apply by 12/1 or have an additional scholarship app that was due on 12/1. If that is the case, it is better to know up front and put your time and energies into a school that gives equal merit consideration up until 1/1. Also, make sure you verify merit levels with the school. These can change every year. What your neighbors student got a year ago, or what another student received who is online, will not necessarily be what the schedule is now. Many have discontinued full scholarship merit.</p>
<p>I will echo what others have posted, but it can not be repeated enough, students should put just as much thought into their safety as their dream school. Safety may be home. I have known too many students with tons of reach schools, zero match (or match that were really reach) and one safety that they threw in the lot. They moan on their way out the door ‘I NEVER would have picked this school if I thought I was actually going to go!’. Your student is going to have many exciting opportunities, I have no doubt. It is just good insurance to have a school that they would happy attending, that you are comfortable with known merit, or no merit.</p>
<p>How about Reed? It’s not a safety, of course, but is very intellectual, which is what your student seems to prefer.
How about University of Virginia or Vanderbilt?
I think that your student will get into Columbia or Chicago! Good luck!</p>
<p>With the possible exception of NU, all schools on your list except State U are reaches for every candidate. You’ve gotten a number of good suggestions on this thread for safeties and matches. Re avoiding the dreaded waitlist: Be aware that most (but not all) LACS care about demonstrated interest. They want to admit students who want them. One of the best ways a student can demonstrate genuine interest in a school is by making a campus visit. So to avoid the waitlist, even at a school where he is well qualified, your son should consider making a visit. Other ways your son can demonstrate interest are by arranging an interview with an alum in your area, if the school does that, or perhaps beginning an e-mail conversation with a professor in an area of interest. The bottom line, though, is that most LACs are very likely to waitlist a strong student who has not shown any interest in the school beyond submitting an application.</p>
<p>It is not “full tuition”, but:
“Marquis Scholars receive an annual minimum award of $20,000 ($80,000 over four years). Financial aid applicants who are designated as Marquis Scholars and whose financial need exceeds $20,000 will receive a scholarship up to demonstrated need minus a campus job ($2,000) and a loan, depending on family income (no loan for incomes under $50,000; a $3,500 loan per year for incomes between $50,000 and $100,000).”</p>
<p>“No special application is required to be considered for the Marquis Scholarship, and all students admitted under both Early Decision and Regular Decision are considered. Students are notified of their selection at the time of admission.”</p>
<p>Regarding diversity at Lafayette:
Out of 648 students in the Class of 2014
41 (6.3%) are African-American
27 (4.2%) are Hispanic
31 (4.8%) are Asian
2 (0.3%) are Native American</p>
<p>My D was accepted at Earlham College, mentioned earlier, and the first they ever heard of her was her application. Small LAC in Indiana, very diverse, decent merit, high acceptance rate. It’s a Quaker-affiliated school run on Quaker values, with a definite leftward tilt.</p>
<p>For this student, I would add Oberlin and Reed as the two match LACs. Reed especially is often talked about along with Swarthmore and Chicago as one of the most intellectual schools in the country. </p>
<p>Based on scattergrams from our school, Reed does not appear to waitlist top performing kids. Oberlin, has waitlisted one very high performing kid, though not as high as your S. The tippy top kids all got in. </p>
<p>Colgate, which you mentioned before, actually rejected a very high performing kid and its scattergram renders it totally unpredictable. Wesleyan waitlisted a 2350 kid with a very high GPA. Haverford waitlisted a 2400 kid.</p>
<p>I’m confused by the inclusion of MIT in the list, as this school seems different than the others, but if the student likes MIT, he would like Carnegie Mellon University.</p>
<p>MIT has a common science core and then you can choose your major, any major. Lot’s of flexibility to make an informed choice. CMU requires you to apply to Arts and Sci or Carnegie Institute of Technology or Business or Computer Science. Much less flexibility.</p>
<p>As others have said, this list of schools is missing Match schools, because most of the schools are reaches for EVERYONE, regardless of how stellar their stats.</p>
<p>Adding some additional schools is important. Adding a couple of LACs makes sense. Does he love his safety - the State U? If not, why not add a couple of Top 20-50ish Universities more similar to the reach schools, but a bit less selective, to ensure the student will have a real choice between research university and LAC come April? Maybe Rochester, GW, UVa, USC, Brandeis, etc.?</p>
<p>GW, while not as selective does consider demonstrated interest. Not only is this evident by admission results, it’s clearly stated on the common data set. Put an application in by all means, but it doesn’t really fall into a safety if there has been no interest initiated at a school that openly states they consider this.</p>
<p>UVa admits are less competitive than an ivy, but favor in-state students. They are not numbers driven (using a holistic process) so the applicant would have to consider this in deciding if this is more of a match school. You can see evidence (read ‘rants’) of oos students on these very forums with 2300 SATs that have been rejected. They do not track demonstrated interest. So IMHO, perhaps a match…unwise to consider this your safety as an oos student. Look into the merit aid, I’m not sure they are known for this. What they are committed to is meeting 100% of demonstrated need.</p>
<p>USC may be a match, but not a safety for anyone.</p>
<p>So, I am agreeing with sacchi that these schools may be matchs, however you have to take into consideration each school as it relates to the student when making this determination. They are not generic interchangeable parts. All may be matches for one student, however one being a match does not mean all will be.</p>
<p>I am sorry that you are working against the clock, but that’s the reality. Many families do and have successful outcomes. It just adds and element of stress. The process of adding the layer of match and safety schools is a valuable one.</p>
<p>Another vote for Earlham. (One of my S’s is currently taking a gap year, and will be starting as a freshman there in Fall 2011.) It would definitely be a safety for the OP’s S. Also, the application deadlines are manageable. The EA deadline is January 1, and the RD deadline is February 15.</p>
<p>Asian is definitely not ORM at Middlebury and Swarthmore–maybe not URM either, but they are both recruited in significant numbers through diversity programs. Don’t know about Wellesley.</p>
<p>Thirding Earlham–a professor I talked to on my Oberlin visit sent his D there and spoke of it highly. They also do a great job with transparency in need-based financial aid, despite not having the capabilities to meet full need for everyone.</p>
<p>I hate to sound like a broken record, but the OP college list definitely needs to be expanded. It’s all reaches, plus one safety that the student doesn’t want to go to. He needs to add a couple matches and one or two safeties. Real safeties.</p>