<ul>
<li>Caucasian male from Connecticut</li>
<li>93 out of 100 weighted GPA</li>
<li>My GPA is kind of low just because my school is strongly against grade inflation</li>
<li>My school doesn't rank besides valedictorian and salutatorian. I'm probably top 10 in my class.</li>
<li>SAT I: 660 Math; 730 Reading; 770 Writing</li>
<li>SAT IIs: 660 Literature; 740 US History</li>
<li>APs: AP US (3 - Just a bad testing day; felt ill); AP Euro; AP Spanish Lang; AP English Lang</li>
<li>College Classes: I took a for-credit philosophy course at Yale and got an A-.</li>
<li>ECs:
School Newspaper - Co-Editor
Debate Team - Co-Captain
Yearbook - Co-Editor
Ethics Bowl - Founder and Head
Political Roundtable - Co-Founder and Co-Head
Boys and Girls Club - Volunteer</li>
<li>Essays will be pretty strong</li>
<li>According to my college counselor, my demonstrated interest in philosophy is a small hook, but a hook nonetheless</li>
<li>Great recs (one from a Yale prof)</li>
<li>Will most likely apply somewhere ED</li>
</ul>
<p>Please guys, I’d really appreciate some feedback.</p>
<p>it’s difficult to gain admission to any of these schools from connecticut. vassar and wesleyan seem the most likely, so as not to mean likely at all. the other three seem like appropriate level reaches, if wes and vassar aren’t themselves reaches. is anyone else from your high school applying to these places? ed will help wherever you do it.</p>
<p>You have a great edge if applying to Yale if you send the professor’s rec…</p>
<p>Dudecollege, I wish that were the case. My family is actually really good friends with the former provost of Yale (he’s now a tenured economics professor) and he’s told us that his own recommendations have very little sway with the Yale admissions officers. Plus, I live in New Haven, so I have very little desire to apply to Yale.</p>
<p>Actually, scratch that. IF I got into Yale, I would definitely go. But my scores are not in the Yale range.</p>
<p>Do you any of you know other schools comparable to the ones I’ve posted that would be good safeties or targets?</p>
<p>All of these are a reach, with Swarthmore being the toughest. You will probably get into at least a few of them.
For similar schools that are a bit easier:</p>
<p>ConnCol.
Bates
Colby
Hamilton (only a little easier)
Colgate
Trinity
Oberlin</p>
<p>I think you have great stats and ECs, and that you have a great chance at all of these schools, though Swarthmore and Bowdoin would be reaches.</p>
<p>Colgate, Holy Cross, and Bucknell are easier to get into.</p>
<p>Gadiii, Middlebury is just as difficult to get into, and Wesleyan and Vassar are practically as hard. All of the original schools are reaches for the OP, except for Vassar, because he’s male. </p>
<p>For matches, I recommend Colby, Bates, Connecticut College, Colgate, Holy Cross - depending on how much financial aid the OP needs.</p>
<p>Honestly, with the difficulty of admissions nowadays, I would be happy getting into any of these schools.</p>
<p>You guys are definitely right about Swarthmore. The field of applicants is not only very competitive, but also its small size makes it even more difficult to gain admission. In regards to the other schools, I’m leaning toward Middlebury for early decision. Can anyone tell me about the academic atmosphere at Midd? I just want to be at a school where people are really motivated and driven.</p>
<p>I would ED Vassar for the male advantage there. Your scores are low for these schools (CR plus M), your best bets are going to be a bit below these coming from CT-Bates, Trinity, Conn College, Colorado College, Nova.</p>
<p>But all these schools, redroses, look at writing equal to CR + M. Colgate does not look at writing. So, OP has fine scores, not great, for these schools. Just write an outstanding essay.</p>
<p>“I’m leaning toward Middlebury for early decision.”</p>
<p>It’s a loooong time from November to September to make such a commitment to a school you’re not in love with, plenty of time to regret your decision; April 30 is more reasonable as a decision date in such a case. Be careful!</p>
<p>Redroses, Villanova isn’t comparable (size, student body, etc) to the schools I’ve posted. I’m also not looking for an urban school. My first choice was originally Dartmouth, but because of my low scores (for Dartmouth) and Dartmouth’s dominating Greek life, I’ve started looking elsewhere. Middlebury just seems to be very similar to Dartmouth, albeit the smaller size. Additionally, I don’t think my residence in Connecticut will really hurt me. In the past, numerous students from my school have attended to Middlebury, Williams, and other competitive liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Vossron, I appreciate your advice and have considered possible misgivings about my decision. However, I see myself as a great candidate for ED for a number of reasons that I don’t think need to be posted here. I should also add that the title for this thread is somewhat misleading. My interest in Middlebury is greater than my interest in all of the other schools here, with the exception of Swarthmore. However, if I want to apply to Swarthmore, I might as well apply to HYP as well. In other words, my admission there is unrealistic.</p>
<p>Sara, no school, except perhaps UCs, considers writing equally. </p>
<p>Yes, Nova is different, just giving you a sense of where I see you getting in. It is harder to get into these schools from CT than from most states as they get many qualified applicants from the state.</p>
<p>Also, having been a college counselor myself for 2 decades, I’m astounded your counselor would call an interest in philosophy a hook. Speechless actually.</p>