What are potential matches?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi y’all I’m currently a high school junior in NC. I was wondering what some potential matches could be when applying to college next year.

UW GPA: 4.0 W GPA: 4.94
Currently in the IB Diploma Program (was in IBMYP) with my junior year schedule being the following: IB Math HL 1 (Calc BC), Bio HL, English HL, History HL, Spanish SL, Econ SL, Psych SL, and TOK. I pulled home all A’s first quarter and feel good about my chances of keeping them.
ACT: 35 (36 S, 36 R, 35 M, 34 E)
AP Scores: AP Human Geo and Calc AB- 5
Hooks: relatively low income? (will probably do Questbridge and qualify for free tuition at most Ivies and a lot of private schools), first generation

Extracurriculars - really nothing special:
Baseball (1 year JV, will have 2 years V)
Sunday School Teacher at church
President/Founder of a service club
NHS
Various odd clubs around the school

I feel like I could be a fairly competitive applicant most places, but my extracurriculars are pretty meh. I’d appreciate any & all suggestions on matches and maybe even reaches too!

2

What do you want to major in? What area of the country do you want to be in? What do you want in a school?

3

@jennacwa Most likely biology or neuroscience if possible. Area wise most likely along the East Coast, although if the right school was on the West Coast my family could make it happen. I’d like a school with some degree of Greek life (not a make or break though), preferably more than 3,000 students, and while I would prefer a more urban setting, some rural schools (Dartmouth/Cornell- a neat kind of rural, lots of outdoors opportunities).

4

UNC looks like a great match/safety, then roll the dice with the Ivies/full pay elites. You are in a good position.

5

U Rochester, William and Mary, U Richmond, Wake Forest, Case Western, Lehigh, BC

6

Are you recruitable for baseball? And if so, do you want to play in college? Do you prefer the southeast to the northeast?

7

@Otterma I could play D3 baseball most likely. My high school coach and I are working on a tape to send to NESCAC schools and some other D3 schools. I honestly don’t have preference in southeast vs northeast

8

For size, setting, and major Emory ticks the boxes. Washington U St Louis and Johns Hopkins are also larger D3 schools with stellar science programs.

9

If you want to use your baseball ability to get into a really strong academic school, I would go for Emory, Tufts, Wash U (St Louis), Wesleyan U. You also might be a good fit for Amherst and Williams. but both are below 3,000 students. If I were you, Tufts looks like a great choice for what you want in a school (suburban but near Boston, D3 sports, 25% Greek participation), etc.

10

UNC-CH (in-state) is the school to beat for quality/cost.
Out of state public universities (like William and Mary) may not offer enough need-based aid.

Reaches
JHU and Vanderbilt seem to match your criteria well.
Middlebury (outdoorsy like Dartmouth and a bit larger than many other LACs; seems to have strong psych/neuroscience);
Swarthmore, Haverford (Philadelphia-area consortium partners)

Tufts, Northwestern, or USC might also work.
Boston College and Emory are slightly less selective than most of the above.

Targets
Colorado College (super outdoorsy with unusual one-course-at-a-time “block plan”)
Macalester
University of Richmond (close to home, large for a LAC)
Trinity College (Hartford)

These are more-or-less urban LACs that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need
(but run their online Net Price Calculators and see if the results look affordable.)

Brandeis, URochester, and Wake Forest are small universities that might also be good target choices. Again, run their online NPCs and compare estimated costs.

11

@tk21769 The OP specified 3000 students or more. You have an awful lot of small schools on your list of suggestions.

I think Case Western could be a great fit for the OP especially if he wants to play baseball. If he is willing to give up baseball U of Miami could be a good fit. It is urban, medium sized and urban (but with a beautiful campus). I have also visited Vanderbilt and it might be a good fit if the OP wants to give up baseball. Tufts is a nice suburban campus that is small but not too small. NYU is a possibility for baseball but you MUST visit. It is a love it or hate it type of place.

12

Bucknell would be a strong, perhaps even low match for you. Seems to have the size and vibe you would be interested in though a bit rural for sure. Also Colgate, though a little smaller and again rural.

13

How about U Chicago, which is a D3 school?

Our tour guide was a baseball player who was very normal and friendly.

14

Also baseball is certainly not a determining factor on where I want to go, it’s just something that I might use to help me get into college. I probably would not end up playing all 4 years.

15

^ “it’s just something that I might use to help me get into college.”

I think that is the main point. If you really like a school for its academics, say JHU or Tufts, maybe (and I don’t know your baseball skills) being a baseball 'recruit" maybe gets you over the hump since the acceptance rates are so low in general. If you then decide after 2 years that you no longer want to play and want to focus more time on school, research, etc. that is not a problem as you are not on an athletic scholarship.

16

Yes, the OP specified “preferably more than 3,000 students”. He also mentioned that he’s considering NESCAC schools. Except for Tufts, those are all small liberal arts colleges.

The OP needs a lot of financial aid (especially for expensive private schools). Many of the ~60 colleges that at least claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need are either highly selective universities, or else they are LACs. Of the research universities that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need, not too many are solidly in “match” territory.

Of course, he may be admitted to one of them (or he may get better-than-average aid from somewhere else.)

NYU claims to meet only 62% of demonstrated financial need on average.
Case Western and UMiami claim to meet 84% on average.
YMMV. Run the online NPCs for your own estimates.

17

@londondad that’s pretty much what I was thinking, and my dad had reiterated that exact same sentiment.

18

If you’re relatively low income, then focus on the schools that meet full need. With your stats you have a good chance at substantial aid. Also focus on publics that offer full-tuition scholarships to high-achieving students like you. With your stats you have a shot at a lot of places.

http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2016-09-19/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need

Some good options would be Tufts, UNC, UVa, Richmond, JHU, Vandy, as well as ivies like Penn, Dartmouth, Cornel, Brown.

19

With excellent grades, and test scores, but weaker ECs I think the best Ivy chances are Cornell (semi rural) and Penn (urban). They are the largest 2 and slightly easier to get into. You will need compelling essays to get in. I would visit if possible. They are very different settings and environments. Showing them that you know them well will be very helpful. Both schools emphasis hands on experiences, so if you are light in that area, emphasize that your opportunities have been limited and that you are excited about the chance to get involved. Neither one is a place where you just read books and take tests. They look for people with commitment and enthusiasm, who want to be involved in clubs, research, internships, semesters abroad, etc.

20

@HazedAndConfused Penn would also seem like a good choice for you based on the criteria you mentioned. Obviously it would be a reach. Strong biology and neuroscience departments and research opportunities, big greek life scene (that is, big for an ivy), and also it is located in a big city but it has its own distinct and well-defined campus and it is not exactly in the city center but only a few minutes away on foot from Center City.