So I’m just starting the application process and will ultimately apply to 12 schools. I already applied to one as a safety: Montana State. My worry is that I don’t know if the schools I’m applying to are too easy to get into or not. My current SAT score is a 1280 (700 in math, 580 in reading/writing) and my GPA is around a 3.68. The hardest school I’m applying to is the University of Washington. I don’t know if UW would be a target or a reach for me. That said, if I were to plug my scores into something like Prepscholar, what would need to be the percentage of acceptance for me to consider the school a category? Also, if anyone happens to know of any good reach schools for me, please let me know! I live in Massachusetts, if it makes a difference.
If a college us unaffordable it is always out of reach.
It seems you like bigger research unis and out of New England. Everyone is different. Please note that oos state flagships are both competitive and relatively expensive. Not much aid beyond normal FA.
For me safety is:
A. You can afford it. You’ve run the numbers and it’s a go.
B. They have the major and support for your educational goals. Most state unis are perfectly fine in that regard.
C. You would really be happy to attend and enjoy the location atmosphere and vibe. Not a sad consolation prize.
D. You are at the 75% level or above on their posted admitted students statistics. And this can slightly lower if you have a legacy faculty connection or represent diversity and inclusion as an urm.
E. They accept over 50% of applicants. You have to see how this works for out for state schools. Some have mandates for instate students and this leaves less room oos and lower acceptance rates than published. Almost all of the oos state unis in the top 50 public unis would be a minimum of a match. Only UMass Amherst for you and oos schools that meet the definition above would be a safety. OOS private schools in some ways are easier to gauge.
Match or target.
A. All of the key ingredients as above with a couple of exceptions.
B. You are at their mid point to 75%.
C. The admit rates are not below 30%.
Reach.
A. All of the elements previously mentioned.
B. You are at mid point of stats or below. And or have admit rates less than 30%.
Remember theee are not hard and fast rules. But simple checks. The 4.0 1500 sat student and the excellent student with your profile will have slightly different components to the algorithm.
Schools to consider. I haven’t researched based on above versus your profile. but these would be on my gut reaction. But move them up or down with some research on your part.
UVM target
UNH. target
URI Safety
uMaine Orono. Safety
Alabama. Match low reach
U Pittsburgh reach.
Udelaware target
ASU. Safety
U New Mexico. Safety
Iowa target.
Montana. Safety
Wyoming target
Wisconsin. Reach
Uhawaii safety
Clemson low reach
Auburn low reach
Florida state reach
University of central Florida. Target
Old dominion. Target
VCU. Target
Large Private schools.
Syracuse non journalism school. Target
Fordham reach
Marquette target
Providence college. Reach
College of Charleston target
Duquesne safety
Catholic. Safety.
American reach
Loyola Maryland safety.
U Miami reach
Santa Clara reach
So many smaller liberal arts colleges. But this is a start in my book. Spend sometime really looking at each.
Given that you are out of state, my guess is that UW is probably a reach, or perhaps a low reach.
Why do you want to go so far from home? You have schools in-state which are as good or better than Montana state. Why not U.Mass Amherst as a match and U.Mass Lowell as a safety?
Have you run the NPCs? Are your parents okay with paying a lot more to go out of state compared to a comparable university in-state? If you live on campus, U.Mass Amherst is going to be a completely different world compared to living at home, even if your parents live just a few miles away.
I looked at a couple of your other threads. While Montana State might be a safety from the perspective of getting accepted, unless something has changed I don’t think that it is a safety for you from the perspective of being able to afford it. You need a safety that you know you will be able to afford. IMHO taking on a large debt to attend Montana State rather than U.Mass Lowell would be a mistake.
@privatebanker Thanks for the help! I’m possibly considering UVM and UNH as well as UMaine (since they offer discount tuition).
@DadTwoGirls My family is from Washington (specifically around the Puget Sound region). UW is an amazing school and I’d love to go there.
I’m not a huge fan of living in the New England area. I don’t mind it, but I was raised in the western US (moved to Massachusetts this past summer).
As for UMass Lowell, I visited the campus and hated it. However, I am looking into Worcester State and UMass Boston.
My parents agreed to pay me a certain amount per year, so once I fill out the FAFSA and get my scholarships from schools I’ve been accepted to. After that, I’ll weigh that into my decision.
I think I have a lot of safety schools and don’t know if I should apply to more difficult schools. Here are the schools I’m PLANNING on applying to:
Montana State - Accepted
UW - Reach
Western Washington - Target
UMass Amherst - Target
UMass Boston - Safety
Worcester State - Safety
CU Boulder - Target
UConn - Target or Low Reach
University of Alaska Fairbanks - Safety
South Carolina - Safety
Puget Sound - Target
Hofstra - Target
Try each college’s net price calculator before applying so that you have a realistic idea of whether it will be affordable.
If you need a competitive merit scholarship to be able to afford a college, consider it a reach.
Do you have a major in mind? You might also want to check out Framingham State.
@Momma2018 Checked out Framingham State, but I liked Worcester State better. I’ve been on tours of both places. I have several majors in mind. Communications would be pretty cool. I’m good with math, so math would be nice, especially if it’s Applied Math. I’m taking a computer programming course for senior year, so if I like it, I may even choose to major in computer programming.
So far your list looks good. There are a lot of good practical choices. You want to be careful to make sure the out of state options can be paired with some kind of scholarship money, otherwise the cost will likely be too high. A couple of options to try for your stats would be TCU and Baylor. They offer decent need based aid, which can make the costs competitive, but make sure to check out the net price calculators for those schools.
CU Boulder will be too expensive for you. Apply to CSU-Ft Collins or Wyoming instead.
Yeah, Boulder would have been a great fit for my daughter, but when we found out the OOS cost of attendance and the visiting rep made it clear that they don’t offer merit or financial aid to out of state students my daughter just dropped the app. She did apply to U Denver and got decent merit and financial aid, if that is a smaller U that would appeal to you in Colorado.
30, 50, 20.