What kind of colleges should I be aiming for?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, thank you for taking the time to look at this thread!</p>

<p>I just was curious what academic level I should be looking at. I know I'm not Ivy material, but I don't know if I'm right underneath that or I should be looking further below.</p>

<p>Attend a pretty well respected public school in upstate NY
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
ACT: 35
Will have taken 5 AP's out of a possible 8 offered at my school by the end of senior year: AP Euro, APUSH, AP English Comp, AP Calc AB, AP English Lit
Advanced 1 year in math, science (I realize this isn't atypical)
- overall, one of the most rigorous courseloads possible in my school, but not THE hardest.</p>

<p>Member of NHS
Editor of my school newspaper
Founded and am president of a community service club
Been running indoor and outdoor track for the past 4 years, 2 varsity letters in each so far, will be a captain next year
Peer mentor at school</p>

<p>One of 30 students of the 2,000 in my school to win a character award
Honor roll every quarter since entry in HS</p>

<p>2 jobs: one as insurance verifier, one as a math and reading tutor for children (total: 15 hours a week)</p>

<p>Spending my summer as a counselor-in-training at my summer camp without pay.</p>

<p>I have no particularly outstanding circumstances surrounding me- affluent white female, happily married parents, no significant illnesses in my family or friends, etc.- I'm incredibly blessed.</p>

<p>What types of schools should I be looking at? As of now, I have been thinking:
Duke, UVa, UNC- Chapel Hill, and Notre Dame: reach schools.
Northeastern, SUNY Binghamton, Boston College, UMichigan- AA, William and Mary: probable.
Bentley, Boston University, U Wisconsin- Madison, and Penn State: safety schools.</p>

<p>Duke I know is a reach school, but my mom being legacy will hopefully get my foot in the door.</p>

<p>I think I'm a pretty good writer, so my essay should be pretty good, and my recommendations are going to be excellent.</p>

<p>So....am I looking in the right range of schools with my stats? Or am I overestimating myself? I know my EC's are pretty weak, it seems almost everyone has "weak" EC's according to the members of this forum but mine are much smaller than everyone elses I've seen haha.</p>

<p>If it matters, I'm interested in business. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Apply ED to Duke. You also have a shot at Cornell, Penn and Dartmouth.</p>

3

<p>Don’t fool yourself: you’re competitive for Ivies…</p>

<p>Duke: Reach (it’s about as high a reach as UPenn Wharton or Dartmouth Tuck)
UNC Kenan-Flagler: Reach (but much less of a reach than Notre Dame Mendoza)
Dartmouth Tuck: Reach
UPenn Wharton: Reach
Cornell Dyson: Low reach
UVA: High match
Notre Dame Mendoza: Reach
BC Carroll: Match
UMI Ross: Match
NEU: Low match/Match
William and Mary: Match/High match
Bentley: Safety
UWI: Safety
PSU Smeal: Safety
BU: Low match/Match
Binghamton: Safety</p>

<p>Is NYU Stern too expensive?</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much for the input, both of you, I feel a lot more confident of where I’m looking.</p>

<p>I hadn’t considered NYU Stern because I’ve never been a huge NYC fan, and my family makes that awkward level of income where we can’t afford schools like NYU but don’t get that much financial aid. I know the school is very well respected though.</p>

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<p>Your score and GPA make you a competitive candidate for any schools. Of course, some schools are very competitive and have low acceptance rate. You can definitely choose several of those ivy caliber schools to apply and you should have a decent chance. What you need to work is to find out what kind of schools you like and your affordability. It does no good if you pick some good schools and got accepted before finding out you cannot afford it. Most top schools do not offer merit aid. With your score, you may get merit aid at many fairly good school though. Other than affordability, your intended major may be a critical factor. If you have something in mind, look up the rankings to get some idea which schools you should pick. Think about the location and setting too. Just make sure you have at least several matching schools and a safety. Basically, you have good chances on any of those schools on your list and you are match to most if not all of them even on your reach list.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the response! A lot of helpful info in there, I appreciate it.</p>

7

<p>One question: When you say reach (open ended to all who chance), does that apply to all schools above your match zone? Or is reach used to describe a school above your match zone that you have a marginal shot at?</p>

<p>I ask because as Catria said, “UNC Kenan-Flagler: Reach (but much less of a reach than Notre Dame Mendoza)” and I wonder whether or not some of these schools (ND, Dartmouth, etc.) are even feasible/worth applying to.</p>

<p>Thank you to anyone that can help, and if anyone has any schools they think I might like as well that’d be great :)</p>