Which colleges to add/cut?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have a huge list of colleges here, and I want to figure out which ones I should cut... And I also think I need more matches + safeties. Any ideas?</p>

<p>UPenn CAS (ED)
Brown
Georgetown FLL
U Chicago
Brandeis
Berkeley
Cornell
UCLA
Rochester
NYU
Stanford
Swarthmore
UC Santa Cruz
UC San Diego
Boston University
Oxford (linguistics course)</p>

<p>I want to double major in linguistics/ancient studies or classics.</p>

<p>White Female
California</p>

<p>GPA: 3.86UW/4.15W
Rank: School doesn't rank, but at least top 10%</p>

<p>PSAT: 207 (commended)
SAT I: 2200 (760CR, 640M, 800W - best sitting)
2260 (760CR, 700M, 800W - best composite)
SATII: US History 780, Lit 760, Chem 710, Japanese 620 (retaking)</p>

<p>By the end of high school, I'll have taken AP US, AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Physics, and AP Calc AB. Also AP Japanese (if it's offered). This is about as tough as my schedule can get, since my school doesn’t have APs until junior year and there are relatively few history/language APs offered here. And I’m obviously not a math/science person. :P</p>

<p>Community College classes:
Intro to Linguistics (A)
Cultural Anthropology (A)
Probably Anthropological Linguistics in 12</p>

<p>Latin 1 Honors (online)
Will start Latin 2 H in the fall
Will start Ancient Greek 1 H in the fall</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards:
-Badminton JV, 9-10
-CSF, 10-12
-Went to Japan for 2 weeks before 11th grade, homestay; this was really big for me… it’s what sparked my obsession with languages
-Student Ambassador to Japanese "Sister City" before 12th grade (4 ppl were selected and given a $1000 scholarship each) – this is taking up most of my summer; I’m going to meet the mayor in this Japanese city and do a homestay there with someone and then bring this person with me back to California
-Taking an ancient studies mini-course at Brown Uni this summer before 12th grade
-Walton Peace Essay Finalist ($100 awarded)
-Self-study Russian, 2 years
-Writes (written a novel, but it's not published or anything)
-Piano, 10 years; I’ve started composing songs (just one or two, but I like them )</p>

<p>Job: sorted music for founder of Netscape (9)</p>

<p>Second semester of junior year, I came down with a condition called Bell’s Palsy – paralysis of one side of the face. It’s usually temporary, and although recovery takes 3 weeks for most people, I’ve had it for almost 4 months and only now am I seeing some change.This is an uncommon disease that strikes 1 in 5000. My grades have dropped a little as a result of this. By “a little” I mean most likely getting a B in PreCalc H and a C+ in Chem AP.</p>

2

<p>Oxford is ridiculously hard to get into from the United States. With your stats, it's more than a reach.</p>

3

<p>You have lots of big reaches (I would take the SATs again if you really want an ivy or Stanford) but you do have matches and a safety in UCSC.</p>

4

<p>Drop UCSC and one of Rochester/BU/NYU. Drop Oxford, but consider it for a master's degree.</p>

5

<p>What? Your stats are definitely good enough for ivy league schools, especially if they take the composite score.</p>

6

<p>Drop UC Santa Cruz and consider one or more of the following for a safety: UCI, UCSB, UCD</p>

<p>I think you have enough matches.</p>

7

<p>What's wrong with UC Santa Cruz?</p>

<p>Which schools, btw, ARE my match schools? Georgetown/Brandeis/UChicago?</p>

<p>I don't think I'm going to retake SATs. I'm all done. Honestly what I think is holding me back is my lack of normal ECs. What I've done was mostly outside of school. That's why I'm hesitant about what are and are not my matches.</p>

8

<p>Doesn't Dartmouth have a good linguistics program? and MIT?</p>

9

<p>UC Santa Cruz sucks thats whats wrong with it .</p>

10

<p>Add Middlebury and Haverford</p>

11

<p>You should be in at U Chicago and Brandeis. I would think that you will be in at Cornell, Georgetown, and a lot of the others, too. It would help if you gave more information on your reasons for the list. Why so many UCs? Are you looking for merit aid? You will obviously be accepted at the better ones. Of the UCs, NYU, BU, Rochester, which do you really want to attend? Is Oxford a real possibility, or just a dream? Seems sort of out there by itself- not sure it's a realistic option. If you want to go abroad, that would necessitate a lot of extra planning and research, and it would not be realistic to bank on one school.</p>

12

<p>Well, I chose all those UCs because I can choose 4 anyway on the app, and it's probably a good idea to have a safety on the West Coast in case I decide to stay in CA. UCB and UCLA are the only UCs I'd really like to go to, however. </p>

<p>I'll try for merit aid if it's a possibility - but it's not necessary in itself. Also, I'm interested in Rochester but only if I find it has a good humanities dept. there. Not sure about NYU/BU since their so huge, but I'm going to visit them this summer.</p>

<p>Oxford... hmm. I went through a phase a few months ago where I :really: wanted to go to college out of the country. It is a possibility, but I'm not positive I'd go if accepted, and I still need to figure out exactly what course I would apply for.</p>

<p>Basically, I'm looking for colleges that have a linguistics department. I also want to be able to study some form of ancient history - preferably Egyptian - so there needs to be either an ancient studies/classical languages/classics major available just in case I switch to that. Or do both (which is my plan) linguistics + ancient history.</p>

13

<p>UC - Santa Cruz is well-known for linguistics, so I'd keep it on the list if I were you. I'm not sure why people are advising you to drop it, but if you ever decide to apply to graduate school in linguistics, UCSC should serve you well. You'll get to know the professorsl, and their recommendations will be very helpful.</p>

14

<p>For Georgetown faculty of language and linguistics I think you have a decent shot... you should definately show all your linguistic extra curriculars (college classes) on the application to show that your truly passionate about linguistics. The FLL is awesome, by the way haha</p>

15

<p>Chicago is nearing the status of not being a match for anyone these days. Their admissions stats are still relatively high, because their applicants are pretty self-selecting (i.e. everyone and their brother applies to the Ivies "just in case," but only eggheads - and I mean that in a good way! - apply to Chicago). But it is not a match for anyone, unless they have serious legacy.</p>

<p>However, Chicago loves people with languages. They have the Oriental Istitute and an amazing ancient department. Your interests match well, but count it as a reach.</p>

16

<p>If you're still interested in going to college outside the US, but want a minimum of hassles, check out some Canadian colleges.</p>

17

<p>I'm probably going to end up cutting NYU/Stanford/BU. Maybe Oxford. Not sure yet. New list...:</p>

<p>Reach:
UPenn CAS (ED)
Brown
U Chicago
Cornell
Swarthmore
Oxford (ling. course)</p>

<p>Match (high & low):
Georgetown FLL
Berkeley
UCLA
Brandeis
UC San Diego</p>

<p>Safety:
Rochester
UC Santa Cruz</p>

<p>Do I have more of a shot at UPenn ED or Brown ED? I love both of those colleges but I know my chances are really slim, so I need to figure out which one to apply ED to.</p>

18

<p>Just a short bump - everyone knows I'm guilty of those this weekend :) - but I'm curious what the answer to my above question would be.</p>

19

<p>I get the impression that ED is more of a help at Penn than Brown.</p>

20

<p>Okie. Thanks all! I take it my choices are all decent then?</p>