Which schools are a reach/match/safety?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello CC,
Since I posted last, I've narrowed down my college list and changed it up some. I'm looking to see which ones are a reach, match, or safety for me. I'm a rising senior, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a computer science major. Here's what I've got:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.83 UW from a high school that sends a lot of kids to top colleges
ACT: 36 (34 E, 36 M, 36 R, 36 S, 8 Essay)
SAT: 2260 (760 M, 720 CR, 780 W)
800 Math II, 800 Chem Subject tests
APs: AP English (Lang) (5), Chemistry(5), Calculus AB(5), Environmental(4, didn't take the class), pretty much everything else honors that can be
Senior Schedule: AP Physics C, AP Senior English, Concert Band, AP Stats, AP Micro, and Macroeconomics and Linear Algebra and my local LAC
- Made Chem Olympiad national exam (one of 13 kids in western MA and CT)
- I'm taking Computer Science I online from UMass this summer, doing very well so far, halfway through. Probably going to get an A.
- 3 years of school band (trumpet), will be 4
- 3 years of district band, will likely be 4
- 2 years of all state band, will likely be 3
- 2 years youth orchestra outside school, will be 3
- Local yoyo team, we do yoyo demos around the area for kids
- Debate club founding member
- National Honors Society, includes community service</p>

<p>Here's my list, in kind of an order of preference:
Stanford
Cornell
Tufts
MIT
UPenn?
Harvey Mudd
Carleton
Carnegie Mellon
Rice
Johns Hopkins
Michigan
Wisconsin - Madison
Maryland
NYU
UMass Amherst (I'm from MA)</p>

<p>How do you guys feel about those? Any other suggestions of LACs with CS now that I'm not tied to engineering specifically? Not really too interested in any schools that are great technical schools but won't have much else - I just don't think I'll fit in at those kind of places. </p>

<p>I know I'm a little reach-heavy, but that's okay right now. I'm looking for suggestions on the "squishy middle", as my guidance counselor calls it.</p>

<p>Thanks,
Ethan</p>

2

<p>What’s your ability to pay? Have you calculated your EFC and looked at whether the schools meet need? I know NYU definitely doesn’t. Clearly UMass would be a financial safety, as you’re in-state.</p>

<p>What’s your size preference? I see a mix of big universities and LACs on your list.</p>

<p>Caltech, if you like MIT and are willing to go to CA (guessing you are since you have Harvey Mudd on the list). For LACs with CS, try Wesleyan, Middlebury, Pomona, or Grinnell.</p>

3

<p>For LACs and smaller schools, check the junior and senior level course offerings for the following types of courses, since some smaller schools offer CS majors with very limited selections of CS courses:</p>

<p>algorithms and complexity
theory of computation, languages, and automata
operating systems
compilers
networks
databases
security and cryptography
electives like graphics, user interfaces, and artificial intelligence
hardware courses like digital systems and computer architecture
math courses like abstract algebra and number theory</p>

<p>Minnesota, Stony Brook, Virginia Tech, NCSU, and Cal Poly SLO may be worth a look for lower cost (at list price) schools. If you are willing to pay full price, there are Berkeley, UIUC, Georgia Tech, Texas, and Purdue to consider adding to your list.</p>

<p>There are also some full tuition and full ride scholarships for your stats if you really need the money:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>I’m curious why, in your order of preference for a CS major specifically, schools like Tufts, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, or even Cornell are higher than, for example, Carnegie Mellon. </p>

<p>Anyway, MIT, Stanford and, for CS specifically, Carnegie Mellon are probably reaches for any applicant.</p>

5

<p>Stanford (Reach)
Cornell (Reach)
Tufts (Match)
MIT (Reach)
UPenn? (Reach)
Harvey Mudd (Reach)
Carleton (Match)
Carnegie Mellon (Reach for CS)
Rice (Match)
Johns Hopkins (Match)
Michigan (Match)
Wisconsin - Madison (Safety)
Maryland (Safety)
NYU (match)
UMass Amherst (I’m from MA) (Safety)</p>

<p>Any reason why you do not have Princeton on your list?</p>

6

<p>bruno14 - I’m not too picky about size. I’d rather not go to the tiniest schools, (Harvey Mudd excepted because of the Claremont Colleges, not sure about Carleton.) </p>

<p>Money is kind of up in the air for my family right now. We’ll be hurt as far as our EFC goes by the large assets my parents have. It looks like our EFC will be around $30,000. Basically, I’m not narrowing down colleges based on cost because I don’t think it will end up being a limiting factor, and if it is, I’ll have that discussion once I get in, and there’s always UMass.</p>

<p>ucbalumnus - Thanks for the tip on looking at the course offerings. I’ll take into account some of those cheaper schools. Texas and Berkeley I had on my list, but I took them off because I’d like to keep my list of pricey publics pretty short, seeing as they don’t give much aid to OOS students. </p>

<p>bruno123 - I visited Cornell and Tufts, and loved them both. I’m really interested in things other than just CS, like the social sciences. That’s why Carnagie Mellon is a little bit lower on my list than you’d think from just their CS program. Maybe once I visit them in the fall I’ll move them up the list. The list is by no means an end all be all ranking of my preference, I’m just starting with this.</p>

<p>Alexandre - Thanks for the rankings, glad to see you think I have a few safeties on there too. I haven’t really thought much about Princeton; should I have them on my list?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help everyone!</p>

7

<p>Stanford- REACH
Cornell - REACH
Tufts - MATCH
MIT - REACH
UPenn? - REACH
Harvey Mudd - REACH
Carleton - ?
Carnegie Mellon - MATCH
Rice - LOW REACH
Johns Hopkins -REACH
Michigan - MATCH
Wisconsin - Madison (SAFETY)
Maryland - SAFETY
NYU - MATCH
UMass Amherst - SAFETY</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>It is best to have the money and cost discussion before you make your application list, to avoid wasting time, application fees, and dreams on schools that are out of reach financially.</p>

<p>In particular, can your family afford the financial-aid-calculated EFC of $30,000 per year? If what they are able and willing to pay is substantially less, then you will need to look for big merit scholarship opportunities (though a few super-reach schools like Stanford have extra-generous need-based financial aid) or schools whose list price is within affordability range (what you and your parents are able and willing to pay, plus maybe subsidized Stafford loans of $23,000 for four years).</p>

<p>Note that if you need a large merit scholarship to attend, the reach/match/safety assessment must be based on the large merit scholarship. For example NYU cannot be a match or safety for anyone who needs substantial financial aid, since NYU gives poor need-based financial aid and offers only a few reach-for-everyone level merit scholarships.</p>

9

<p>Let me be more specific about the money situation. My parents are getting a large inheritance, around $400,000 or so. Income wise, we are middle class, with my parents making about $80,000/year. Since parents assets aren’t weighed very heavily, my EFC will still come out fairly low considering, like I said around $30,000. My parents have been very dedicated about sending me to college, and have said they will put as much of the inheritance (also their retirement) towards college as they need to. Now, I can’t in good conscience ask them to spend the majority of their retirement on my education. But through a combination of their help, me working and taking on loans, and financial aid (need-based or merit), cost won’t be the major factor in my college decision. That being said, I’m still planning on keeping some low cost schools like the ones you suggested on my list, just in case, so that I <em>know</em> that come April, I’ll have somewhere to go that I can afford.</p>

10

<p>Be careful about assuming that assets won’t be counted heavily.</p>

<p>Try the net price calculators at every school to give an idea of what each school is likely to offer for need-based aid. (Don’t assume that one school will be representative of the others, especially if it is a super-generous school like Stanford.)</p>

11

<p>Stanford - don’t even bother
Cornell - high reach
Tufts - reach
MIT - see Stanford
UPenn? - high reach
Harvey Mudd - high reach
Carleton - reach
Carnegie Mellon - high reach for CS
Rice - reach
Johns Hopkins - reach
Michigan - low reach
Wisconsin - Madison (match)
Maryland - match
NYU - low reach
UMass Amherst (I’m from MA) - low match</p>

<p>You need to find some safeties.</p>

12

<p>^Agree with ucbalumnus that you should run the net price calculators for each school first before you finalize a list and certainly before you work on any applications. You may have the luxury to skip that step if your parents earn $350,000 but not if they are earning $80,000. Your list will look very different if you are trying to obtain merit scholarships which should be available to you with your stats. There is no point submitting an application to a school that does not give merit aid if the net price calculator shows a cost of attendance that you find unreasonable. You may like a certain school but not at that price or just not be able to afford that particular school. You might like a $2000 suit and appreciate its fine quality but you are wasting your time looking at them if your budget only allows $200. Do not assume any school cares what you estimate to be your EFC and there are many threads here of widely varying aid packages after a bunch of schools receive the same data.</p>

13

<p>There are people from my school that got into Cornell, upenn, Harvey Mudd And possibly others on that list with lower statistics than you, no legacies and no sports so I wouldn’t give up hope</p>

14

<p>Yeah, the average test scores and GPA for kids from my school that got accepted to UPenn and Cornell is much lower than the OP’s numbers. Louiseee is right</p>

15

<p>Elijah, I think you are being way too stern. The OP has over a 3.8 GPA (having taken a bunch of APs and getting 5s in most of them) with a perfect 36 on the ACT. UMass, Wisconsin and Maryland are safeties. Most of the remaining schools are matches or realistic reaches. Only MIT, Princeton (assuming he adds it) Stanford are true reaches.</p>

16

<p>Although I agree with ucbalumnus, I think that virtually all the schools on the OP list either (1) has meets 100% of demonstrated need or (2) gives merit scholarships for students of his caliber. </p>

<p>yoyojam, public universities like Maryland, Michigan, UMass and Wisconsin have limited scholarships. As such, apply to them as early as possible (no later than mid October). And I would definitely add Princeton to your list of schools. They have an excellent CS department.</p>

17

<p>

</p>

<p>yoyojam, I see you picked NYU. Why not give Ohio State a try? Since OSU and NYU are both ranked the same in terms of CS program on USNWR, and Columbus is great city. However, unlike NYU and most of the public universities in the country, tOSU offers excellent merit scholarships to the OOS students. With your stats, Ohio State should be added as one of your safety schools as you might be qualify for the most prestigious “Eminence Scholarship,” which will cover full cost of attendance with additional $3,000 grant given for research. At the very least, you should definitely receive the “National Buckeye Scholarship” for the OOS students. </p>

<p>[Ohio</a> State increases student financial aid by $50 million : onCampus](<a href=“http://oncampus.osu.edu/2012/04/ohio-state-increases-student-financial-aid-by-50-million/]Ohio”>http://oncampus.osu.edu/2012/04/ohio-state-increases-student-financial-aid-by-50-million/)</p>

<p>[Scholarships[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Geographic diversity (Columbus campus, autumn 2011)</p>

<p>Ohio State enrolls students from every state and territory. States with the highest enrollment:</p>

<p>500+: Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, California, Michigan
300 – 499: Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia
100 – 299: Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Arizona, Tennessee, Connecticut
50 – 99: West Virginia, Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, Kansas</p>

<p>OSC’s Oakley Cluster delivers on performance efficiency</p>

<p>New system ranks 9th in U.S., 2nd among U.S. academic institutions</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.osc.edu/press/releases/2012/OakleyList.shtml[/url]”>http://www.osc.edu/press/releases/2012/OakleyList.shtml](<a href=“Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University”>Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University)</a></p>

<p>*The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is located on the campus of Ohio State!! </p>

<p>Best of Luck & Go Bucks!! :)</p>