Wise parents, I need your advice!

<p>I am a rising junior, and don't know which schools I might be able to get into. Any advice or suggestions you could give me would be very helpful.</p>

<p>I am a white male, attending an averagy high school in Wyoming, with a graduating class of around 200. I have taken all the honors classes possible.</p>

<p>I am interested in applying to:
Princeton
Harvard
MIT
Stanford
UW (as a backup)</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 4.00
Class rank: 1
ACT: 34</p>

<p>APs planned:
Junior year: Chemistry, US Government and Politics, US History
Senior year: English Literature/Language, Physics, Calculus AB
<em>I also plan to take courses at the local community college to supplement my school's offerings if necessary, particularly in the summers</em></p>

<p>Activities/Honors:
Junior Class President next year
Expect to get National Merit
National Honor Society next year
Start on varsity basketball team, and will go to the world championship 3 on 3 tournament. Winner of the state tournament.
Plan to start a school newspaper
Varsity tennis team
Paid internship at a local bank this summer
Chess club
Math team
Key club
Plan to do the UDOC program next summer
Big Brother, plus tutor elementary school students twice a week</p>

<p>I expect to get excellent recommendations, and write great essays.</p>

<p>My primary interest is business, especially investment banking. I also may pursue a career as an engineer, scientist, or doctor.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for any schools you can recommend to me!</p>

<p>Good Choices. You may want to add UPENN. Then HPMS and UPENN will be a lottery.</p>

<p>Start loving UW - your safety.</p>

<p>Looks like you've got the reach schools scoped out--but are woefully lacking on the next two levels of schools down. Unless you'd just love to go to UW, you are certainly wise to look around for some more schools.</p>

<p>Sports , leadership, business--Claremont McKenna came to mind as a possibility. Also might want to check out USC. A friend's daughter graduated with degrees in accounting and business and now works for a big accounting firm. Also, USC can be quite generous with $$ for someone with high stats.</p>

<p>You'll be taking the SATs?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your responses, simba and ellemenope! I want to take the SAT next year, but almost no one from my school does this, and I will have to drive several hours to get to a testing location. (Pathetic, isn't it.)</p>

<p>If your primary interest is business, does that mean you wish to major in it at the undergrad level? Or major in something else and then go into IB? Because Stanford, eg, does not have an undergrad business major and I'm guessing that applies to some of the other schools on your list.</p>

<p>I strongly agree with ellenemope that you ask yourself whether UW is a place you'd really be proud and happy to spend your college years. If not, you need some match and safety schools at the levels between the super-reach schools and UW. I do not call them super-reach because your stats don't qualify you for them - they do. I call them super reach because their acceptance levels are so low (around 10%) that no one's chances are good enough to count on getting in -even if you apply to several of them.</p>

<p>Less reach-y possibles might include: UPenn (still uber-selective, but it has the ug business major at Wharton), Babson,...</p>

<p>Get some stuff on the second tier. Colleges on the level of UVA, Cornell, Dartmouth, etc. Non-HYPMS but not safeties either.</p>

<p>you are not giving many other incredible colleges with better admission odds enough attention. See andi's last posts for why this is a mistake even for valedictorians with wonderful test scores.<br>
You need at least three match or safety schools where you know you could thrive and be happy.<br>
Congrats on compiling a fine record in high school and enjoy your search for a good list of colleges..</p>

<p>Agree with above posters, only I would suggest you look at some privates that offer merit aid: Vanderbilt, WashU in St Louis, etc. Look on the merit aid thread for more info.</p>

<p>If you are willing to do econ as a major, the field opens quite a bit. You could look into quality LACs as well.</p>

<p>Do you intend to play basketball at the collegiate level? That adds another layer to your considerations.</p>

<p>If the school has a good program, I would happily major in economics. Thanks so much parents for your suggestions! I do need many more match schools, and I am seeing that there are many less selective schools that meet my need. I am very concerned about paying for college. I will need to apply to schools with good need based aid, and ones where I might qualify for merit aid.</p>

<p>Also, what can I do to improve my chances?</p>

<p>I don't think there is anything you can do to improve your chances except marry the dean's daughter or invent cold fusion. Write good essays and your chances will be about 50% or more at these schools. You're bound to get into one or more, BUT this is not a guarantee:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=192395%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=192395&lt;/a>
This is a thread that every high level applicant should read.
My message is the same as all of the other posters: pick a safety you would love to attend. If UW is that place, you've got it made. If not, check out the great schools with good (really good) merit aid. Big schools like SBmom pointed out or small schools like Whitman (outdoorsy) or Occidental (urban).</p>

<p>Claremont McKenna was an excellent suggestion.</p>

<p>RFBF, there’s nothing in your profile that would keep you out of any of the colleges on your list or any other college or university in the country. You have a chance, but of course, nothing’s guaranteed. If you’d be satisfied with UW, then you’re all set. If it isn’t particularly to your liking (this is not a knock on UW – I have no opinion one way or another) then you need to expand your list to include a wider range of selectivity. If you will require financial aid, either need based or merit, then you should add a concentric circle of schools that are generous with aid.</p>

<p>Wyoming is a draw as geographic diversity is desirable at all elite colleges. Other than that I suggest making sure that you present a focused and consistent image in your essays, resume, recommendations so that you can differentiate yourself from other academically qualified and multifaceted white males. What do you really LOVE to do? What will you contribute to the college community? (If whatever the answer is connects to Wyoming, so much the better.) You need to get that across in your application.</p>

<p>If you can play tennis or basketball at college then now is the time to contact the coaches. </p>

<p>I think you’ve had some good suggestions for less selective universities. I’d also consider applying early – in September I think – to the University of Michigan. They have rolling admissions and will let you know in a matter of weeks. If you get in (and of course if you want to attend and can afford it) that could be your “safety.” </p>

<p>As others have pointed out, you should research a few of the smaller liberal arts colleges. Williams, Amherst, Hamilton, Kenyon, Bowdoin, Pomona – all seem like good fits for you and fulfill your requirements. </p>

<p>The Wyoming card would be especially powerful at an LAC and many (not Williams or Amherst, though) offer excellent merit aid. Sports are also a big plus at these schools, whether you qualify for varsity or club level.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, what is UDOC? I googled it and got quite a few options. I assume it’s not the Utah Department of Corrections. :)</p>

<p>If money will be an issue, one of the Arizona public universities (U of Arizona? Arizona State?) is very generous to National Merit semi-finalists. There was a thread sometime this year about full or near full rides for NMSFs that may give you more ideas of colleges.</p>

<p>It is very posssible that you may not get into any of your reaches (Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford). </p>

<p>If money is not an issue I would add couple of more reaches (Yale, UPenn). If money is important, I would (as somebody else advised) add several excellent schools with merit aid (Vandy, Washu, Emory - you are likely to get good money there), and Duke and UChicago (they give merit aid but it will be a long shot for you). Also, look at UMichigan and UNC - if you don't mind larger schools.</p>

<p>Take the dang NMSQT/PSAT wherever you have to go to take it. Wyoming doesn't have a big number for NMF, it's I think in the low 200's, like less than 210, maybe just 203. With a 34 ACT you have a great shot at it. You can be an NMF and that will help you at some schools. Not your reaches but starting with the merit schools mentioned above. I can't stress this more.</p>

<p>Also, keep taking the ACT if that's not a stressor to you (if it is , you can be done with a great score of 34. ) . You have score choice. Don't send any scores in till you get your best one. I'll repeat, don't send ANY till you are ready to stop testing, then pick your best ACT and send it. Seems silly but a 35 helps for merit, maybe at some places for admission, too but they'd never tell you that. </p>

<p>Keep your reaches and they are reaches for everybody- this means you, too -EVEN with NMF and a 35.</p>

<p>I like the advice to rip through the big dog merit schools like WashU , Emory, Vanderbilt, USC, Tulane, Case, Rochester , UMiami, and countless smaller ones I could name. PM me . I also like the advice to apply UMich rolling and you could probably put UVa and UNC on that list, too if you want a couple more state schools , though their OOS merit is very limited. </p>

<p>You'll have great choices . Visit some schools and chose where to apply based on how they feel to you. Any school likely to interest you will be a quality school. Don't get so wrapped up in the rankings that you forget you have to live there. Have fun with it.</p>

<p>You've done a great job. I predict you will get into one or more of your reaches. Being from Wyoming helps(geo diversity). My D is a frosh at Stanford, and she got into every school she applied to(11), and based on that experience I am confident you will get into one of your tops.
But you must always plan for the contingency that something odd happens, so pick some next tier down schools you would be happy at. Lots of good business schools around, but many of them tend to be at larger schools. UPenn has best rep for business schools in the US. There was a Wall St Journal article about 1.502.0 years ago about how employers rated business schools, and I believe I've seen other rankings(just can't recall where I saw them).
Also look into honors programs at state Us: UVA, Mich, UTx, UNC, Delaware, and more.
Good luck. I predict you will do great!!</p>

<p>Red Fish: Your stats and ec's are actually just the surface "you", and they're what many other high achieving students have on their resumes. The colleges are looking for your unique or outstanding qualities. So your job is to know what makes you happy, know what makes you tick, and research the heck out of schools so you know if you will be comfortable within the student body, in that particular part of the country, etc., with opportunities to either explore various options (if you don't really know which career you may want), or to advance deeply into the area, if you do happen to know. I feel that too little attention is being paid to "fitness" in this generation of students and too much attention to lists and popular top-tier choices. And remember to search the financial aid pages of the websites for important information on need based/merit aid, and have a serious open discussion with your parents. The head of college advising at my D's school said that the single most important conversation that has to be had early in the process was the one about finances, and it's one of the more uncomfortable ones. Many a fine student from her school was accepted to selective schools only to find out that their family could not afford them. But if you know the funding realities early, you will concentrate on the schools which fit your financial profile and not waste time/effort/money on unrealistic apps. Good luck! You have much to commend with your academic/ec record and will find a great school if you do your research well. Always reach for the stars but have grace to find beauty in that within reach.</p>

<p>You have a shot at all the schools you listed, but so does everyone with your stats, and with 14 or more equally good applicants for each slot, there is a chance you won't get into any of the schools you listed. On the other hand, I would think that being male and coming from a school where few even take the SAT's and being from Wyoming could be a hook with the colleges' focus on diversity. Apply to all the schools you listed, but add some matches, and a couple safeties where you would find a good fit for you, or you might wind up with nothing.</p>

<p>A possible match/safety for you would be Tulane. I think with the stats that you have you could befinenetly get distinguished scholars and possibly even Dean's Honor Scholarship. This is full tutition and would help because you did say that you needed aid. Tulane also has undergrad business.</p>