ninnykins

Alright, I'm down to my final 8-ish schools, but I'm having a few qualms right now before I begin submitting my commonapp.
The schools so far--the ones with stars are definite:
*Rice EA
*Brandeis
*SMU
*UT
Wellesley
*UChicago EA
*Cornell
*Columbia

URM female from Texas (Senior)
GPA: 3.9-ish
11 AP's by graduation, including physics B&C, bio, and chem
Rank: top 10% out of about 700
SAT: CR:720, W: 710, M: 620
SAT II's: US History: 790, MathIIC: 660 (I'm retaking this as well as another subject)
My high school goes from 10-12 grade.

EC's and such--
Theatre (10-12): I do school and community theatre during the school year and the summer, and the time commitment is so great that my choices for other EC's are limited. I'm a council member in my theatre club at school (officer-ship is a popularity contest).
International Thespian Society
NHS (10-12): lower-level officer
Church youth choir (9-11)
Library Volunteer (summers 11&12
Church Youth Council (12)
Pediatric Hospital Volunteer (12--summer and year): I'm a sitter for the patients and volunteer 8 hours per week during the summer and 4 per week during the year. I didn't start until this year because this is the first year I heard of the opportunity.
This isn't really an EC, but this year I'm doing a medical internship organized by my school district that takes up 3 periods of the day. It is highly regarded in my district.
National Merit Commended

Academic plans: I hope to major in biology, as the eventual goal for me is to become a biomedical engineer, but I want to go to a possibly smaller, more academically flexible school because I also want to study foreign language and tons of music (I'm a soprano), not necessarily for lots of class discussions, so medium-sized schools are fine.

Here's the thing: I thought I would definitely be applying to Wellesley as the only single-sex school, but now I'm not sure. I really like the 5-College Consortium affiliated with Smith and Mount Holyoke, but I'm uncomfortable with the extreme liberalism at these schools. However, what I do like about Smith is that it's music department is stronger than that of Wellesley and that the 5 colleges put on one opera per year--Wellesley's music resources look pretty sparse. Also, I'm not sure I like the fact that Wellesley students can't have cars. Still, what I've always liked about Wellesley is the fact that it's not quite as liberal, has excellent academics, is near Boston, and offers opportunities to do theatre in Boston and at other surrounding colleges, like MIT. I fear that, at Smith or Mount Holyoke, theatre would be limited to the 5-colleges. Also, I'm not sure how I'd fare being far from any metropolitan area, as those are all I've lived near and where I'm comfortable.
Also, I took off Davidson, but would it be a good college to continue to consider? Any other suggestions? Your advice is GREATLY appreciated.

mattmom

Not sure why you took Davidson off, unless you really prefer a larger school, which your list suggests you do. If you don't think you want to go to Wellesley, I'd say don't apply; you will very likely get in, I think. And if you think the political climate at Smith and Mt Holyoke won't be comfortable, again, why bother? Your credentials alone would make you a highly likely candidate, and your URM status and coming fro Texas rather than the Northeast or Middle Atlantic states would make you even more likely to get in, so it seems wasteful to apply. Brandeis shoudl be a sufficient safety if you decide against UT. And if you want a small school in the 5-college consortium with a less monolithic political climate, why not consider Amherst? Possibly a reach but I suspect in your case a high match.

ninnykins

Yes, I am definitely excited about Brandeis--it seems to have everything I want, but I still want some options. You never know where you'll be come April.

mini

My d. is a music composition major at Smith, has a research assistantship tied to the five-college opera consortium, and is having a blast. The Center for Molecular Biosciences is a national center for genomic research, and there are research assistantships for students beginning their first year. Languages are also excellent (as they are at Wellesley.) There are no distribution requirements, which makes things very, very flexible.

PM me if you'd like more info.