TheValidity

I'm a rising senior looking to find good matches and reaches to apply to. I already have two safeties that I think fit me pretty well - UIUC (in-state, dad's alma mater) and University of Colorado-Boulder (I love this campus and I love Colorado! mom's alma mater). However, please let me know if you think I need better safeties.


What I'm looking for in a school (most important to least important):
-academic reputation
-D1 athletics with lots of school spirit
-highly ranked engineering or computer science programs
-attractiveness of the student body
-frat scene
-academic flexibility (easy to change majors, not a ton of required classes)
-good study abroad program
-good reputation in CO (where I'd like to live when I'm older)

Objective:
- ACT: 33 (35 E, 35 M, 34 R, 29 S)
- SAT II: taking Math II, USH, and Bio in October (I know, I really put it off - expecting 750-800's)
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): over a 4.0
- Rank: 5/200ish with upward trend
- AP: none yet - only 2 AP courses offered at my school. I was told the lack of opportunities at my school wouldn't hurt me. Thoughts?
- Senior Year Course Load: most rigorous throughout high school - AP Lit, AP Calc (BC isn't offered), Physics, Spanish IV, Micro/Macro Econ, American Government, Athletic PE (required for all athletes)
- Major Awards: All-State Soccer, All-Sectional Soccer, 2-time All-Conference Soccer, 2-time Academic All-Conference Soccer/Basketball, broke hs soccer record for most assists in career

Subjective:
- Extracurriculars: Student-Body President, Varsity Soccer Captain, 9 years of travel soccer, Varsity Basketball Captain, NHS, Spanish Club, 5 years of piano, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
- Job/Work Experience: Soccer referee for the area youth league, basketball referee for saturday youth league, daily yard work for my dad >
- Volunteer/Community service: ~100 hours through sanctioned activities for NHS, Special Olympics Basketball Referee, Organized our town's Christmas Parade, ~50 hours with my church
- Summer Activities: Usually consumed with soccer and basketball camps and soccer tournaments - I try to find time to do a bit of computer programming, reading, going to the pool, hanging out with friends, and learning new things through online classes at Stanford/MIT

Other:
- State:IL
- School Type:Public
- Ethnicity:Caucasian
- Gender:M
- Income Bracket:250-300k
- Hooks: This isn't a hook, but I'm being recruited by many schools for soccer (UChicago, WUSTL, and other small Midwest schools). I really love playing soccer and I want to play in college; I don't care if it's for a varsity team or club team. The schools I'm really interested in haven't had the chance to see me play, but I would be able to email the coaches of the schools I'm applying to to ask about the possibility of walking on. Would this help me at very competitive schools if a coach let admissions officers know that I would be a walk on if admitted?


Final Comments:
I realize that one of my biggest weaknesses is pursuing my academic interests outside of the classroom. Being kept so busy with sports has kept me from doing anything spectacular like a lot of the people on CC. I really am very interested in computers and engineering, but the only thing I've been able to do is teach myself programming languages and I have nothing to show for that. How will colleges look at my involvement with sports when trying to see if I have any academic interests outside of school?

Thank you for reading my thread!

zobroward

davidson college
vanderbilt
unc chapel hill

TheValidity

@zobroward would those be reaches or matches for me?
Also, would any of the Ivies be a good fit for me?

zobroward

I will not even pretend to know what flips the accept/reject switch for them! if you can take a couple of trips and see as many schools around the country as possible it will help you a lot ! vanderbilt has a great rep., lots of greek life, sports, and great freshman retition rate (very important indicator i.m.o.)unc chapel hll also is like vanderbilt in many ways. davidson is smaller which I like myself but,maybe a turn off to others!

TheValidity

Thanks for the info zobroward!
Bumppppppppp

jph093

I skipped the first paragraph and once I finished I immediately thought of UC Boulder, but it seems you've got that already.

I second Vanderbilt. Lots of school spirit, highly ranked overall with plenty of prestige to go around, pretty large frat scene, and I can't imagine switching majors would be too difficult. It is a reach but not too large of one. You'd have a good shot.

TheValidity

Sounds like I should apply to vandy!lol

Any other schools?

Sent from my ADR6400L using CC

tk21769

Chicago is "recruiting" students for soccer?
I'm not sure exactly what that means ... but apparently times have changed.

Anyway, you sound like a Stanford or a Duke person.
Also check out USC, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Berkeley, Texas, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

TheValidity

@tk21769 yes, just about every school with a soccer program is actively recruiting potential athletes that could be a good fit for their school, including Chicago. Thanks for the suggestions though!

bummmmpppppp

I've noticed that nobody has mentioned any Ivies. Some of my friends are asking me if I'll be applying to any Ivies, but I really haven't done any research on them and I have no idea if I'd be a good fit. Would any of those schools be a good fit for me?

TheValidity

bummmmpppppp

ECAdmStudent

Maybe Northwestern? Fits most of your criteria. :-)

barrk123

Brown, Columbia, Cornell

TheValidity

@ECAdmStudent @barrk123 thanks both of you!

Bill73

Go to U of I.

According to the school's admissions website, the middle 50% of incoming freshman in engineering scored between a 30 and 34 on the ACT, so you would likely receive some merit aid (along with only having to pay in-state tution). Also, although your stats are excellent, the statistics I just quoted mean that around 25% of the people in engineering will have scored higher than you on the ACT, so I would be wary of viewing UIUC as a "safety school".

I graduated from UIUC, and all of my friends who studied Biology, Chemistry, or Engineering there are doing well professionally. One of them went to Cal Tech and received his PhD in Chemistry. Another (a Bio major) is a researcher at Harvard. Another one was accepted to med school and is now a foot surgeon in the suburbs of Chicago. Finally, one other guy from my dorm floor received his PhD in Mech. Engineering from Cal-Berkeley and worked in Paris, France for awhile.

It sounds sexy to consider all of these other prestigious schools, but the reality is, a U of I education will adequately prepare you for a career in any field that you would like to pursue. I grew up near Lincoln (close to B-N), and I am so glad that I chose U of I. Not only did I receive a world-class education, but I was able to have a lot of fun in college. From watching the Illini basketball and football teams, to enjoying after-hours parties at my fraternity, there was never a dull moment in Champaign.

PAGRok

Columbia has a huge core curriculum, so very little academic flexibility in selecting courses. Most of the Ivies aren't going to have a D1-like sports culture or large amounts of frats etc. They may be a sports league but all emphasis academics over sports.