SAT 1470
GPA 4.4 in highly competitive public school, mostly honors and AP’s, 4’s and 5’s on AP tests.
Varsity sport captain and other leadership roles.
Strong common app essay and letters of rec (I believe).
That’s my daughter. She has worked very hard in HS. She is not applying to any Ivies or even any top 20 schools, but has reaches like Emory, Michigan, and Tufts. Truthfully I think her favorite schools are B.U. and Lehigh but she is concerned that maybe she is settling and not aiming high enough in terms of prestige. Would you reassure her that these are great schools with great and rising reputations, and she is not settling at all, or would you encourage her to reach a bit?
What’s her intended major? Unweighted GPA? Subject test scores?
Emory, BU, and Lehigh all have similar acceptance rates (round 25%) and I would consider them all reaches for a student with a sub 1500 SAT score (unless a recruited athlete).
Tufts and MI (if you are out of state) would be even more of a reach.
Be aware that Lehigh highly values demonstrated interest.
Hopefully your D has safety and match schools that she likes.
IMO, she doesn’t need any more reaches.
PS. Did you mean to post this in the U of FL subforum?
@joecollege44 What is holding her back from applying to 1 or 2 higher ranked schools? Is it lack of motivation/interest or fear of rejection? To me, the reason influences how I would approach her. Or, you can say both things to her. Those are really great schools that she is applying to and there is no harm in applying to 1-2 higher ranking schools if she wants to.
Emory is 21 in USNWR rankings, Michigan is 25 and Tufts is 29. So, I would not consider those as settling.
The problem now is that she has missed what would probably be her best chance at acceptance to an elite, early decision. Some schools have a second early decision in January, but ED1 usually has the highest acceptance rate.
My son has a very similar profile as your daughter and applied to a Top 10 via early decision. It is a long shot, for sure, but it is his top choice and you never know until you apply.
sorry- I have no idea how this ended up in Univ of Florida forum…although I did want my daughter to apply there!
I was not referring to Emory, Tufts, and Michigan as settling…those are her reaches, for sure. But I know she actually prefers Lehigh and BU, at least over Tufts. I didn’t think those 2 were reaches- thought they were matches, actually.
By the way, she did apply ED1 to Emory…
And she has safeties: Univ of Vermont, Pitt.
And other matches: Maryland, GW, McGill.
BU would be a match but it is one of those schools where it could go either way. They accept lower statted students and have rejected higher statted students.
All those schools are great and I would not be concerned about “settling”. I have a daughter in her first semester of her freshman year and while she’s doing great the adjustment to college (and being very far from home) has had it’s challenges. Luckily she is at a school were the environment is a good fit for her which helps A LOT. I can’t imagine how stressful these last few months would have been had she gone to a school that she chose mainly because of it’s “prestige” instead of where she felt she best “fit”. She’s knows she’s in the best place for her and does not regret her decision at all.
Honestly, I think there is also something to be said about being in an appropriate place academically. I think one of the hardest adjustments for my dd is the fact that she is no longer one of the smartest in her classes. And because everyone in her classes are super bright, the rigor is unlike anything she has ever experienced. For example, she took a math class dual enrollment as a senior at a local university. She did great and got one of the highest, if not the highest grades, in the class. She is currently taking the equivalent class at her current school and it’s not a walk in the park. While the concepts are basically the same the application of those concepts is on a whole different level. The whole experience has really made me rethink the concept of “reach” schools. There are a lot of bright kids in my dd’s current classes who were at the top of their classes in high school who are now way below the curve on tests, etc. It must be very frustrating! While I’m sure things will turn out fine for them it makes me wonder if choosing the “reach” school mainly for it’s prestige instead of for it’s fit, is always the right decision.
Please…,please encourage your daughter to look at what these colleges have to offer HER in terms of her college education. That is way more important than some misguided notion about “prestige”.
One of my kids is a BU grad, and he certainly didn’t feel like he had just settled on a college.
We know plenty of very smart Lehigh grads with excellent jobs. It’s not exactly a second rate school.
She has good schools on her list…and she will grow where she is planted.
Agree…she has three reaches already. Why add more? All of these colleges are in the top 50 according to USNews…but that isn’t as important as what your daughter thinks.
If Lehigh is her favorite…show interest…they care about that. If she loves BU, terrific.
Does she have a sure thing on her application list that is affordable? If not…I’d be looking for that rather than more reach schools.
The idea she’s settling is within her, not something that can be objectively determined. I’d work on that. It’s a sort of buyer’s remorse. You want her to trust her judgment up to now.
She can use the remaining time to make sure any pending apps are nailed. In addition to how they fit her, whether she fits them and shows it.
No disrespect whatsoever, since it seems I always agree with your opinion and enjoy your posts, but for many majors UMich is Top 10-15-20. And this doesn’t include engineering and CS:
Yes, they’re graduate rankings, but the undergraduate programs probably follow similarly. Yes, admittedly, I’m an unabashed UMich supporter.
Hey @joecollege44 aim higher, if you and your D want to aim higher. IMO, there’s nothing wrong about taking “your” shot(s), as long as they’re affordable to your family.
A 1,470 is a fantastic score and her GPA is stellar. And there are schools, which value GPA more than test scores, like UMich, for instance., where GPA and course rigor are the two most important admission factors per the CDS.
@sushiritto - That was my point. I would consider Michigan to be a top school in many areas - and higher ranked than many of the Ivies.
(#6 in undergraduate engineering for colleges that offer doctorates by USNWR :))
It’s too late now, but if your favorite is BU or Lehigh, don’t apply to ED to Emory just because it is ranked higher on USNWR. And certainly don’t apply to top 20 USNWR schools, if those schools don’t interest you.
It may be helpful to clarify why she/you feel the need to apply to top x USNWR ranked colleges over favorites such as BU and Lehigh? Do you believe that being ranked top 50 USNWR rather than top 20 will hurt future grad/professional school or career goals? Does it more have to do with beliefs about the the student body, such as thinking that she won’t find academically similar students or the classes will be too slow? Or because that’s what friends/family/teachers/classmates/GCs… say you are supposed to do? Or some other reason?
BU and Lehigh are NOT settling. She will be lucky to get into either. They are certainly not safeties. Both had a measly acceptance rate of 22% this past cycle. Her SAT is probably in the middle 50th percentile for both. Prestige isn’t a great way to determine fit. Lehigh is definitely concerned with interest.
I would try to help her see that prestige is not the best motivating factor in college choice. Fit is important.
I think it is possible to see the array of colleges in a different way, not in a hierarchical ranking. The concept of “settling” is irrelevant if her perspective can change.
Agree with these comments about prestge. The real win is finding where you fit and thrive and can grow, academically and socially. That tailors the choices better to you. It’s not just about better names. It’s about your own 4 year experience.
Sometimes, it’s morehelpful to actually look at courses available, the sorts of activities on campus (clubs, visiting lectures, research, etc,) study away or how a college facilitates internships, etc. And what’s truly affordable.
I appreciate all the comments. We know this about fit vs prestige and have discussed that with our daughter quite a bit. I guess my question was really directed at whether the schools she loves (BU, Lehigh) have more prestige than she realizes so that there is no sacrifice in that department. She has already made up her mind that if she doesn’t get into her top choices (Emory, Michigan), then these are likely her next tier. She just has doubts about whether she should shoot for a few more high-prestige places (maybe like a Case Western, Rochester, Colgate…). It’s natural for a kid to want to feel like his or her hard work has been rewarded.
Personally I don’t consider CWRU, URoch, or Colgate to be of higher prestige than BU or Lehigh. I’d put them all in the same “prestige” bucket. I think the acceptance rate at BU and Lehigh might be lower than that of the others, actually.
ok, thanks everyone. no more replies needed. we are on the same page as far as picking the school she will be happiest at. not aiming high doesn’t mean one is settling.
