am i being too optimistic?

[saturnine05]

<p>A few months ago, I planned to apply to 13 colleges. Now my list is down to 8: </p>

<p>-Williams College (21%)
-Washington & Lee University (31%)
-Colgate University (31%)
-Hamilton College (33%)
-Union College (44%)
-Gettysburg College (46%)
-Wheaton College IL (54%)
-Franklin & Marshall College (58%)</p>

<p>My basic stats can be found at --> <a href="http://www"&gt;www&lt;/a>. p r s t a t s.com/2009/display.php?user=saturnine05</p>

<p>Or here --> 16/448 // 3.93 // 1450 // 700/720/750 (will retake all 3)</p>

<p>--
Do I need more safety schools? Less reaches? Could I take out F&M and Gettysburg (I've visited each, and have lost interest), and still get in somewhere?</p>

[anovice]

<p>What are the percentages? (It'll probably hit me later, but can't think now)</p>

<p>I would say that you have a good variety but if you want to be REALLY comfortable maybe some more safety schools.</p>

[saturnine05]

<p>Sorry for the lack of clarification.. the percentages are acceptance rates.</p>

[ay_caramba]

<p>If you're not interested in F&M and Gettysburg, don't apply, your stats seem pretty sound and you can probably make Union or Wheaton with them. What about a state school for a safety? But anyways, with solid essays and recommendations you should make one of those schools no problem. You've got great grades and 1450 is a nice score.</p>

[reidm]

<p>You have an excellent list of schools. </p>

<p>Williams is a reach but you are a solid candidate there. Assuming some decent ECs and solid essays, I would predict acceptance at Colgate and W&L, though both have been getting more selective every year. You are a solid match at Hamilton, and definitely in at Union and Wheaton, so go ahead and dump F&M and Gettysburg if you aren't very excited about them. </p>

<p>Given your academic interests and the type of school you appear to be attracted to, have you considered Bates, Trinity or Kenyon? All three would be matches for you. Additional safeties to consider would be College of Wooster and Dickinson College, but I am guessing you have already ruled Dickinson out.</p>

[blaineko]

<p>Agree with reidm...</p>

<p>you might want to consider Colby,Trinity, Bates, and maybe Denison. I would drop Wheaton (as it is definately way more religious) and F&M, unless you really like them.</p>

[icemaker]

<p>I agree with blaineko -- Wheaton in Illinois kind of stands out from the rest. If you are interested in a school with a very large religious component, great. If not, then Wheaton would likely be a poor fit.</p>

<p>If you are interested in such schools, then I would add a couple more schools with evangelical bent -- Houghton, Christendom, Messiah, Grove City, and Taylor come to mind.</p>

[saturnine05]

<p>Thank you for all of the input. Regarding Wheaton, I AM interested in its religious emphasis. However, I don't want to compromise academic quality for a religous component (hence the lack of other religious schools on my list).</p>

[icemaker]

<p>I think if you look at the schools I suggested, I don't think that you would compromise academic quality. 2 of the smartest I know went to Houghton (1 person is now a librarian with the Library of Congress and the other person has worked in the field of Eastern European economic development and has lived in Russia for the last 10 years). My wife went to business school for her MBA at the University of Michigan with a Taylor graduate who happened to be one of the brighter students in the program. While admittedly anecdotal in nature, all three of these individuals speak quite highly of the undergraduate education they received.</p>

<p>While I do not personally know as much about the other schools I suggested, the admission standards are at least as high as those at Houghton and Taylor. While the average SAT score may be slightly lower at these schools than at Wheaton (e.g., 1323 @ Wheaton; 1268 @ Grove Cities), all of the school I have listed have excellent reputations and I feel that the quality your education would not be compromised if one happened to be a better fit for you than Wheaton. Wheaton may be the right school for you and you can certainly receive a fine education there. </p>

<p>I urge you not to fall into the trap that many students fall into in thinking that if the average SAT is 50 or 100 points higher at one institution, then that school is automatically better and that the education you will receive at that institution will be superior. It may be better; but then again, it may not. Some students would get a better education at Mississippi State than they would Williams simply because Mississippi State "fit" that student better than Williams did -- even if that student was accepted at Williams. While largely unquantifiable, I believe that for most schools, "fit" is more important than the average SAT score of the entering class (though the average SAT score of your fellow classmates is certainly a component of "fit"). I realize that this view is somewhat of an anathema to many on this board. </p>

<p>Frankly, there are probably other people on this board who know more about religious liberal arts colleges than I do. You may want to start a new thread to address the specific question concerning those options. Just a suggestion.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[par72]

<p>Might add Holy Cross and William &Mary both better than Union,Gettysburg,and Wheaton.</p>