Chance/Match me for math/physics/philosophy [NC resident, 4.0 UW, 35 ACT, 1520 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US domestic (citizen)
  • State/Location of residency: North Carolina (grades 11-12), Texas (grades 9-10)
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): average traditional public (NC), small charter public (TX)
  • Other special factors: nothing really. kind of a legacy to Harvard but not the important donor type

Cost Constraints / Budget
No set budget. My parents filled out the NPC and think they can make some of my reaches work, especially if I would be happy there. Still, it would be nice to get the cost down with merit aid if a school offers it. Less than $40k would probably be ideal if a school offers merit, but there’s some flexibility. We probably would not qualify for very much need based aid.

Intended Major(s)
Not fully decided, but leaning toward math or physics, possibly combined with philosophy (major or minor). I’m especially interested in pure/theoretical areas. I also enjoy the humanities and would like flexibility to explore before committing.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0

  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.22 cumulative due to how my current school reweighted my previous coursework; ~4.8 if only counting this year (for A grades: AP=5.0, Honors=4.5, Regular=4.0)

  • College GPA: 4.0 (dual credit in TX)

  • Class Rank: ~90/415

  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    SAT: 1520 (790M, 730RW)
    ACT: 35 (35M, 35E, 36R superscore; 35 composite without superscore but with a 34R)
    PSAT: 1440 (likely no National Merit, index score of 215)

List your HS coursework

My school in TX did not have AP or honors courses, only dual credit. My new school offers a lot more options, but I won’t be able to take advantage of them because I’m busy fulfilling NC requirements from grades 9 and 10. But I’ve always tried to take the most rigorous courses. They are all A grades.

  • English: English I (9th), English II (10th), AP Lang (11th), AP Lit (planned for 12th)
  • Math: Algebra I (8th), Geometry (9th), Algebra II (10th), AP Precalculus (11th), AP Statistics (11th), AP Calculus AB+BC (planned for 12th)
  • Science: Biology (9th), Chemistry (10th), APES (11th), AP Physics I (planned for 12th), AP Chemistry (potential elective for 12th)
  • History and social studies: World Geography (9th), US History 1 (10th, dual credit), TX Government (10th, dual credit), APUSH (11th), AP World History (11th), AP US Govt & Politics (planned for 12th), Economics & Personal Finance honors (planned for 12th)
  • Language other than English: Spanish I (8th), Spanish II (9th), Spanish III honors (11th), Spanish IV honors (planned for 12th)
  • Visual or performing arts: Art Appreciation (9th, dual credit)
  • Other academic courses: Engineering pathway at TX school, a few English electives, and some online dual credit at the community college in TX

Dual credit in TX: Learning frameworks (9th), Art Appreciation (9th), Business Computer Applications (10th), US History 1 (10th), Texas Govt (10th), Psychology (10th)

Awards

  • UIL Academics (district level)
    1st in UIL Calculator Applications (9th-10th)
    2nd in UIL Mathematics (10th)
    6th in UIL Number Sense (10th)
    Top 10 in UIL Spelling (10th)

  • NC Governor’s School Math (11th)

  • Outstanding student (Spanish II in 9th, Engineering in 10th)

  • College Board School Recognition Award (10th)

  • A Honor Roll (9th-10th), Perfect Attendance Award (10th)

Extracurriculars

Not in order of importance yet. Probably the weakest part of my application.

  • UIL Academics (9th-10th)

  • Volunteering making breakfast for people in need (11th-)

  • Volunteer online SAT Math Tutoring (11th-)

  • Science program for high schoolers at a nearby university (11th)

  • Volunteering at a home for refugees (10th)

  • Volunteer tutoring at a local elementary school (10th)

  • NC Governor’s School in Math (summer before 12th)

  • Model UN + Sunrise (11th-) - I don’t really participate, so I might not include them. My school’s club situation is kind of weird, so it’s been hard for me to find extracurriculars

  • Potential part-time job (12th)

This one might be too silly/unprofessional, but I also spend a while doing it:

  • Strategy games (10th-)
    I was ranked #1 Catan player in NC, and around top 0.7% of all online players globally. Also got #1 overall for a few Gin Rummy leaderboards, and top 10 on a Sudoku one. I’ve been learning Othello, Go, and Chess (I attend a local chess club weekly)*

Essays/LORs/Other
I’ve known about my potential essay topic for a very long time. I don’t want to reveal too much about it, but I think it could be a unique and compelling essay if I write well enough (I wrote about a similar topic for my gov school one and got in, so hopefully that’s a good sign)

Unfortunately, I don’t know if my LORs will be good. I’m really quiet in class, especially at my new school (class sizes are super big), so I don’t think my teachers know me really well. I’ll probably ask my AP Lang teacher (I had her for two class periods and I’ve approached her with some questions about my new school before) and maybe my AP Precalculus teacher (she wrote my gov school letter of rec).

Schools
I will be applying RD, or EA if a school offers it. I won’t do a binding ED to any school.

Here is my attempt at categorizing the schools currently on my list. I might be wrong though. I also worry I don’t have enough likely/assured schools on the list. Certain categories might be too optimistic based on acceptance rates.

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): UNC Charlotte, App State, UNC Asheville (might not apply)

  • Extremely Likely: Kalamazoo

  • Likely: St Olaf, Wooster

  • Toss-up: UNC, University of Rochester, Case Western, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Macalester

  • Lower Probability: Smith, Carleton

  • Low Probability: Grinnell, Davidson, Harvard, Amherst, Swarthmore

Unsure about applying: Vassar, Haverford, Kenyon, Oberlin, William & Mary (OOS), University of Mary Washington (OOS), University of Delaware (OOS, honors), University of St. Andrews (Scotland)

I’m planning to add 4 schools from this group (or possibly new ones) to reach around 20 total (not including safeties)

I’m mostly drawn to LACs, because I value small class sizes and relationships with professors. I tend to get overwhelmed and lost at the crowd at huge schools. My safeties are big state schools, but I’m hoping that the honors colleges would provide a smaller community for me if I attend one. I tend to be more quiet and do best in smaller, collaborative environments where it’s easier to form close friendships.

My college list is close to done, but I still have some adding and trimming to do. If anyone has any suggestions/thoughts about my list, I’d love to hear them.

I’m mainly looking for help with:

  • Are there any schools on my current list that seem like poor fits?

  • Do I actually have a chance at some of my reach schools?

  • Do I need more likely schools?

  • Is there anything on my unsure list that seems like a better fit for me?

  • Are there any good schools or programs that I might be missing?

  • What are my chances at merit aid?

Preferences for any additional schools:

  • Not farther west than Minnesota

  • Not farther south than Atlanta

  • Strong for grad school (math, physics, etc.)

  • Not dominated by party culture or Greek life

  • Not heavily centered around athletics/outdoors culture

  • Not super conservative

Thank you for your help.

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Overall I really like your list. I think with your numbers you will be competitive for merit at the schools with merit on your list. You seem aware most of your Reach choices don’t have merit, but if you really love Grinnell (seems like an excellent fit to me), you could apply ED and get the automatic merit. But only if you love it.

I wouldn’t necessarily force your list up to 20, and in fact it would be nice to trim some.

And I have a suggestion along those lines. Have you considered applying early to Pitt? They are strong in your areas, have a good honors program, have some merit, and most importantly they have rolling admissions. Just a thought, but an early decision could help you trim the rest of your list at least somewhat.

That said, I am pretty confident your likelier LACs will provide not only offers but some merit as well.

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Thanks for your suggestions. I don’t feel good about committing myself to a college before exploring all my options and financial aid offers. I might really like Grinnell, but I don’t know if it’s my top choice at the moment.

Do you have any recommendations how to trim college lists or factors to think about? I cut a lot of schools already, so it’s hard for me to eliminate even more schools

Is Pitt the University of Pittsburgh? I’ve heard it has a good honors college. I’ll look more into it.

Thank you so much for your help!

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You need one school - an afffordable safety you’ll get into and like. You definitely get into K and St Olaf. Will they hit $40k? That’s the unknown.

The NC schools can all support you and only UNC is maybe.

so you don’t need more but if you add, make sure the math and physics offerings are robust. And target a few you know can get to $40k - since you have an Iowa school - a KU or Alabama or South Carolina or a Binghamton. Some of these will crush $40k - the first two for sure while a U Del likely won’t get there.

If you want LACs, look at Rhodes, Furman and Susquehanna. For a minority student, Agnes Scott may be of interest. But you can have relationships with profs at any school size - not just small. That’s up to you.

But the list is fine as is given the in states will be affordable. You might look at UMCW too. And since you have big schools - NC State given the majors.

Good luck.

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Run the net price calculators, or rather have your folks do it, especially at meets need colleges.

Any that are over $40k - eliminate them.

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Your list seems good—but wanted to suggest Wesleyan for your consideration/research. My S26 is headed there and wants to study math/philosophy. He loves their open curriculum, artsy community, slightly larger than average size, the possibility of getting a 5th year masters in math tuition free. They don’t give merit but seem generous with financial aid.

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My safeties are UNC Charlotte and App State. I’m hoping for the honors college at those schools. I know any in state NC school will be affordable. Do I need anything other affordable safeties?

$40k is not a set limit. It was a rough estimate that I came up with for an ideal price. But my parents can pay more than that. All the net price calculators went well above $40k, and my parents are making plans in case we need to pay more than that.

Thank you for the other college suggestions.

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That is a very reasonable approach, and a good reason not to ED at Grinnell!

So ideally you would do some in-person visits. This can help you clarify what you like, what you don’t like, and so on. If you can’t do that, there are online visits, you can dive into departmental pages, compare curriculums, read student newspapers (one of my favorite suggestions I learned about here), and so on.

You can then start eliminating some less strong candidates. Like typically if you like A and B more than C, but C would be harder for admissions than A and B, well, C is a candidate for cutting, so you can focus on writing your best possible applications for A and B. That sort of thing.

Yes, the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to the Honors program, some people like the fact it has a central location in a fun city. It also has very good STEM departments, one of the top Philosophy departments in the world, and in fact one of their specialities is History and Philosophy of Science (and even more specifically, Philosophy of Physics):

The way they do the HPS major, it is particularly suitable for double-majoring with a science.

None of this means you have to shoot it to the top of your list, like you could still prefer LACs. But again since it is rolling admissions, if you like it enough, it could help you keep your RD list shorter.

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as I frequently post my S24 is a physics and math major at Williams. He is not an outdoors or sports person and is having a great experience. Happy to answer any questions about physics at an lac through PM

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Nice to see a solid profile and list, with reasonable categorizations.

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I think this student would be in the running for one of the higher merit scholarships at UDel (DuPont scholars weekend?). My daughter’s friend got free tuition with a 4.0 35 ACT, only 100 are invited to interview that weekend and all are offered something more than the otherwise highest merit ($17,000?).

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With nothing but A’s, and 1520 on the SAT, I am hoping that UNC Chapel Hill is more likely than a “toss-up”. I am not from NC however. You guidance counselor should know this better than I do. When I was a graduate student (at Stanford) one of my best friends in the same program was a UNC graduate and he certainly made the school look very good. He was one of the stronger students in the program (and a pretty good squash player).

I also think that you have pretty good chances at Grinnell. With an acceptance rate below 15% it does not however look like a safety for anyone.

20 schools are a lot of schools to apply to. At a minimum I think that you should identify two safeties, and your top 4 or 5 choices (which hopefully will include UNC and because you say it might be your top choice Grinnell also) and get those applications in first. You want to get your applications in to your safeties and your preferred choices before you get burned out on the process.

Based on your grades and your SAT and ACT scores it also seems like you are a thoughtful, responsible, and intelligent person. There will be more students who are “like you” in ways that matter at pretty much any university. They might look different, or be from other states or even over countries, but compared to high school there will be more students who are like you in ways that matter such as being intelligent and responsible students who care about academics.

Regarding philosophy, I would not do a dual major. I would either minor in it or just take a few classes. Whatever you could do with a dual major in math and philosophy, you could do just as well with a major in math and having just taken the classes in philosophy. By the way I was undecided between math and physics until I got to quantum physics. To me electricity and magnetism and harmonic and planetary motion and special relativity all seemed quite real, but quantum physics did not. One you get outside of things that can be experimentally verified people start to get, well, weird. There are a LOT of things that you can do with a degree in mathematics (which is what I ended up majoring in). If I were to do it again, I would be very happy to major in math all over again. Some knowledge of computer science can be useful for someone who majors in either math or physics.

I think that you have a good list and that you are likely to do well in admissions, although of course your reaches are reaches for anyone. Best wishes.

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My two cents on second majors, minors, and so on is just play it by ear. At some colleges the general curriculum structure and specific major/minor requirements in question make it easy enough, assuming you enjoy the relevant classes in the first place. In other cases, you may end up having fewer free credits to allocate, and/or other things you prefer to do with them.

That said, you can preserve more options by choosing colleges with relatively flexible curriculum structures. Open curriculums are obviously ideal, but also good are colleges with relatively few and flexible distribution requirements.

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So you asked for a way to cut. Budget is often a way. You should have a # in mind and pick schools to meet the budget. But a statement like this tells me you don’t really have a budget.

What kind of plans are the parents making ? If it involves loans, just say no.

There is such a wide variety of colleges and different costs. You only need one but can go as high as you want. But if you are adding, adding schools to hit what your parents want to pay vs making plans to go over. After all, life is expensive and your parents have to live. Schools like Agnes Scott, Ogelthoroe are other LACs likely to hit budget. Ogelthorpe definitely will as they’ll match UNC tuition.

Look at this thread for more ideas. Go about 25 posts back for the most recent.

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You’ve got a great list that is well matched to your profile. Putting a plug in for CWRU. I think they may come in with great merit for you. They just got $125 million, much of which will bolster humanities. I think your strong interests in both STEM and philosophy will be attractive to them.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2026/04/30/record-125-million-gift-to-case-western-boosts-humanities-in-age-of-ai/

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I know budget is often a way to cut, but my parents don’t want me to think about money or college that way. They never gave me a budget. It doesn’t feel right for me to cut schools based on a budget they never gave me. The $40k was just a very rough estimate by me, not them. I see what you’re saying though. I’ve tried to build my college list responsibly, while considering both fit and money.

My parents’ plans do not include loans. I definitely don’t want to go into debt. Finances have been kind of complicated because we moved, and my parents have to deal with selling our house, higher salaries, higher taxes, etc. They also have a benefit with their work that will kick in when I’m a senior in college. It should also help with my college cost and the cost of my siblings’ education. That’s also why my parents really just want me to go somewhere I’ll be happy.

Thank you for your suggestions on LACs. I’ll be sure to look at them.

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You’ve got a great list already but I would encourage you to add NC State to have one more in-state option. It’s a strong school for your potential majors and I think it’s worth considering over Charlotte or App State.

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I’ve heard great things about NC State, but it doesn’t have automatic admission like Charlotte and App State do. Is it still worth it to apply? It seemed really big when I visited, and they didn’t even mention their honors program.

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Yes it ls worth it if applying UNC. The campus seeks compact to me but they had a second for engineering.

Honors means different things to different people. Some apply to Honors at some, but not others, because the benefits are different. Some will do Honors for early class registration but then drop b4 it’s over. It’s not necessarily a reason to choose a school or dismiss a school.

But if you’ve visited somewhere and don’t like it, then remove it.

If you want to add more and not saying you need to, in addition to Mary Washington, Christopher Newport can be good. One of my interfaces just had their student choose it over UVA and W&M. And Salisbury will be in budget.

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I think it’s worth applying just to keep all options open! If your preferred options didn’t work out and you needed to choose an in-state school, you could then revisit and compare with the others. I wouldn’t necessarily push it if you hadn’t said math and physics but they really are strong in those areas (did you know that one of the Artemis II astronauts studied physics there??)

From the info I have gathered from those I know who have attended, taught there, or have kids there now, it’s a school that can feel a lot smaller once you get into your major classes. I think the research happening there is a big benefit too, plus being in the Triangle area is a huge bonus too for additional opportunities. It’s also stronger in the liberal arts/humanities than people realize, so I think you’d find a lot there in terms of exploring other areas, as well (as one example, it has one of the top poetry programs in the country!)

I have a daughter who is interested in a lot of the other schools you mentioned and is drawn to SLACs for similar reasons, so I totally get the hesitation though.

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