I agree with above posters. OP, you are a good student, but need to narrow the list down. What do you actually want from a college?
Start with finding 2 AFFORDABLE safeties. After this, find 10-15 schools you really like and see yourself at. My philosophy is that if you are okay at one of your safeties, the rest of your schools could be reaches if you really want. But I would recommend a list of targets, high targets, and reaches.
Agreed! The Stanford application alone has 3 additional essays plus several short answer questions. Most of the the elite schools will have similar requirements.
Whatâs Yale up to now, eight? Some are short answer, but stillâŠ
@Spicyscorpio, it is totally okay to be undecided about your potential major at this point. Most students are, and those who think they have decided frequently end up changing their major. All that means is that you want to choose a school where there arenât a lot of barriers to choosing or switching into majors, even the more popular majors that the school has.
I think itâs really important that you reflect on what kind of a college experience you would like. These questions that @Metawampe posed should be helpful in your thinking.
Once you share more about what you want (and the budget as well as whether or not your family will receive any need-based aid), we can help to narrow down the list you shared above and to offer suggestions of other schools you may not have thought about.
To determine if your family will receive any need-based aid, they can run the Net Price Calculators (NPCs) at some of the first four schools on your list. If the NPC doesnât come back as affordable at any of those schools, then you will need to eliminate any schools that donât offer merit aid, as those are amongst the most financially generous schools in determining financial need.
If your EC is very important to you, and youâre planning to continue working and studying in that field, I would focus on schools that provide the best environment and faculty for that. From there, continue to look for schools that emphasize the âcurationâ part of the admissions process - many schools talk about how they craft their classes. If you find a school that you love among these, you should consider ED, which will give you a statistical boost and a closer look at your application which should allow your EC experience to shine through.
There are plenty of schools like this on your list that offer ED so if you have the financial means to do it, it can be a good strategy. Good luck!
Does your school list your rank on the transcript? Is it using unweighted when it does this?
I would take a look at the Common Data Sets (CDS) for each of the schools you are considering (Section C10). âPercent in top halfâ minus âpercent in top quarterâ will give you the percentage of accepted students in your range, and for many top schools that % will be something like 0-0.5%. They are mostly looking for the very top kids at a school (if they accept any at all). If your school is a feeder, your counselor/naviance should be able to point you toward some colleges where your high school places more than expected.
D24 was in a similar boat class rank wise, and will be attending a T50, excellent for her major, that does not use class rank for admissions. (She made it to top 10% by the end of senior year, but too late for anything admissions related).
My advice would be to locate schools you love that donât care quite as much about class rank for the bulk of your list. Go ahead and apply to some star reaches if you want/have the time and money because why not (being aware that it can be quite painful to have a string of rejections at the very end of the process).
Apply EA at your top 10-15 schools that allow for EA (and make sure this includes more likely options). If you have a clear and affordable favorite, apply ED. Have another list for RD and see how you feel by then (D24 was over it by then and that list got trimmed massively between November and January).
When I hear sociology but maybe undecided, I also think maybe smaller LACs, to not get lost in the crowd? If you like the vibe of that kind of school.
Looking at the course curricula for sociology at each of the schools could also help you narrow things down from 40+ to a more manageable number. What is the focus? Is there research? How much do the general education requirements affect the overall experience (for someone undecided, heavy gen ed might be a good thing, for exposure to more areas of potential career interest).
Good luck, and I hope you will post more as you continue through the process.
You have already been told to shorten your list and focus, so I will agree and not belabor that point, but by spending time thinking about both what you will offer to a college and what you hope to gain from college, (academics, social vibe, career guidance, enviroment, mentoring etcâŠ) you will be able to find the RIGHT schools. Your list looks like a leap for any selective âpretigiousâ school, but just because a school has a ânameâ does not mean its a good experience for everyone, or that just because someone can get admitted that they should attend.
I have 2 kids who both attend highly selective schools, but they chose these schools for specific reasons - not just the name. I think that is why they were successful in gaining admission, and are happy with their schools. They applied to schools they genuinely wanted to attend, and were able to express why they were a good fit for these schools. There is no formula to determine if you can/will be admitted to most of the selective schools on your list - honestly, most applicants are not admitted, but that does not mean you should not apply. You have something to offer. Think about what that is so that you can express it well. Do not try to be what a college is looking for - be YOU and find the college that is looking for YOU. AND, spend some time researching these schools. Besides being prestigious, what do you like about them, and how will you fit in there? Then apply to schools you really like for yourself. And, as others have said, choose some âsaferâ schools and at least one safety school that you can afford and will be honestly happy to attend. That way, you will be very likely to have a satisfying outcome. Good luck!
I just want to chime in to state that you in fact still have plenty of time to have a really good application list by the time you are applying. The only thing I would add is you might want to pick one or more rolling admissions colleges to do very early. Pitt is a popular one, for example.
Otherwise I agree with the people above, you need to spend a lot of that time investigating your many different options, possibly doing some visits, and working with your counselors to categorize schools as Likelies, Targets, Reaches, and Unlikelies (or whatever framework your school uses). You can then choose a balanced list of Likelies, Targets, and Reaches that would both be great schools for you and also that are most likely to be looking for a student like you.
And that last thing is really critical, because I very much believe you can shade the odds in your favor by understanding what different colleges might be looking for, and ideally what they might be looking for when it comes to applicants out of your HS. And your counselors should be able to give you really good insight on that question.
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