My kid with identical stats is doing just what you describe with College of the Holy Cross and probably an engineering Masters with WPI or our state university after. It’s a great plan with good course guidance from the math/physics department and a wonderful way to enjoy learning at a LAC (which we think is the gold standard for undergrad education). You sound awesome. Best of luck to you.
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As an example of career trajectories for physics majors, one third of the physics graduates sampled in “Careers After Hamilton” work as engineers.
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I think this is why they’ll need guidance - because they are seeking a math major had that may (or may not be) the right path. Physics with a math minor might be be more relevant but the faculty will be able to help them assess.
I know a young man now at Ga Tech that majored in physics and had many pre reqs to do - a full semester.
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Thanks for the response! I’m glad to have some reassurance that this isn’t too novel of a path and that others have had success doing the same thing.
Got it. I will be sure to get guidance from staff at the school I decide on as early as possible as to what my path might be. I appreciate the response.
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I think the suggestion of Hamilton is a good one for you.
In case anyone is wondering, or at least as another data point that you can use in predicting other people’s results, here are my results:
Pomona: Deferred ED2 → Accepted RD
Macalester: Accepted
Middlebury: Accepted
St. Olaf: Accepted
St. John’s (MN): Accepted
Carleton: Accepted
Lawrence University: Accepted
Grinnell: Waitlisted
Williams: Waitlisted
Bowdoin: Waitlisted
Amherst: Waitlisted
Wesleyan: Waitlisted
I was a little bummed at how many waitlists I received, but I am hugely grateful for my acceptances. I don’t really understand how I got waitlisted by all colleges with a sub 12% RD acceptance rate, but got into Pomona (which, in my understanding, is the most selective of the colleges I applied to). I can’t help but feel a little bit of imposter syndrome, as I don’t understand what they could see in my application that other colleges didn’t, but I’m really, really grateful that they admitted me.
I haven’t committed, but I’m leaning towards Pomona. I love Lawrence because it’s near family, and they have a conservatory in which I could continue playing saxophone at a high level, but I’m not sure I’ll forgive myself if I choose it over Pomona and Carleton. And I know that Carleton is an awesome school, and it’s also near family, but, from the research that I’ve done, I just feel that I’ll like Pomona more. I haven’t visited most of these schools, though, and my opinion may change when I do.
Thank you everyone for your predictions and suggestions. I live in a household with parents who are great, but who aren’t spending much time researching colleges and don’t know a whole lot about selective college admissions, so they figured I was a shoe-in at most of these schools. I really appreciate the people that talked about how much of a lottery this process really is, as my expectations needed to be tempered. I’m looking forward to four great years!
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Congratulations!!! You have so many great choices already.
Approach your visits with an open mind and an open heart. Ignore the rankings. You may be surprised at which one appeals to you in person. And make sure there’s space for your music. 
And don’t be bummed by the enigma of being ignored by some and accepted by another with a lower acceptance rate. It happens all the time. It just shows how unpredictable this process really is.
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Thank you so much for the advice! I will absolutely take that into consideration. I have already visited Lawrence and liked it a lot, and I will keep an open mind when visiting Carleton and Pomona.
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Congratulations on your fantastic results. You are not an imposter. You are a highly qualified candidate.
Admissions to highly rejective SLACs like the ones you applied to is unpredictable for even the most qualified, unhooked candidates. A few years ago my child was deferred ED1 to Middlebury, then accepted RD. She was also accepted to Williams, Grinnell, and Colby, WL’d at Bates, and denied from Bowdoin and Wesleyan. (She didn’t apply to any of the other SLACs on your list.)
Good luck with your decision. I would think that if you liked Pomona enough to apply ED, you should remember why you were ready to commit and forget about the deferral. It seems like such a special place with the best of both a small college and a larger university.
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Thank you so much for the kind and helpful reply. I agree; Pomona seems to be a magical place, but, now that I have the added flexibility of RD admissions, I thought I’d shop around a bit to confirm that Pomona really is the college I want to go to. I hadn’t visited any colleges when I applied ED, but I felt I had done enough research to justify a binding application. Now, though I still love the idea of Pomona, I don’t really see a downside to visiting places like Carleton, in addition to Pomona, to confirm that Pomona really is the place I want to be. Again, thanks for your reply. It makes me feel less guilty about my results knowing that others have similar results.
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Just my two cents, but I think in terms of your academic qualifications, waitlistings from LACs like that basically mean the same thing as acceptances. ALL these colleges are confident you are good bet to do well at their college academically. The rest is about how your other characteristics fit into the overall class mix they are putting together, and some are sure they have a place for you, and others need to see what happens with their RD offers first, and that is all very normal.
Anyway, I think you are doing the right thing–pick a short list to visit and then choose your favorite of those. I agree about being open minded, and hopefully everything will click somewhere and you will make a confident choice.
But between us–I bet there are really no wrong choices, meaning I suspect you could be happy and do well at all of these colleges. But why not choose the one that most excites you going in?
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