For example, JHU, UPenn, and Yale could not be more different from one another
I don’t agree with this- all three schools are urban (very urban) and the same “type” of student gravitates towards these schools with Yale being somewhat less pre-professional overall than Penn.
However- agree with the assessment that your list is top-heavy. If your counselor has reviewed your stats and thinks UMD is a safety- and you and your parents have run the numbers and you can afford it- and would be happy to attend- then terrific. But if you’re on the bubble for UMD (it gets more competitive every year) than you need to buck up your safety schools. And I think Stanford is a waste of an application fee, to be brutally honest.
Give us some insights into your financial situation and what your counselor says about your list and your HS’s naviance data. But top 20% isn’t going to cut it at a lot of these schools…
You sound wonderful btw- and there are dozens of colleges that would love to have you… but once the admissions rate dips into single digits, it’s hard to justify a list that is to top heavy with reaches.
If they are affordable- have you looked at University of Vermont, Delaware, Brandeis? And are you female and if so- have you looked at Mt. Holyoke or the other women’s colleges?