I know I’m being ambitious with the reaches, however, I would sincerely be happy at Boulder if I didn’t get in anywhere
Reach:
Dartmouth (Legacy)
Tufts
WashU
Vanderbilt
Duke (Double Legacy)
Cornell
Northwestern
JHU
Bowdion (Would enroll in 3-2 engineering)
Match:
UVA
Lehigh
Bucknell
Case Western Reserve
Safety:
CU Boulder
UW(Safety/Match)
RPI
UMO
I’m a junior at one of the top high schools in Maine.
GPA: 4.0
ACT: 32 (35E 31M 27R 34S) I will retake this (hoping for at least a 33
My school does not offer AP’s. Instead, we have “intensives/accelerateds”, and I have taken all the possible intensives.
Senior course load: Advanced Latin: Pliny, Astrophysics, Advanced Bio, Calc Intensive, Russian Lit
Ec’s
-Varsity baseball, 4 yrs (Captain, MVP)
-Varsity XC, 4 yrs
-Robotics Team, 4 yrs (Captain)
-Finance Club, 4 yrs
-Science Bowl 2 yrs (Captain)
-Science Olympiad 3yrs (Captain) + lots of medals and National qualifier (state champ)
-Jazz Band 4 yrs (First Drummer)
-Titan Challenge 2yrs (Regional runner-up, 3rd in state)
-Teaching whitewater kayaking and telemark skiing at Bowdoin Outing Club (Attended Northeast Rivers advanced whitewater trip freshman year).
Work Experience
-Summer internship at Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Studied cell notching in cardiovascular diseases.
Volunteer
-Peru Shoulder to Shoulder Trip. Worked at an orphanage in Peru for three weeks.
-Other random stuff
Awards: Cum Laude Society, "(school name) Scholar all four years:)
Oh, I’m a white, Jewish male.
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering.
I would remove UVA from “match” and place it into the “reach” category.
Are finances an issue?
Is it a reach because I’m OOS, or my stats. I do have legacy at UVA (if aunts and uncles count).
And no, although if it becomes an issue I can go to my state flagship for at the most 2 grand a year.
It is a reach due to your OOS status. I think if you were in-state it would be more of a match. I don’t think aunts and uncles count, but I am not sure.
Does everything else look reasonable?
I think so… you need to show interest at Lehigh or you may not get in. Try to visit and attend local events ( Lehigh in your area events). If you live relatively close ( within a few hours driving distance) and don’t visit, they will hold it against you ( admissions stated this at a local area event). If there is a reason why you can’t visit, I would email your local admissions counselor and let him/her know.
I am not sure if RPI is a safety or more of a match (?), and I am not familiar with UMO.
I also agree that your list is a bit reach heavy. I would remove 2 reaches and find 2 more likely schools.
Agree on UVa being a low reach. I’m pretty sure aunts and uncles don’t count, and it’s unclear how much legacy helps at UVa out of state anyway.
I think the list isn’t bad other than being pretty top heavy. You have 10 reaches, and three matches that may be at least high matches based on acceptance rates: Lehigh and Bucknell (about 25%) and CW (36%). Then you have UW and RPI as safety/match, CU as a safety with its high acceptance rate, and a clear safety in UMO.
It might be better to focus on one or two (or three) fewer reaches and possibly one or two more actual matches. Actually, cutting down the overall number would be the best thing, as applying well to 17 schools is not easy.
If you were deciding between JHU and Northwestern, which one would you throw out?
I have only been to NU, and what kinda freaked me out about the place is that the Engineering building is like a dungeon…
I also agree that you have too many schools. Can you remove at least 2-3?
Oh and what would be some “matches”? Finding those has been my biggest struggle
What about adding Lafayette?
Have you considered Rice and UCLA? Just looking at your stats and activities makes me feel like these could be of interest to you. It really does seem like you’re applying to quite a few, though - I usually say that 12 should be your max. I’d cut it down to 1-2 safety schools, and unless you’re really tied to all those reach schools, remove your bottom 3-4 of those. Remember, you’ll only end up going to one school, so if you feel confident about your chances at one school, don’t apply somewhere that’s more competitive unless you really think you would choose to attend the more competitive school instead.
17 is probably the most apps you want to do. Maine is one of those good states to be from re geodiversity. I think its a good list.
As far as cutting JHU or Northwestern? Honestly it’s a personal choice. They are both excellent schools.
I ended up cutting Northwestern (scary engineering dungeon building) and RPI (From what Ive heard, no one here seems to have fun). Pondering cutting bowdion and UVa
I don’t think you need to cut any more schools, but you do need to add one more safety. If it were me, I’d add two more safeties, but I’m over cautious
Also, I applied to 20 schools and personally didn’t feel overwhelmed with the amount of supplements. I don’t think 17 is overly excessive, although I definitely am going against the grain.
You should note that getting an accredited ME degree at Dartmouth tends to take 5 years.
Will that 32 bust my chances at my reaches?
Nobody can say for sure…it depends on your whole application and whether you have something to offer that these schools are seeking. However… It is my opinion that your reach schools are reachy. Is your 4.0 weighted or unweighted?
I would certainly apply to some reach schools, but I would place a lot of emphasis on targets and safeties.