Hey guys,
I am applying to college for the fall term of 2019. I am applying to top colleges including UPenn, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt and so on. I feel confident ny academic profile qualifies. What I need help with is finding a book with amazing insight on college admissions with Ivy leage or top schools in the US. Thank you.
Gatekeeper. A little older but relevant.
@privatebanker Thanks. I’ll go and check it out.
Spend time also on finding safeties and matches you would be delighted to attend. Otherwise you will be one of those CC stories “I didn’t get in anywhere I applied and I hate my safety”
^^^Agree. The schools you listed are all incredibly competitive and nobody, no matter how strong his or her academic profile, can count on being accepted. All of the schools on your list have acceptance rates under 10% and it seems that you are applying for CS which is a particularly competitive major. There are simply not enough spots for all of the extremely well qualified applicants.
I strongly suggest that you create a solid college list that includes reach (such as the schools you have listed above), match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out your parents’ budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be excited to attend. IMO finding those great match and safety schools is the most important part of the process. Cast a wide net and recognize that that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
@bopper @happy1 thanks a lot. I checked some stories out on the class threads and you’re right. I really need some safety schools. Thanks for letting me see that.
And make sure that your safeties are places you’d be happy to attend AND are affordable for you. Sometimes students are upset with their safeties or are unable to pay for them because they don’t receive sufficient aid.
This is important. We were told at a tip-top LAC that 70% of applicants were fully qualified, and admissions was confident that they would succeed academically and otherwise at the school. At the time, the school accepted 14% (now lower). So 4 in 5 fully qualified students were denied admission. If the acceptance rate is around 7%, and assuming that fully qualified rate is also 70%, then 9 in 10 fully qualified applicants at the schools you list will be denied admission. That’s why have safeties and matches that are good fits and are affordable are so essential. Good luck!
@TTG thanks… The stats were really useful.
You’re welcome! I’ll be rooting for you at those schools, and if you are a very strong student you may very well have success at any of them.
If you really love Vanderbilt, maybe look at Richmond as a safety/match (depending on your stats). Richmond (RVA) is a hot city that offers a lot to college students/young adults, like Nashville, and UR has a stunning campus just a couple of miles away. Wake Forest is a Top 30 National University (USNWR) and also fairly comparable to Vanderbilt (but with a much higher acceptance rate, especially if a student shows interest).
If you really love Dartmouth, maybe look at William and Mary, which is similar in most ways (but much warmer weather). It has 6300 undergrads, and a small town immediately adjacent to campus, like at Dartmouth. I know about ten current students at WM. All are outstanding students, and in every case where I know their ACT scores, they are in the 30s, often well into the 30s. So the school also has talented, accomplished students. It’s very competitive, especially for OOS students, but still more reasonable for a very strong student than Dartmouth.
If you really love Penn, maybe look at Boston University. It’s also a national university in a great American city. George Washington University in DC also has an urban campus and some top programs. Maybe also Tulane, which has gotten very hot in recent years. Case Western is another terrific urban school. It’s in a pretty nice area of Cleveland and is great in STEM/medical subjects.
All of my recommendations are very competitive these days and not absolute safeties for almost anyone. And the affordability issue is HUGE. These would only be good safeties/reaches if they are affordable for you. And they are all very expensive. You could run the net price calculators (NPC) to see how much they might cost you, if they look interesting and that’s a consideration. Good luck!
Are you female? If so, and you like urban college like UPenn, then consider Barnard. If you’re not female, then maybe NYU.
Or perhaps consider any of the Quaker consortium schools: Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr. They have cross reg at UPenn and transportation.
If you like Vanderbilt, then perhaps consider Emory or Rice.
If you like Dartmouth, then perhaps consider Colby, Bates, St. Lawrence, (all smaller LACs) or U of Rochester or Syracuse, Toronto or McGill.
Start from the ground up. Find two colleges your parents can afford and that share enough similarities with your favorite choices (type of campus, major, vibe, envionment…), where the acceptance rate for your category (major, is/Oos…) is 40% or more.
Then add 3-5 you like and can afford that admit 25-40% applicants.
Only then do you add your dream schools.
You can get a Princeton Review’s best colleges guide or a Fiske guide.
As for highly selective admissions, I recommend Steinberg’s the gatekeepers indeed as well as Make colleges want you and call newport’s how to be a high school superstar.
@Dustyfeathers wow. Your comments are really helpful. Thanks for laying the colleges out for me like that. And no, am not a female, but the comments were still amazing. Thanks
@MYOS1634 Thanks to you too. I really wanted books with insight on the admissions process and how to glow as an applicant as a whole. You guys are really helpful.
The last three books are exactly about that. The other two books help you select colleges that match you well. (Fit is very important to highly selective colleges.)
If Vandy, Dartmouth and U Penn are at the top of the list, as reaches, then perhaps starting with safeties/matches, you might include:
If you like Vandy then look at: Rhodes College (Memphis), Univ Richmond, and – depending on stats and eligibility for automatic merit awards – Alabama.
If you like Dartmouth for winter sports, close campus culture, then look at St Lawrence. Colby is “hot” so not a safety or even match for anyone, but with demonstrated interest and a strong application, it might be more of a low reach for someone.
If you like U Penn as an urban school with a strong pre-professional focus, then look at Trinity College in CT, Boston U.
For most high achieving kids, their in-state public university, especially with the possibility of an Honors program or other special perks, are their safety. Take time to research your public flagship now, as you are building your list. Llearn about the programs and opportunities for a high-achieving student. Check with your guidance counselor to understand whether admissions for you is a “sure thing.”
Look into some essay writing books, I especially like College Essay Essentials by Ethan Sawyer, the college essay guy. His website is good too. JHU posts good essays from their admitted applicants on their site too. For general admission info, try Admission Possible by Shaevitz, Admission Matters by Springer/Reider/Morgan and College Match by Antonoff. Good Luck!
The website Essay hell is very good, too.
Alright… I’ll be sure to check them out. Thanks guys. You don’t know how much this helps.
@Semere Ayy Freak :))