Then I would categorize Skidmore as a reach. I would work with your high school counselor to properly categorize your schools. We don’t really have enough information to properly do so.
Regardless I do think you should cull your reaches…it’s just too many to do a good job on all the apps.
Do you have an SAT/ACT score? AP test scores? Are all these schools affordable?
I will be able to afford it.
I have a few apps
I’ll take 9 by end of senior year
Art history-5
World history-4
Ap lang-4
APUSH-4
I’ve taken a few practices for both AP macro and comp gov and got the equivalent of 4s on both
PreACT was 31 and preSAT was 1390
My personal cutoff is 25%, especially for an LAC. There’s no standard scale that means one school is a match and another is a safety. My thought is that a safe school is usually above 60% acceptance rate, but there are other factors that come into play. Maybe I don’t see that a target is different from a match? UC’s have to prioritize instate and UCI has a 28% acceptance rate. Skid’s average GPA is apparently 3.87.
We have different ideas. I would not feel confident saying either school is a match.
HI ALL
I’ve seriously cut down list and there’s what is left
American (target)
BC (reach)
BU (hard target)
Bucknell (target)
Colgate (reach)
Conn college (target)
Cornell (reach)
GW (target)
Lehigh (hard target)
NYU (reach)
Macalester (hard target)
Skidmore (hard target)
Northeastern (hard target)
SUNT stony brook (safety)
Temple university (safety)
Trinity college (target)
University of Delaware )target)
UVM (target)
University of Richmond (hard target)
Wesleyan (hard target/reach)
Agree, but UCI OOS acceptance rate was 47% for Fall 2023 (7,301 admitted/15,410 apps), link in my post above. AFAIK they don’t publish IR major acceptance rate.
I also consider target and match the same.
Regardless, OP is getting the tools they need to do this research, and working with their HS counselor is most important.
Can you please clarify what you define as a target?
You said earlier in the thread you removed Wesleyan, but it’s on your list here and it is definitely a reach, no ifs, ands, or buts. It’s acceptance rate is 17% and the average GPA is 3.9.
@gb3838 Northeastern is very selective now, with an 18% acceptance rate. It is a reach, IMO. You’ve now classified it as a hard target. So I’m unclear what you are basing your categorizing on.
Just want to note that a number of LACs take a high percentage (some as much as 40% - 50%) of their class in the ED round which typically has a higher acceptance rate. This can make a RD acceptance more challenging than the college’s overall acceptance rate may indicate. It is a factor you may want to look into for the LACs on your list.
Adding: Is budget a consideration? If so, have you run the net price calculators for the schools on your list?
Do you have any specific career in mind ?
Noticed that you deleted 5 reach schools (Georgetown, Bowdoin, Dartmouth, U Penn, & U Wash-Seattle) which way be needed to get employment in this highly competitive field.
If you just want to study IR as a fun major or as a prelude to law school, then consider adding Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. University of Puget Sound might be of interest.
Could university of Indiana Bloomington be a potential safety?
Journalism
UCI’s overall acceptance rate for International Relations was 44.5% 2023. They do not breakout the major specific admit rates by Residency.
Probably a Target but with no financial aid for OOS students, a hefty price tag of $74K/year to attend.
OP- how do you define urban or suburban? Specifically- are you going to be happy at Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, Stonybrook, Cornell? BC is urban/suburban for sure-- is that the vibe you are going for? Cornell is close to/part of a small city but is hardly anyone’s idea of urban and it’s not close to a major city in the way BC is… If you like the atmosphere of places like Temple, Colgate is going to feel pretty rural…
Are you considering pursuing any post-graduate education, or keeping it at a bachelor’s degree? That may change your choices.
When I think of how to determine what might be a personal reach for a student, the two most important factors, IMO, are selectivity and GPA.
First, you do have a good GPA. But I think it’s hard to overestimate how competitive some schools have become in the last few years, especially with the rise of test optional applications. So UCI, as noted, admits 47% of OOS applicants, but the average GPA is 4.0. I don’t know if the average GPA of OOS students is lower than instate students, but you have to consider that. If your GPA is below that of the average accepted student, it means the school is more reachy.
I believe you should consider Macalester, Skidmore, Northeastern, BU and Wesleyan all as reaches. Maybe you will knock it out of the park by the end of the school year though and will have an even better GPA, which would be great. Your school’s Naviance or Scoir, if they use it, might give you a better indication. At any rate, use your guidance counselor too.
Also, again, what type of budget are you working with? Are you relying on only merit, or will you qualify for any sort of need-based aid? Several of the schools on your list can be very expensive. Georgetown, for example, only does Need-Based aid and does not offer any academic/merit based scholarships.
UC OOS is also very expensive, seeing as there is limited financial aid for OOS.
For the UCs, OP should calculate their 3 GPAs here:
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
For now it’s enough that OP has said ‘they will be able to afford it’. It’s ok if they don’t want to share more financial wise, but they should talk budget and run the schools’ NPCs with their parents.
Okay, you’re thinking of a major in international relations with an eye to a career in journalism. You have intermediate-level proficiency in Spanish and Russian, the latter of which will be less common to be found on college campuses. As foreign languages are a use it or lose it skill, I would strongly recommend that you go to a school that offers advanced coursework in Russian (probably a major in Russian) so that you can keep that skillset up, and it would probably be a really easy way to eliminate schools.
If you’re looking for a small to medium college, why are Temple, Udel, Stony Brook, UC-Irvine, U. of Maryland, and U. of Washington on your list? BU is getting pretty big, too. Also, I would cut way down on the number of low probability schools and eliminate several of the lower probability ones, too.
Below are my guesses as to what your chances might be at these colleges. Since everyone tends to mean something different by terminology like safeties, matches, reaches, I have indicated a percentage to indicate what I mean.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Likely (60-79%)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Oh, I didnt see that, thanks for pointing that out!