Female Junior from NJ looking for more matches to add to my college list

Kean and Montclair are super safeties for you.
TCNJ, Rowan, and NJIT are good matches (you may be offered honors at NJIT so do apply for extra perks/scholarships). Rutgers should be on your list, match for chemistry/biochem but probably reach for Pharmacy.
Run the NPC (Net Price Calculator) to see if they’d be affordable.

Florida A&M is a match - but why a public HBCU in Florida? DO run the NPC because as an OOS applicant you wouldn’t be eligible for instate tuition nor their instate scholarship program.
If you’re interested in HBCUs, definitely look into and run the NPC on Spelman and Howard (low reach) as well as Delaware State (safety).

Lehigh, Northeastern, Tufts, BC, Swarthmore are all reaches.
However their “vibe” is quite different: BC and Lehigh are work hard/play hard (very intense academics, lots of alcohol on the weekends) whereas Northeastern is preprofessional (kids learn to get a job but aren’t necessarily all excited about learning new stuff) unlike Swarthmore where kids tend to be intense and intellectual, priding themselves in how much they work (one of those “where fun goes to die” reputations). DO note that these are painted with very broad brushes, to learn more and have more details, read The Fiske Guide (any edition 2020 and later is fine) and Princeton Review’s Best Colleges.

If you like Swarthmore, why not look into Bryn Mawr or Haverford?
If you don’t mind looking a bit further, run the NPC on Bates, Denison, Grinnell, Smith (all high reaches).

Good matches: Kalamazoo, St Olaf - both excellent for biochemistry or chemistry.
Another match, closer to home: Muhlenberg. College of Wooster?
High match to low reach: Dickinson, Denison, Franklin&Marshall.
Reach: Lafayette, Mount Holyoke, Kenyon.
All of these meet 100% need, meaning they provide the best possible financial package, and some don’t package loans (ie., it’s all scholarships + work study). When you run the NPC you’ll see that each college calculates your need differently so cross out the highest net prices.

Actual safeties (as long as they’re affordable as per NPC): Juniata, Ursinus, Elizabethtown, University of Scranton.

Good luck for Questbridge - you sound like an ideal candidate! :slight_smile: No guarantee of course but fingers crossed.

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