Final College List

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I’m a rising senior at a fairly competitive high school in Wisconsin.</p>

<p>Here’s my final (?) college list:</p>

<p>Safeties:

  • Pepperdine
  • U of Minn–TC</p>

<p>Matches:

  • Wake Forest
  • Madison
  • Northwestern</p>

<p>Reaches:

  • Princeton
  • Brown
  • Berkeley</p>

<p>Stats:
ranked 2-4/580
freshman year-4.0 unweighted, 4.68 weighted
sophomore year-3.9 unweighted, 4.52 weighted
junior year-3.95 unweighted, 4.68 weighted</p>

<p>SATS: 800math, 780reading, 760writing=2340 total
SAT IIs: MathIIC 780, US History 760, Chemistry 740</p>

<p>Projected IB diploma score of 41 (eek! going for at least a 43)</p>

<p>EC’s seperated by focus areas:
Language:

  • 7 years of Spanish
  • 4 years of Hebrew taken through U of M College-in-the-Schools, total of 24 credits
  • 3 years flvs.net online Latin class
  • Member of Language Club freshman-senior years</p>

<p>Leadership:

  • Student council treasurer this year
  • Student school board representative this year
  • President of synagogue youth organization
  • On school board as a junior
  • Founded a school Ping-Pong club in 10th grade</p>

<p>Volunteering/business initiative:

  • Over 1,000 documented C.S. hours at a hospital
  • Tutors elementary schools kids in Hebrew for 15/hr. twice weekly
  • Started a business selling reusable flashcards that has made thousands of dollars over the last couple years
  • Started a community vegetable garden, I deliver vegetables to residents the area for a nominal fee, 3 years now
  • Took a 1 month community service trip to Jamaica between sophomore/junior years</p>

<p>Awards:

  • Various regional/state writing contests
  • Attended National History Day in 10th, placed 18th in country
  • Won best handwriting in school 2 years in a row </p>

<p>Other:

  • Essays: should be good
  • Race: White
  • Gender: Female
  • Income: … uh, not applying for finaid</p>

<p>I don’t have much of a “focus area”, but my business takes up a lot of my time. I’m trying to go non-profit and donate the proceeds to a poor community in Jamaica (the same one I visited last summer). Hopefully that can happen before college admissions time, but I’m not sure.</p>

<p>Is my list accurate? Am I guaranteed acceptance at my safeties schools?</p>

<p>Thanks for any responses.</p>

2

<p>so your stats is impeccable</p>

3

<p>it’s kinda crazy that you list NU as a match along with Madison and Wake Forest when NU’s SAT scores are around 80-150 points higher than both. To consider such a selective school a match even with your stats is absolutely ridiculous. No top 15 private school can be a match. They are a low reach for at least everyone if not a super reach. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Madison looks like a safety in state.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>No, you are not if you write “seperated” in your admissions essay as you did in your original post !</p>

6

<p>It’s the internet… no-one cares if you accidentally screwup on a word…damn</p>

7

<p>Would you be happy to go to Madison or Wake Forest if you don’t get into any of your reaches? NU is not a match for anyone, unfortunately. If not, I would apply to more matches. I would also apply to more reaches with your good stats - Dartmouth, Duke, Cornell, or even HYPS, unless you know you wouldn’t be happy going to those schools.</p>

8

<p>Using your terms with a little tweaking,</p>

<p>Safeties: Pepperdine, UMinn, UWisc
Low Match: Wake
Match: Berkeley, Northwestern
Reach: Brown, Princeton</p>

<p>Surprising list, though. I have trouble finding the common thread here. Smallish, conservative Wake and Pepperdine don’t usually share space with many of your other choices. Good luck.</p>

9

<p>Even if you’re out-of-state, like what others mentioned above, it doesn’t make sense to say UC Berkeley is a reach while a private elite like Northwestern is a match.</p>

<p>Reaches: Princeton, Brown, Northwestern
High Match: UC Berkeley
Low Match: Wake Forest, Wisconsin-Madison
Safeties: Minnesota-Twin Cities, Pepperdine</p>

<p>But I honestly don’t see the connection between some of the schools on your list; Brown and UC Berkeley are immensely different in size, campus atmosphere and student body, and Wake Forest and Pepperdine are extreme opposites in location as well as in the type of applicants they attract. Any particular reason why you selected these schools altogether?</p>

10

<p>I commend you for not going Harvard-crazy.</p>

<p>But I think you have a nice shot at any place.</p>

11

<p>Just make sure that you can afford your matches and reaches. Otherwise, you’ll end up at your safeties regardless of your admissions outcome.</p>

12

<p>Brown’s one of the most liberal schools in the country; Pepperdine’s one of the more conservative. You might want to picture where you are along the continuum that runs from “coed roommate assignments OK” to “no dancing permitted.”</p>

13

<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>

<p>For those of you questioning my selection criteria, this is what I based my list on:</p>

<p>Primary:

  1. Beautiful campus
  2. Conservative and/or available sub-free housing</p>

<h2>3. Quality of psychology undergrad program</h2>

<p>Secondary:

  1. Quality of dormrooms
  2. No core or limited reqs
  3. Surrounding area
  4. Prestige</p>
14

<p>“Would you be happy to go to Madison or Wake Forest if you don’t get into any of your reaches?”</p>

<p>Wake Forest: yes
Madison: probably, since lots of my friends are going there. It’s more of a back up.</p>

15

<p>You have a lot of high matches and reaches. You might want to add another back-up (right now, you may be cool with staying in the area if you have to, but feelings can change, and you don’t want to limit yourself). </p>

<p>How about Santa Clara?</p>