How do you pick middle application?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>We are struggling with how to pick middle applications for our senior son. His stats are as follows:</p>

<p>top 10% of large public high school
34 on ACT (35 math/ 34 science)
All HL/honors classes in IB program
3.7 unweighted/ 3.9 weighted
Interested in chemistry/bio/genetics with poli. sci./econ double major (wants to go into research and or become a professor)
He would ideally like to be in or near a large city
Have an active IM program and lots of social activities
Liberal leaning, no interest in conservative schools</p>

<p>With his scores, we aren’t sure what constitutes a reach vs a mid pick (eg How would Claremont or Univ of Michigan fit?)</p>

<p>Thanks for any insight</p>

2

<p>Unless you are talking about religiously affiliated schools, there are virtually no “conservative” schools in the Top 100 rankings. There are only liberal, more liberal, insanely liberal, and bat-guano crazy liberal schools. I’ve looked. And I say this as a classical liberal/libertarian, so I can just imagine what social conservatives think. So that leaves just about the whole field open.</p>

<p>The test score will keep him in the running just about anywhere but Cal Tech. His limiting factor will be the GPA, a lot of the very top schools like 3.9+, maybe 3.8.</p>

<p>The city factor eliminates a lot of the top LACs, though in reality, it shouldn’t be a factor. except for truly isolated places like Middlebury. Even at a school like Tufts, which should be on his list BTW, students often say they rarely go all the way into Boston, though some do. They’ll go to Cambridge, which has Harvard and MIT, Boston is just too far. The campus tends to become where most kids hang out.</p>

<p>You don’t tell us what his top picks are, but that’s where you should start. It gives you a good idea of what he likes in many ways, from school type, Greek options, geographic region, etc. From there, you want to look at the top schools list, and use a guide like the “Princeton Review Best 378 Colleges”. That has a cross reference about which schools students who are interested in a particular school often like better or worse. The Fiske Guide is also good.</p>

<p>It’s not perfect, but it gives you a quick way to narrow down the list by using other people’s experiences that are time tested, not just some random people on CC who have their own biases, and haven’t often heard about some of the options out there. Once you get that list, you can do further research, say read “The Hidden Ivies” or come back here and ask.</p>

<p>In reality, nothing substitutes for a campus visit, but you probably know that and it’s not always possible. There are places that look great on paper that D really, really hated once on campus. Can’t say it ever goes the other way, because with limited time, why would you go to a place that looks bad on paper? So hit the books and start that way.</p>

3

<p>Are you in-state for UMich? If not, how do you feel about paying $50K/year because that’s what will happen - their merit aid is extremely competitive. Does he already have a safety he is happy to attend and you can afford? With stats like your son the Match schools frequently are also reaches because the acceptance %age is low. Do you have access to Naviance?</p>

4

<p>Did you run the Net Price Calculators at each website? If so, are you comfortable with the projected costs?</p>

<p>Your son would be in the running for serious merit-based aid at a number of places, and would even be guaranteed merit-based aid at a few more. Pop over to the Financial Aid Forum, and take a look at the threads at the top on the subject of merit aid.</p>

<p>And yup, a bunch of those places that would be dead-on admissions and financial safeties for him could easily fall into the bat-guano crazy liberal category as well.</p>

5

<p>Thanks all. I’m still not sure which schools could be considered mid range vs. reach and where he could qualify for merit aide. His list so far includes:</p>

<p>Stanford
MIT
Harvard
Columbia
Pomona
Claremont</p>

<p>Rice
Wash Univ in St Louis
Northwestern</p>

<p>Univ. of Michigan
Tufts</p>

<p>Univ. of Minnesota - Safety
UC Davis
University of texas-Austin
University of washington
UC San Diego</p>

<p>He loves to discuss politics and would like to pursue as a minor with a major in Science research field (likes Chemistry and Bio).</p>

<p>He also wants a school where he can socialize without alcohol. Doesn’t have to be a dry school, he just doesn’t want drinking to be the only way to be social.</p>

6

<p>There are very few schools on that list that offer any merit at all. (CC experts can let you know which ones do.) </p>

<p>Your son would have a good chance of getting in many, and if he applied at all of them, some would undoubtedly accept him, it’s just difficult to say which ones. If merit is a must, you’ll have to drop down the rankings a bit and trade prestige for money.</p>

<p>As far as alcohol goes, a few ways to check on that. Try the Princeton Review guides, they’re pretty good at identifying “party schools”. The bigger the campus, the more likely he’ll find a group that is less into drinking. But even then, a large alcohol fueled campus can be a turn-off.</p>

<p>If going to smaller schools, check more for how much Greek life dominates. It’s not a sure-fire predictor, but generally Greeks and alcohol go together. It’s also possible for it to dominate at non-Greek schools, but that seems less common.</p>

7

<p>Thanks. What are some examples of schools that would be in the ‘drop down the rankings’ category?</p>

8

<p>Others are much more knowledgeable than I am. </p>

<p>I know U. of Rochester, Tulane, and U. of Miami all have merit and are pretty highly ranked, though not tip top. I believe WashU might have some merit money to lure to scoring students away from Ivies. It’s widely reported that Alabama is giving out tons of money to a student like your son. Ohio State would give a pretty substantial amount for an ACT of 34, certainly enough to make it like an in-state school, and possibly more.</p>

<p>Some of these have short deadlines, so you’ll need to check and not apply at the last minute. Some are probably Dec. 1, others might be as early as Nov. 1.</p>