How GOOD does an Upward trend have to be?

M_s_Mom
Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:41:03 +0000

I notice that your super-reaches are mid-western LACs and Northwestern (a mid-sized private), while your matches and safety are all large mid-western public universities.

If you really think a LAC is the best environment for you (small classes, lots of faculty mentoring), then why not look at reaches and safeties that are also LACs but somewhat less competitive to get into? Take a look at Lawrence, Beloit, Hendrix, and Rhodes, to name just a few. More reachy, but not quite a tough as Grinnell, Carleton and Northestern, are Macalester and Oberlin-both excellent schools. Rhodes and Macalester are urban, the rest are rural, I believe (not sure about all of them).

And most LACs, because of the holistic evaluation process, will take a close look at your record. If you are male, you also get a boost because they tend to be a bit under-represented at LACs (due, in part, to the absense of engineering and business majors, I’m guessing). Not true at the large publics, which are much more numbers driven in their admissions process.