<p>I have 11 schools on my tentative final college list. Only one of them is a true safety - Rutgers (in state)- but I don’t know if I really want to go there. I’m scared that there’s a chance I won’t be admitted anywhere else. Here’s a condensed explanation of my stats:</p>
<p>-2380 SAT, 4.0 GPA, 800s on SAT 2s, 5s on six AP exams, most rigorous transcript.
-Competitive suburban public school
-National awards, international performances, a recording contract, and other recognition for a world music tradition.
-Won a reality TV show for the above world music tradition, televised widely in my country of origin (I’m trying to be super anonymous here)
-Substantial musical YouTube presence (can’t go into too much detail)
-Independent scientific research as part of a research team at a university (ongoing; will not be published by the time applications are due). It has something to do with music, so it’s really aligned with my interests.
-Several leadership positions in school clubs
-Leadership positions at regional and state politics/debate programs
-Won a bunch of essay contests
-ABRSM Grade 8 violinist (highest level), private violin teacher, first violin in chamber orchestra
-National Merit Semifinalist so far
-Assume good recommendations and essays</p>
<p>My college list: Yale (SCEA), Princeton, Harvard, Duke, Columbia, Penn CAS, Cornell, Georgetown, MIT, Rutgers</p>
<p>Tell me honestly - is my list too lopsided? Is there a good chance I’ll be attending Rutgers unless I pick some more middle-tier schools?
Your advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!</p>
<p>I had very similar numbers.
Applied to 18 colleges (+1 safety) such as HYPSM, Columbia, Chicago, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Rice, Penn and NW and so on.</p>
<p>6 acceptances, 6 waitlists and 6 rejections.
My suggestion: Apply to many colleges, you will get into some.</p>
<p>Rutgers is a fine school for many majors. What is your intended or possible major?</p>
<p>If you really do want to go to “anywhere but Rutgers” like so many NJ students who post here, then you need to find a safety or few that you like, will certainly get into, and can certainly afford to attend. Have you run the net price calculators on all of your schools?</p>
<p>And yes, I’m aware that there are a billion people with the same exact numbers and scores as me, and there isn’t enough space in my target schools to fit all of them. That being said, should my extracurriculars be a strong factor in choosing my college list? (seeing as some of them are quite uncommon, I guess)</p>
<p>shyams, there’s nothing in your background that would keep you out of any of your reach schools and a lot that would get you in. But since there are no guarantees, you need to have a more balanced list that includes reaches, matches and safeties that you would actually not mind attending. If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to end up at Rutgers, then it’s not a true safety.</p>
<p>No reason not to apply to your super selectives and your moderately selectives. Apply to as many as you can handle, but don’t jeopardise your chances with half-hearted applications.</p>
<p>Since you’re not enamored with your state option, then you have to approach matches and safeties from a different angle. Often schools that are very good academically become matches/safeties for certain applicants because the applicants stand out in their pool. In other words, the applicants fulfill a need that the college has, not the opposite.</p>
<p>In your case, I would look at academically rigorous schools that value music and need musicians to keep their performance venues going. In this category I would include Williams, Wesleyan (I’m sure there are others.) Smith if you are female.</p>
<p>Secondly, if you are a member of a non-White, non-Christian, non-whatever ethnic group then think about how how you could use the diversity factor to your advantage. Many small liberal arts colleges – especially those located in rural environments and outside of the Northeast – recruit diversity. </p>
<p>Lastly, what’s your financial situation? If you either high income in that you are prepared to pay full tuition, or low income in that you’re fairly secure that you will receive enough need based aid, then you could consider applying EA or ED to your top choice. But if you’re middle class and need need based aid don’t take the chance. Also, if you need merit aid, you’ve got the wrong list.</p>
<p>You’ve got almost every Ivy, Duke, and MIT. Scroll a little further down on USNWR, maybe even go to that second page, and you’ll find some choices.</p>