Is this a bad college list?

collegemom3717
Sat, 12 Sep 2020 15:44:53 +0000

You have all the Ivies except UPenn & Brown, so clearly you have done some thinking about which ones you want. I am wondering why you chose the ones you did. Other posters have asked whether you are excited about the Columbia core- how much have you investigated that? If you are excited by urban and a core-focus, why isn’t UChic on your list?

And if you are excited by urban, why are you even thinking about Cornell & Dartmouth, both of which are closer to rural/small town/country- not even suburban.

If urban v country really isn’t an important factor for you, what about temperament- would you be happier in a nest of fratboys or mathboys?

(btw, you are correct that MIT has a very strong campus culture, but luckily they are very good at recognizing their own, so if your app reflects you reasonably accurately the AdComm will likely make the right call on the fit).

So, there’s getting in, there’s paying for it, and then there’s living with your choice for 4 years (especially when the need for finaid makes transferring very problematic). The time you put into thinking hard about the kinds of environments in which you shine, and using that info to think hard about where you can best find that is well spent.

More importantly, I agree with the others who have noted that your energy is mostly focused on the upper end of your list (aka prestige goggles), not the lower end- which is the harder part to get right. IRL your chances of being rejected by all your ‘top’ choices are very, very high (that’s a stat fact, not a judgement on you as a human).

If your only affordable choice is U of Houston, will you be happy? If so, no worries.

But if not, you need to put your back into broadening your focus. Have you run the npc’s for schools like Swarthmore, Pomona, Reed? How do they look? Have you looked at unis that offer competitive scholarships that would make it affordable (eg, the Cornelius Vanderbilt at Vandy, Stamps at any number of schools, Woodruff at Emory, etc.)? If you are a credible candidate for HYP you are a credible candidate for those (note that some take extra essays, others consider you automatically when you apply).