I’m not giving suggestions. I said like. I’m simply saying as they search to ensure it’s not just schools like W&M, Brown, JHU, and Brown plus other Ivies as OP noted.
They need to ensure they are scouting likelies vs all reaches.
These were simply examples of what I mean by that.
Thank you.
Why does she have to make a choice right now? She’s a junior in high school who is curating a list of schools that she is interested in applying to. This process isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon so I would keep that in mind and apply less pressure.
You’ve gotten some great advice from others already, so I won’t talk much about some of those issues. But there are two things I want to suggest:
If at all possible, visit Brown (or any school she is thinking as a possibility for ED) when the school is in session. Walking around a campus that only has 5% of its population around is a lot different than when everything is in full gear. Ideally, all college visits should be during the school year, but that’s not always possible.
I would significantly increase the amount of time you spend on schools that are likely or extremely likely to admit your daughter. That’s time researching, time talking about, and time visiting. If your family only spends time focusing on the low admit schools, then she will probably interpret that behavior to mean that those are the schools you value and respect. And if she decides to attend a higher admit school (whether it’s her personal preference or her only option(s)), she may then feel a hit to her self-esteem thinking that you don’t think as highly of her, or that she’s disappointed you, or some other negative feeling. There are so many amazing candidates who get turned down at the highly rejective schools, and there are some awesome schools with higher admit rates. I would just be very careful about what kind of message(s) you as parents are giving your daughter, whether the message is verbalized or not.
This thread might help spark some ideas: Colleges with Admit Rates of 60-100%: Schools You’ve Liked and Why (NO REPLIES)
As a biology major, she will be sharing many classes with pre-meds, whether at W&M, JHU, Brown, or some other college.
Hi Bantamlove,
We started this process by identifying very reachy schools that we thought would be a good fit for our D. I think it’s ok to target reachy schools. These schools need students! We will probably apply to some very reachy schools. Many families will. All of this is very ok.
What really helped me manage the stress I felt about the unpredictability of such schools was creating a very well balanced list. Spending time researching less reachy schools that I thought would be a good fit for our D was time well spent. I may have eventually come to this conclusion on my own, but what really helped was the consistently solid advice from people here to craft a very well balanced list. It has helped our family.
It was not a quick mental transition for me. And this is not a simple, easy process, at all.
Best wishes to your family.
This is why it is important to apply to safety schools. Even if she EDs to Brown, it is still a huge reach.
ED isn’t any easier. Really…anything can happen there too.
Here is my suggestion. This is the year to build a college application list with a variety of colleges your child likes…with varying degrees of competitiveness in terms of admission. So…here is what I would suggest.
Your daughter needs to make a a list of the characteristics she would like to have in her college choice. She needs to understand that not all might be able to be met and some compromises might need to be made.
You need to have your annual college budget figured out, so that your daughter understands what you can and will pay annually for her to attend college.
I would suggest building your list from the bottom UP…which seems like the opposite of what you are are doing. IOW, find affordable colleges that your daughter would be happy to attend that have a good likelihood of acceptance. Find two of those first and foremost. Then build your list up from there. It’s really easy to love some of the reach schools, and sometimes more difficult (but not impossible) to find those sure things.
Your daughter doesn’t have to make a decision about applying early decision until early fall of her senior year of high school.
If possible, find a college or two that have rolling admissions and apply when their applications open. This can be in summer before her senior year. Those rolling admissions colleges give admissions results quickly…and really that first college acceptance is a sweet one to get.
If any of the colleges on her list offer early action…get those done adhering to the EA deadlines. Nice to have those done, and again, earlier results than regular decision.
Also, some colleges with non-binding early action fill up most of the classes (or popular majors) in early action, so such a college may be much more selective in the “regular” decision round.
This can also be true for colleges with rolling admission – best to apply as soon as the applications open.
Also, some colleges prioritize funding to those who apply early.
I have found this to be very very helpful advice.
She doesn’t have to make a choice- she’s in 11th grade.
I’m also a Virginia resident, also have a kid in a highly competitive magnet public school who is a senior. I’d caution against assuming W&M is a likely admit based on the grades and test score ranges you see on the W&M website. Your daughter’s scores and grades are truly amazing - don’t get me wrong! But she will not be compared against all of the in-state kids in the applicant pool. She’ll be compared against the people in her magnet program. Her scores/grades/rigor will need to stand out and be among the top in the environment she’s in. In my experience, that can be a tough pill to swallow when you have an incredibly smart and accomplished kid… who will be compared against a whole class of incredibly smart and intelligent kids. Unfortunately W&M won’t admit them all, or even most, or even a bunch.
You’ll get more information about where her scores and GPA stand in relation to previous applicants at her magnet when her guidance counselor releases scattergrams in Naviance. Therefore, I’d echo what previous posters have said - find some true academic and financial safeties to have on the list. I’d apply to those EA. It’s a lot more comfortable to have a couple of admits in your pocket as you’re heading into the thick of admissions season.
Finally, I’m also a planner. Just settle in and “plan” for the next year to be entirely unpredictable! It will be difficult and stressful for everyone. Your daughter will change her mind 14x between now and May 1, 2026. 
Make a list that gives her plenty of options and the ability to go in a completely unforeseen direction. You don’t want her boxed in in April by a decision she made the previous August.
Best of luck!
Thank you everyone! All of this advice has been super helpful, including rethinking my perspective, building from the bottom up, etc. I take it all to heart. I realize I’m getting a bit ahead of myself and will back off, but I also have found that things seem to come up before we know it with high school and want to be prepared and helping her do research while she has time and we can plan visits.
I’ll just clarify that I’m well aware Brown or anything like it is an unlikely reach. I also don’t take W&M for granted which is why ED has been a topic of discussion. I probably should have titled this thread differently - of course she doesn’t have to decide now.
I’m glad that you’ve found the advice helpful @Bantamlove! I know it can be overwhelming to be inundated with lots of advice, but it sounds like you’ve taken it well.
If you want any assistance in developing a balanced college list from the bottom up, just let us know. I’m sure posters will be happy to offer suggestions if you let us know what your D is interested in from her college experience and what the budget is (and/or if need-based calculators are coming back with an affordable price without specifying the budget).
I have 2. My daughter took your W&M equivalent - and got a big academic scholarship. My son wants to go for a more aggressive ED. There is no right way to play ths game, but I agree that the regular decision pile can be more stressful. I also feel like all these kids applying to ivy league-type schools felt their need to take their shot. Good luck.
Hi! I also have a junior who is a strong student and very quirky, and although she is kinda/sorta arriving at a list, what she wants to study has changed a lot just this school year, and it’s still evolving. The people here probably think I’m nutty because the questions I ask change in focus every week – because the kid changes her mind every week, lol. I’m trying to roll with it.
That said, I wanted to tell you about my older daughter, who was an even stronger student. (salutatorian, 36 ACT, maximum rigor, college-level research, blah blah). She had 10 schools on her list. Six were far reach, three were a match (but still kind of reachy), one was a safety. I didn’t love that balance, but it was hard to find her major in the kind of small environment she wanted that wasn’t a reach.
But, even with this kind of list, she chose not to ED anywhere – because she was kind of hoping for merit (which was practically impossible at these types of schools, but there was a tiny glimmer of hope). I think she also could have been happy at any of her top six schools. She got in EA at her safety and was given a huge merit scholarship, so it took the pressure off. And she got in EA to the honors college at our state flagship (one of her matches, but she thought of it as a safety).
Of her other two matches, she got into one and was waitlisted at the other.
And of her six reachy reaches, she got into two, was waitlisted at three, and outright rejected from one – which was Brown, lol.
So you’re right, it kind of is the wild west out there, but kids are still getting into reach schools RD without any kind of hook. Those two schools for my kid were Rice and Emory, and she is now thriving as a junior at Rice. It couldn’t have been a more perfect fit.
(Incidentally, Brown is also the only school of those she applied to that we didn’t visit first. It’s far from us, and she didn’t really expect to get in. I’ll always wonder if her application was lacking somehow because she didn’t see it firsthand. She fell in love with Rice immediately when we toured, though, and I think that came through on her application.)
Anyhow. Looking forward to comparing notes with you as we get further along in this process with our juniors. Quirky kids for the win! 
A score of 1480/1520 on the PSAT is fine for all Ivy League schools as it is the 99th percentile range.
Of course, colleges and universities want to see an SAT score or an ACT score, but a 1480 PSAT score should qualify one for National Merit standing.
Conversion charts show a 1480 PSAT score as an expected 1540 on the SAT. Both are outstanding scores which are fine for Ivy League schools. (Brown reports that its middle 50% score on the SAT for admitted students is 1520-1570.)
Go visit Brown! I agree with others, do not push ED for any school. Plenty of students just go for RD and decide then. Her counselor could tell her how she compares to others who have gotten in to W&M RD—seems she should have a very good chance in RD as a Virginia resident but every high school is different and no one on CC can determine the context of her gpa and courses relative to her classmates. William& Mary is an amazing school but no one should ED unless it is the number one choice. Emory or Wake might be great fits if she likes W&M. Brown and a couple other ivies could be too; visits are needed. WashU would be reachier than Emory/Wake, but not quite as reachy as Brown. It could be a perfect blend. Worth a visit if you can swing it.