LACs for my stats?

teenage_cliche
Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:29:44 +0000

I wouldn’t worry that Reed is “only” ranked 49th. Reed is precisely the sort of school that places absolutely no value in such ratings.

Have you had the opportunity to visit any colleges? Even if they’re not colleges you’re interested in attending, spending time at schools nearby can help you understand what kind of environment you like best. There are schools on your list, for example, that are very rural and athletic/outdoorsy (i.e. Dartmouth, Williams, Middlebury, Bucknell, and to a smaller extent Amherst and Bowdoin). There’s Rice, which is in the middle of a large city. Most of the other schools are inbetween (suburban or in a small city), but most of the other ones also have a social ‘type’ they attract (more liberal and artistic, less athletic and Greek-dominated)). So if you could tell us which of those types of schools sounds better for you, that’d help to narrow your list down.

As far as ranking your chances:

Reach:
Dartmouth
Amherst
Williams
Swarthmore
Middlebury
(you’re qualified for them all, but they’re all very selective)

Match:
Bucknell
Oberlin
Reed
Vassar
Rice
Bowdoin
Wesleyan
(with the bottom 4 being more selective than the top 3)

I left out UC-Berkeley because I don’t know anything about Cali in-state admissions.