Thanks. Just trying to remind myself that where I go to school doesn’t define me. But, ugh.
Hi MD23mom. Great idea about exploring overlapping qualities (ooh, a venn diagram lol). Thanks for the advice!
It 100% doesn’t define you and you don’t need to ED.
But you should start narrowing the types of things you like in a campus - few love “everywhere”.
What is your desired path post college?
You’ve been to DU it sounds like. Do you like it? I t’s strong in political areas.
Have you been to JHU? The DC area - like Gtown, GW, American, etc?
Do you want to be in a city or in the sticks or something in between.
You can narrow…
For a statistical perspective on this question, this site places Amherst 20th and UCB 36th by selectivity when considered on a national basis:
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Sounds more and more like you would do well at “hybrid” schools, colleges that attempt to offer “the best of both worlds”. Such places might include consortia (e.g., The Claremont Colleges, Bryn Mawr-Haverford), or a large LAC like Wesleyan University (3000 undergrads; offers advanced courses through the doctoral level in STEM), Colgate and Union in Schenectady, or smallish universities like Tufts, Brown, Boston College, University of Rochester, Dartmouth, and The University of Vermont.
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Congratulations on building such a strong profile in high school! You will be competitive for admission at any school in the country, though many of the schools you’ve visited would be low probability admits simply because of how competitive they are to get into, not due to anything lacking in your own background.
It seems as though you’re easygoing about what kind of college you’ll end up at, though it also seems as though you’re looking for a school where everything just goes DING, DING, DING, we have a WINNER!!! And that might not happen. Or it might not happen in the pre-decision phase. It might be that a school offers you entree into a select cohort that really makes a big difference in how you feel about it compared to other schools, but that it would be impossible to know that prior to sending in applications.
Additionally, people, especially those in high school, change. There are so many stories of people wanting one thing in the summer/fall of senior year, and by spring wanting something quite different. That’s totally okay and totally normal. It’s great to give yourself options, especially when you don’t have a clear top choice.
Do you have any likely or extremely likely admits on your application list? Right now it just sounds like you have a bunch of low probability schools. The most important school(s) on your list are the sure things. These are schools where you are extremely likely to be admitted, that are affordable, and that you would be happy to attend for four years. So far I don’t see any schools in that category and I’d strongly recommend having at least one (and preferably two).
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As you were looking for a Match Me, and I haven’t seen any mention of any schools I’d consider a likely or extremely likely admit for you, I went ahead and came up with a list of schools you may want to consider. They are sorted by my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be. I also chanced you for all the schools that you’ve visited. Please note that low probability does not mean impossibility…it just means that the odds are very much against an acceptance, but you have as good a chance as almost anyone to get one of those acceptances.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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DePaul (IL): About 14k undergrads at this Chicago school.
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Drexel (PA ): About 14k undergrads at this Philadelphia school. There’s a big emphasis on co-ops here.
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Howard (D.C.): About 9800 undergrads at this HBCU, and students can also cross-register at other D.C. colleges.
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Ithaca (NY): About 4600 undergrads and students can also cross-register at Cornell.
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Loyola Chicago: About 12k undergrads at this Jesuit school
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Marquette: About 7500 undergrads at this Jesuit school in Milwaukee
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U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: About 39k undergrads
Likely (60-79%)
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Binghamton (NY): About 14k undergrads
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Fordham (NY): About 10k undergrads at this Jesuit school in New York City
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Loyola Marymount (CA): About 7300 undergrads at this Jesuit school in Los Angeles
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Syracuse (NY): About 15k undergrads. Only a likely if you show demonstrated interest, otherwise it could end up a rejection.
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U. of Wisconsin – Madison: About 36k undergrads at this school in the capital of Wisconsin (closer to a toss-up than extremely likely)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
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Brown
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UCB
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Amherst
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Northwestern
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Georgetown
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Columbia
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Penn
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Wellesley
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BC
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Tufts
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Pomona
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UCLA
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USC
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I think I’d like to go to law school. Not sure. Filmmaker? I like DU, but no way because it’s too close to where I live now. NEED TO MOVE AWAY, if you know what I mean. 
Liked Gtown and GW. City or something in between. Thanks for your help!
Hi circuitrider! Lots of mentions for Wesleyan, so I’ll take a closer look. Thanks for commenting.
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Hi AustenNut. Yes, I want ding, ding, ding! I have so many friends who said: “I just knew it was the place for me when I visited.” Not so much for me. I’ll revisit the Sure Thing list. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.
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AustenNut, thank you so much! Really helpful.
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wow and Gtown and GW are “different”.
Check out Wesleyan like others said.
Brandeis.
American
UGA believe it or not - strong in politics, especially international and film - but not urban - a very very very large campus. Indiana U as well.
Case Western is urban - and allows you to study multiple areas - not sure how strong it’d be in film but the ability to study many things would be great
Oberlin
You’ll never go wrong in these areas with a school like Northwester or USC and Syracuse is the “safer” choice when looking at those two - in other words, those three go together with SU giving you, assuming you show dedicated interest, the best chance.
Really - you can go soooooooooo many ways - because you’re unable to narrow down !!
One of the neat things about Boston area schools or Philly area or Atlanta area (Emory, etc) or the Claremont schools or the Amherst consortium - and there’s more - is that you could spread your wings.
It’s not necessarily easy - as some have distance - but my grad school classmate’s son when to Brandeis - but took classes at Tufts, etc. as an example.
So getting into one of these type of shared programs to expand your reach might be good. I know the Twin Cities has such a program too.
Your issue will not be getting in but deciding where would be good to apply.
You’ve visited only high level schools - but they are not necessarily the best to meet your interests. They may be…but as @AustenNut said, the most IMPORTANT school is that safety school - to ensure you’re not without a home.
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this really helped my kid. Also it is ok to apply to several schools especially at the reach level as there is no guarantee you will get in. Also admitted students day was super helpful.
I think the right school will sing to you when you find it.
100%…not every kid has this happen but hopefully they do. My son - ehhhh but my daughter, her school sang and then some - and it’s nice when it happens!!
Also, sometimes the school may not sing the first time you see it. I visited a big state school in the first half of high school. School was way too big, definitely not a fit. We visited again the summer between 11th and 12th. Campus seemed more approachable and decided to put it on the application list, though it wasn’t a DING DING DING moment. It wasn’t until later in the fall, when I was hundreds of miles away from the campus, when I did have the DING DING DING, we have a WINNER!!! moment. And it was for that same school! I was thrilled to enroll and loved every minute of my time there (way more than my time at a Top X grad school later on).
So just because it’s not a winner the first time around doesn’t mean you should write it off. If it has a lot of the qualities you’re looking for and you think you could be happy there, I’d keep it around, unless you’re at the point of application exhaustion (a real thing with the low probability schools that have extensive application supplements).
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Fun Fact: Both Hickenlooper and Bennet graduated from there
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I agree with those above who say not to put pressure on yourself to feel this way, because not everybody does.
(Incidentally, this same thing goes for a lot of life experiences that people claim are “ding, ding, ding” moments. I have been happily married for 21 years, but there was no ding, ding, ding the first time I met my future spouse. And those people who claim that mothers all feel a wave of love stronger than any emotion they’ve ever experienced when they first lay eyes on their newborns? Didn’t happen to me! I felt a muddy mix of exhaustion and relief combined with a weird feeling of “what is that baby doing in the room?”)
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If you liked GWU’s urban location you might want to also think about something like NYU, whether College of Arts and Sciences or the Gallatin school (where you can build your own major across the departments. It’s like a small college within the big one.) I’m not sure how easy it is for non -Tisch majors to get into the film classes of their choosing for a minor, but Gallatin offers some film specific classes itself.
If you might like an LAC that would offer you the option of big-city experiences suited to your interests, you should consider Hamilton, which offers semester-length programs in D.C. and New York City. Its D.C. program may be particularly appealing to you:
If you would like to read brief opinions on a few East Coast LACs, see this post: NESCAC Spoken Here: - #5 by merc81.