Match me [NYS resident, 3.9 UW, 35 ACT, public policy / astronomy]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

High school senior. Looking for schools like Brown (rejected ED), targets and slight reaches. Would prefer mid-sized, northeast or international, not cutthroat/ultra competitive. Flexible on size and location.

Demographics

  • First generation US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: NY
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Private
  • Other special factors: N/A

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Parents will pay for undergrad

Intended Major(s)
Major: Public Policy Analysis, PPE/IR/Poly sci if public policy unavailable
Second Major/Minor: Environmental and/or Astronomy

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.95 on a 4.3 scale
    (A+ = 4.3, A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, etc.)
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A
  • Class Rank: N/A of 100
  • ACT/SAT Scores: ACT, Composite 33, Superscore 35

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

Highest Honors for all

9th:
Algebra 2 (Adv, A+)
English (Adv, A+)
History (Adv, A+)
Physics (Adv, A-)
French 1 (Reg, A+)
Arts (Reg, A)
Orchestra (Reg, A)

9/10 Summer:
Astronomy (Adv, A+)
Journalism (Reg, A)

10th:
Statistics (AP, A, 3)
Seminar/English (AP, A, 4)
Programming (Reg, A)
World History (AP, A-, 3)
Chemistry (Adv, B+)
English (Adv, A)
French 3 (Adv, A+)
Dance (Reg, A)
Orchestra (Reg, A+)

Exam only:
AP Lang (4)
AP Calc BC (3)
AP Physics 1 (2)

10/11 Summer:
Physics (Adv, A)
History (Reg, A)

11th:
Research (AP, B+, 4)
English Lit (AP, A, 3)
Physics C: E & M (AP, B, 2)
Comp Sci A (AP, A-, 3)
US History (AP, A, 4)
Biology (AP, A, 4)
Orchestra (Adv, A)
Dance 3 (Reg, A)
English Internal Internship (Pass)

12th: (including ) grades
French (AP, A)
African American Studies (AP, A)
English (Adv, A+)
Research- Sociology/Bio focus (Reg, A+)
US Government (AP, A+)
Differential Equations/ Discrete Math (independent study, Pass)
English Internal Internship (Pass)
Dance IV (Reg, A)
Orchestra (Adv, A+)

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
not reporting unless required

10th: Calc 1 (C), Calc 2 (C)
11th: Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra (A)

Awards

  1. Black belt martial art, 1st in 5 national competitions with team.
  2. Mock Trial Team HS Finalists multiple times for county and regional awards.
  3. School Poetry Contest 1st
  4. AP Capstone Scholar & AP Scholar with Honor
  5. PSAT / NMSQT Commended Student

Extracurriculars

  1. Work with local social justice ngo: advocate policy change, create curriculum, made short films. (9-12)
  2. Astrophysics summer research program , 50%(?) acceptance rate (10)
  3. Tedx talk (11-12)
  4. Organized school research conference, presented research (11-12)
  5. president, school physics club (11-12)
  6. ballet, pre-professional (9-12)
  7. president/founder, school environmental club (9-12)
  8. member of school disciplinary committee (11-12)
  9. social media manager, robotics (9-12)
  10. coxswain, varsity rowing (9-12)

Essays/LORs/Other
Essays, 6 or 7/10? received paid help, school counselor says they’re good, common app sounds kind of robotic.

LOR

  1. HUM teacher (strong)
  2. HUM teacher (okay/strong?)
  3. STEM teacher (okay)
  4. mentor at ngo (very strong)
  5. martial arts instructor (okay)

Schools
Accepted: SUNY UB (merit aid), SUNY Binghamton (merit aid), SUNY Albany, SUNY Stony Brook, Colorado College
Deferred: SUNY Geneseo
Rejected: Brown
Top choices of accepted schools are Binghamton or Colorado College (worried about size/location)

Please advise on schools that are target/slight reach, thank you! Right now list leans heavy reach. Currently looking at LACs (Williams, Smith, Bowdoin) but worried they will be too small/in the middle of nowhere for me, but not loving big schools either. I want a school that’s interdisciplinary, collaborative (nothing too cutthroat), open(ish) curriculum, easy to build relationships with profs, research opportunities, good placement for grad /law school, real campus. I don’t want anything too pre-professional or centered around networking. Again, thank you !!!

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Would Fordham be of any interest (Rose Hill Campus)? Not an open curriculum, but seems to check a lot of your other boxes.

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None of the SLACs you mentioned have Public Policy but rather Government as a major. But if that’s not a dealbreaker, I would suggest Wesleyan. A bit bigger and definitely not in the middle of nowhere.

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wesleyan has been on my list!! but I don’t know that it’s feasible (RD acceptance rate 14%)

5

I think you look competitive for Wesleyan. Have you looked at Tufts? I would also recommend Barnard because with access to Columbia’s courses and clubs, together with Barnard, all of your interests are covered.

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I’ll add tufts to my list! Barnard/Columbia I am not a fan of because of their response to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

7

For schools notably strong in public policy, this site may offer you ideas:

Based on your initial affinity for Brown, this site may be of interest:

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Make sure you show loads of interest in Tufts, they require it.

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9

University of Rochester.

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Students who love Brown tend to love Macalester. Intellectual but not cut-throat, not preprofessional. Very strong in public policy. It’s an LAC, but it’s located in a cute neighborhood in St. Paul. The Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) is a terrific metro area, with lots of great cultural amenities. And MSP is a flight hub, so many direct flights from all over the country and the airport is just minutes from campus.

Carleton would also be a good choice, but is about 45 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul. I know lots of kids at Carleton who also loved Brown.

(Of note, both Mac and Carleton have higher admit rates than one would expect them to have based on the quality of their education. This is because of their location in the middle of the country rather than the coasts.)

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Wesleyan is often referred to as a mini-Brown - mainly because of the open curriculum at both. It has an observatory on campus and an Astronomy major. They also have a College of the Environment with accompanying major. With a major in Government available and minors in Civic Engagement, Global Engagement, and Human Rights Advocacy, there should be a number of courses related to public policy. The open curriculum allows you to design your own course selection. Although Wes is one of the NESCAC liberal arts colleges, it is on the larger side of that group with an enrollment of 3200. It is a reach, but I think you have a legitimate shot.

Smith is not in the middle of nowhere. There’s a lot going on in Northampton, a real lot. And the Northampton/Amherst area is the 2nd largest booking venue in New England right behind Boston. Tons of live music and great restaurants. In addition, they have a major in Astronomy and share an observatory with the 4 other members of the 5 College Consortium. They also have a major in Government and access to the Public Policy major at UMass and its courses through the 5 College Consortium.

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12

I was going to suggest Rochester as well.

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13

Colleges you apply to will want to see all of your college courses and grades as well as all of your high school courses and grades.

Does the one course at a time calendar at Colorado College appeal to you?

For astronomy, look for a solid physics major in a physics department with astronomy electives, or a standalone astronomy department.

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When you have strong academic credentials, there often aren’t as many low reach schools, because you are a strong candidate. As @ucbalumnus indicated, though, I have yet to see a college that does not require seeing transcripts from any classes taken for credit at a university so make sure you send that.

I was going to suggest Rochester (which has been suggested already) and I think that Wesleyan is a great suggestion, too.

Whenever I hear that someone is interested in public policy, I tend to think of state and national capitals, as those are the places where a lot of policy making ends up getting made, and the opportunity for school-year internships can really help boost a person’s chances at advancing in the field. So below are some schools you may want to research, most of which have decent proximity to a capital of some sort. They are sorted by my guesses as to what your chance for admission might be.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Butler (IN): About 4500 undergrads with strong astronomy as well as poli sci offerings. It’s 15m from the Indiana State Capitol.

  • Stonehill (MA): About 2500 undergrads. 35m from MA State House and 45m from RI State House. Very strong for astronomy as well.

  • U. of Denver (CO): About 6400 undergrads and very strong reputation in international relations

Likely (60-79%)

  • American (D.C.): About 7800 undergrads, but only a likely if you show a lot of demonstrated interest.

  • Gettysburg (PA ): About 2200 undergrads and some to this as a school that feels within the D.C. orbit. In addition to traditional offerings in political science and philosophy, it also offers a public policy major that takes advantage of its Eisenhower Institute and its journal on public policy.

  • Providence (RI): About 4200 undergrads and 2 miles from the RI State House, though I’m unsure if the astronomy offerings would be sufficient for you here.

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Dickinson (PA ): About 2200 undergrads and a 30m drive to the PA State Capitol. Strong in political science and international relations.

  • Trinity College (CT): About 2200 undergrads and it’s only 1.5 miles from the CT State Capitol (9m bike ride).

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • U. of Richmond (VA): About 3100 undergrads and has a PPE major. Less than 20m to the VA State Capitol.

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Georgetown (D.C.): About 8k undergrads
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Since you applied to a very challenging school in terms of admission as an ED choice, it seems that a somewhat, but not overly, less challenging school (in terms of admission), such as Wesleyan, would be appropriate for an ED II choice.

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Hamilton freshman here. Sounds like it would be a good fit! It really isn’t in the middle of nowhere. We’re surrounded by gorgeous nature but you can get to amazing restaurants and shopping in under 10min. We have complete open curriculum too which is awesome. I find the classes to be challenging and engaging, but not competitive. Additionally, they care about demonstrated interest a lot so if you apply make sure to get an interview! (this is speculation but I think I got in because of my interview combined with my very good profile).

Also, I’m a physics major who is obsessed with space so I can tell you the department is absolutely amazing. The science building is brand new and the classrooms/labs are awesome!

My best friends are polisci and govt majors, and they love their professors.

Hamilton professors are truly special. They are extremely responsive and caring not only for the students academic needs, but also for the students well being.

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Given your major, Syracuse or U Del - SU Maxwell is tops for Policy. Pitt is another solid choice.

Maybe they are a bit too large but.

Otherwise American for smaller.

Good luck.

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You could take a look at Georgetown, William & Mary, GW and American for public policy - not sure about astronomy. Those are listed in approximate order in terms of selectivity (with Gtown the most selective)- American likes demonstrated interest so you might want to log on to some things there/reach out if it is of interest.

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I will add yet another vote for Rochester. Very popular Target (can be borderline Likely) for kids in my circles who like Brown.

I will also second William & Mary. Same basic rationale.

Of these two, Rochester is more leaned toward STEM stuff, and specifically is quite strong in Physics and Astronomy. William & Mary is more leaned toward Government, Public Policy, and IR stuff, with a lot of connections to DC.

Speaking of which, since you mentioned international, would you potentially be interested in the Joint Degree program between William & Mary and St Andrews in Scotland? You do two years at each and for the right kids it can be a great experience. IR is one of the six majors you can do if you are interested, but you can’t double major:

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I believe that Smith faculty and students rely mostly on that college’s own telescopes, which range in diameter to as great as 16 inches, for astronomical observations and teaching. I’m not aware of an observatory common to the consortium.