Match School Suggestions

College Search & Lists
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Background: When applying to colleges this year, I didn’t take the process as serious as I should have. I didn’t develop a balanced list of colleges and suffered from it. However, I found a great gap year program and will be participating in it for the upcoming year. I’m looking for suggestions on good match and/or safety schools based on the stats below.

Major: Computer Science and/or Applied Mathematics

Unweighted GPA: 3.9595 (will be a little higher once final grades are put in)

Weighted GPA: 5.9195 (should reach 6.0 or higher once grades are put in)

Rank: 1 / 700

SAT: 1470 (720 WR, 750 M)

ACT: 34 (35 E, 35R, 32 M, 34 S)

SAT II: 790 Math Level 2

AP’s: Human Geo (4), Calc AB (3), Microecon (4), U.S. History (4), Comp Sci (4), Calc BC (5), Macroecon (not taking test), U.S. Govt (not taking test), Stats (not taking test)

College Courses: I was in the dual enrollment program at my high school, completed 62 credits, and received my
Associates degree before graduating high school. Wide range of courses in various areas, and a heavy concentration in math courses (Calc 3, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, etc.)

Extracurriculars:
Computer Science Club (3 years) - Competed at numerous state-wide programming competitions, won 1st place at one competition two years in a row
National Beta Club (3 years)
First Generation Club (senior year) - Helped other first-gen students prepare for college. Developed and showcased presentations to rising seniors about the college process, and helped them with applications to college-help programs.
Political club (outside of school) - Held local events to increase voter registration and political involvement in my community. Also volunteered for Congressional and Presidential Campaigns
Worked 2 jobs.

Additional:
First gen, low-income
A lot of extenuating circumstances
Waitlisted at Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Dartmouth (if that counts for anything)
Recommendations were not the best (one was only 3 sentences), as no one from my school even applies to Ivies, or even schools that require recs. My recommenders agreed to write really personal recommendations this year, and I’ll be working on them with the teachers.

Gap Year:
I won a selective scholarship allowing me to volunteer with impoverished communities in South Africa. After that I will spend the next 10 months (August to June) mentoring disadvantaged, at-risk students in inner-city, 12 hours a day for 4 days a week.

Preferences:
I would really like to be in a large city, as I’ve lived rurally my whole life. I hope to major in computer science (with a focus on machine learning) and/or applied mathematics, so strength in those areas would be awesome. A dual major or combined degree program would be even better. However, I wouldn’t want to go to a school focused on just tech and STEM. I have a wide range of interests and would love to be able to explore them while in college. I’d also like a school with funded volunteer opportunities abroad, with focuses on global and sustainable development. Colleges that offer mentorship programs to local high schools would be amazing as well.

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks so much.

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@uncreativename I assume your reapplying to the same schools and looking for match schools to add?

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@CU123 I’m thinking about reapplying to Harvard and Duke, but not the other two. Do you know how reapplying affects your chances the second time? Does the application from last year have any weight in this year’s decision?

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Forgot to add my state to the original post. It is Florida.

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Here is a thread on reapplying, I wouldn’t apply to any school I was rejected from but since you were waitlisted than I would go ahead and reapply to those especially since you have a pretty good gap year project going. I assume that you didn’t get in anywhere that you really wanted to go this year?

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000309/

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@CU123 Thanks so much for the article! And yes, I did get accepted to 3 schools. However, one of them I couldn’t attend (or even visit) due to financial reasons, and the other 2 just didn’t feel right after visiting multiple times. I made the mistake of not including enough match schools, or any actually, so I really want to focus on that this time around. Do you happen to have any suggestions? Thanks!

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@uncreativename Do you have the complete list that you already applied to?

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@CU123 Yes.
Harvard (waitlist)
Duke (waitlist)
Princeton (waitlist)
Dartmouth (waitlist)
Stanford (rejection)
Yale (rejection)
Reed (accept)
Stetson University (accept)
University of Central Florida (accept + Honors college)

9

Since you need a lot of FA then stick with privates that meet 100% of need.

Some more reaches but I’d still apply

Vanderbuilt
Rice
UChicago
WashU
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
JHU

Matches with high FA is more difficult.

I would look at some LAC’s with strong programs in your interest area. Somebody else would have some good matches but most of the ones I can think of would be public schools that don’t give a lot of FA and they are OOS.

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Match ideas: Macalester, Brandeis, University of Rochester, Case Western

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Thanks to both of you. I will definitely be checking all of those out.

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Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

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In addition to reapplying to selected schools, I would add Rice, Cornell, Harvey Mudd, and Pomona (the latter two belong to the Claremont Colleges consortium in Southern California; Mudd is a top STEM-focused school).

These are all reaches for any applicant, but the combination of your academic record, your location, and your unique circumstances suggest to me that you would have enough of a chance to make applying worthwhile.

As someone else observed, the top privates generally have the best financial aid, which is another factor that makes applying a worthwhile investment.

Rice really checks all of your boxes: great programs, lots of curricular flexibility (which makes double-majoring easier), excellent location in the heart of a big city (but still a beautiful, green, pastoral campus), etc.

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I would add University of Richmond as a match/safety with great merit which I’m sure you could get.

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@MrSamford2014 Rice sounds awesome! Definitely going to look into it.

@ricka8 I actually haven’t heard of the University of Richmond before this thread, so I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks!

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Get a recommendation from someone you work/for during your gap year.

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You might think about Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). It’s a science/engineering school. Very nice campus in a nice part of Worcester, which is undertaking a major downtown renovation. It had been a declining industrial city (3rd larges in New England) but has been gentrifying over the last decade. Good hiking/skiing in the area.

School is ranked 50 something in USNWR national university rankings; students have among the highest starting salaries of any school (most are engineering major after all). It’s as hands-on and project-oriented as almost any school. Students take 3 classes at a time, and a high % of classes are group projects. There is a strong global focus. Freshman projects include Water for the World, Food for the World, Housing the World, etc. Students do lots of coops/internships, and school has close ties to businesses in the northeast.

I think you would have a pretty good chance at getting merit aid to cover maybe half the cost, but you can do the cost estimates. They do offer some merit money specifically for global engagement, and your gap year would probably set you up nicely for that. I know someone who got money have volunteering in Southeast Asia over one summer.

It would be colder than Florida! Good luck!

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Here’s the school’s summary of the WPI Plan

https://www.wpi.edu/wpi-plan

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case western reserve might be a good match

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Are you eligible for QuestBridge?