What are my Chances?

renaissancedad
Fri, 07 Aug 2015 10:43:49 +0000

“I probably will fit in better in smaller schools but I guess it is after all a dream for all students to apply to those super competitive schools and i want to try.”

It sounds to me like you would be miserable at one of those super competitive schools. The good LACs are terrific schools, and might be good environments for you to develop. If you’re thinking of grad school or medicine there’s plenty of time to try one of those competitive schools down the road.

Based on what little you’ve said, I’d look at the more social universities like Brown, Penn and Duke. But those are going to be reaches, and I’m still not sure they’d be as good for you as places like Reed and Carlton, where you would get a terrific education. “Good schools” is not limited to the Ivies + Stanford, and finding a good fit is much more important than meeting some pre-defined expectation of where you think you ought to go. I’ve known plenty of bright kids who got into the Ivies and were miserable there because their personalities weren’t good fits, not because they weren’t smart enough.