What Colleges Can I Get in to?

College Search & Lists
1

I’m a senior in high school and I’m wondering what schools I can get in to. My stats are above average but not exactly good enough for top tier colleges.
My stats:
3.8 W GPA
28 ACT
4 AP
4 Honors
4 Biology classes (looking to major in biology)
NHS,NSHSS, Honor Roll
5 Varsity letters in cheerleading for fall and winter seasons
2 paid jobs
100+ volunteer hours as a middle school cheer coach
Common app essay topic: moving across the country the summer before my senior year

I live in Colorado but am looking to go out of state. My top choice is William and Mary but I don’t think I’ll get in.

2

If you’d like to apply to a reach school in Virginia that does not favor in-state residents, look into the University of Richmond. For other suggestions, it would be helpful if you posted your intended major (even if tentative).

3

Intended major is Biology. I just moved from Virginia and I’m not sure if they’ll view me as in or out of state.

4

Yes, biology, I’d missed that in your original post. URichmond would be good for bio, so you may want to consider it then, at least as a reach.

For screening based on admissions chances, this list can be helpful:

https://amp.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

For match ideas, it seems you should search in the vicinity of Denison (#107) for schools of potential interest.

5

Connecticut College would be a good school to research if your interest in biology includes plant sciences.

6

People reading the popular press (and this forum) think colleges are hard to get into. For the top 25-50 this is especially true, and its pretty much true for the top 150-200. But there are over 4,000 4-year colleges in the country, and outside of the top 200 they accept most of their applicants.

So the answer is you have more than 3,000 colleges that are likely to accept you. The challenge you face is identifying what you want in college and then finding it. So far your criteria are “not in Colorado”.

Good things to think about are number of students, public vs private, cost constraints, urban-vs-rural, what kind of housing they offer, types of students the college tends to attract, what students think of the academic and social environment.

Since we’re already into November and you’re a HS senior the process of thinking about colleges plus looking a bit deeper and visiting some sample colleges is going to be rushed. Good admission books explain how to find a fit and the whole admission process; one book I like is “Admission Matters”.