What colleges should I aim for? *test-optional student*

Bill_Marsh
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 06:48:32 +0000

EarthHiker4:

thank you for responding! to answer your questions, yes, I am heavily interested in the New England / Northeast area, and would prefer to go to college out of state. I have been researching need-based schools, which offer better financial opportunities for me and my family. In college, I will be on a pre-law track. Going on a pre-law track, I am worried about whether or not the prestige of my undergrad degree would affect later opportunities.

Do you think I would have better chances at Boston College if I do ED? That is currently my top school. Another question is whether or not College Vine is reliable? It has me chanced at 64%-73% with BC.

I wouldn’t trust College Vine or any other predictor. Too much goes into each college’s decision, more than just a formula. BC is particularly unpredictable right now because they took a big jump in selectivity this year - from the high 20’s to the high teens. Will they stay in the high teens or revert to form? No one knows - not even BC.

You want financial aid and you want a top college. That’s a tough combination. You can improve your chances by looking outside the Northeast. All top colleges want a national profile. Their number of applicants increases in their immediate geographic area. If you are from outside the area, you have a better chance.
So you might have a better chance at colleges in the Midwest like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Kenyon, and Oberlin than at the small LACs in the Northeast which you’ve targeted. Same for bigger schools in the Midwest/South like Washington U/St. Louis, Case Western Reserve, Marquette, Emory, and Tulane which are comparable in size to your BC, Tufts, & Syracuse choices. I’m not saying not to keep your current list, but just that you might want to cast your net wider to increase your chances. All of the schools you’ve listed get a ton of applicants from New Jersey. Even in the Northeast there are some very good schools a notch down from your list but similar where you’d be a high priority admit. For example, Union, Dickinson, and Gettysburg would all be interesting for pre-law. There really is no pre-law track. An interesting alternative to an LAC but a top colleges where you can major in History/Poli-Sci is Babson. It’s overlooked because it’s thought of as a business school. But they have a very different approach to business education, heavily steeped in liberal arts and they have cross registration with Wellesley, just across town, to supplement their course offerings. A lot of law schools would love to see an applicant from Babson.

Go for BC where you have a pretty good chance of getting admitted but probably not great for financial aid. But cast your net wide so that in the end you have choices.