<p>I go to a very good public school south of Nashville, TN. I rank 14 out of about 400 (maybe a little less). I received a 33 on my ACT, and I carry a 4.3 weighted GPA (about a 3.9 unweighted). I play baseball (varsity sophomore-senior year, team went to state tournament three straight years, very competitive), and I am in various clubs such as NHS and MU Alpha Theta, and am involved in Habitat for Humanity, which I have been involved in a lot in the past. I am looking at the major Ivy’s (Princeton, Yale, Harvard), Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Boston College. A long list, I knowm, but I would probably only go to the Ivy’s if I go to play baseball. I am a very social person, and I can study a lot, but I also can’t study all the time, I need times to kick back, relax, and party, at least a little bit. Should I even consider the Ivy’s, considering my good but not exceptional grades/scores/EC’s? Would I get in to the schools that I would not play baseball at?</p>
<p>I say you can have 1 or 2 Ivy’s as reaches (maybe not HYP though), and some other good schools like Vanderbilt, BC, and Georgetown as matches. You should get some safeties as well.</p>
<p>How do people succeed in our academic system and not learn basic grammar? We are truly failing our children.</p>
<p>Ivy’s - singular possessive, as in “Reseach is that Ivy’s claim to fame”.</p>
<p>Ivies - plural, as in “I would probably only go to the Ivies if I go to play baseball.” </p>
<p>You can say whatever you want about me harping on a silly chat board, but it’s not just a typo. You did it 3 times. It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of basic grammar. </p>
<p>I’m saying this for your own good. Not trying to be a jerk. If you want to go to the schools you’re targeting, a few of those little indiscretions in an essay could be the end of your consideration.</p>
<p>On a lighter note - there’s plenty of partying at all the schools, especially if you thrive in the way your name suggests. </p>
<p>I don’t get how your 4.3/4.0 gpa isn’t exceptional. People with far less go to the schools you’re targeting. People on here will scare you off as if they know what they’re talking about, but I think it’s worth applying, especially if you can focus your ECs on some field of interest (in addition to sports).</p>
<p>applejack, I have good grammar, I am just typing quickly and trying to get a point across. On an essay, I would make sure it’s right. Not offended, I’m just saying who really cares on a message board. But, the main thing I’m worried about is if I go to an Ivy League school, what kind of people are we talking about? I understand there are parties, and other ways to relax at ALL schools, but would there be a lot of people who share my enjoyment in relaxing, not studying, every hour of every day? I’ve heard ( may be a misconception) that Ivy League schools are very competitive, and Ivy students work so hard to be competitive. Essentially, would there be normal people there?</p>
<p>I’m slightly offended that you would characterize those that go to Ivy Leagues as anything less than normal, actually.</p>
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<p>If you don’t care, then we don’t care.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that those who go to Ivy schools are less than normal, I’m saying that those who go to Ivy schools are probably more likely to study on a Friday or Saturday night, instead of doing something fun (which is a big reason why they are more successful than others, I just could not do that) . I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, either, I’m just saying that doing that is not for me. Didn’t mean to offend anybody sorry</p>
<p>You have a lot going for you!</p>
<p>Remember the first rule of the CollegeConfidential Forums: Build your college list from the bottom up. Start first with your safety. Your list needs to include one or two safeties that you like that you can afford and that you could get into as long as you don’t rob a liquor store. You might consider DePaul as a safety. (My favorite safety for great students like you. Great academics, and it is in such a cool part of Chicago, and the students there are having so much fun - a great fit for a social person and I think you’d get merit aid.) If you haven’t already done so, please read the andison story about the great student who didn’t get into any of his colleges. It is a CollegeConfidential classic.</p>
<p>Everything is so competitive now, but I still think you can consider Vanderbilt and Boston College to be matches.</p>
<p>I think you would do well at Harvard or Yale if they admitted you, but I think it would be baseball that would get you in. (Sorry!) </p>
<p>A summer doing something showing amazing creativity and leadership skills. and creating an EC that would carry into the fall would make you more competitive if you really wanted to try for tippy top schools. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>whph,
If you’re good enough to play baseball for any of the Ivy colleges, then you’re plenty qualifed enough statistically. There are lots of athletes at the Ivies, including HYP, with stats well below yours. Is there any specific about any Ivy college that attracts you or is just the brand name? </p>
<p>As for the colleges you mention, given your proximity to Vanderbilt, it’s understandable that you’d like a different scene for your four years of college. If the Vandy scene with its strong mix of great academics/great social life/great athletic life appeals to you, then I would suggest that you look hardest at Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown and Boston College. You may also want to give a look to places like U North Carolina and U Virginia. Johns Hopkins looks like an outlier (and perhaps the Ivies as well) with a very different social environment than the others you mention.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure you should stay away from the Ivies or their peers, if relaxing “every hour of every day” is your criteria. Or, perhaps simply choose an easy major. Certainly there are people at Harvard or Yale who spend their days smoking dope and watching movies. I personally was stressed out and overwhelmed quite a bit, but also had a lot of fun. </p>
<p>Just some advice from the other side - you might look back when you’re older at your college years and the hundred grand or so you dropped on them and wish you didn’t choose a school so you could just have fun. You might get far more long term satisfaction out of pushing yourself and really earning something. Especially if you choose to live in a major city after college, there will be no shortage of good times to be had for many years to come.</p>
<p>I agree with Applejack re the Ivies (athough some of them are allegedly not academic meat-grinders when it comes to getting a passing grade).</p>
<p>Sounds like WHPH would fit in better at that second group of colleges he mentioned in his initial post–Northwestern, Georgetown, BC, Duke, Vanderbilt. (Notre Dame and Tulane are also often included in that group of privates schools where bigtime sports mix well with good academics). Drop Hopkins though, if you want plenty of kick-back time.</p>
<p>Also, you might want to browse the better publics (Mich, Va, North Carolina) just to make sure you’re not overlooking something you’d like.</p>
<p>Other jock-ish colleges you might want to look over: Middlebury, Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh.</p>
<p>“, I’m saying that those who go to Ivy schools are probably more likely to study on a Friday or Saturday night,”</p>
<p>Not true at all. People who go to Ivies are more likely to be involved in strong, productive ECs. They aren’t just nerds who study. Ivies are some of the few schools that strongly consider ECs as part of admission factors. Ivies can afford to pick and choose among the overabundance of high stat applicants those who also are very involved in some kind of ECs.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for schools where most people’s idea of fun is to get puking drunk on Friday or Sat. night, you probably would be happier applying to well known party schools, not Ivies. Sure, Ivy students do party, but their idea of fun also includes being very active in other ECs – sports, music, arts, service, etc. They are students who did ECs because they loved doing ECs. They aren’t students who only did ECs in h.s. in order to impress colleges.</p>
<p>Take a look at the Patriot League Schools. Division 1 athletics and well regarded academically.</p>
<p>[The</a> Patriot League - Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://patriotleague.cstv.com/]The”>http://patriotleague.cstv.com/)</p>
<p>Carleton is a work-hard-play-hard sort of school. Students do study their brains out a lot of the time–it’s HARD–but there’s also a lot of partying and events and a general sense of fun that permeates the campus. </p>
<p>Might be more work than you’re looking for, but the students seem pretty darn happy and social most of the time.</p>
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<p>Yep, one Ivy, two Ivies.</p>
<p>Well, excluding baseball, Penn seems like an excellent place for you.</p>
<p>Dartmouth’s baseball team is at the top of the Ivy League and has the best overall record of any Ivy school. Also, the atmosphere is a lot more laid-back than the other Ivies but is still very academically focused. I wouldn’t go there for graduate school, but I really do believe that a Dartmouth undergraduate degree is unmatched in terms of quality and only slightly below HYPS in terms of prestige. Also, since you like to party you’ll probably be interested in hearing that the unofficial mascot is an anthropomorphic beer keg. “Keggy the Keg” represents the relaxed, fun-loving atmosphere at Dartmouth and judging from your class rank, ACT score, and EC involvement you have a very strong chance at getting in.</p>
<p>penn and rice, maybe emory</p>
<p>If you want to continue to play baseball, by all means use it as a hook to attend the academic school of your choice. Stanford, for example (my alma mater) is actually ranked higher in sports than academics and admits many athletes who are fairly good students, but not competitive for admissions without the sports. Try contacting the baseball coach at schools that interest you. And don’t feel bad about doing this – being outstanding in a sport also takes a great deal of effort and commitment, and “counts” as much as many academic accomplishments.</p>
<p>to answer people’s earlier questions, i’m mostly considering harvard, princeton, yale because it is important to me to be in or very close to large cities, such as Boston, NY, etc. Also, I may come off as a party animal, and that I want to get drunk every weekend, but more importantly, I just want there to be parties on those nights, with a good amount of people attending. Another question: Would playing travel baseball in the summer (playing about 50 games throughout the summer), while keeping a small job (about 15 hours a week) appeal to colleges as a summer program? Or would colleges not care about summer baseball?</p>