You can go to the top college in the country and be utterly miserable if it’s not a good fit. What about major? Not all T20 are strong in all majors. What about location? What about general environment? What about cost? These are all crucial questions. What even is prestige? According to whom? US News and World Report?
And, sorry to say, with you GPA, SAT, and class rank, you have about zero chance at a T20. That’s the reality. Apply to one or two for the heck of it - miracles happen I suppose, but don’t waste your time shotgunning. Instead, spend some time soul-searching - really think about what you want these four years of your life to look like. What would make you happy? Spoiler alert: it usually isn’t simply a famous name.
I think you should let go of the prestige and smartly build your list from the bottom up with safeties and targets. GPA, rank, rigor and scores are usually starting points that will be reviewed. There are wonderful schools outside t20, t50, t100.
I think you need to be realistic with your list building. Not wishing to be a Debbie downer, but right now, neither your GPA nor SAT score would make you a realistic candidate for admission to top 20-50 colleges where acceptance rates are very low…and most candidates are very strong ones.
You need to make a list of the characteristics you want in a college. I would suggest “prestige” not be one of them. There are tons of wonderful colleges out there.
Congrats on all you have accomplished in high school. It looks like you are passionate, have worked hard, and have taken a rigorous class schedule. This will all set you up well for success as you go forward.
For recommendations about creating a balanced list, I think the best person to talk to is the college counselor at your private school. They are the ones best positioned to know where students with your stats tend to get acceptances.
I do agree with others who say that letting go of “prestige” is important. What is much more important in college is solid academic preparation and strong mentorship.
idk what’s a good fit. Honestly, I think small vs big campus, a city like NYC vs somewhere in rural Montana doesn’t really influence me in my preferred college choices. Also, pretty much by US News. All my friends are going to t20s or somewhere fairly prestigious per US new so I’d like to do the same.
I was thinking of going to a LAC. I generally like the environment of a LAC better. I would prefer a prestigious LAC as it’s also just kinda nice having (college)'30 on Linkedin, Insta, etc. I’m just wondering which prestigious LAC would I have a good chance at.
I agree with this assessment. @College_Apps, “extremely good” ECs will unfortunately not compensate for these grades and test scores at the most selective schools. There’s no harm in giving such schools a shot, but be sure to have a couple of other schools with high acceptance rates that you’d be happy attending.
While I agree that some things that people may say “make a difference” (city/rural, weather, sports) - may indeed not matter to you, please listen to the educated voices here:
Prestige-seeking is not likely to end with happiness in this journey, and
Your bio is not T-20 ready
That said, I notice you are in a feeder school and you are full-pay. This implies that your family/school may have some resources that you can use. Those could include tutoring to raise your standardized tests, or advice on schools that strongly consider ability to pay but have an environment that seems like LAC.
One reason that prestigious schools are considered “prestigious,” sorry to say, is that they are so exclusive that even 4.0 UW / 1600 SAT / excellent EC students are not close to guaranteed admission.
However, wherever you go, you can put “College '30” on your social media and be proud. The happiest kids are the ones who decide to be happy at the colleges that accept them.
OK, that’s good. And probably a good fit for your intended major(s).
However, you are going to want to focus on LACs with high acceptance rates. You are not likely to get into a highly selective school with your current GPA, SAT, and rank.
And if you like US News rankings, maybe have a look at this one:
You need to forget about what others are doing…and concentrate on finding colleges that will be suitable for you.
And I fully agree…your school counselor at your private school is your go to person for suggestions. They will have a sense of where students with your academic profile have had success…or not…in the past.
I agree with other posters’ suggestions. Some additional food for thought to consider:
Just because your peers SAY they’re going to a T20/T50 college, doesn’t mean they actually will get accepted.
You could certainly choose to ED1 and/or ED2 to some highly ranked colleges, but the odds are low of getting admitted given your current stats…despite the fact you’re full pay.
If you only fill up your list of 20 slots on the Common App with highly ranked colleges, you will run the risk of not being admitted anywhere.
Meet w/your college counselor at school and ask for their input & recommendations of some colleges you should consider exploring.
and then follow the counselor’s advice. Go dive into those colleges’ websites. Look up what the major requirements are for the majors you’re interested in. Go find out how easy (or hard) it is to do research w/a professor as an undergrad, how easy (or hard) is it to get help finding an internship in whatever fields you’re interested in, etc. Watch some of the college’s videos on Youtube & social media outlets.
Your goals need to include finding at least ONE college that’s you’re pretty certain you’ll get admitted to. AND it needs to be a college that you’d be content to attend.
It’s hard, but try to ignore the posturing that some of your classmates will be doing about college applications. Some of them will sound super confident, act like they’ve got it all in the bag and they just KNOW that they’re going to be attending some brand name school. Ignore all of the chatter. Generally speaking, other high school students know just about as much about college admissions as you do.
Go check out the “Your College Bound Kid” website & podcast. It has some info there that you as a student might find helpful.
Unfortunately, at the moment, your only criteria is the college must be highly ranked. And that doesn’t blend well with your current GPA & test scores.
Please read this thread I’m going to link. The student in this thread was a NMF, top HS student, excellent grades, multiple AP courses, excellent LOR, etc. He was not accepted anywhere he applied as a high school senior, and his profile was much stronger than yours is. This thread is older…from 2005-2006…and admissions at these elite schools has only gotten more competitive.
You need to find some sure things for admission that you like…outside of the top 50 colleges.
Sorry OP, but I see virtually no chance of you gaining admittance to either of these schools if you’re asking honestly. I think you should apply to schools that have acceptance rates above 30%. These schools have people that have the grades, tests, and nationally recognized ECs applying and they still won’t all get in. I got flat out rejected from many of the colleges you mentioned being in the top 10% of my grade, 35 ACT from a feeder public school, captain of a varsity sport, head of my choir section, and many other awards within these fields. I still did end up at a “top 20 LAC” if you will and it turned out to be a great fit. But this is not the case for most……you need to be a little bit more realistic.
You can update any of those parameters (bump the 5,000 up to 10,000, or adjust the SAT scores, etc.), and see what options you can find that are appealing.
Your private high school should have been discussing your school progress and future plans with you a couple of years ago. I live on the east coast, and the private schools I’m familiar with do excellent preparation for their students for the future.
What does your private school counselor say about your potential list of colleges? If you haven’t asked…you should.
OP- you sound like a really interesting person and any college would be lucky to have you!
Agree with the others- your guidance counselor is in the best position to advise you as to what represents a realistic group of colleges. And guess what? A prestigious college to one person is a “who’s heard of that?” to another.
When I hired professionals in the aerospace industry, we LOVED Missouri S&T. And not just mechanical engineering- companies need people trained in all sorts of disciplines. The guy at your local laundromat may never have heard of it, but the university punched above its weight-- solid faculty, terrific research opportunities, talented students with great professional outcomes.
When I worked (briefly) in the paper industry, our senior management LOVED U Maine. There is a relatively short list of schools with specific expertise in paper technology, but Maine always came up on top for various reasons.
If you want to work in the museum sector- U Delaware. Love Linguistics? U Mass.
My point is that the list of “prestigious for you” colleges is likely very different than the list of “prestigious for him” colleges of one of your friends. And that’s great! It means you can ignore what everyone else is talking about and focus on your own interests and talents and skills.
There are colleges your friends may never have heard of that are exceptional for a social justice warrior like yourself. Environmental and Climate? College of the Atlantic. Civic Engagement? Eugene Lang college. Poverty and justice? A pretty robust list including some colleges I’ll bet you’ve never heard of. Many of the Catholic colleges have a long history of political activism- some of the most effective protests against the war in Viet Nam began and were built to scale by Catholic colleges and their faculties. And for overall “peace and justice” you cannot go wrong with any of the Quaker schools. Most of their religious overtones are gone, but their heritage (pacifism, racial equity, justice for all) remains.
So put the research skills that you’ll be using in sociology/anthropology to work and do a deep dive on the kind of college that will love having you on their campus!!!
Opinion only here
Make a decision now that you will be test optional. This frees up your academic bandwidth for your grades.
Try to make straight As this semester. A strong upward trend will help. Your junior year grades are a third of what colleges will see and you’ll want those as high as possible.
Look to the opposite coast of where you are. Geography could help. SInce you are east coast then the mountain west and west coast are better than the northeast. Look for schools that don’t usually attract your school’s students. Colleges want what they don’t have.
If you are a woman then consider a women’s college.
Go ahead and sign up for the mailing list at a bunch of places, but don’t worry about visiting or doing webinars. Again, your energy has to be your grades.