Which of these are safeties/matches/reaches/

College Search & Selection
#1

<p>here are my stats:</p>

<p>HS graduation year: 2011
UW GPA: 3.5
Weighted: 3.8
SAT Composite: 1940
(should i take SAT II subject tests?)
Took 3 AP classes-- AP Biology, AP English, AP Calculus (i'll take these during my senior year, since my school didn't offer any before then) </p>

<p>EC's/awards:
Played JV tennis for 2 years, varsity tennis my senior year
Academic Spell Bowl team -- state finalists all 4 years, regional champions 3 years
Math team
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a neuroscience competition
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a public speaking competition
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a essay writing competition
Marching Band State Runner up -- freshman year
Speech team for 2 years
National Society of High School Scholars
National Honors Society
FIRST Robotics team for 3 years -- won a regional championship in 2009 (had leadership position)
VEX Robotics team for 2 years -- won a regional championship in 2009
Rocket Club
Vice President of Chess Club
Played violin for 6 years, performed at various concerts</p>

<p>Volunteer Activities: (total = slightly over 100 hrs)
Assisted my tennis coach in coaching small children
Assisted my tennis coach in his adult tennis classes
Volunteered at a local hospital
Assisted the Salvation Army </p>

<p>i want to major in neuroscience (or biology with an emphasis in neuroscience), minor in economics, and take pre-med electives. money's not a factor.
here are the revised colleges on my list. </p>

<p>indiana university (i live in indiana & i already know this is a safety)
case western reserve
university of pittsburgh
university of rochester
penn state - university park
brandeis
university of michigan - ann arbor
emory
university of virginia
wake forest university</p>

<p>which of these would you say are safeties or matches or reaches? i've heard various responses from different people and i'm just trying to gather more info.
also which has the best program?</p>

#2

<p>UVa is a reach since you're OOS.</p>

<p>Emory is a reach.</p>

<p>UMich might be a reach.</p>

<p>Not sure about Brandeis.</p>

<p>Indiana is your safety, but if your family cannot afford all the costs, then it may not be a "true safety". ** A true safety is one that you KNOW that you can afford to go to** because either your family can pay for it or you KNOW for sure that you'll get enough merit money or aid to go there. </p>

<p>so, what is your financial budget for college?</p>

<p>The rest are matches</p>

<p>Have your parents said that they will pay for whatever school you get in? If you don't know, ask them. You need to know that answer to know what schools will be financially feasible for you.</p>

<p>If your parents can't pay for you to go to public Universities like Penn State and Umich, then take them off your list since they won't financially help you afford their high OOS costs.</p>

<p>edited to add....I see now that you say that money is not a concern, so that must mean that your parents will pay $50k+ per year for wherever you want to go. Is this the case?</p>

#3

<p>indiana university - safety
case western reserve - match
university of pittsburgh - match
university of rochester - match
penn state - university park - match
brandeis - match
university of michigan - ann arbor - reach
emory - reach
university of virginia - reach
wake forest university - match</p>

<p>It seems to me that you have a solid list</p>

#4

<p>yeah my parents are willing to pay whatever it takes for the the college i choose, but i'll definitely try to cut down that burden through scholarships (since i might not be eligible for financial aid). but even if i don't get that many scholarships, they're still willing to pay $50K+</p>

#5

<p>I want to add Bates to that list. would it be a reach or match?</p>

#6

<p>You can find the resources you need on the web to assess your chances for yourself.</p>

<p>For starters:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html&lt;/a>
I'm thinking that for the OP, schools in the 3rd group of 25, shown in post #4, would be high match schools based on grades and scores alone. Schools in the 2nd group of 25, shown in post #3, are realistic reaches (especially at the private schools, considering his strong ECs). Schools in the 1st 25 probably are out of reach unless the SATs go up above 2100 and the essays and LORs are exceptional. The ECs/competitions are a bit of a wild card here. If his class rank is in the top 10%, committees at some of those schools may look past his test scores and GPA, which are a bit low for the top 25-50.</p>

<p>To isolate selectivity by SAT scores:
[url=<a href="http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/sat_75pctl_rank.html%5DTop"&gt;http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/sat_75pctl_rank.html]Top&lt;/a> 500 Ranked Universities for Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores<a href="good%20%22match%22%20schools%20are%20likely%20to%20have%2075th%%20M+CR%20scores%20equal%20to%20or%20below%20yours,%20unless%20their%20admit%20rates%20are%20below%2020%%20or%20so,%20in%20which%20case%20they%20are%20reaches%20for%20nearly%20everyone">/url</a></p>

<p>Also consider the PrincetonRev site's Admissions Selectivity Rating for individual schools (Google "Princeton Review" + school name; follow the "admissions" link in the box at the left; look at the "Key Statistics" box on the right).</p>

<p>The best, most authoritative source for class profiles would be the Common Data Set document for each college. Google "Common Data Set" plus school name. Download the CDS, then examine section C to see where you stand compared to enrolled students.</p>

#7

<p>Thanks for that link.
Do private schools value ec's more than public schools?</p>

#8

<p>*
i want to major in neuroscience (or biology with an emphasis in neuroscience), minor in economics, and take pre-med electives. money's not a factor.*</p>

<p>I know that you said that money is not a factor, but let me ask you this....</p>

<p>Since you're intending to go to med school, are your parents willing to pay the $200k-300k for that, too? If so, then great. If their position is that "you're on your own" for med school or that they will only pay "some," then you might ask them if they will pay (or help pay) for med school IF you get a generous scholarship for your undergrad years. </p>

<p>BTW....don't rely on private scholarships to help pay for school...they are very hard to get and usually small, one-time only, and sometimes have a "need" component. You're right to assume that you won't qualify for financial aid, it doesn't sound like you will, so it's very unlikely that you would get much (if anything) from private scholarships.</p>

<p>So, I think it would be a good idea for you to apply to one or two schools that would give you a good-sized merit scholarship. </p>

<p>However, if your parents are happily willing to pay about $500k for both undergrad and med school, then you're in a great place! :)</p>

#9

<p>well my parents would never say "no" to any expense related to my education but I know it would be really hard for them to pay for both med school & undergrad (which is why I'm trying to get a good scholarship for undergrad so that they can spend more for med school).
But if I get into a really good school without any scholarships, I wouldn't want to pass up that offer.</p>

#10

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<p>As a general rule, yes. Public schools are said to be more "numbers driven", private schools more "holistic". State universities after all are beholden to the taxpayers. It is easier to justify admissions results if you can back them up by numbers than if you have to explain a philosophical approach to crafting an interesting class.</p>

<p>That said, the most selective private schools (Ivies etc) also have higher numbers than the most selective public schools (Berkeley, Michigan, UVa, etc). But, if you are comparing a public and a private school that have similar numbers, and your own numbers are on the border line or a little below, chances are the private school is more likely to allow stronger ECs to compensate.</p>

#11

<p>i'm planning on taking the SAT again this october, along with the SAT biology & SAT math subject tests. my plan is to increase my SAT score by at least 100 pts total, if i get it past 2100 it'd be great. if i do get my SAT within the 2000-2100 range, do you think i would have a shot at some of the top 20 or top 30 colleges? my GPA would probably stay the same since i'm planning on applying early before november 1st.</p>

#12

<p>I'd recommend U of Rochester to someone of your interests - it has a great reputation and very good financial aid.</p>

#13
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