Pls suggest 2 each for reaches, targets, safeties for this student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: thanks for very helpful suggestions so far. Question:

Are Swarthmore, Carnegie Mellon, Pomona, Rice and Harvey Mudd where-fun-goes-to-die schools? Those seem to be the level of “reachiness” DD wants to aim for. She wants high rigor (truly happy when around nerdy smart kids who like to talk science) but we hope she doesn’t jump right from an intense HS to another 4 years of intensity.

CMU tends to be a where fun goes to die school for STEM majors. Swarthmore is very much a high intensity academic school. That's why their students tend to like it. Rice, Pomona, and Harvey Mudd are more balanced. Definitely brainiac schools, but a little more balanced and healthier environments for most students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: thanks for very helpful suggestions so far. Question:

Are Swarthmore, Carnegie Mellon, Pomona, Rice and Harvey Mudd where-fun-goes-to-die schools? Those seem to be the level of “reachiness” DD wants to aim for. She wants high rigor (truly happy when around nerdy smart kids who like to talk science) but we hope she doesn’t jump right from an intense HS to another 4 years of intensity.

Rice is hard. Kids there are absolutely hard workers. But the professors are extremely helpful, and the students are very collaborative rather than competitive.

40%+ Asian at Rice. So, I know someone would call it a place with lots of bots. The truth is. It’s a nice place.

Rice scores very high on happiest students lists.

I know. Hardworking, high stats, and happiness do have to be mutually exclusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:- Ideal small to medium-sized interdisciplinary college in a city or suburb
- chemistry major, also wants to take classes in AI and applied math
- wants high exposure to professors and research opportunities
- has strived in high rigor environment but doesn’t want the kind of place where fun goes to die or everyone is studying for grades
- collaborative, highly intellectual culture where students love learning, not all about jockeying for IB connections or the next IPO opportunity
- Female, unhooked, non URM, from a top private, full pay, quiet nerdy but has lot of friends
- 1580, 3.88 from a school that’s known for rigor/doesn't grade inflate (no one gets a 4.0), decent ECs (STEM leadership, part time job year round, volunteer year round, some regional math and writing awards)

For safeties, consider BC, Wake, Richmond.

? BC and Wake are a crapshoot for almost anyone RD. Richmond maybe (I don't know) but this is bad advice re BC and Wake. Safety = almost guaranteed admission. That's not the case with those two schools.

[Anonymous]

My science nerd visited Harvey Mudd and found it way, way too nerdy.

[Anonymous]

She's should go visit. I absolutely loved the vibe of CMU when I visited, but I also really enjoy talking, thinking and learning about science. It wasn't weird nerdy, but lots of smart kids who like STEM who can also carry on a good conversation and socialize without being awkward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GPA weighted or unweighted?

ITS PRIVATE!!!!!!

SO WHAT!!!!

My kid at private has a 3.9 unweighted and a lower SAT score (likely, based on practice tests) than OP’s kid. So is the 3.8 weighted or unweighted? It makes a difference, whether coming from private or not.

Most top privates don't have weighted GPAs at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: thanks for very helpful suggestions so far. Question:

Are Swarthmore, Carnegie Mellon, Pomona, Rice and Harvey Mudd where-fun-goes-to-die schools? Those seem to be the level of “reachiness” DD wants to aim for. She wants high rigor (truly happy when around nerdy smart kids who like to talk science) but we hope she doesn’t jump right from an intense HS to another 4 years of intensity.

Rice is where a lot of kids who've been defined by their smart nerdiness their whole life re-sort and become more social, extroverted, and into trying new things (dorm theater! flag football! newspaper/radio! etc.). Some do not, but if your kid is looking for that, it's the perfect place to do so. I've heard similar things about Pomona. And for both of those schools, the sun shines in winter and that can really affect/lighten the mood/vibe on campus.

[Anonymous]

Emory seems like a good target or even safety: strong in science, suburban, near a city

[Anonymous]

[url]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: thanks for very helpful suggestions so far. Question:

Are Swarthmore, Carnegie Mellon, Pomona, Rice and Harvey Mudd where-fun-goes-to-die schools? Those seem to be the level of “reachiness” DD wants to aim for. She wants high rigor (truly happy when around nerdy smart kids who like to talk science) but we hope she doesn’t jump right from an intense HS to another 4 years of intensity.

Rice is where a lot of kids who've been defined by their smart nerdiness their whole life re-sort and become more social, extroverted, and into trying new things (dorm theater! flag football! newspaper/radio! etc.). Some do not, but if your kid is looking for that, it's the perfect place to do so. I've heard similar things about Pomona. And for both of those schools, the sun shines in winter and that can really affect/lighten the mood/vibe on campus.

You have just described my kid at Rice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:- Ideal small to medium-sized interdisciplinary college in a city or suburb
- chemistry major, also wants to take classes in AI and applied math
- wants high exposure to professors and research opportunities
- has strived in high rigor environment but doesn’t want the kind of place where fun goes to die or everyone is studying for grades
- collaborative, highly intellectual culture where students love learning, not all about jockeying for IB connections or the next IPO opportunity
- Female, unhooked, non URM, from a top private, full pay, quiet nerdy but has lot of friends
- 1580, 3.88 from a school that’s known for rigor/doesn't grade inflate (no one gets a 4.0), decent ECs (STEM leadership, part time job year round, volunteer year round, some regional math and writing awards)

I love how every post feels compelled to point out that their private school does not inflate grades. The fact is, virtually all schools do, private or public.

Sorry but this is just not true at least at our private. Some teachers pride themselves on not giving out a single A for the final grade in some classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of this depends on whether she is interested in ED/REA. Some of these schools take a lot of kids in early rounds.

Reach - brown, northwestern, Vanderbilt, Pomona

Ed2 if willing washu

Target: William and Mary, Wesleyan

Likely: macalester, Carleton, haverford, Bryn mawr

No to swat and Chicago

OP: which ones give an advantage in ED/EA?

DD doesn’t plan to do Yale/ Brown type schools that some posters suggested above for EA/ED. She’s a very mature, rational kid. She knows as an unhooked applicant, her chance of an Ivy is very low, so she doesn’t want to waste an ED/EA on Yale/Princeton (no interest in Harvard) type school and end up having worse odds in RD at a school she could had a higher chance getting in early.

[Anonymous]

Some of these responses for a STEM focused DC are ridiculous…Wash U? BC? Reaches - Tufts, Emory. Targets- Santa Clara, Haverford and Reed. Safeties - Rose Hulman, WPI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of this depends on whether she is interested in ED/REA. Some of these schools take a lot of kids in early rounds.

Reach - brown, northwestern, Vanderbilt, Pomona

Ed2 if willing washu

Target: William and Mary, Wesleyan

Likely: macalester, Carleton, haverford, Bryn mawr

No to swat and Chicago

OP: which ones give an advantage in ED/EA?

DD doesn’t plan to do Yale/ Brown type schools that some posters suggested above for EA/ED. She’s a very mature, rational kid. She knows as an unhooked applicant, her chance of an Ivy is very low, so she doesn’t want to waste an ED/EA on Yale/Princeton (no interest in Harvard) type school and end up having worse odds in RD at a school she could had a higher chance getting in early.

Vanderbilt, Rice, Brown, Northwestern, and WashU all confer advantages to those who apply ED.

I don't think it makes any difference for unhooked students applying to Pomona, which is a tiny school. A rational unhooked student shouldn't bother with an early app there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of this depends on whether she is interested in ED/REA. Some of these schools take a lot of kids in early rounds.

Reach - brown, northwestern, Vanderbilt, Pomona

Ed2 if willing washu

Target: William and Mary, Wesleyan

Likely: macalester, Carleton, haverford, Bryn mawr

No to swat and Chicago

OP: which ones give an advantage in ED/EA?

DD doesn’t plan to do Yale/ Brown type schools that some posters suggested above for EA/ED. She’s a very mature, rational kid. She knows as an unhooked applicant, her chance of an Ivy is very low, so she doesn’t want to waste an ED/EA on Yale/Princeton (no interest in Harvard) type school and end up having worse odds in RD at a school she could had a higher chance getting in early.

Best ED chances in T20:
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth
Rice
Vanderbilt
WashU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:- Ideal small to medium-sized interdisciplinary college in a city or suburb
- chemistry major, also wants to take classes in AI and applied math
- wants high exposure to professors and research opportunities
- has strived in high rigor environment but doesn’t want the kind of place where fun goes to die or everyone is studying for grades
- collaborative, highly intellectual culture where students love learning, not all about jockeying for IB connections or the next IPO opportunity
- Female, unhooked, non URM, from a top private, full pay, quiet nerdy but has lot of friends
- 1580, 3.88 from a school that’s known for rigor/doesn't grade inflate (no one gets a 4.0), decent ECs (STEM leadership, part time job year round, volunteer year round, some regional math and writing awards)

For safeties, consider BC, Wake, Richmond.

? BC and Wake are a crapshoot for almost anyone RD. Richmond maybe (I don't know) but this is bad advice re BC and Wake. Safety = almost guaranteed admission. That's not the case with those two schools.

Even UR’s acceptance rate is less than 25%. Low target maybe but it’s not a gimme.