Help me figure out which schools are realistic

[Anonymous]

After reading through the northwestern thread where multiple people said no one gets in…I’m just not sure where to encourage my kid to look. What would you all suggest for a white female, good public school, 3.95 UW with high rigor, 1550 SAT, several extracurriculars including leadership roles, volunteerism and awards — but nothing knock your socks off like those famous awards or started a non-profit or wrote a published book or whatever.

I’m assuming Harvard, Yale, Princeton and places like Amherst are unrealistic. What would be realistic? Kid does not want to go to the Sputh and isn’t super interested in California so we are primarily looking Northeast, mid Atlantic, or upper Midwest.

Thanks for any ideas.

[Anonymous]

What are some things on her wish list in terms of size, urban/suburban/rural, academic areas of interest, etc, vibe of surrounding area - walkable to a town, out in the country etc? Is she looking at schools like Northwestern but with a higher acceptance rate?

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin

[Anonymous]

I think ED to Amherst is a reach but doable I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ED to Amherst is a reach but doable I

I’m an Amherst alum and after seeing their promotional materials for admit rates for first generation and people of color, I would not encourage any white kid from the northeastern suburbs that is not a recruited athlete or first Gen college to apply. I just don’t see how they can hit the numbers they are aiming for, and fill their sports teams, otherwise. Maybe if you were an Olympian or child actor or coca-cola scholar or something like that.

Amherst is different from swarthmore, Williams, etc. in its level of commitment to diversifying its classes.

[Anonymous]

It really is a crap shoot. My son had similar stats and he got into Stanford, which was a total shock. Waitlisted at some Ivies and rejected from others. Going to UVA.

I do think in his case, his essays mattered a lot. He got a email and card from the Stanford admissions officer who commented on his essays.

I say shoot for the stars with your daughter if there's a school she really likes. Other options might be Colby, Boston College, Franklin and Marshall, Carleton, Bates. There are lots of really good schools in the next tier down from the top 10-20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are some things on her wish list in terms of size, urban/suburban/rural, academic areas of interest, etc, vibe of surrounding area - walkable to a town, out in the country etc? Is she looking at schools like Northwestern but with a higher acceptance rate?

She doesn’t really have any solid things because she has no real frame of reference. She isn’t into football or basketball which I think makes certain schools less attractive.

[Anonymous]

Build a balanced list of schools: reach, targets and safeties/likelies. That means recognizing that any school with less than 20% acceptance rate is a Reach for ANYONE. So NU/Duke/HYPSM etc are a major reach for everyone---think of them as highly rejective. So pick a few and apply and give it your all, but do not let your kid fall in love with them and make sure they know it's not likely to happen.

Pick targets where your kids scores are 50%+ and acceptance rates are 20-25%+.
Safeties are 50%+ acceptance rates and your kid's scores at/above 75%+
Likelies are 75%+ acceptance rates and kid's scores at/above 75+.

remember your kid must like all the schools and you must be able to afford them in order for them to be real and on your list. A safety your kid doesn't want to attend is NOT a safety.

Pick at least 3-4 in each category and your kid will be fine come March/April senior year. They will likely be in at 50% of their Targets and 50%+ of their safeties. Reaches who knows, they might win the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After reading through the northwestern thread where multiple people said no one gets in…I’m just not sure where to encourage my kid to look. What would you all suggest for a white female, good public school, 3.95 UW with high rigor, 1550 SAT, several extracurriculars including leadership roles, volunteerism and awards — but nothing knock your socks off like those famous awards or started a non-profit or wrote a published book or whatever.

I’m assuming Harvard, Yale, Princeton and places like Amherst are unrealistic. What would be realistic? Kid does not want to go to the Sputh and isn’t super interested in California so we are primarily looking Northeast, mid Atlantic, or upper Midwest.

Thanks for any ideas.

Of course students are admitted to Northwestern University. ED admit rate is much higher than the RD admit rate. Overall rate of admission is just under 7% (6.97%).

Does your daughter have a particular major that she would like to study ?

Your daughter's stats are outstanding. ECs depends upon depth/quality/length of participation.

Are you aware that many well respected LACs offer a second round of ED. Your daughter could apply ED to Northwestern, then--if unsuccessful--apply ED to a school which offers a second round of ED.

Rolling admissions, early admissions (EA), and binding ED (early decision) admissions could & should all be utilized or, at least, considered.

[Anonymous]

Realistic targets: SLACs like Grinnell, Carleton, Kenyon, Hamilton probably?
For larger universities: NYU, Georgetown, Michigan

I'd think she'd have a shot at Penn/Cornell/etc. too but obviously those are more of a crapshoot/reach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading through the northwestern thread where multiple people said no one gets in…I’m just not sure where to encourage my kid to look. What would you all suggest for a white female, good public school, 3.95 UW with high rigor, 1550 SAT, several extracurriculars including leadership roles, volunteerism and awards — but nothing knock your socks off like those famous awards or started a non-profit or wrote a published book or whatever.

I’m assuming Harvard, Yale, Princeton and places like Amherst are unrealistic. What would be realistic? Kid does not want to go to the Sputh and isn’t super interested in California so we are primarily looking Northeast, mid Atlantic, or upper Midwest.

Thanks for any ideas.

Of course students are admitted to Northwestern University. ED admit rate is much higher than the RD admit rate. Overall rate of admission is just under 7% (6.97%).

Does your daughter have a particular major that she would like to study ?

Your daughter's stats are outstanding. ECs depends upon depth/quality/length of participation.

Are you aware that many well respected LACs offer a second round of ED. Your daughter could apply ED to Northwestern, then--if unsuccessful--apply ED to a school which offers a second round of ED.

Rolling admissions, early admissions (EA), and binding ED (early decision) admissions could & should all be utilized or, at least, considered.

Continuing: I suggest that one should not apply ED to any small school prior to visiting. The smaller the school, the more important location and fit with the campus culture become.

Make a list of the most selective schools which offer ED, EA, rolling admissions, and second round of ED (ED2). The University of Michigan offers EA. One could simultaneously apply ED to Northwestern and EA to Michigan while also submitting a rolling admissions application to the University of Pittsburgh.

If not pleased with the results, then apply ED 2 & RD to other schools.

Colleges & universities which offer ED II:

https://collegetransitions.com/blog/early-decision-ii/

Hope this helps !

[Anonymous]

OP, what would she like to study? Despite what people usually discuss an applicant's intended major is a huge part of it. Especially if the ECs support that.

If she is interested in CS then, frankly, there are a LOT of good CS programs and the school almost doesn't matter (almost). But if she is interested in something that isn't offered everywhere then that is a great reason to apply!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Build a balanced list of schools: reach, targets and safeties/likelies. That means recognizing that any school with less than 20% acceptance rate is a Reach for ANYONE. So NU/Duke/HYPSM etc are a major reach for everyone---think of them as highly rejective. So pick a few and apply and give it your all, but do not let your kid fall in love with them and make sure they know it's not likely to happen.

Pick targets where your kids scores are 50%+ and acceptance rates are 20-25%+.
Safeties are 50%+ acceptance rates and your kid's scores at/above 75%+
Likelies are 75%+ acceptance rates and kid's scores at/above 75+.

remember your kid must like all the schools and you must be able to afford them in order for them to be real and on your list. A safety your kid doesn't want to attend is NOT a safety.

Pick at least 3-4 in each category and your kid will be fine come March/April senior year. They will likely be in at 50% of their Targets and 50%+ of their safeties. Reaches who knows, they might win the lottery.

Based on the other post, no public university is a true safety for anyone because they do yield protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Build a balanced list of schools: reach, targets and safeties/likelies. That means recognizing that any school with less than 20% acceptance rate is a Reach for ANYONE. So NU/Duke/HYPSM etc are a major reach for everyone---think of them as highly rejective. So pick a few and apply and give it your all, but do not let your kid fall in love with them and make sure they know it's not likely to happen.

Pick targets where your kids scores are 50%+ and acceptance rates are 20-25%+.
Safeties are 50%+ acceptance rates and your kid's scores at/above 75%+
Likelies are 75%+ acceptance rates and kid's scores at/above 75+.

remember your kid must like all the schools and you must be able to afford them in order for them to be real and on your list. A safety your kid doesn't want to attend is NOT a safety.

Pick at least 3-4 in each category and your kid will be fine come March/April senior year. They will likely be in at 50% of their Targets and 50%+ of their safeties. Reaches who knows, they might win the lottery.

Based on the other post, no public university is a true safety for anyone because they do yield protection.

No, they are not a safety for specific majors and because their acceptance rates are too low for that. Sure Public U might have a 50% admit rate, but if you want CS/Eng/business the admit rates are 10-20%, so they are a Reach. It's not yield protection, it's understanding the numbers and what they mean. It also means knowing that you MUST do EA at UMD, it's not a choice---that is how they admit most students. UMD acceptance rate makes it a Target for many, but that is only for General entry. Want the elite/hard to get into majors and it is a REACH.

[Anonymous]

If she wants a selective school choose a top 20-30 to ED to. She should be competitive for T50 admission. Just make sure she has a target that she likes. If she is interested in selective SLACS she will need to use her ED.