I don't believe that you actually have a rising senior at a big 3. There are way too many things on your to do list that should have been crossed off by now. Your kid's peers will be completing college apps starting in late August.

Start by visiting a few fairly local schools in different categories. Do not worry about the specific school. Visit GW or JH (urban). Visit St Mary's in MD (small rural). UMD large state. That will give you a sense of what cateogry you are looking at without spending alot on travel.

UMCP and UVA

Congrats! Your child has great stats and should do well. Even if your child is open to schools in various settings and various sizes, at the very least, I think the college visits would make a big difference on where your child decides to ED or EA, which could impact outcome. I haven't visited but I expect that Tufts, Swarthmore and Vanderbilt all have very different vibes. Good luck.

OP, I would post on the independent school board. You are really looking at the opinions/knowledge of a very specific group of people (the parents of 2021, 2022, 2023 Big3 grads).
Also, it would help immensely to have some idea of what your child is looking for.

If he applies to enough top 20's he'll get into 1.

With those stats nothing is off the list but nothing is guaranteed. One use of visits is just to get a feel for type of school. You can do that by visiting local schools (UMD and American and GW, e.g.). Your kid can also make a list of schools they like by reputation and read Fiske guide (or similar) to see if the specific details appeal.

OP,. these kinds of posts are getting tiresome. Congrats on being able to afford to send your child to a "Big 3". Now go do some research on your own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure your college counselor will want more info, such as desire’s size of school, location, vibe. It would help DCUM too.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, a bit undecided between research universities/SLACs and between urban/suburban/rural settings. Just starting the process..Plan to visit a few campuses this summer/fall. We are in the DMV. Not looking to go to the west coast.

That’s your next step, then, not crowdsourcing a random list of excellent schools.

OP again. I suppose I was hoping to get a "crowdsourced" sense of which strong schools (in addition to HYPS) would be totally out of reach and not worth even thinking about with these stats. Somewhat unrelatedly, but in response to PP's comment, do the campus visits actually make much of a difference in DC's decisions on where to apply? We are planning on some visits like I mentioned, bit genuinely unsure as to how much this will help narrow the list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure your college counselor will want more info, such as desire’s size of school, location, vibe. It would help DCUM too.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, a bit undecided between research universities/SLACs and between urban/suburban/rural settings. Just starting the process..Plan to visit a few campuses this summer/fall. We are in the DMV. Not looking to go to the west coast.

That’s your next step, then, not crowdsourcing a random list of excellent schools.

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure your college counselor will want more info, such as desire’s size of school, location, vibe. It would help DCUM too.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, a bit undecided between research universities/SLACs and between urban/suburban/rural settings. Just starting the process..Plan to visit a few campuses this summer/fall. We are in the DMV. Not looking to go to the west coast.

University of Florida

Aren’t you looking at colleges this summer or talking with people?

I’m sure your college counselor will want more info, such as desire’s size of school, location, vibe. It would help DCUM too.

DC is at 3.75/1550. Rigorous course load (combo of rigorous math/science). Good/Solid ECs but not at a national level. NO legacy/urm/athlete hooks. Not looking to major in STEM. Of course, we expect to have a substantial conversation(s) with college counselor later this year..but DCUM suggestions on reach/target/safety schools with these stats ?