Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got into their SCEA school and had a long list of other “reachy” schools to apply to had they not. My advice is to rely on your school counselors. They were very upfront that my kid had the stats/activities to apply anywhere. Some classmates that were also great students but not at the very top got different guidance.

OP here,

I'm not questioning the school counselors, we just haven't met with them yet, and I'm looking down the road, but we'll definitely take the counselor's advice if it conflicts with DCUM.

My kid is one of those kids where it's worth applying to the very reachy school, but wondering what kinds of schools to look at for target and safety, and how many we need to find.

The way to do this is to determine the attributes that your kid likes in the reach-y school. Dartmouth is rural, Cornell is in a small town, Columbia and Harvard are in big cities. Likely there is no reason to apply to these four schools other than to brag. If your kid prefers a Harvard or Columbia then look for other schools in cities. If your kid prefers Dartmouth, then look at other smaller schools in smaller towns. Geography is important - if they want to be in the south, then Vanderbilt, Emory and similar would be on the same list. Once you cut down for semester versus quarter, size, setting (rural, suburban, urban) curriculum (open or rigid) etc, you can cull a list pretty easily.

I'm trying to figure out the categories. So, for example, my kid likes schools that have engineering and are in or near big cities, that are midsized to large, and that are in regions that have four seasons and are lgbt friendly.

She likes Northwestern -- clearly a reach.

She likes also really likes UMD and Pitt. But I don't know what category those are in.

Pitt is a likely if she gets app in early, MD for engineering probably a target.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got into their SCEA school and had a long list of other “reachy” schools to apply to had they not. My advice is to rely on your school counselors. They were very upfront that my kid had the stats/activities to apply anywhere. Some classmates that were also great students but not at the very top got different guidance.

OP here,

I'm not questioning the school counselors, we just haven't met with them yet, and I'm looking down the road, but we'll definitely take the counselor's advice if it conflicts with DCUM.

My kid is one of those kids where it's worth applying to the very reachy school, but wondering what kinds of schools to look at for target and safety, and how many we need to find.

The way to do this is to determine the attributes that your kid likes in the reach-y school. Dartmouth is rural, Cornell is in a small town, Columbia and Harvard are in big cities. Likely there is no reason to apply to these four schools other than to brag. If your kid prefers a Harvard or Columbia then look for other schools in cities. If your kid prefers Dartmouth, then look at other smaller schools in smaller towns. Geography is important - if they want to be in the south, then Vanderbilt, Emory and similar would be on the same list. Once you cut down for semester versus quarter, size, setting (rural, suburban, urban) curriculum (open or rigid) etc, you can cull a list pretty easily.

I'm trying to figure out the categories. So, for example, my kid likes schools that have engineering and are in or near big cities, that are midsized to large, and that are in regions that have four seasons and are lgbt friendly.

She likes Northwestern -- clearly a reach.

She likes also really likes UMD and Pitt. But I don't know what category those are in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got into their SCEA school and had a long list of other “reachy” schools to apply to had they not. My advice is to rely on your school counselors. They were very upfront that my kid had the stats/activities to apply anywhere. Some classmates that were also great students but not at the very top got different guidance.

OP here,

I'm not questioning the school counselors, we just haven't met with them yet, and I'm looking down the road, but we'll definitely take the counselor's advice if it conflicts with DCUM.

My kid is one of those kids where it's worth applying to the very reachy school, but wondering what kinds of schools to look at for target and safety, and how many we need to find.

The way to do this is to determine the attributes that your kid likes in the reach-y school. Dartmouth is rural, Cornell is in a small town, Columbia and Harvard are in big cities. Likely there is no reason to apply to these four schools other than to brag. If your kid prefers a Harvard or Columbia then look for other schools in cities. If your kid prefers Dartmouth, then look at other smaller schools in smaller towns. Geography is important - if they want to be in the south, then Vanderbilt, Emory and similar would be on the same list. Once you cut down for semester versus quarter, size, setting (rural, suburban, urban) curriculum (open or rigid) etc, you can cull a list pretty easily.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high stats local private school kid (outside DMV, top 10% of class but not top 5%, SAT low 1500’s) applied to 11 schools- 4 reaches, 3 matches and 4 likelies. Rejected from one reach (T-25) deferred REA and then waitlisted RD at another (T-25), waitlisted at third reach, in at 4th reach (T-25) and attending there. Deferred and waitlisted at in-state public match EA, in at two other (private) matches- no merit. In at all likelies, with merit. When you say “local” I’m assuming your kid’s private is not a big feeder school, but does well with a few select T-25 schools each year.

I actually meant local to the DMV.

Can you give examples of the types of schools you considered matches and likelies? You don't have to name the specific school, but say something similar?

PP-For matches, my kid was looking at places in the T40-T100 range- Wake Forest, Richmond, Tulane, W & M (OOS). Anything in the T-25 (including lower-end) was a reach for my kid- UVA, Duke, Vanderbilt, etc. Safeties with merit were on the lower end of the T40-T100 range .

Anonymous wrote:You need to tell us what the school is. The previous poster who talked about the "close to 4.0, 1500)" as having a shot for top 25-30 is completely not relevant to a kid at Sidwell or STA. If you're at those schools then a close to 3.9/1500 will have a top 25-30 as a safety and you're almost assured to get into a top10. If you're at Gonzaga or Visitation it's going to be different because their grading is different and their matriculations are different.

Point is: any advice here is worthless without naming the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high stats local private school kid (outside DMV, top 10% of class but not top 5%, SAT low 1500’s) applied to 11 schools- 4 reaches, 3 matches and 4 likelies. Rejected from one reach (T-25) deferred REA and then waitlisted RD at another (T-25), waitlisted at third reach, in at 4th reach (T-25) and attending there. Deferred and waitlisted at in-state public match EA, in at two other (private) matches- no merit. In at all likelies, with merit. When you say “local” I’m assuming your kid’s private is not a big feeder school, but does well with a few select T-25 schools each year.

I actually meant local to the DMV.

Can you give examples of the types of schools you considered matches and likelies? You don't have to name the specific school, but say something similar?

Anonymous wrote:What did their list of schools look like?

What did you and their college counselor consider Reach/Target/Safety for them, and how many of each did they apply to?

If your kid got into somewhere ED, or REA/SCEA did you have a list of where you'd apply if they didn't get in? If so, what did that list look like?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got into their SCEA school and had a long list of other “reachy” schools to apply to had they not. My advice is to rely on your school counselors. They were very upfront that my kid had the stats/activities to apply anywhere. Some classmates that were also great students but not at the very top got different guidance.

OP here,

I'm not questioning the school counselors, we just haven't met with them yet, and I'm looking down the road, but we'll definitely take the counselor's advice if it conflicts with DCUM.

My kid is one of those kids where it's worth applying to the very reachy school, but wondering what kinds of schools to look at for target and safety, and how many we need to find.

The way to do this is to determine the attributes that your kid likes in the reach-y school. Dartmouth is rural, Cornell is in a small town, Columbia and Harvard are in big cities. Likely there is no reason to apply to these four schools other than to brag. If your kid prefers a Harvard or Columbia then look for other schools in cities. If your kid prefers Dartmouth, then look at other smaller schools in smaller towns. Geography is important - if they want to be in the south, then Vanderbilt, Emory and similar would be on the same list. Once you cut down for semester versus quarter, size, setting (rural, suburban, urban) curriculum (open or rigid) etc, you can cull a list pretty easily.

Anonymous wrote:My high stats local private school kid (outside DMV, top 10% of class but not top 5%, SAT low 1500’s) applied to 11 schools- 4 reaches, 3 matches and 4 likelies. Rejected from one reach (T-25) deferred REA and then waitlisted RD at another (T-25), waitlisted at third reach, in at 4th reach (T-25) and attending there. Deferred and waitlisted at in-state public match EA, in at two other (private) matches- no merit. In at all likelies, with merit. When you say “local” I’m assuming your kid’s private is not a big feeder school, but does well with a few select T-25 schools each year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got into their SCEA school and had a long list of other “reachy” schools to apply to had they not. My advice is to rely on your school counselors. They were very upfront that my kid had the stats/activities to apply anywhere. Some classmates that were also great students but not at the very top got different guidance.

OP here,

I'm not questioning the school counselors, we just haven't met with them yet, and I'm looking down the road, but we'll definitely take the counselor's advice if it conflicts with DCUM.

My kid is one of those kids where it's worth applying to the very reachy school, but wondering what kinds of schools to look at for target and safety, and how many we need to find.

Anonymous wrote:My high stats local private school kid (outside DMV, top 10% of class but not top 5%, SAT low 1500’s) applied to 11 schools- 4 reaches, 3 matches and 4 likelies. Rejected from one reach (T-25) deferred REA and then waitlisted RD at another (T-25), waitlisted at third reach, in at 4th reach (T-25) and attending there. Deferred and waitlisted at in-state public match EA, in at two other (private) matches- no merit. In at all likelies, with merit. When you say “local” I’m assuming your kid’s private is not a big feeder school, but does well with a few select T-25 schools each year.