Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter sounds a lot like yours, both in personality and in her school situation. Fit was very important. Was waitlisted at Rice in RD; is now very happy at William & Mary.

Thanks. What was ED/SCEA school if any?

SCEA: Yale, rejected.
RD: Princeton (rejected); Rice and WashU (WL); admitted to Carleton and W&M. Also admitted with merit money at St. Olaf and Pitt (rolling).

This was 1560, National Merit, 4.0 UW at a private. Normal ECs (nothing over the top). Older sister is at Berkeley; she had no desire to go there, based on school size and general experience of older sister. Wanted medium-size, excellent teaching, warm connections with smart/friendly students.

Unhooked high stats kid from competitive metropolitan areas: do not SCEA. ED1 somewhere and ED2 if don’t get in. It worked out here, but it often does not.

Why? What if the favorite school is SCEA? So just don't apply?

Anonymous wrote:I was also going to suggest W&M.

Anonymous wrote:Below are our DC's reaches and safety schools. The safeties are realistic based on counselor's lists and Naviance. Looking for 4-5 target schools to fill out this list. Thanks!

Rice
Penn
Princeton
Swarthmore

Pittsburgh
UC San Diego
U Washington

Female applicant, chemistry or computational chemistry major, top 10% in a HS that sends 25% to Ivies+. Want mid-size research universities in suburbs or cities but not too rural. Open to anywhere in the country as long as not too conservative, swing states are fine. Not interested in sororities/frat culture and not a big partier. A very social nerd who plans to join clubs (outdoor/camping, theater production, coding/hackathon, semester overseas, etc.). No need for merit/financial aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter sounds a lot like yours, both in personality and in her school situation. Fit was very important. Was waitlisted at Rice in RD; is now very happy at William & Mary.

Thanks. What was ED/SCEA school if any?

SCEA: Yale, rejected.
RD: Princeton (rejected); Rice and WashU (WL); admitted to Carleton and W&M. Also admitted with merit money at St. Olaf and Pitt (rolling).

This was 1560, National Merit, 4.0 UW at a private. Normal ECs (nothing over the top). Older sister is at Berkeley; she had no desire to go there, based on school size and general experience of older sister. Wanted medium-size, excellent teaching, warm connections with smart/friendly students.

Unhooked high stats kid from competitive metropolitan areas: do not SCEA. ED1 somewhere and ED2 if don’t get in. It worked out here, but it often does not.

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing target with certainty. Calling a school a target doesn’t mean there is certainty. Sure there is yield protection. But target is a school that is a good fit by stats, they never have the certainty of getting in. Yet it doesn’t make it a reach.

Anonymous wrote:I know lots of you folks hate SLACs but schools like Pomona and Carleton aren’t targets for anyone. Especially in RD. It’s just not the way that it works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wit those preferences, I don't know why Northwestern isn't on your reach list (unless she hates the quarter system or the chicago area).

I think it's optimistic to say UCSD is a safety -- it's a really hard admit and the California politics keep swinging around so that they often can't admit many out of states -- so maybe she goes to Holton and they've admitted similar girls in the past, but with the swing in California priorities, maybe not now. UCDavis seems like more of a safety, but even then probably a reach. UCSanta Cruz maybe a bit easier. What about Wisconsin or UMass? Delaware actually has a really strong chemistry program, so that might be a good add.

I had a similar kid and I agree that "targets" are tough, although the line between safeties and targets is pretty blurry. We basically had a lot of reaches, and then a few safeties. If you can afford to apply to a lot of reaches, that can be worth it, since it's all a crap shoot once you're a potential admit for those top schools. The "targets" mostly seemed like they'd be substantially more expensive than the safeties, and not that much measurably a better experience for my kid.

UW-Seattle also yield protects, not a safety.

Anonymous wrote:Wit those preferences, I don't know why Northwestern isn't on your reach list (unless she hates the quarter system or the chicago area).

I think it's optimistic to say UCSD is a safety -- it's a really hard admit and the California politics keep swinging around so that they often can't admit many out of states -- so maybe she goes to Holton and they've admitted similar girls in the past, but with the swing in California priorities, maybe not now. UCDavis seems like more of a safety, but even then probably a reach. UCSanta Cruz maybe a bit easier. What about Wisconsin or UMass? Delaware actually has a really strong chemistry program, so that might be a good add.

I had a similar kid and I agree that "targets" are tough, although the line between safeties and targets is pretty blurry. We basically had a lot of reaches, and then a few safeties. If you can afford to apply to a lot of reaches, that can be worth it, since it's all a crap shoot once you're a potential admit for those top schools. The "targets" mostly seemed like they'd be substantially more expensive than the safeties, and not that much measurably a better experience for my kid.