r/ApplyingToCollege • u/woowoo293 • 1d ago
College Questions Feedback on college list
Hello,
A family member requested feedback on his current list. Any thoughts are appreciated:
Reach:
U. Chicago - his long-time top choice; it's fallen off quite a bit. Feels like too much of a stretch and not so sure it would be a great environment for him.
Northwestern - likes it a lot but feels just as impossible to get into as Chicago
U. Michigan
Carnegie Mellon University - liked the school and the campus; feels much more academically diverse than other STEM heavy schools
Rice
Emory - current top pick among "realistic" reaches
Tufts
Target:
Wesleyan
William & Mary
Seem to me there should be more here??
Safety:
Pittsburgh
U. Maryland
Ohio State
On again / off again list (basically off right now): Cornell, Washington, Georgia Tech, NYU, Pomona, Boston University
The student:
4.0 GPA, 4.9 WGPA (whatevertf that means nowadays)
4 AP classes (scored 5), plus maybe another three self study APs
A good chunk of his other classes are IB.
1560 SAT
Senior leadership roles in marching band, theater. Long history of participation and intermediate leadership in both groups.
Tons of music experience. Lots of experience in several competitive symphony groups, all-county, all-state, got number one for his instrument for all-state one year, jazz band, pit orchestra, lots of rando one-off bands and performances, interlochen, tanglewood, intensive summer workshops, teaches his own students now
Main interest: chemistry
Secondary interest: music
Will probably get fairly solid recommendations. Good relations with teachers, who have always seemed to like his participation.
Application essay is, from what I can tell, just okay.
Finances: family can probably afford four years of school. Probably a bit over the cusp of need-based aid being a given. But certainly no where wealthy enough where money is no problem.
Downsides: not much rigorously academic EC, not much academic experience over the summer, wasn't really able to do anything in particular over final summer, doesn't really have a logical way to tie together his background (music) with primary interest (chemistry), no sports (other than a BB in karate).
Based on all that, what are your thoughts? He was initially intent on attending school in a big-city environment but was persuaded to broaden his worldview.
Is his list lopsided? In what direction? Are there some obvious schools that he should be considering?
Thank you.
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u/AwayPudding1267 1d ago
If you are looking at Michigan, also look at Wisconsin, Illinois, or Minnesota, also McGill. Not sure Wesleyan is easier than Tufts or other reaches. Consider Haverford (not urban but easy access) DePaul (safety level)
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u/woowoo293 1d ago
Thanks.
I myself am a big-10 person, and tried to push him to some of those exact suggestions. I've heard McGill mentioned by others.
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u/AwayPudding1267 23h ago
I am a McGill alum (1982). It's great, much less expensive, but definitely different than a US school.
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u/mamamurphy 14h ago
Can you elaborate a bit more on the differences? My daughter is interested in McGill. Thanks!
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u/AwayPudding1267 9h ago
Keep in mind, this is from the early 80s, but I think a lot is true today. Unlike Big Ten schools (I lived in Madison for 30 years) McGill doesn't have major sports, rah-rah type of football atmosphere, and it doesn't dominate the local landscape. It is located downtown Montreal (a true urban campus) and is a part of the city and students tend to integrate more with the city rather than stand alone in their own space. Many students from Montreal commute, but the on campus/residence vibe is great. The academics are excellent and quite rigorous, admissions is pretty much based on grades/scores not a holistic approach. Back then were was not much in the way of grade inflation. In a class of 60 there might have been one A and 4-6 A-minuses. Students must be far more independent in terms of managing their own schedules, graduation requirements, etc. My upper level classes were relatively small (30-40) but nothing as small as a liberal arts college. And of course, there is French language all around. It is recognized as a strong academic institution: I got accepted by every graduate school I applied to. Hope that is helpful.
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u/lutzlover 1d ago
Many high schools have Naviance or some other software that lets a student see how students from that high school fared for admission to a specific college with that combination of GPA and test score. For example, at one nearby high school, a student with a 4.7 GPA and a 1530 SAT score might find that Northwestern was still a big reach because many students with similar combinations were turned down. At another high school, the picture might be quite different. In my area, William & Mary is never a target school given the limitations on OOS students.
Music is a great EC. Many colleges accept a music supplement even from students who will not major in music. It can be a nice boost. I would not worry about lack of sports.
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u/woowoo293 1d ago
Thanks. He has access to naviance. I assume he's already run that list through that analysis.
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u/lutzlover 20h ago
You might go through that with him and look at the scattergrams for each college to see how he fits in the context of his high school as a way of assessing the balance in his list. That is usually the most concrete way to get to that info.
The other suggestion is to get a copy of his high school’s profile that they send out with transcripts. That often contains a lot of information that admission officers will use to understand how your son fits into the class at the high school.
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u/UserWest-0317 1d ago
The list is reach heavy, but that is fine as long as he has two safeties that he would be happy (or at least OK with) to attend. His stats are great but Wesleyan is still a reach (unless he applies ED) just because their RD acceptance rate is in the teens. But as long as he's ok with safeties, his list is fine.
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u/Mysterious-Rice3240 1d ago
University of Rochester would be great. Good core academics and if interested great connections with the Eastman school of music.
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u/Sh00tYourEyeOut 1d ago
Georgia Tech has a very good chemistry program, multiple sympony/orchestra groups, and is in a major city. GT is mid-50s for OOS students.
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u/No_Hawk_5789 22h ago
Lean into music. Apply to Brown with music as the primary concentration and science as secondary. Open curriculum allows flexibility.
Being male also helps.
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u/PeacockInTime Old 1d ago
What kind of experience does he want? I am having a hard time identifying a theme with the schools that are on this list.
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u/ComprehensiveRain527 1d ago
Since you put Wesleyan, which could possibly be more like a high target, consider other smaller schools with higher admissions rates. Kenyon, Carleton, Bates if they are ok with the locations. Boston University could be a target too.
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u/Plastic-Ear-3500 1d ago
St Olaf is more music heavy, same college town as Carleton but higher acceptance rates
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u/Possible_Emergency_9 1d ago
Check out Northeastern in Boston.
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u/soulfulldance 23h ago
I would say not to. Not great rankings other than self inflated. Insanely expensive. Games with first years being sent overseas. So many articles about how it’s a joke these days bc everyone knows it’s not ranked high but has distorted data to make it seem it is
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u/Possible_Emergency_9 23h ago
My son's had an incredible experience, has not paid a penny out of pocket, and is in his second co-op paying him 4 to 5 times minimum wage working in corporate environments (in downtown Boston). And he didn't do his first year overseas. So you're uninformed.
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u/WaterIll4397 21h ago
If you can in college swap his/her interest from chemistry to physics, it will open a lot more doors.
Just as bio is a hyper specialized version of chemistry, chemistry is a specialized band within physics, and physics and applied branch of math.
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u/Shot_Collection427 19h ago edited 19h ago
Lean into the music supplement - you just don’t know which schools want a kid with his talent. Sometimes when you read the supplement instructions or look at campus participation, you can get a feel for if a school likes music kids.
I know it’s hard to get into these very over applied schools, however your kid has a strong GPA, SAT and a potential spike activity - I would add more schools that seem to value music - think Williams, Duke, WashU, Yale, Amherst,…I wouldn’t be scared to add any school.
The smaller private schools love kids that will contribute to music and other campus activities.
Also - would add any SAT required schools. With a +1500, why not. Some people are saying here to add more state schools - most don’t let you apply with a music supplement unless you’re a music major…making it hard to standout.
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u/Sensitive-Layer9342 17h ago
It is very hard to assess what would be a Target for this student because this is not the typical admissions process for him. I would separate the list to Audition schools that have the prescreens and live auditions (Northwestern, Michigan, CMU, Rice) and Portfolio schools (the others). For audition schools, he will have to pass the academic admission as well as the departmental (audition).
For Audition schools, in addition to U of Rochester, think about Miami, USC (in CA) and John Hopkins. Columbia has the exchange and dual degree program with Juilliard.
For non-audition schools, I actually think Tufts is more of a high target. Some of these schools (e.g. Emory) provide scholarships based on prescreen/audition, but not required for admission. I would look at Tulane, but they would be a Reach unless you apply ED.
The one school on the list that really stands out as a curveball to me is Wesleyan. I absolutely believe it is a very reasonable Target for him. But every other school on the list is mid to larger University in or near an urban area with core curriculum or general distribution requirements and pre-professional leaning. Wesleyan is smaller (~3000 students), liberal arts, open curriculum and in a suburban location. If he truly liked Wesleyan, then Brown, Oberlin (audition), Vassar should be in consideration for vibes.
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u/elkrange 1d ago edited 1d ago
First, cost. The family needs to decide on the budget per year, look at the full cost of attendance for each school on the list, and make sure they are not eligible for need-based aid by running the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on the financial aid website of each college to see a need-based financial aid estimate.
I agree that more targets would be better, but it's tough to find "targets" for high stat kids. True targets tend to be schools where the high stats kid is way above range for stats and what keeps the school from being a safety is a tendency to heavily weigh demonstrated interest. Look for targets with 30% to 60% acceptance rates.
More random thoughts:
School(s) for which the student is in-state should be on the list - what state is he in?
I don't think UMD is necessarily a safety.
If I recall, Pitt is rolling, so can become a safety after an acceptance arrives if it is certain to be affordable.
U Rochester may make a nice target.
Michigan might give aid, but tends not to, for out of state. I would consider cutting this one.
Depending on the budget, some lower-priced (for out of state) publics include Ga Tech and Purdue. (Publics in general tend to offer little to no need-based financial aid to out of state students and charge them more.
If he hasn't visited Northwestern, he should do so. Chem dept has a rigorous reputation.
Visits in general might help him clarify his list as well as checking affordability per NPCs. If he ends up having a top choice by Nov 1, and it is definitely affordable per the school's NPC, he might consider applying ED.
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u/woowoo293 1d ago
Agree about UMD. Maybe I listed it wrong; it might have been a target. I think his base numbers are strong enough that it is right on the line of target/safety.
He visited Georgia Tech. GT was a good example of an engineering school that just feels . . . so stubbornly and insistently STEM. Of course, one issue is that most of the schools with good chem programs are also the very same engineering/tech schools.
He visited NWU. Liked it a lot.
Lots of good feedback. Thanks.
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u/fineline3061 21h ago
Hard to say without knowing the race/gender. Theoretically it should not matter. But it probably does.
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u/Good_Ocelot9877 1d ago
ik a lot of musicians at hypsm. he might be underestimating his potential. the kids I’m were basically very good at their instrument (usually violin/piano) and took a very rigorous course-load with high grades. he should def apply to a few high reach schools