Recruiting from Private School vs Top State School

I'm a high school senior getting ready to apply to colleges. Would u guys rather go to a top non-ivy school like UChicago, Duke, Northwestern, etc or to a top state school like Michigan, Berkeley, or UVA. Idk if my grades are good enough for an ivy and also top state schools are cheaper.

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You do realize that getting into a school like UChi/Duke/NW is just as hard as getting into an Ivy? I don't even think that the public flagship schools have ED. To help you out, here's essentially what I did when I was applying to colleges and I got into an Ivy:

  • Apply to all 8 Ivies
  • Apply to other top privates like Stanford, Duke, MIT, UChicago, Northwestern
    • ED to any of the schools above, provided your grades are good
  • Apply to every other private target/semi school, so NYU, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Williams, Amherst, Vandy
  • Apply to all of the good state schools, so Michigan Ross, UVA, UCB, UT, and maybe one of UNC/IU
  • Apply to 2 safety schools, I did Penn State being from PA.

This should get you to about 24-25 schools, and you will hopefully get into one (or multiple) good schools. Good luck!

 

Thanks this is rly helpful, but what do u think about applying ed to georgetown or stern. My grades are decent (top 10% class rank, 1510 SAT) but i feel like im not competitive for the top schools and i really dont wanna waste my ed someone that ill get auto rejected.

 

This is great advice and something that I tell others. Keep in mind that if you're in a state like VA/MI/NC/TX it doesn't make sense applying to OOS public target/semi schools. 

Also, note that generally recruiting from privates will be easier than recruiting at publics ((Duke, UChicago, Northwestern) >> (Michigan, Berkeley, Virginia)).

Agree that UChicago, Northwestern and Duke are looking for the same stuff as Ivies. You have to assess your situation and then move forward. 

Curious - using this strategy, where did you end up?

 

Anonymous Monkey:

You do realize that getting into a school like UChi/Duke/NW is just as hard as getting into an Ivy? I don't even think that the public flagship schools have ED. To help you out, here's essentially what I did when I was applying to colleges and I got into an Ivy:



  • Apply to all 8 Ivies
  • Apply to other top privates like Stanford, Duke, MIT, UChicago, Northwestern
    • ED to any of the schools above, provided your grades are good
  • Apply to every other private target/semi school, so NYU, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Williams, Amherst, Vandy
  • Apply to all of the good state schools, so Michigan Ross, UVA, UCB, UT, and maybe one of UNC/IU
  • Apply to 2 safety schools, I did Penn State being from PA.


This should get you to about 24-25 schools, and you will hopefully get into one (or multiple) good schools. Good luck!


i just wanna chime in and say, not sure when you were applying to college but nowadays it requires much more than just good grades. grades and test scores are more like a minimum / screening these days.

 

if you can get into ivies, finaid is very generous. why dont consider ivies?

 

Idk if my stats are good enough for an ivy. My parents also make enough as to where I get zero aid anywhere, and theyre willing to help with college but i dont want to make them pay 400k for school if i can get the same job from a less expensive school.

 

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