A kid who has two completely different passions looking for schools

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm a rising junior and I'm trying to figure out which schools would be good for me to apply to. </p>

<p>My biggest problem is that I'm interested in both mathematics and writing, and I don't know that many schools that are strong at both... I'm looking at Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Columbia right now, but do I have a shot? My class rank is terrible. </p>

<p>I'd like to find some schools that would be good matches for me but also have good programs in both math and writing. Good financial aid is a bonus. Super-grateful for any help! </p>

<p>SAT I: Didn't take it yet, but judging from my PSAT score (221 taking it cold) I think I can get at least a 2340.
SAT II: 800 Chinese, 800 Math 2. Maybe Chemistry or Biology next year.
Unweighted GPA: 3.95 currently, 4.25 weighted
Rank: Our school only has unweighted rank on transcripts, so I'm 62 there, but weighted I'm 2nd out of ~400 (hopefully I can figure out a way to write it in or something...if not, well...)
AP (place score in parenthesis): I go to IB school, but took Stats, Lang, Micro/Macro, Calc BC, and Chinese this year. Probably did badly (lots of 3s and 4s, most likely Chinese only 5).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: My strongest accomplishment is probably winning a Scholastic National Medal in writing this year. I'm also an AIME qualifier (trying to qualify for USAMO next year, but of course that's a stretch). I usually place 3rd or 4th at badminton at state. I was treasurer on student council this year but not on it next year, and I founded and edit our school's magazine. I do a couple clubs, treasurer for one of them. </p>

<p>Thing is, I spend most of my time writing or doing math, not in a structured class or club, but just in my free time like hobbies, so I don't know if those count as actual ECs.</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: I did a research internship last year at the local university under a professor.
Volunteer/Community service: I tutor at my school regularly, and I have 80 hours for working at a camp.</p>

<p>State: OR
School Type: Ranked as a US News silver school, top 10 in state, public, ~1500 kids
Race(s): Chinese
Possible hook: None
Gender: Female</p>

<p>Thanks so much!!!</p>

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<p><a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Lots of schools do have good math and English departments. That includes some state universities that are not super-hard to get into, like Minnesota, Rutgers, Ohio State, Indiana, etc… But your state of residency and cost constraints will likely be the most significant factors in making a realistic application list.</p>

<p>If you are a native or heritage speaker of Chinese, you may want to make sure that your SAT subject test in Chinese is an additional SAT subject test beyond those which your colleges recommend or require for admission (i.e. if your colleges require two, have at least two others besides Chinese). Some colleges discount SAT subject tests in native or heritage languages.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Thanks! So should I look into my state schools first? They’re more safety than match for me based on scores and GPA.</p>

<p>And yeah, hopefully I can take another subject or two by this time next year :smiley: </p>

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<p>What state are you a resident of, and do you know how much your parents will contribute?</p>

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<p>I think you’ll be a person of interest to many schools, but first clarify what you mean by “good financial aid is a bonus.” Many of the most selective colleges only offer need based aid. If your family qualifies for it, you’ll get it. If not, you won’t. Otherwise, you could look at schools that offer merit aid, which would mean a different list. So be clear whether bonus, means you need it or just want it.</p>

<p>Second, think about how important a degree in creative writing is to you. Would an English major with a concentration in writing work for you? If so, then you’ll have lots of choices. Most colleges have published writers on their faculty either full time or visiting. Seeing who’s teaching will give you an idea of the focus of the English department.</p>

<p>Third, don’t overlook some of the small liberal arts colleges, especially those located in the midwest, south or in rural areas that aggressively recruit high achieving Asians. Women’s colleges can be good matches/safeties as well. </p>

<p>Some that I’d look at (in varying levels of selectivity) are
Low match: Smith, Skidmore, Rhodes
High Match: Grinnell, Kenyon, Carleton, Hamilton
Reach: Williams, Wesleyan, Middlebury </p>

<p>Since Williams is the one I’m the most familiar with I will note that it has both excellent math and English departments with some highly respected authors on the faculty. Double majoring is fairly common. A math loving, creative writing, badminton playing Asian female from Oregon sounds like someone they’d respond to. :)</p>

<p>You can ask your counselor to explain your rank in his/her recommendation.</p>

<p>Yes, doing math and writing independently can count as a valuable EC, but it’s up to you to communicate your level of interest and involvement in your application. You can do this with your essays and resumes. Make sure your recommenders understand to stress this as well. Some schools, especially small LACs, encourage writing samples.</p>

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<p>If the OP has completed calculus BC as a sophomore in high school, then she may find LACs and other schools without strong graduate math programs to be somewhat limiting in math, if she continues to take math courses at a local college while in high school. Math majors that advanced often want to take graduate level math courses as undergraduates.</p>

<p>Some LACs do have cross registration agreements with research universities to increase the selection of courses, but administrative and commuting convenience need to be checked (e.g. Barnard - Columbia is more convenient than Wellesley - MIT).</p>

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<p>It’s too early to narrow down OP, so keep reading and learning. Look into Brown. Especially the applied math is tops. And anything involving writing there is good. One of my daughter’s favorite classes was a fiction writing workshop she took as a senior and she was a math/cs major.</p>

<p>I’m not too sure about naming two solitary occupations as EC but I suppose you must write in your own time to be able to have material for submissions, of course. But the math? That rank is ug, do ppl play games there with rank? everyone has a 4.0? but will the GC check ‘most rigorous schedule’ then?</p>

<p>An Asian girl I know was waitlisted at Grinnell this year and accepted at Wesleyan. Those are both worth looking at if you like the campus/culture etc. But don’t tell anyone at school if you are applying to Grinnell. 2 classmates she shared this ‘secret’ with were admitted. Also accepted Cornell, check out CAS, there are only 4200 undergrads in the college, although it is much bigger overall university.</p>

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<p>Reach (for everyone), but Harvey Mudd would be a possibility. Their mission statement is: </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Every Mudder also selects a concentration of courses in a single discipline or in an interdisciplinary field chosen from the distinct areas of liberal arts study offered at The Claremont Colleges. My kid, for example, is probably going to do a visual/studio arts concentration along with her probable CS major at Mudd.</p>

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<p>210 on the PSAT does not translate to 2340 on the SAT. Do you not realize the huge difference between that and a near perfect score?</p>

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<p>If you are Chinese, you should probably take an additional subject test.</p>

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<p>You might consider looking for technical writing programs - which is basically learning to write about science and technology. While there are tons of starving writers out there, on the whole, there is a demand for technical writers, as most writers don’t know beans about math and science, let alone know how to write about them. It’s an interesting combination of the two disciplines.</p>

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<p>Personally, I think that it might be best to focus on finding schools that have excellent writing programs (as opposed to English programs or departments) and then explore their math programs too. My perception is that math departments are far more likely to be good than are writing programs. So, if you find a good writing program, it is reasonably likely that the college will also have a good math department.</p>

<p>For job prospects you could either double major, or major in math and minor in writing (or vice versa). As MrMom62 pointed out, getting a writing job can be difficult. However, math expertise is highly valued.</p>

<p>My recommendation goes against conventional wisdom that a major and minor should sort of be related; such as majoring in physics and minoring in math. Nothing wrong with doing that, of course, but some people benefit more by having their major and minor be rather different.</p>

<p>One strong recommendation – look into Kenyon College, which has a long reputation for its writing program. Also has a marvelously relaxing campus.</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone for your responses! I haven’t heard of the majority of the schools suggested, and I’ll definitely check them out.
I think being a technical writer could definitely be a viable position. At this point, I’m really not sure exactly what career options I have that I will be passionate about but also can support myself with.</p>

<p>@BrownParent I don’t know if the math EC could work. I’m trying to qualify for USAMO, which (I think) is assumed to take at least a couple hours a day for several years of work to be able to do, unless you’re especially talented or lucky I guess. I do structured things like math club and math team and some online classes, but the majority of the time spent on it is individually without an organization.
For badminton, we don’t have ranks at the state level, you can only get an estimate of how good you are by where you place.
Our school is pretty competitive academically. This year, we had eighteen seniors graduate with a 4.0. However that’s not typical, usually we get 6-10 seniors with 4.0. And I forgot about the GC recommendation, but I’m sure she would check that off.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ I’m in OR, and my parents could contribute up to 20k annually. </p>

<p>@momrath‌ I think I do qualify for some need-based aid (I applied to private boarding schools in the past and got about half-tuition, and our financial situation hasn’t changed much since then). Thank you for the list, I will definitely look at those schools.</p>

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<p>You need to clarify your estimated family contribution before you go any further. Ask your parents to use the on-line net price calculators for several of the colleges that you are interested. If it turns out that their EFC is around $20K then you can go forward with a wide list. </p>

<p>If on the other hand it appears that you will not get enough NEED based aid to make up the difference then you will have to concentrate on colleges that offer MERIT aid. There is some overlap, but many of the colleges that have been suggested only offer need based aid. </p>

<p>For suggestions on schools that offer merit aid, run through the thread at the top of Parents board on this site. To start, I’d look at Grinnell, Rhodes, Smith, Emory. I can’t speak to the relative strengths of their math and writing programs, but they are all offer excellent academics and good merit aid.</p>

<p>There are others, but you need to drill down on your family’s specific financial situation first.</p>

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<p>^^yes, don’t base it off boarding school, that is not really related. </p>

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<p>Every top-rated college will have excellent English and Math departments. With IB/AP credits, you should be able to double-major, or minor, anywhere. </p>

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<p>There’s a difference between an excellent English program and an excellent writing program.</p>

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<p>Writing-intensive courses can actually be spread across many departments. For example, MIT has courses (or “subjects” in MIT-jargon) in every department (“course” in MIT-jargon) which are designated as “communication intensive”, and each student must take at least two in humanities, arts, and/or social studies and at least two in his/her major to graduate.</p>

<p>As far as double majoring goes, math and most humanities and social studies subjects typically do not require very large numbers of courses, so double majoring is generally quite feasable, especially for a student who has already completed several frosh/soph-level math courses before frosh entry.</p>

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<p>Take a look at Roanoke College. It’s very strong in both math and writing. There’s a recent article on their website spotlighting a student who had her work published. Also, with your stats, you should have a very good chance at getting one of their full ride scholarships. Best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>Roanoke’s math department has relatively limited offerings, according to <a href=“http://roanoke.edu/Academics/Academic_Departments/Math_CS_and_Physics/Mathematics/Math_Courses/Course_Descriptions_-_Math.htm”>http://roanoke.edu/Academics/Academic_Departments/Math_CS_and_Physics/Mathematics/Math_Courses/Course_Descriptions_-_Math.htm&lt;/a&gt; .</p>