CAN U HELP ME?? additional school sugguestions, ivies, ED?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Wats up guys. I just need some advice on college selections I'm about to make pretty soon. Let me tell you a little bit about myself...</p>

<p>I'm a 17 yr old, persian-american, living in va. I go to sort of a magnet high school within a regular high school, which specializes in math and science. I'm the valedictorian of my class with a 5 something (heavily weighted) gpa (no b's ever). I'm really interested in science and technology, and for the past 3 years ive been doing a lot of research in dentistry and ( in this summer's internship) drugs of abuse. I've presented my research city science fairs, states, and the va academy of science and hav won a slew of awards. Aside from that, I also like politics, debate, and this winter i'm actually going to the international model un conference in the Hague, netherlands. I'm not really sure whatmajor I should pursue, because my career choices are really up in the air now --> dentistry or medicine, biz, or law?? I know that your undergrad major doesnt have to pertain to what you want to do afterwards..so may choose biology..but again, i am open to any suggestions</p>

<p>Here are choices so far:</p>

<p>UVA
Georgetown
Columbia College*
UPENN*
U Miami</p>

<ul>
<li>out of these, my top two would be columbia and upenn, on the condition that i get a considerable amount of money to attend. By no means am I going to put myself in 40g a year debt just for a b.s. Honestly I am not of the these guys who is dead-set crazy on going to an ivy league school (unlike some other CCers). I just prefer to attend a reputable school in a big city with nightlife and lots of places to see and do. The only thing that worries me, besides the cost, of going to an ivy is also the rigor and competition. Is it worth it to be a small fish in a big pond? Also, should I apply ED to CC, b/c the admissions rate is lower??</li>
</ul>

<p>-UVA is one of, if not, the best public school in the country, and it is relatively cheap. (4 years tuition is less than 1 year at a private school). My only qualms are that its only an hour away from where i live, and it doesnt look like theres much to do in charlottesville, and a handful of kids in my class are probably going there too (it is everyones dream in my school to go to uva)</p>

<p>-I'm sort of 50% on miami. Obviously its a great place to live...but its not as reputable as other schools. I'd consider it a safety, plus, they offer some good academic scholarships</p>

<ul>
<li>and finally, g-town. I've visited, and i thinks its great, but expensive. They were building a new business school and also have a great law school and an up-and-coming science program</li>
</ul>

<p>-also, california is also an option. if you guys have any recommedation on schools in CA, just holla. I dont want to apply to more than 5 or 6 schools though.</p>

<ul>
<li>feel free to comment/suggest any schools i might be interested in</li>
</ul>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>
[quote]
-also, california is also an option. if you guys have any recommedation on schools in CA, just holla. I dont want to apply to more than 5 or 6 schools though.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Since you are Persian, you might consider UCLA. The Westwood Village area just south of the campus has several Persian restaurants and shops.<br>
Westwood</a> Iranian Businesses</p>

3

<p>wow..very neat...ill have the freshman 15 in no time if the cheloh kabob is so close..haha</p>

4

<p>Franklin Olin College of Engineering (If you don't mind a small school) gives free tuition to all students and has an excellent program</p>

5

<p>You didn't mention your family's ability to pay tuition--some of those schools do not give any merit aid at all, and so you would have to meet what they consider to be your estimated family contribution, which could be a lot, or you would need to come up with some good outside scholarships that are guaranteed for four years--With your stats, you should have many good choices--and you might think about some really top schools that give merit aid such as Duke or Rice, or schools that are known to be generous with meeting financial need, such as Harvard or Stanford.</p>

6

<p>our family income is around 100,000 a year, but my dad and i haven't talked about the max contribution he is willing to make. Which ones don't give merit aid?? </p>

<ul>
<li>i received an email from columbia a few weeks ago that they were eliminating all loans (regardless of income) and replacing them with university grants, and "Families with calculated incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 and with typical assets will see their parent contributions significantly reduced."</li>
</ul>

<p>-so, based on this how much can i expect to get from them?</p>

<ul>
<li>also, can anyone answer my question about the rigor and competition at ivy league schools?</li>
</ul>

7

<p>Those salary figures are kind of misleading because many schools evaluate whether or not your assets and overall financial picture actually qualifies you as someone in the 60 to 100k bracket. It's not just salary. You won't know about your aid options until you apply but you certainly shouldn't not apply because you think your package won't be large enough. You haven't provided any test score information which is incredibly important in gaging your changes or the type of schools you should be aiming for or applying early to. I can't really make any suggestions without that information.</p>

8

<p>i understand what you mean david. Again, the email just said 60K to 100K, with TYPICAL ASSETS. I mean all we have is a house, and we had another but my brother bought it....so thats it. Actually, we probably have more assets in Iran, haha.</p>

<p>Oh, and heres my tests:</p>

<p>SAT - 2050 (March)
CR-640, MATH-740, WRITING-670
*shooting for 2200+ in october</p>

<p>SAT II, Math 2 760, US History 780, Chem 780</p>

<p>AP's
Stats (07) - 5
APUSH (08) - 5
CHEM (08) - 5</p>

<p>Senior Courses, AP GOV, AP CALC, AP Enviro, AP Bio, Spanish, English, Shakespeare Studies, and Biomedical Engineering</p>

9

<p>bump please</p>

10

<p>Bump...............</p>

11

<p>look into Harvey Mudd, Olin, Univ of Chicago, Rice & Stanford. In terms of cost, McGill might be worth looking at. The problem with Canadian universities is that you have to know whether you want to apply to commerce, engineering, sciences, or arts & sciences at the time of application.</p>

12

<p>bump...any more suggestions?</p>

13

<p>If you want merit aid, look at Tulane, USC, and Case Western.</p>

14

<p>I would consider the University of the Pacific in California. They are known for their dentistry programs.
Pre-Dental</a> - University of the Pacific</p>

15

<p>USC?, Southern California or South Carolina?</p>

16

<p>bump.................</p>