Chance Me - Liberal Arts Colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hey everyone! I am an international student who would be applying to college soon, and I would like to know my chances of getting into LACs and the lower Ivies. I would probably require financial aid.

Intended Major: Economics and possibly a minor in Political Science / Philosophy

Academic Stats:
GPA: 4.0 UW
ACT/SAT: I have not taken the ACTs or SATs yet, but I got a 35 and 1530 on a diagnostic test, so I think I can at least maintain that with sufficient practice.

ECs and Awards:

  • VP of Chess Club for 4 years, and have been in the Chess Club for 12 years
  • Have won numerous awards for chess, but the most notable ones would be finishing in the top 5 in my age group for the past 2 years. Have also been part of the team that were ranked first nationally for 2 of the past 4 years.
  • NYAA Gold Award ( Our equivalent of the Duke Of Edinburgh Award)
  • Was in my school’s NCC, was head of logistics
  • Academic awards for topping my class, and the level in English and Geography
  • Poom Belt in Taekwondo
  • Swimming ( No awards though)
  • Guitar (Have performed in public contexts thrice)
  • Arena Fide Master title in chess, could probably get to Arena Grand Master by the end of this year
  • Tutoring underprivileged kids for free
  • 2 EdX courses on economics and polisci
  • Will be serving in the military for 2 years

LORs/Essays: Probably an 8/10?

I am aware that my extracurriculars are lacking, and am looking to improve them through remote internships. What would be my chances at Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Wahington and Lee, Vassar, Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, URichmond, Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona and Middlebury? Would be open to suggestions too! Thanks for reading!

2

@Aadhitya7 Research the website and book about Colleges That Change Lives. Fiske Guide and Hidden Ivies are also good references.

Check out schools in the Pacific Northwest such as Reed and Whitman, too. Good luck.

3

Will do. Thank you!

4

Your ECs are NOT lacking - they’re pretty good. In fact, congratulations on your many accomplishments.

Now regarding your questions:

There are also no “lower” Ivies. There are the ones with higher or lower acceptance rates and ones with more or less name recognition.

While you will be competitive for all of the colleges on your list, they are all reaches for anybody. Moreover, there are many highly qualified applicants from your country, and you will be evaluated against them, not against the bulk of applicants who are from the USA. Of your list, only Amherst is need blind for international students, meaning that the rest will consider your ability to pay tuition before they decode whether to accept you, and they will prefer to accept international students who can pay full tuition.

What are you looking for in a college? It is difficult to provide you with advice, based on the list you have, since they are all very different colleges, so it is difficult to figure out why you like these colleges, except for their low acceptance rate and high USNews rankings…

While all of these are excellent schools, and if you were an American student, I would recommend them very highly, the financial aid that they have for international applicants, and not being need blind in admissions may hurt your chances, or, if you are accepted, they may offer enough aid for you. So check them out, but also check what financial aid the provide for international students.

If you will be serving in the military when you return after your degree, there is no reason to mention it. If you will be serving between now and when you apply, it is difficult to say exactly what the situation will be in another two or three years.

5

I agree that you ECs are quite good. However, you have listed a pretty long list of schools that are reaches for pretty much everyone.

Do you have budget limitations? Are you and your parents fine with paying $300,000 for four years of college? Alternately, have your checked that the schools on your list meet full need for international students and have you run their NPCs?

What country are you from?

6

Thank you for your feedback. I would have budget limitations as I would have a sibling in college and I would like to attend Law School after college. I was only able to use Harvard’s NPC as the other ones (Vassar,Amherst etc.) did not apply to international students. Also, I study in Singapore.

7

Thank you for your reply :slight_smile: I am looking for a college that is prestigious enough to justify the higher cost that I would have to pay by choosing to attend one abroad over staying here. I also wish to atend law school, and while I am aware that the college that a student attended does not play a large role in law school outcomes, I feel that a degree from a more prestigious college would be viewed more favourably by the more elite law schools (T6).

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The elite law schools don’t really have an adjustment for prestige of undergrad college. So going to a less ranked undergrad college and doing well (> 3.8) will make things easier for you. Also you’ll need a strong LSAT score.

Getting into top US colleges for an international with financial need is going to be difficult. You’ll probably end up getting accepted somewhere. But how much are your parents willing to spend? Is it worth spending $300K USD for a degree from your list? Not sure, this is something that only you can answer. But given the great opportunities at National University of Singapore, you should consider staying home for college.

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I see. Thank you for your advice :slight_smile:

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These resources can help you sort through your potential choices with respect to their economics programs:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

You may want to consider a major in public policy, which relies on the fields of political science, economics and philosophy for its foundation.

You’re on the right track: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/.

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You may want to search “Top Lawyer Producer Schools – Infographic” for a list of 20 colleges with good track records of sending their graduates on to highly regarded law schools.

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Thank you! I will look into it!

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Just to be clear, there are PLENTY of examples of kids in “prestigious” law schools who did not attend a top 20 sending schools.