Does this list correspond with my stats?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>US citizen studying in Pakistan, in final year of A-Levels.</p>

<p>SAT:
Superscored: 2050 (730 M 640 CR 680 W)
Highest single-sitting: 2010 (690 M 640 CR 680 W)</p>

<p>SAT II: Taking in December in Math II and Physics. Expect high in Math and decent in Physics.</p>

<p>O-Level Grades (Grades 9-10): 6A's 1B 1D
A1 Grades (Junior year): 3A's 1B</p>

<p>A-Level subjects: Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Economics, Accounting</p>

<p>Recommendations: Pretty good to great.</p>

<p>Essays: Need to get started on these but I'm sure I'll write these pretty well and will try to make up for some of my weaknesses on these.</p>

<p>ECs: Almost none. Some community service, an internship and won an essay competition.</p>

<p>Interests/Possible Majors: Mathematics, Philosophy, Economics</p>

<p>I'm looking for a college with a great intellectual atmosphere. A place where I can go and learn, broaden my intellectual horizons, pursue my interests and have fun at the same time.
It shouldn't be too small and it should be preferably in the east coast.</p>

<p>I know my stats aren't that good but I seriously regret some of the misguided decisions I made during high school and have a new-found interest and motivation in academics and am highly excited about going to college. I hope to bring that across to colleges in my essays and hopefully they'll understand.</p>

<p>Here's my current list of schools about which I'm thinking of applying to.</p>

<p>Cornell University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Chicago
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
University of Rochester
Lafayette College
University of Virginia
Boston University
Purdue University
Syracuse University</p>

<p>I know some of these are really high reaches for me but I want to apply to them anyway. Please sort out schools out of these as reaches/matches/safeties etc and make suggestions about adding more or removing schools. I think I need more matches and safeties. I'll also be needing a lot of financial aid.</p>

2

<p>I think it is top heavy, particularly if you need financial aid (and will not quality for much need based aid).</p>

3

<p>Looks like your school selection is all across the board (UVA/Vassar). Are you considered a resident of any state?</p>

4

<p>I’m guessin’:</p>

<p>Reach: Cornell, Penn, Chicago, Virginia
Low Reach: Vanderbilt, Vassar
Match: Rochester, Lafayette, B.U., Syracuse
Safety: Purdue</p>

5

<p>Top heavy? What does that mean? And I do qualify for need-based financial aid.</p>

<p>I know about the all over the place thing. I think I’m confused whether I want a large colorful school with tons to do and a lot of diversity (UVA) or a small school with a non-vocational and intellectual focus (Vassar). I like the idea of having a large school with tons of new people to meet and having a lot to do but also as to having a place which doesn’t mainly focus on vocational studies and aims to turn you into thinking persons. And no, I’m not a resident of any state.</p>

<p>Schmaltz. Thanks, I was thinking pretty much along the same lines except I was placing UVA as a low reach.</p>

6

<p>Top heavy means you have too many reaches relative to matches and safeties.<br>
We can’t say whether you qualify for need-based FA. That depends on your family income and assets. But since you are a US citizen, you’ll have that advantage.
The location might not be ideal, but you would otherwise like Oberlin.</p>

7

<p>Hmm, right. I also thought that it has a bit too many reaches and I might exclude Penn. That’s why I was asking for more matches and safeties. I was also considering Oberlin for a while. I’ll have to give it a better look.</p>

8

<p>It doesn’t matter if you qualify for FA if you apply to schools that don’t meet need without a bunch of loans or gaps. I know that some of your schools meet 100% of need w/o loans, but I don’t know if your entire list does (including unnamed matches and safeties). </p>

<p>Are you comfortable if your financial aid package includes many loans?</p>

<p>Are your parents US citizens, too? Does anyone know if a US citizen with non-US citizen parents living outside of the US would have a harder time getting loans (such as ones that need co-signers)?</p>

<p>Purdue might be a safety for admission, but it wont’ be a financial safety at all. You’d be OOS and they won’t meet need.</p>

<p>You need some financial safeties that will give you some good merit since those schools don’t typically meet 100% need. Scholarships dont’ typically use superscores, so look for some with your best sitting.</p>

<p>Your Interests/Possible Majors: Mathematics, Philosophy, Economics ----- Are you considering double majoring? or picking one as a major and then minoring in the others?</p>

9

<p>As far as sorting out your stats is concerned, you can do that by comparing your numbers to the various schools’ Common Data Set (google can find it on a school’s web site; most publish it) in sections C9 to C12. You’ll see how you compare to the recent entering class.</p>

10

<p>mom2collegekids - I’m fine if there are loans in my package. Whatever helps me pay for college is good. And yes, I might double major depending on the load etc or I might just settle with a major/minor combo.</p>

<p>I need more suggestions for Safeties and Matches. I feel my list is too top-heavy. And I need them quick since I wanna get started on the essays.</p>

11

<p>I will suggest that you add SUNY Stony Brook and Wisconsin to your list. SUNY is significant cheaper that other schools. If money is an issue, you might want to go to Stony Brook. Wisconsin should be a good match and safety for you.</p>

<p>Hope this will help. :)</p>

12

<p>Iowa St might also be a good safety, but it won’t be a financial safety.</p>

<p>OP…I know that you won’t mind taking out loans, but will your parents co-sign if some of the loans require a co-signer? Young students can’t sign for big loans alone.</p>

<p>If your parents won’t/can’t co-sign for loans that require a co-signer, what will your back-up plan be?</p>

<p>Others… how much can a student typically borrow each year without a co-signer? $5500?</p>

13

<p>Georgia State would be a great financial safety for you.</p>

14

<p>you have a D and yet you’re applying to cornell,penn and chicago? your list is very top heavy.</p>

15

<p>mom2collegekids - I don’t see why my parents would have a problem with co-signing for a loan/</p>

<p>And most of the colleges you people have mentioned would be safeties for admission, but not so much financially.</p>

<p>collegebound41 - Yeah, I realize that. That’s why I’m asking for more safeties and matches. I might even drop Penn from the list.</p>

<p>I’m also considering U of M: Twin Cities as a match/safety. Admission in it would be certainly possible and it also meets 86% of need. Would it discriminate against OOS students when considering aid?</p>

16

<p>oh, this might be a little late,but if you took psat were you commended or a national merit scholar? ive heard schools like U of Alabama give free rides for national merit scholars. some schools also give scholarships for SAT scores,but these schools wont be top notch academically</p>

17

<p>No, I didn’t take the PSAT. And I want a school which is at least good academically, so those kind of schools are not much of an option.</p>

18

<p>First regarding FA, VERY few public Us will provide FA to OOS students, and those tend to be very competitive (like UVA). Second, I would be curious what your definition of “a school which is at least good academically” is. Many schools that provide good NMF scholarships are very good. U Alabama, U Oklahoma, U Arizona are among the top public Us in the country (not at the very top but almost) which offer excellent NMF scholarships. There are equally good LACs that do so as well. </p>

<p>Since you are looking for FA and you will be OOS for all schools you need to look for schools where you can get Merit Aid for your grades and scores - schools where you are probably in the top 25% of the applying students.</p>

19

<p>But will the merid aid I’ll get at these schools be enough to cover all costs? I pretty much need a free ride or close to one. At the moment it seems like only the colleges committed to meeting full need would be able to provide me with one.</p>

20

<p>If you really do need full FA then it seems you will have to apply to schools that meet full need.</p>