<p>my profile:
female, from Beijing, China
TOEFL 112
SATI CR720+WR660+M800 1st time. taking it again in Oct., expect to get 2250+
SATII Math2 800 Physics 750
GPA: not quite sure, about 3.9-4.0?
Rank: 3/190
intended majors: psychology, anthropology, philosophy, literature(humanities)</p>
<p>EC:
(nothing really special)
vice president of student union
chief editor of the school literary magazine, in charge of the literature club
in charge of the theater club, have directed/acted in plays
president and founder of the debate club
president and founder of Model UN association
PARISexchange student
SUMMER@BROWN 2009</p>
<p>SENIOR year:
go to IVY MUN
voluntary teaching at schools for children of migrant workers
work against pet abuse</p>
<p>My perfect school would be a vibrant, artistic, diverse and academically prestigious one, just like Columbia and Brown. Though I chose two ivy schools, I'm really not an advocate of elitism and the ivy bubbles don't really bother me. </p>
<p>Columbia: (i was first interested in it because of Kerouac)
pros:
a big selling point is NYC (at least for me), the most bubbling city in the world!
A great school for almost all humanities. The core curriculum is also appealing since I'd like to get a more comprehensive education.
cons:
too hard for international students to get satisfactory FA
might get sickened of living in metropolitans (i've lived in Beijing for 17years)
(is NYC is expensive to live in?)</p>
<p>Brown:
pros:
i love Brown's philosophy: liberal and self-selecting. RISD is a great pool of creativity. the open curriculum might allow me delve into double majors.(since these is no compulsory I can take whatever i like?) Brown seems to be a better balance compared with Columbia. I'll get to know it better since i'm going there this summer.
cons:
though Providence seems to be lively it still can't match NYC in many ways. i've
never lived in small cities.</p>
<p>Other Schools i'm considering:
Amherst
Smith
Wesleyan
Barnard
...</p>
<p>You look like you have an extremely solid resume. Being third in your school and being the founder/leader of several clubs shows you dedication and passion. You definitely have the SAT Scores you need to be considered competitive, especially combined with your ecs (which you say are nothing special yet these are the strongest part of your resume). Here are a few suggestions I would give to strengthen your resume: try to raise Sat Scores (retake once and if raised, good, if not, dont stress. 2-volunteer a little (specifically something that further specifies your interests. 3-take another SAT 2 (a lot of schools like 3, and anything above a 700 is sufficient and 750 is even better).
The one thing I do not know how to analyze is the fact you are international. Other than that, everything looks great.</p>
<p>by this I’m assuming, you’re saying nyc is very expensive to live in, which is not entirely true or relevant for a college student. At columbia it’s fairly easy to live on a tight budget. You might not believe it, but kids without a meal plan live pretty comfortable under $1000 a semester, which is decent by any standards. NYC is exorbitant if you are paying rent in Manhattan, which as a college student, you are not. Cost of living otherwise is like 10-15% more expensive than a much smaller city, like philly, boston or providence. You can definitely buy $5-6 meals at restaurants near columbia, which fill you up. If you are cooking it’s more like $3-4 per meal for a big (but not huge) eater. NYC entertainment is tempting, and you could very easily blow up a lot of cash, but a disciplined person can live very comfortably and thoroughly enjoy nyc on a tight budget.</p>
<p>As for connie’s decision, I’m going to say this is actually a tough one. Both schools have aspects that fit you well, though they are quite different schools. I think you should do more research and read threads on this forum as well as on the Brown forum to get a better feel for the schools. If you absolutely cannot decide which one you want, I would actually apply RD to both and compare options once I have them infront of me, alternatively you might only get into one or only another school altogether. From the information you have given us, I don’t think you are going to get a strong and true answer on this forum.</p>
<p>From what I heard/read about, it’s extremely hard to get in from China. Columbia probably takes in no more that 5 students from the mainland (my guess). I know that one year Harvard only accepted two Chinese students (from China proper, that is).</p>
<p>And keep in mind that financial aid plays a huge role too. Neither C nor B are need-blind for applicants from the PRC.</p>
<p>this is filled with a ton misinformation. Columbia gets like 5 students from the mainland each year, meaning they probably take like ~15, yield won’t be great because most who get in are prestige whores and opt for hyps if they get in. I have a friend working with alumni in India, and this year like 13 kids were accepted from India, with 5 matriculating. China should be about the same or slightly more acceptees.</p>
<p>Getting in from China is already difficult putting you closer to the top of the students who apply for FA, so given that you have what it takes to get in from China without aid, you’re actually very likely to get in with aid if you apply. International who apply for aid are put in a separate pool and the top ~100-150 student get their full need met. So if you are in the top 15 applicants from china, you are likely to be in the top 100-150 international students applying for aid. It makes little sense not to apply for aid. Your chances are lowered coming from China, but they don’t become significantly worse because of aid.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Columbia specifically. But a general piece of advice given to internationals applying to need-aware schools is to ask for as little fin aid as possible (do a google search).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ok you are right with the numbers here. But my point still holds: it’ll be extremely difficult to get in from China, probably harder than domestic.</p>
<p>^ yup it would be harder than domestic, that’s the definition of “it’s more difficult to get in coming from China”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>dude, she’s asking about Columbia, not a general school. Some schools have a different system, where they have a specific amount of money set aside for international fin aid. Here when someone has a huge need, they’d rather reject the person than give them full aid, because they could get two others for the same money. Columbia does not do this, Columbia puts all those internationals applying for fin aid in a different pool, picks the best X number and then meets their full need, the amount you ask for is irrelevant. All my international friends are either paying full way or getting a huge package from Columbia, i.e. full need met, and a usually a large need.</p>
<p>i think there are a lot of posts comparing Columbia to Brown, my previous thread included. It just fascinates me now. These 2 are complete opposites!</p>
<p>I think in terms of educational methodology Brown and Columbia are opposites. However, they both seem to be strong in the humanities. The student bodies also seem to celebrate strong diversity and a spirit of liberalism.</p>