Help a Black engineer find a fit !

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>Oh hey, sorry for the title, just trying to get some views. So I am not really looking for a chance, one would be great, but I am trying more to find input to where I would fit best. Any help appreciated.</p>

<p>Academic-
• UW GPA = 3.92 / W GPA = 4.36/ Top 10
• SAT = 2010 (660cr, 700math, 650wr) / SAT II = Math2(730)
• HS is Gold Medal On US News, 2 Junior year AP’s, 4 AP classes Senior year
• Major: Biomedical/Chemical Engineering or Human Bio, but with interests also in classics and anthro, maybe premed</p>

<p>Unique Traits-
• URM- Black/Latvian
• Low-income
• First Generation to go to College
• Red-Green Colorblind
• Minority interested in S.T.E.M.</p>

<p>School Activities/Sports-
• Varsity Track & Field(Captain),Varsity XC(captain),JV Basketball(captain), Varsity Swimming(lol so few urm's on the team)
• Minority/World Culture Club
• National Honor Society/Mu Alpha Theta/ Science Honor Society lol
• Student Athletic Trainer/Hospital Volunteer</p>

<p>Award/Scholarships/Special Programs-
• Questbridge Finalist
• Nordstrom Scholarship Finalist
• Stanford Phoenix Scholar Mentorship
• Venture Scholar
• Student Athlete Award</p>

<p>High Achieving//Elite College Visit Programs/Winky faces in admissions-
• MIT Weekend Immersion in Science and Engineering
• Cornell Fall Diversity Visit
• Dartmouth Bound
• Explore Bowdoin
• Pomona College</p>

<p>Personality/Interests-
• EXTROVERT, love chatting with random people, want a social environment
• Social Scene- ME ENCANTA PARTYING, not really into hard drugs tho
• People- they don’t all have to be social climbers, but a little less awkward then MIT ya know
• Academic Environment- Rigorous, but not sleep depriving, good balance, don’t want a very stressed student body, research opportunities
• I love S.T.E.M. but I also want a liberal arts education as well, not really feeling the tech schools
• Accepting/NON-Pretentious student body, I know that it’s not your fault polo and Abercrombie have a store at your house, but I don’t want it shoved in my face, ya know
• Sport friendly- I am not expecting SEC style fans, I don’t want to go back to the south, but I would like to have a couple peers cheering with me in the stands and to play club sports with
• EAST COAST, I’ve lived in SoCal for 12 years and the Dirty south for 6, I want a change</p>

<p>So I know that was A LOT, and I know I can’t have it all, but could you look at the list tell me the do’s and don’t, any opinion wanted !</p>

<p>Colleges-
• Yale
• Stanford
• Harvard
• Princeton
• Cornell “Conditional Acceptance”
• Penn
• Brown
• Dartmouth “Conditional Acceptance”
• MIT “winky face ;)”
• I’ve already applied to the UC’s, matches and safeties, so none of those plz</p>

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<p>Maybe you should go to Harvard: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1421362-help-black-engineer-find-fit.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1421362-help-black-engineer-find-fit.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hahaha very nice, gibby. </p>

<p>To the OP, based on what you said you would hate it at MIT. Dartmouth is famous for its party scene and frat emphasis, so you would probably feel more at home there.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that engineering is a notoriously challenging major. All the colleges you listed enroll some of the most talented math and science kids in the country. If you check the Common Data Set, you’ll see that you sit at about the 20th percentile in terms of SAT scores. I’m not saying this precludes success in the hard majors, but certainly in order to succeed you won’t get by working less than the average pre-engineer.</p>

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<p>This looks like Stanford, Princeton, Cornell written all over it.</p>

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<p>Uggggh! Not the biggest fan of URMs atm :(</p>

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<p>^
Good lord, nobody is taking your spot, you don’t have one any more than the next applicant. Please don’t make the OP’s thread about that!</p>

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<p>Consider applying to Duke! Pratt is the most improved engineering college in the country according to US News (and it’s way under-ranked because of its small class size). Plus Duke has a vibrant black community (I know this because I’m part African myself) and a campus of unrivaled beauty. Basketball unites the student body and makes the public at large perceive the school as being incredibly prestigious (not saying that prestige should be one of your primary considerations, but it can’t hurt). The student body has a reputation for being outgoing and unpretentious, so you will undoubtedly be in good company.</p>

<p>Check this article out for more information</p>

<p>[Ranking</a> America’s Leading Universities](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/36_leading_universities.html]Ranking”>http://www.jbhe.com/features/36_leading_universities.html)</p>

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<p>FWIW, my son is in first year BSE at Pton (and a varsity athlete) and it is totally sleep depriving. He is doing well but the load is crazy. He finds the environment VERY sport friendly but academically it’s very, very demanding. So if you want to combine sports, sleep, social life and engineering, Princeton might not be the best fit.</p>

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<p>@kenyanpride: That article is ■■■■■■■■. Your success is dependent on noone but yourself. That article strongly implies that somehow schools can influence the success of certain races, which is simply preposterous. Affirmative action can only get you so far. Sooner or later, you have to learn to succeed on your own merits.</p>

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<p>I strongly agree with iceui2.</p>

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<p>Re your personality / “fit” goals:</p>

<p>-Extrovert / social scene: I think it would be fine.
-Academics: sleep depriving if you let it get that way. Personally I find the balance good but then again I’m not a partier so…but it’s definitely possible to keep a good balance.
-STEM + liberal arts: gotcha! That’s why I came here!
-Accepting: I think we are! But keep in mind I’m white (more or less…). I think that you don’t get wealth-based snobbiness as much as the stereotypes suggest, but maybe I’m not moving in the “right” social circles…</p>

<p>rajoftheuk: PLEASE don’t come here. We don’t need people like you.</p>

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<p>Some of these comments…augh…anyway…</p>

<p>• Social Scene- It’s here. Oh yes…
• People- It’s a pretty healthy, non-awks environment, I would say.
• Academic Environment- Academics are certainly rigorous, and the work will only be sleep depriving if you let it.
• S.T.E.M + LA = Princeton
• Accepting/NON-Pretentious student body: Diversity and acceptance were major factors for me in choosing a college. And from the perspective of a minority student, I personally feel that Princeton embodies this.
• Sports friendly - That’s a good way to describe it, “sports friendly.” The school definitely doesn’t revolve around sports, but a lot of people usually go to the HY games, which can be pretty fun. I personally like it that way.
• East Coast - NJ is eh… but I’m from NYC, and it’s really easy to get there from Princeton.</p>

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<p>@Kali…New Jersey’ has bad areas. But it’s not going to be “eh” for PU students because the university is located in one of the nicest areas in the state with access to NYC and Philly in an hour or less. The suburbs, boroughs, whatever, around Princeton are really nice, if expensive to shop at/in. Compared to most other top East Coast schools, Princeton has one of the best locations. The only schools with similar or better “quality of location” are Harvard and MIT.</p>

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<p>I think you misunderstood what I meant. Princeton, NJ is obviously a really nice, quaint town. But the state of NJ itself doesn’t have much to offer. And nobody is trying to chill in the Princeton suburbs either. As mentioned, NYC and Philly are nearby and easy to get to. That’s where a lot of students go. </p>

<p>And I’m really not sure why you think Harvard and MIT are the only schools in a “quality location” on the East Coast. Did you forget about Columbia, Georgetown, UPenn, etc.? There are a lot of other great locations on the East Coast other than Cambridge.</p>

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<p>OP, a big research university will tick off the most boxes from your (very interesting, unusual!) list. </p>

<p>Take a close look at U. Michigan: STEM + liberal arts excellence, superb sports programs, tremendous social diversity, great parties/spirit/Greek scene. </p>

<p>And lots of latvian-americans! Not sure how many latvian-african-americans though. (Love your bgrd, btw - I can see how you’d be excellent at track and field!).</p>

<p>You seem like an interesting guy with a great perspective on life. Best of luck to you.</p>