help an indian out

College Search & Selection
1

<p>okay, so I'm starting to get very confused about the whole college-selecting process and overwhelmed with all the information being bombarded at me.</p>

<p>i am 17, indian ethnicity and hindu, immigrant parents (idk if that makes a difference)</p>

<p>i have a 97 highschool average, unweighted class rank of 14/ 289 as of junior year</p>

<p>rigorous course load, some AP's i've taken are : AP World History, AP Language and Composition, AP US history, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, IB Spanish 4</p>

<p>senior year (in the fall) i plan on taking: AP Physics, AP Calculus, IB Spanish 5, AP Lit, AP Environmental and regents government and economics</p>

<p>I really like University of Rochester, my brother goes there and is currently working on his phD. I also like BC and Colgate, though i'm unsure of my chances...</p>

<p>BC is religiously affiliated which i don't like, but it wouldnt stop me from going there</p>

<p>but what i'm wondering is what other schools would be a fit for me.?</p>

<p>i would definitly want financial aid, suburban-urban setting is ideal though i wouldnt mind a rural area if i really liked the school, no farther north then massachusetts, not considering much in the south, no farther west of illinois, small/ medium sized, with nice/laid back people, lots of social things to do..</p>

<p>SAT scores not that great..
i took them in December without preparing
MATH: 710
CR:550
WRITING: 600</p>

<p>i retook them in JUne with a bit of preparation, feeling confident that i did better. i;ll get my scores back in a few weeks. i also plan on taking them again in october and maybe the ACTS then too.</p>

<p>i want a biology/ biochemistry major in college and hope to go into pre-med</p>

<p>ive played tennis since beginning of sophomore year and i was a captain</p>

<p>ECS: i work part time jobs (at a pharmacy, summer camp, hotel)
Secretary of Adventure club for 3 years
Secretary of National Honor Society
in Spanish NAtional Honor Society
SEAS Club (Environmental) for 3 years
Key Club (Volunteer/ Community Service ) for four years</p>

<p>Finger Lakes Scholar Award
Principles Recognition Award
Most Improved Player</p>

<p>I'm a People to People student ambassador</p>

<p>PLEASE PLEASE HELP</p>

<p>i hope thats enough information. im sure there's things that i'm forgetting/leaving out</p>

<p>i jsut want to get a head start on this whole process and hopefully have some of my common applications done before end of summer because i have a lot going on this year.</p>

<p>THANKSS SOOOOO MUCH!</p>

2

<p>Hey there buddy. Let me try and help you out. You seem to be a very good student but your SAT scores are a tad low for someone who has such a high gpa. This may cause colleges to question your school and its academic programs. Usually a student with high gpa will score in the 2000+ range but since you retook lets not worry about that now.</p>

<p>Before I begin suggesting other schools, I need to know if you need significant financial aid. If not then some good schools to look at for premed would be UCLA, University of Michigan, and UNC-CH for the public universities. For the private universities, they generally tend to give more financial aid. I would look at USC, Haverford, and Boston College. University of Virginia is also an excellent school and will give you significant financial aid if you demonstrate a great need. </p>

<p>Good luck with your search. If I were you, I would look into UCLA. Great school right there.</p>

3

<p>thank you for your input. i wouldn’t need a lot of financial aid, but i would definitely need some.</p>

<p>i all ready like the UC system but i heard that they discriminate out of state students
(i’m from new york) and also it is very far from home and i’m not sure whether or not going that far would be an option, my parents may not like it.</p>

<p>what do you think my chances are at a place like georgetown or uchicago?</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

4

<p>Yeah those two are two great universities. If your family if middle class, I believe that U Chicago will give you little to no financial aid though. But if family makes less than like 60,000 or so a year U of Chicago will give you a lot. </p>

<p>Georgetown, I’m not too familiar with in regard to financial aid but its an excellent school as well. I think it might be slightly easier to get accepted to U of Chicago. Just write great, passionate essays that really reveal who you are and I’m sure you can get in. If you apply to Georgetown, do early action, I think that helps a lot. At my school this year, I think 8 got in EA. </p>

<p>One more thing about U of C. Its very academical if thats a word. You probably be studying and working much harder at U of C than at some other university. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t say the UC’s discriminate. Its just a little more difficult to get in. You have the GPA so I wouldn’t worry about that. Just bring up your SAT a little. I visited UCLA and its the place to be. Nice weather. Great academics. Great students. Great professors and so on.</p>

5

<p>thank you!</p>

<p>i’m definitely widening my search because ever since freshman year i’d been set on going to the University of Rochester …but i don’t mean to seem cocky or arrogant that i could probably go to one a little bit better academically?</p>

<p>also i’m having trouble deciding which schools i would make safety schools!</p>

<p>and whats a safe number of schools to apply to?</p>

<p>thannnnks again!</p>

6

<p>p.s would uc berkeley be too much of a reach?</p>

7

<p>I would say Berkeley and UCLA are about the same difficulty for an OOS student maybe a little more so for Berkeley.</p>

<p>Yeah I think you should definitely consider some more competitive schools. I’m sure you can get into some of the schools you mentioned. However, don’t take University of Rochester off your list. Its still a great school.</p>

<p>I’m almost certain you can get into University of Michigan since your GPA is so high. University of Michigan Ann Arbor is a very very well regarded school by employers and graduate schools. I would say Michigan would be a low reach for you right now since your sat is low. Just go to US News to see what school is good for your desire program then go on collegeboard to look up more information on that particular school. I would apply to about 10 schools. Have like 1 safety, 3-4 matches, and the rest reaches.</p>

8

<p>Berkeley is a big reach. Your CR and writing are at or below the 25% level (and those are only that low due to instate applicants). You will get very little aid from OOS public U’s unless you have great scores. Look at the SUNYs which are bargains for you.</p>

9

<p>okay, im hoping that when i get my test scores backthey will be higher. my cumulative gpa will definitely go up after this year too. 97 is the average for my freshman and sophomore years… this year i had around a 98.4. and hopefully next year i’ll be able to keep that up aswell. </p>

<p>the guidance counselors at my school say that students from my high school usually do better on the ACT…so if i didn’t do that much better on my SATS but did very well on my ACTs would that make a difference?</p>

<p>if berkeley is too much of a reach,can you please suggest some other schools that may interest me? thank you.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>Don’t overlook Stony Brook, Binghamtom, and UB. If you’re considering grad/med school please do yourself the favor of making undergrad as no-loan/low loan as possible. Pre-med is an advising track many colleges offer, but some do it better than others. I think these 3 SUNY’s are likely to do it well and offer you opportunities for research and related EC’s that would serve you well should you decide to apply to med schools and I believe all of them offer merit aid and honors colleges. I know UB has an LLC specifically for pre-health majors. Also, they offer a number of other health related majors should you decide on a different career track.</p>