Help Compiling College List, Thanks

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I am a junior in class of 2016. I am currently in the process of getting together a list of colleges to apply to. I haven’t really been on college apps till now but as it is coming up soon I want to make sure I explore all my options. So far I have visited W & M, UVA, and Virginia Tech, and am planning on visiting UPenn, Princeton, and Columbia to get a feel for the whole spectrum.

Cost constraints: Parents have said they are willing to pay for college up to 60,000 a year. However, it is important to me to make sure I am not wasting their money by picking a school that is potentially significantly more expensive without a good justification for it. For example, UVA is a great instate school with a cost of 30,000 less than an out of state school such as UPenn. Income of household is 200000+ so not optimistic about receiving financial aid

Location: Closer to home is a preference but not a requirement.

Intended Major/goals: Undecided. However, I am leaning towards engineering/science so having good degree programs in those areas is a requirement for me

GPA: 4.0, top 5 in class
I am Asian male.

Rigor: As difficult as possible in my school, which isn’t much compared schools in other areas.
Honors, 4 years of spanish
AP Euro, AP US, AP Chem
Scheduled for AB and BC Calc, Stats, Gov, Physics 1, Art History
Taken 4 PLTW engineering courses through tech academy, received college credit. Not really sure how colleges will view these but they are AP weight at my school

SAT - 2400, PSAT 229
SAT II - 800 Chemistry, 800 APUSH (planning on taking at least math II over the summer)
AP Euro - 5

Extracurriculars

Internship last summer at NASA Langley, worked under Chief Scientist on ISRU
Engineering internship this summer at Jefferson Lab Accelerator Facility
Piano since age 5, won some local competitions. Part-time job playing for local choir
Track/XC all years, competed in state championship
Technology Student Association: V-President, two time region winner, state runner-up
NHS V-president
Rho Kappa Member
Princeton Book Award(Not sure that this means anything)
Volunteered at hospital over the summer
Various small volunteer activities such as at soup kitchen
STIHL Summer Manufacturing Technology Summer Camp

Thanks a bunch for any suggestions you can make. If you could recommend any scholarships that would also be very helpful.

2

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

3

Thanks for the lists, I’ll definitely look into them.

Do you think it is worth it to take a full ride at a school such as Alabama, which is certainly a decent school, vs paying around $20000 for a very good school such as UVA?

4

You have great/perfect scores - I would cast a wide net. The applications fees will be negligible compared to a potential full ride somewhere.

5

Sounds good to me, any advice regarding what type of school to apply to? Public or Private? From what I am seen, it seems like a lot of the large public schools(such as Alabama) offer a lot of merit-based aid but the more selective universities(such as Virginia) don’t offer much.

6

Vanderbilt, Colgate, Lehigh, and Rochester are generous with money in my experience.

7

Awesome, I’ll look into those. Thanks for your help!

8

Given your possible interest in majoring in science/engineering, Washington University in St. Louis and Rice in Houston come to mind. You’d be competitive for merit at both.

9

Thanks. Do you have any tips regarding schools that it won’t be possible to visit before applying? Is it difficult to appl to a school without having visited it before?

10

It’s advised to visit a school anyway in order for you to gain a good feel for the campus vibe and get a better idea on your personal notion of ‘fit.’ Certainly helped me a lot

11

Having visited a school does make it easier to answer the “Why ThisSchool?” essay question on the app, and for some (mostly LAC’s) schools, a visit counts as “demonstrated interest”, which can help your chances. If you spend some time on the school website, chat with a rep at a college fair, or request an alumni interview, you can get some of the same knowledge of the school that helps you point out on the app why you’d be a good fit.

Of course, many students aren’t able (or choose not) to visit schools until after they are accepted.

12

I understand, however it isn’t really feasible for me to visit schools spread out over such a wide geographic area before applying. However, I would definitely visit if I received acceptance as that would help narrow it down

13

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Where will you be taking the exam? It’s not given in the United States during the summer hence my confusion.

14

I would consider Duke - you would have a chance at a full ride (Robertson Scholarship).