Help finding a Safety - I'm from New Zealand and not too sure

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am trying to get opinions on what good saftey/backup colleges are, and whether/how many I need. I am applying to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, MIT and Chicago - I realise these are all very selective and don't want to be left out in the cold.</p>

<p>I live in New Zealand and am in my Senior year. We are just finishing end of year exams - but aware of final class rankings. I am applying mainly to universities in the US and would like to get in somewhere where going there is worth living thousands of miles from home. I would need financial aid at any school in the US.</p>

<p>I go to one of the top few private schools in the country with an academic scholarship, and Dux (1st) out of a class of 216. Although we don't classify our classes the same way as in the US I am doing the equivalent (as given by US colleges) of 7 AP courses (they are CIE A-levels - most people at my school do 3 by comparison) with a GPA of 5.0 in them. These are: Further Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Economics and Geography. I have also taken 4 years of Latin, English Language and English Litearature, but they were not part of my course this year (we have 5 years of high school)</p>

<p>I have sat the SAT once and got 2370 (R780 M800 W790), my subject tests come back in a week.
I have also come first in national Physics competetions 3 times and maths 3 times.</p>

<p>I did volunteerwork tutoring disadvantaged kids for 6 hours a week for 2 years, as working at a local women's refuge and coaching local sports teams. I have done paid work coaching teams and tutoring.</p>

<p>In terms of ECs, I have been on the National Math Olympiad, Physics, Baseball and Debating teams. At the world debating champs I was named 2nd best speaker and the NZ team I was in were runners up. At the International Young Physicist's Tournament, my team also came runners up. I also have a variety of more minor things and have had leadership positions in many of these ECs.</p>

<p>Many Thanks for any help</p>

2

<p>You might want to consider Duke (NC), Emory (Atlanta, GA), Northwestern (Chicago area), Washington University at St. Louis (MO), Johns Hopkins (Baltimore MD). These are still very competitive, so are not true safety schools. However with your stats and ECs, you should get into some or many of them. True safeties might be UMichigan, UCBerkeley, etc.</p>

3

<p>You're an international seeking aid. While you have a very competitive profile, there are no true safeties for international FA. Please apply to at least one school you're sure you can afford, which may be in NZ.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies. I'm quite interested in UCBerkley but not sure about their financial aid situation, given it is a state university. I also hadn't considered John Hopkins but now that I think about it, it would be a great option.</p>

<p>I should also add that while I have lived in NZ for almost all my life, I was born in the US and have citizenship. As such I have checked and am eligible for need blind admission and FA.</p>

5

<p>try the University of Virginia, it's very cheap compared to most private and schools like UC-Berkeley, and is world-known for most of its academic programs.</p>

6

<p>JHU has not much Financial Aid, I believe.</p>

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<p>Baseball in New Zealand? Wow, I didn't know they played that down there. Must be like cricket in the US - an obscure club sport.</p>

8

<p>OP: Please remember to mention that you're an American citizen! That changes EVERYTHING. What are your criteria in a school, other than being relatively well-known/prestigious? Here's a list to think about:</p>

<p>geographic location
locale (rural/suburban/urban)
size of student body
curriculum (core/distribution/open)
academic strength in interested areas
quality of campus life (dorms/food/social life)
merit scholarships (vs. need-based)
racial diversity
gender ratio</p>

9

<p>Hey everyone, thanks for your help.
I'm looking for a school:
Ideally on the West Coast or in the NE (I have family nearby) but location isnt a huge issue.
I'd also prefer a more urban or environment but its also flexible.
I'm looking for a medium size student body - maybe around 8000.
A more open curriculum (yes I realise the irony in applying to Columbia)
A strong curriculum in economics and math/science.
Racial diversity and gender ratio do not matter to muhc as long as its relatively balanced (not as extremely imbalanced as for instance Caltech, even though it is a fantastic school)
The option of a good social life would be best.
I'd probably be looking for merit scholarships, as although I fit FA criteria at the Ivies, I may not at some other universities.
The main criteria however, is that it is academically rigourous as to be worth going to instead of somewhere like ANU or Sydney in Australia which I can get a place in for about $4000 - $6000 dollars a year.</p>

<p>And on a more comical note, yes baseball is a club sport here, and nowhere near as tough as in the US (maybe a little bigger than cricket in the US as a percentage though). The debating however is extremely competitive, especially at the international level (I've probably had to invest around 600 hours in it this year).</p>

10

<p>What is your after-FA price limit? Hopefully higher than 4-6k a year, since that eliminates all but at least full-tuition scholarships.</p>

<p>Merit aid is very competitive, but as long as you're happy with the Australian safeties, you can shoot high. WashU in St. Louis, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, UMichigan, UVA, and USC are some schools with large (and competitive) merit scholarships.</p>

11

<p>UC-Santa Barbara has a very good economics program, I believe they have a couple of faculty members who have won Nobel Prizes in economics</p>

12

<p>Sorry, for the late reply, I've just finished my final exams and had 9 in the last few days so have been away from the computer for a bit. My after FA price limit isnt huge unfortunately but is probably around 15k - which i know still isnt much for uni in the US. I'll have a look through the schools you've all suggested and may send my SAT scores and college app to a few of them. Particularly Northwestern seems particularly appealing to me for some reason when I look at it.</p>

<p>Just got SAT subject tests back: 800 maths 2, 800 chemistry, 800 physics - hopefully they help the application.
Thanks for your help</p>

13

<p>In everywhere + plenty of aid </p>

<p>:D</p>