Help in college search that fits my stats...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm an Asian male junior at a large suburban competitive public school. </p>

<p>GPA: 3.96 UW
Rank: 21/780 or a place or two higher. There are twenty valedictorians in front of me since I've gotten one B
SAT: 2190---770 Math 700 Reading 720 Writing so far
SAT II: 750 US History, will take a few more
AP: 5 for US History from soph year, I'll have taken 9/10 AP's total by the time I graduate
EC's: Cross Country- Will have four years, varsity four years. Stats through junior year: 2x All Conference, 1x State qualifier
Track- Will have four years, varsity three years. Stats through sophomore year: 5x All Conference, All-State sophomore year, relay team I ran on was top 20 in the nation, school record holder. Hopefully more to come, but nothing's certain...
Never been a captain or anything</p>

<p>Other than running, I literally don't have anything else for EC's... </p>

<p>Ideally, I would like to get fast enough to be recruited to a good academic school for track but I know chances of everything working out isn't that great, and I really hadn't considered running in college until this year so I'm still trying to figure stuff out. </p>

<p>My interests are pretty broad, so I'd like some suggestions for schools that are at my level. It seems like everyone on here is heavy on EC's and leadership, and I have none, so I can't get a decent idea of where my stats fit in based on what I read here. I'd like some idea of where a good match for me is.</p>

2

<p>What is your likely major? Likely career?</p>

<p>What is your home state?</p>

<p>is money an issue? Or will your parents pay $50k+ per year to wherever?</p>

3

<p>I have no idea what my major will be, in-state out of state is no issue, money I will need need-based aid.</p>

4

<p>We need more information about what you are looking for to offer constructive advise. There are dozens of schools that would be fine based on what you’ve given us thus far.</p>

<p>1) size and type of school (LAC, mid-sized (4-10k), public 10k+)
2) geography: urban/suburban/rural, part of the country, etc…
3) culture: jock, artsy, quirky, birkenstock, etc…liberal/conservative, single sex?, religious?, frats?
4) how academically intense? Do you have to be at the top of the class? Can you be happy if you are in the middle?
5) any deal-breakers (no track team?), special needs, interests, etc…</p>

<p>If you don’t know the answer to these questions, visit some schools locally (not necessarily that you plan to apply to) just to get a feel for a large public, a LAC and a mid-sized private.</p>

5

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<p>Your stats are excellent. Excelling in one sport can be more impressive than being “heavy on EC’s and leadership.” It depends on the school, the year, and the competition. But you should not rule any schools out at this point.</p>

<p>I like M’s Mom’s advice. Toss us some clues, at least, about those 5 features. Or tell us what else is very important to you.</p>

6

<p>A D3 LAC will likely be a place that matches your academic stats and can give you a chance to run in college.</p>

7

<p>I have no idea what my major will be, in-state out of state is no issue, money I will need need-based aid.</p>

<p>If you need financial aid, then avoid out of state publics UNLESS they’ll give you huge merit (which is different from financial aid). Only UNC-CH and UVa give their financial funds to non residents. Other publics aren’t going to help you cover the large out of state costs for non-residents (unless thru merit and some schools don’t give merit).</p>

<p>That said, there are some publics that will give you large merit for your stats.</p>

<p>How much will your parents contribute? What is your EFC? If you don’t know, use this…
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml)</p>

8

<p>Union College in New York…with your stats you’d probably get in even without the ECs, and it has engineering in case you decide to go that route.</p>

9

<p>1) size and type of school (LAC, mid-sized (4-10k), public 10k+)</p>

<p>I would prefer to avoid liberal arts, mid-sized to large is good</p>

<p>2) geography: urban/suburban/rural, part of the country, etc…</p>

<p>I’ve lived in the middle of cornfields as well as in huge cities, and I don’t have a preference</p>

<p>3) culture: jock, artsy, quirky, birkenstock, etc…liberal/conservative, single sex?, religious?, frats?</p>

<p>No BYU-type conservative schools for me, but both my parents are Christian clergy, and as I said above, I’ve lived in various different environments (2 countries, 2 states, rural, urban, suburban, conservative, liberal) throughout my childhood so I’m open to any campus atmosphere.</p>

<p>4) how academically intense? Do you have to be at the top of the class? Can you be happy if you are in the middle?</p>

<p>My parents would like me to go to the best possible academic school with a good reputation. I’m a foreign national, and I hate to say it, but name recognition goes a long way back in Asia, and I’d like to keep my options open in that part of the world later along in my life. (I won’t be applying as an international student though since I have permanent residency status)</p>

<p>5) any deal-breakers (no track team?), special needs, interests, etc…</p>

<p>Track is really irrelevant in this search. If running works out for me this spring, I have my separate plans for that, as I’m also looking at schools for athletics right now also. I know there are schools I can cross off my list now for track, but I don’t have any deal-breakers otherwise (e.g. I obviously won’t be going to Stanford for track b/c their team is nat’l elite, but I would surely jump onboard for going there for academics). A lot of things can and have gone wrong with injuries and burnout and such in track so I won’t be banking on that.</p>

10

<p>Also, question about need-based financial aid:</p>

<p>My dad still lives and works in Asia, visits twice a year on a tourist visa. He doesn’t pay income taxes here. Does he count when figuring out financial aid?</p>

11

<p>I think you have pretty good numbers for your standardized exams, though if you are thinking to apply to top schools, try to increase your SATI. Besides Stanford, which is a great college, you could also try applying to Cornell, Brown, Duke, Washington University in St. Louis, Rice, Northwestern, and UC Berkeley. You can find out more about each school by going to the specific school forums on CC here. Each are strong overall in a wide variety of programs, which is good if you are not sure what you want to major in. The class sizes at these schools are also medium- large. But I hear it is very competitive to get into a top US college if one is international, so if I were you I would apply widely to other schools besides these. Best of luck.</p>

12

<p>*Also, question about need-based financial aid:</p>

<p>My dad still lives and works in Asia, visits twice a year on a tourist visa. He doesn’t pay income taxes here. Does he count when figuring out financial aid?*</p>

<p>If your parents are married, then his income counts.</p>

13

<p>Washington U., Tufts, Georgetown, Lehigh?</p>

14

<p>Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Stanford, Duke, Tufts, and Northwestern.</p>

15

<p>I’d be a little wary of the schools like Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern that compete at high levels in track. I have no idea if any of them is particularly good in track, but they have solid Division I programs in a lot of sports. The Ivies, too, recruit a lot of excellent athletes, even though they “supposedly” don’t give athletic scholarships. Places like Wash U and Tufts would probably be less intense athletically.</p>