Help me Build a College List

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm an international student from India and right now I'm quite lost as to which colleges in the US I should apply to. I don't want to get too ambitious and apply to MIT and Harvard and not get accepted but at the same time want a good college (preferably an Ivy League) to go to. I've displayed my statistics below and hope you guys can help me build a college list. Please mention whether the college you recommend would be "high reach", "good" or "downright easy" for admissions.</p>

<p>Standardized Test Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I: M:670, W:680, CR: 650 (1st Try) :(
M: 760, W: 690, CR: 590 (Second Try) :(</p>

<p>SAT II: Physics: 800
Maths Level 2: 800
Chemistry: 800</p>

<p>AP's: No AP's offered in my location but I do take university level courses from my local
university</p>

<p>Class Rank: 3/500</p>

<p>GPA: ?? (What does 5 A*'s, 1 A and 3 B's translate into GPA terms?)</p>

<p>International Awards:</p>

<p>Junior Maths Olympiad - Bronze
UNSW Science Olympiad - Distinction and 98 percentile</p>

<p>National Awards:</p>

<p>iSBT Basketball Tournament: Gold
Badminton Tournament</p>

<p>School Awards:</p>

<p>Student of the Month
Gentleman of the Year
President of Robotics Club
Swimming Gala - 5 Golds</p>

<p>Other Random Stuff:</p>

<p>Lived in over 6 different countries
Been to 13 different schools so far (international and public)</p>

<p>Trinity Guildhall Grade 6 Drums (going to do Grade 8 soon!)
Have my own band and have played in several iconic locations around the globe such as Dubai Mall (biggest mall in the world), Ibn Battuta Mall and Dubai Global Village
Watch my performance here: YouTube</a> - ‪Sweet Child O' Mine - Drums‬‏</p>

<p>More than 500 hours of community and service (unbelievable but true)</p>

<p>Please don't hesitate to ask any questions!</p>

2

<p>What can you afford? Are you full pay? If not, how much can you afford? The situation for full-pay students is entirely different from that of int’l students who need financial aid.</p>

<p>If you need financial aid, there are no ‘downright easy’ options, esp. given the caliber of the competition from India for those full- or nearly full-rides.</p>

3

<p>Look at small liberal arts colleges.
Oberlin College and Lawrence University both have music conservatories. </p>

<p>Most schools on the following list are high quality LACs. Look at the high percentages of international students awarded aid, and the size of the average award. Even if you don’t need aid, these numbers are a good indication that LACs welcome international students.</p>

<p>[Top</a> 25 Financial Aid Colleges in US for International Students (Need-aware) - Desperate Guide: Undergraduate College Financial Aid, Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware]Top”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware)</p>

<p>International students tend to be unfamiliar with these schools. However, the children of US university professors choose LACs in disproportionately high numbers.<br>
[Where</a> Professors Send Their Children to College - CBS MoneyWatch.com](<a href=“MoneyWatch: Financial news, world finance and market news, your money, product recalls updated daily - CBS News”>MoneyWatch: Financial news, world finance and market news, your money, product recalls updated daily - CBS News)</p>

<p>Many of the top schools for PhD production are LACs.
[COLLEGE</a> PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]COLLEGE”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>

4

<p>I will probably be opting for full pay (but I wouldn’t mind a scolarship:))</p>

<p>One important detail I forgot to mention is that I want to pursue an engineering degree.</p>

5

<p>Purdue University
University of Illinois
Drexel University
RPI</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Well then, that eliminates most LACs.
Exceptions include Swarthmore (super selective, reach), Harvey Mudd (super selective, reach) and Trinity College (Hartford, CT, match).</p>

<p>Check out Case Western Reserve University. For a domestic student with your stats, it should be a match or even a safety. I’m not sure about internationals. It is an under-rated school that attracts many strong students who could not quite get into the most selective schools. </p>

<p>Also consider Rice University in Houston, Texas (reach). It’s a small, distinguished university with engineering programs and a music school.</p>

7

<p>Several colleges in Pennsylvania offer engineering degrees:</p>

<p>Bucknell University
Lehigh University
Carnegie Mellon University
Lafayette College</p>

8

<p>I don’t see any Ivy Leagues mentioned here anywhere…is there a particular reason or am I just underqualified?</p>

<p>Furthermore, just because I have an interest in music, it doesn’t mean I’m looking for a university with a music school. I would rather go an excellent and well known university rather than an average one with a music school.</p>

9

<p>you SAT seems low for the ivies. Cornell would probably be a reach, but their engineering program is very good. You could aim for that, if you want.</p>

<p>For some engineering schools that match your profile better…</p>

<p>Georgia Tech
University of Texas (Austin)
UC-San Diego
University of Wisconsin
U of Michigan(low reach)
Carnegie Mellon(reach)</p>

10

<p>dont forget University of Chicago. It’s econ and maths are ivy-level but I dont know about it’s engineering.</p>

<p>Your profile might match it better than most ivys too. SATs are much less important for them than personality (they seek intelectually curious atudents), talent and grades. You also look like a very unique and interesting applicant in terms of upbringing and interests. Try to find universities that value those type of things than ones who just want high academic performance.</p>

11

<p>^^ I assumed you already are familiar with the 8 Ivy League schools. Your CR scores are a bit low for the Ivies, too. </p>

<p>College shopping can be a little like stock market shopping. You are unlikely to get good value if you focus only on the best-known, over-priced stocks. Consider schools with high average stats but also higher admit rates and low Asian enrollments.</p>

<p>^ The University of Chicago does not offer engineering. It is strictly liberal arts & sciences there.</p>

12

<p>UChicago doesn’t have an engineering program. At all.</p>

<p>Take a look at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas; it’s relatively easy to get into for full-pay internationals (its international acceptance rate is still 29%, though), and its engineering program is top notch from what I’ve heard. It’s also an all-around great school. I think it would be a nice match for you.</p>

<p>It wouldn’t hurt to apply to schools in the Ivy League, if that’s what you want, but bear in mind that international admissions there are extremely competitive. I’d recommend applying ED to Penn or Columbia as they’re not need-blind for internationals, i.e. your financial status would perhaps give you a slight boost + their engineering programs are slightly less competitive than Cornell’s, if I recall correctly (even though, again, they’re extremely hard to get into, and Columbia’s recent surge in popularity may have changed things somewhat). ETA: In fact, scratch that, I think Columbia engineering has become more selective than Cornell eng in the last two years. You’ll have to research this, sorry.</p>

<p>But that would make it impossible to apply EA elsewhere, and I think you’d be better served applying EA to several schools, or ED to another, more realistic target.</p>

13

<p>So you think Cornell may be a reach? If so, is there anything I can do to better my application?</p>

<p>Also, are you absolutely sure that MIT and Harvard are way beyond my reach and there is no chance of me getting in?</p>

14

<p>[ABET</a> | Accrediting College Programs in Applied Science, Computing, Engineering and Technology](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) will help you find ABET-accredited engineering degree programs.</p>

<p>Perhaps consider Virginia Tech – at full out of state pay, it costs less than most other public and private universities.</p>