<p>So it's the time of year when I should be thinking about colleges. I'm a junior at a somewhat competitive high school. I'm starting to look for some colleges now and I'm thinking about majoring in math/math&econ. </p>
<p>Asian Male
PA resident
UWGPA - 3.81 (trying to raise it to a 3.9) no weighted
SAT I- 670CR, 800M, 750W = 2220 total, hoping to raise reading by a bit.
SAT II- so far only taken chem- 710, planning to take physics and mathII this year
PSAT- 224
Rank- 6% in class of 540 hoping to raise it up this year.
Courseload- hardest possible</p>
<p>ECs
MUN (9,10,11)- got best position paper 10th grade
FBLA (10, 11)- global business 2nd place regionals, economics 1st place regionals
Mathletes (9, 10, 11)
Debate (10, 11)
String Orchestra (11)- just to try it out</p>
<p>I'm looking for:
-not too competitive schools (cutthroat) but still academically focused.
-not just focused on math and sciences, something with a focus on humanities as well (hence I thought about caltech and didn't like it).
-Size isn't an issue, but preferably less than 7000 total undergrad
-I'm upper middle class so I probably won't qualify for financial aid? total expenses less than $40000 total would be nice
-Location- doesn't matter but preferably in the mid-atlantic,northeast
-INTELLECTUAL, academics is main focus.</p>
<p>So my dream school is Uchicago although it's rather far away and very expensive.
My safety I suppose would be Penn State.</p>
<p>Can anyone recommend any match schools that are strong in math and economics that I could get into that satisfies my criteria? With my stats, would I be able to qualify for any merit aid? Finally, what type of schools do you think would be a reach school for me?</p>
<p>Reed may be a close match. Stronger in math than econ (see [REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)). Close to zero cutthroat (grades hidden, no dean’s list, spirit of cooperation), high academic focus, strong in humanities (link above), about 1500 total students (almost all undergrad), more like $50K (meets full need, but no merit aid), near the west coast (Portland, OR), in the most-intellectual group with Swarthmore and UChicago. </p>
<p>Columbia is definitely a great reach, apart from cost, they also have econ-math, econ-stat and econ-operations research joint majors. The other criteria are well met though</p>
<p>Rice University is a relative bargain. Also check out some big state schools (Michigan, UNC, UVa, Wisconsin etc…) as they may offer merit scholarships (apply to them as early as possible).</p>
<p>Rice U really appeals to me because it seems to be cheaper than other colleges. Are there other colleges like Rice where its price is relatively cheap but still have great academics?</p>
<p>I also like Reed- seems like the college I’m looking for though it’s kind of far away
Columbia would be great if I could get in…</p>
<p>Macalester is supposed to be a bargain. I suppose it’s cheaper than other Liberal Arts Colleges in its league. Please see if it fits you financially. That’ll be a solid match for you and it’s a great school for Econ/Politics. Kofi Annan is one of the prominent graduates.</p>
<p>Also, other great options if you’re willing to venture to the land up north are McGill and University of Toronto. Very huge research universities but significantly cheaper than American universities and academically pretty sound.</p>
<p>Chicago, Reed, Grinnell, Macalester, and Rice are some of my favorites.<br>
For a good state school that is relatively affordable for OOS students, consider Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Another good LAC in Minnesota, one that’s supposed to have an excellent Math department, is St. Olaf. It is a bit cheaper than some of these others (about $40K I believe), and it does grant merit scholarships.</p>