Help Me Find My University. Please!

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone,
I am a male international student (from the Middle East) applying in the coming few months. I really need advice or any kind of information concerning my prospective colleges and/or majors (found below).

A brief summary of who I am (academically):

  • What I am interested in: ECONOMICS and some fields in Business.
    I am considering majoring in Finance or Economics (but not pure eco, I would like something such as Economics and Management because pure Economics will not lead me where I want to be). I would also be interested in a Business degree with a concentration in a specific subject ex: Finance.

-Academic Background: Fluent in English, Arabic, and French.
Took both Business and Economics for over 3 years at school (senior year will be my 4th).
Average of 94% in sophomore year and 93% Junior year. Ranked 2/43 in both years. (Top 5% of class).
My SAT: CR: 590 (terrible I know) Writing: 640 (can do better) Math: 750 (extremely satisfied) Total 1980
I plan on retaking my SAT in October with a goal of superscore 2150+. (I can easily raise english if I practice this time.)
I took 2 AP exams this year. Macroeconomics 5/5 & Chemistry 4/5. (Chemistry was unusually hard this year, but I’m not planning on becoming a science major so…) Next year I’m taking AP Human Geo, AP Microeco, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, and AP Psych. Expecting over 3 5s. (fingers crossed).
SAT 2 in November : Math (1 or 2) - Biology - French
Participated in 2 summer programs: * Oxford University: Enterprise Program * Columbia University: Corporate Valuation
I won’t go in depth about my extra curricular activities but they include Guitar, Model United Nations, Teaching students at school, Becoming head of Academics next year, and ski & tennis. I AM NOT A PRO IN ANY OF THESE, but I enjoy/enjoyed them all. If I were to chose one hobby or interest in the world, it would be Traveling. I tend to get overexcited when I am about to explore our own world and have covered many countries over the years.

Now, the hard part, choosing a right fit for me. PLEASE HELP OUT HERE.

  • Where I want to go: Somewhere lively: either a lively city or large and satisfying campus. Friendly people. I CANNOT deal with egoistic students. Seriously. I know they are everywhere but still, the less the merrier.
    Before I tell you my Universities, DO YOU THINK I should go to a top one (if accepted) or to an average one, so that I have a higher chance of standing out there?

UNIVERSITIES!!!
(KEEP IN MIND THESE ARE ALL REACH UNIVERSITIES, I STILL HAVENT PLANNED OUT MY SAFETY UNIVERSITIES. You guys can help me do so.)

United States:
*University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) (Absolute favorite. My #1) (They’ll never accept me but I’m gnat try.)
*NYU (Stern)
*BC
*Berkeley (Haas)
*Columbia University (Financial Engineering or Financial Economics) (Thoughts on these majors compared to Business ones please!)
*Babson College (Kind of a safety school idk)

  • More to come

United Kingdom:
*LSE (Extremely Hard to get into.)
*Warwick University
*City Uni London (Safety I guess)
*Oxford (Eco & Management)
*Bath
*Manchester (Is it any good)

Questions:
Please please give me any info concerning any of the above universities, or any other university you think would fit me. I am very confused about the UK rankings. Which universities are top tier in Business/Finance for undergrad? There are so many universities in the UK and they all seem amazing! Which universities are fun and relaxed and friendly (of course alongside lots of studying!), have the highest and lowest student satisfaction. Location advice!!! Please rank and rate as many universities as you can. SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN ANY OF THEM, if you have ever attended.

I want to thank in advance everyone who is going to share their thoughts in order to help me make one of the most important decisions of my life. Thank you so much!!!

2

What is your price range?

3

My parents say that if the education is worthwhile, the price is not a major issue; however, If i got accepted to 2 universities of the same level, I would definitely go to the cheaper one or the one that offered me a scholarship (if possible).

4

Your SAT scores will not get you into Berkeley. No scholarships are available to international students, so I would take Berkeley off of the list.

5

I am retaking the SAT… and Berkeley SAT standards are less harsh than those of Columbia and Upenn…

6

Yes, but those SAT standards include stats from the local contracted students. Your scores have to be better than the average admit as an OOS/international.

It’s a public university funded by California taxpayers, and the state is placing caps on non-resident admits this coming year and will be stricter for future years.

7

My dad attended UCLA for free, tho he was going for his masters and Phd. He was an international student. Do they still do that?

8

You can’t compare what a school does for grad students with what they do for undergrads. You will NOT get any aid from a UC…none for undergrad.

9

Even if you’re in-state? no aid?

10

@NASA2014, you are hijacking the OP’s thread. An international student will not get aid. Start your own thread if you have questions about in state aid.

OP, your chances are zero at your reach schools without much, much higher SAT scores. Although you plan to take them again, no one can give you a chance estimate without real scores in hand. And CR scores are the most difficult to raise.

Are your parents prepared to pay over $50,000 per year if you are admitted?

11

@nasa2014 Pay attention to the subject of the thread. The OP is an int’l.

The OP’s father was able to get full-funding as a grad/PhD student. That isn’t unusual. UNDERGRAD is different.

12

Doesn’t my school average count more than my sat score?

13

University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

  • Both are very strong in Economics
  • Both also offer a BBA, if you'd rather go that route
  • Both have plenty of school spirit (sports!) and the students tend to have a lot of fun
  • Both are in cities, so there is plenty to do
  • Madison is surrounded by lakes and the Twin Cities are close to lakes. (there are over 10,000 lakes in both Minnesota and Wisconsin). If you have never gone fishing, sailing or waterskiing, you should try them.
  • If you change your mind in terms of major, both have a multitude of other highly regarded programs
  • Both are relatively affordable compared to many other good state schools, private universities, and LACs
  • You could probably gain admission to (at least one of) them