help with safeties and matches

Parents Forum
1

<p>I know this might not be the exact forum for this thread but I'd like to get the opinion of some of the parents who have actually had kids go through the college admissions process, not just from my friends etc. I'm really having trouble trying to choose my safeties and matches because I don't really get much information about US universities here. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Here's my profile:</p>

<p>International from Costa Rica</p>

<p>possible majors: econ/math/engineering so any university with strong departements in those 3 majors would be awesome</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior at a prestigious ( in costa rica at least) private school</p>

<p>Full Ib Diploma (our college counselor literally called my curriculum, and that of a few friends, the toughest curriculum available)</p>

<p>Sat I: 800CR, 740M, 730 W ( I'm actually better at math but I 'm just not an incredible test taker)</p>

<p>Gpa: 4.13W ( ranked 3/100, but our school doesn't disclose exact rankings to colleges)</p>

<p>FA: might be nice, but not a must. </p>

<p>ECs:
-Knowledgebowl club (vice-president, team member, we got 3rd place in centralamerica last year)-2yrs (I've been there since it was created)
-Tutoring underprivileged kids- 2yrs
-German lessons- 4yrs
-Student council secretary- this year
-Volunteer at the national children's hospital- permanent volunteer 2yrs
-Electric guitar lessons- 6 yrs
-Classical guitar lessons-2 yrs
-Emo band- lead guitar and composer- not really sure anymore, must be around 4 yrs
- Various ensembles- we play stuff ranging from mozart to metallica- 2 yrs. We played this year at the school band concert, first time that they let an outside group play. We have scheduled a recital at the national university to play an adaptation of a series of mozart's works for a tribute to mozart (we're gonna play them with: 1 piano, 2 electric guitars, 2 classical guitars and a bass), then we're also gonna play a few King Crimson songs at a festival that the university's music faculty organizes. And finally I'm gonna play, along with a friend, the guitar for a musical that a senior composed. We're presenting it at the same university.
-DJ lessons- 1 yr... yeah I know haha, but its awesome. I love it, because I compose stuff on my guitar and then mix into electronic music.
- I took a Costa Rican stock exchange course along with some friends</p>

<p>I know this is really long so I appreciate if you've gotten this far. I really need help choosing other colleges to apply to. Any reaches would also be appreciated jsut so I can have wider spectrum of colleges for application. Thanks a lot.</p>

2

<p>What type of location would you like (urban/rural/part of the country?) size of school? atmosphere (preppy, arty, athletic, frats or not...)?</p>

3

<p>location-- Urban is preferred but I'm willing to go anywhere to get a good education.
size of school- not important
atmosphere- I'd like to have some sort of school spirit, but I'm willing to sacrifice this as well for a good school.</p>

4

<p>anyone?? please I really need help</p>

5

<p>try colorado college -- it is not on the regular list of schools that everyone has, but it is an excellent LAC (ranked in the top 25) who does provide financial aid to internationals (not need blind, though). </p>

<p>It is trying to increase its diversity, so you would be a good candidate. They have a unique program, the kids are great and the area is wonderful. </p>

<p>Your stats would put you in the safety range (although they are getting more selective and I don't know how the international part figures in).</p>

<p>I am always trying to put Colorado College on people's lists because it is not in California or the East Coast -- so it is overlooked quite often. Because of that, you would have less high stat competition and I think an excellent chance.</p>

<p>The graduates do very well, my son's friends who graduated this year are going to Harvard and Yale for graduate school. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.coloradocollege.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.coloradocollege.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

6

<p>^awesome, I'm gonna look into that. Any more suggestions?</p>

7

<p>Schools that are interested in international populations that are in the Midwest: Grinnell, Wooster, Beloit, Lawrence, Macalester, Trinity to name a few. They can give good merit aid for internationals. I don't know about all, but some give credit for your IB classes if you get above 5 on the exams. Check into that. Look at UBC in Canada. The school loves the IB diploma. My son is at Lawrence and they have a large international community that is very active on campus. I believe the Liberal Arts Colleges are a good pick for students coming from international schools. It is an easy transition.</p>

8

<p>I don't really know much about how your international status would affect things. But your stats are very strong. Some possible safeties/matches for your stats that have econ/math/engineering could be:
WPI, Lehigh, Case Western, Santa Clara U, Syracuse, Tufts, Villanove, Lafayette.</p>

<p>There really are very, very many because you are so open on your criteria. These are just a few I happen to know.</p>

9

<p>ok great. I'm gonna start researching some of these and completeing my list. I'm just really afraid that I won't have enough safeties/matches on my list. My GC insists that I add more reaches and whatnot but I'd rather take a more conservative approach.
Ive got as reaches ( I know they are a lot but I'm still gonna apply to them all): University of chicago, princeton, stanford, Mit and Upenn ( I'll probably end up doing penn ED or mit Ea not sure yet)...so I'm afraid that my list is way to unlikely and I'd rather have some safeties to balance out those risky apps.</p>

10

<p>You are very wise, megaman. If you get a "yes" from a reach, you won't need the matches and safeties. But your stats are sufficiently strong that your reach schools = "lottery" schools; ie, they have very low acceptance rates even for highly qualified applicants such as yourself.</p>

<p>So spending time to research some schools with higher acceptance rates will help you sleep nights and give you some good choices if the lottery schools don't pan out.</p>

11

<p>When someone says engineering, I always think of Georgia Tech--think it is ranked about 3 in engineering schools.</p>

12

<p>McGill in Montreal might be another one to consider.</p>

13

<p>Yeah my mom's been talking to me about mcgill. I'm just not so sure I want to study in canada. I'm definitely not ruling out anything, its still a posibility, but I prefer studying in the US ( just because I have more family and friends there etc).</p>

<p>Regarding georgia tech, it seems very good in engineering, how about their econ department? I'm assuming that since they are strong in engineering they are probably strong in math as well.</p>

14

<p>Lafayette would be a good safety.</p>

<p>Other than engineering, the LACs would mostly work: Macalester is a good idea; maybe Pomona, Claremont or Harvey Mudd? Most of the LACs have 3/2 Engineering programs but not engineering majors. You might want to check Syracuse as a slightly less selective University with a good academic reputation.</p>

15

<p>I don't know about Econ at Georgia Tech. Everyone I know who went there went for math or Eng. Maybe post a question on the Georgia Tech site re Econ?</p>