From “the parents’” colleges like Rutgers, Monmouth, Kean, Montclair, TCNJ I would expect a number of acceptances.
And with “your” NYU, Columbia, Princeton, you (like >90% of applicants each year), you could end up with none.
Technically, I think you have enough as far as “count”, but in addition to your parents’ “must” applications and your personal “high-reach” goals, you could consider if there are other less-rejective colleges that YOU are interested in, where you have a more likely acceptance chance.
Honestly I wouldn’t mind going to Kean or Montclair, or even Seton Hall if I don’t get accepted to any of my reach schools. I’m mostly concerned with major.
It means a personal achievement for yourself - you were among the 50,000 highest scoring students nationally.
(The 16,000 highest scoring students will instead be notified that they are “semi-finalists” - and only those will continue on to compete for National Merit scholarships.)
Swell - because those are respected schools on one hand, and geographically accessible on the other hand.
Another similar-ranked school coming to mind that is train-accessible from Hazlet would be Drew University in Madison, if you wanted to be able to compare more offers.
Here’s a thought about why it might actually be preferable to attend a non-reach school for you, given your very complex situation. If you are among the top students in your school, then classes will very likely be easier for you than at a reach school, which could allow you to take more then the typical courseload (ie, an extra class a semester) which might allow you to double major with one major being what your family requires of you and the other major being what you would choose for yourself.
At one of my kids’ schools, the typical load was 16 units a semester, but you could register for 19 without special permission, and 21 with permission. Top students are much more likely to get that permission.
Adding on to say, though, that I still think going the “pre-law” route is likely to get you your best outcome. Pre-law can encompass any major and committing to taking the LSAT and applying to law school seems like it might be something you can commit to doing. And that would be four years away – lots of things can change during that time period.
I wouldn’t want to attend a reach school anyway if I wasn’t doing a major I enjoy.
I hope so. My brother-in-law is a lawyer and I hope to get bonus points from that. I was thinking including International Relations in my undergraduate studies so I could become an international lawyer at one point.
You do not need to study International Relations to become an “international lawyer”. Language fluency will help, but you’ll be studying what you need to learn either for your JD or LLM so don’t get distracted right now.
Commendation is nice, but your 1530 SAT already said the same thing about you. No need to take the SAT again. Commuting into Manhattan for school would be tough, but possible. I agree with apps to NYU, Columbia if money’s no object. If you are female, also Barnard. Are your parents willing and able to pay over 65K/yr in tuition, plus commuting costs for you?
You’re a NJ resident. Apply to the NJ public colleges that are within commuting distance. Also apply to Princeton. Have a discussion with your parents about the fact that you are not interested in becoming a pharmacist (not to mention that we have an oversupply of them right now, so it’s tough to get a job). Don’t write off Rutgers because of the campus - it’s probably your best safety, although TCNJ is a good option, too.
Look, it could be worse. Your family could be trying to refuse you an opportunity to get an education, could be pushing you into early work, early marriage, etc. Having to live at home for college, coming from what I presume is a conservative Muslim immigrant family, is not the end of the world.
NJ mom here who is quite familiar with the regional state universities of NJ. For a humanities centered, top-tier student such as yourself, Kean may not be the best backup option. They have an honors STEM program, but you’re not interested in STEM. I am assuming you live within commuting distance of Kean? Would TCNJ be a possibility - you can come home on weekends. It’s the strongest of the state colleges in NJ, and has a larger proportion of high performing students than the others. Why “no Rutgers”? Their humanities programs are highly regarded.
Send in apps to Princeton, Columbia and NYU. But your backups need to match your academic level at some level.
I don’t think this OP minds living at home – and in fact, is required to do so. What they mind and are trying to avoid is being forced into a major and career for which they have no interest.
I am a corporate finance attorney and it took me a very short time to learn that doing international work was exactly the same as domestic, just usually a much bigger pain.
I think the language fluency will help, but I am now my company’s expert on Latin America and I speak only German so (shrug).
probably not. they have to provide for my other siblings too, who are in med/grad/undergrad/private schools.
I have, and plan to do so again, but it’s hard to reason with them about that.
I am very much aware of that, and very grateful. I’ll have you know, though, that most Muslim families in the US don’t force their kids to do much, and my family is half American. It’s more about the parents themselves, not where they’re from. I also have separate issues that have nothing to do with my religion or ethnicity, but for obvious reasons I won’t enumerate them here.
Why would you get any bonus points because a relative is a lawyer? Is this hoping your parents will view this in law job positively and let you head in that direction?