<p>I am an international student from China, now in University of Minnesota Morris. It's my sophomore year.
My freshman year is in a Chinese top-10 university -- Huazhong University of Science & Technology.
Now I am thinking about transferring. And now my plan is applying UCLA,UCB, Swarthmore,Carleton,Pomona,Macalester,McKenna, are they too many??
At first I also want to try Harvard, but later I think it's impossible coz' my TOEFL is only 603...
I just took ACT last weekend. I think I can get a score between 25 to 30.
And my GPA is between 3.5-4.0.
I don't know whether to focus on fewer colleges or apply more ?
Do I need some backup plan? I either want to go to CA or stay in MN, or east coast and I like LAC.</p>
<p>its too late for ucla and ucb...i dont think those stats will cut it for schools you want...</p>
<p>I already submit the application for UCLA and UCB,
and what do you mean by "i dont think those stats will cut it for schools you want..." ? do you mean all the colleges i mentioned are impossible for me ?</p>
<p>Yes; he wants to indicate that your scores are too low for most of these colleges.
Yes; you need back up plans, try to aim for lower schools
Your stats probably would not get you into a school as prestigious in the US as Huazhong University of Science & Technology in China.</p>
<p>TOEFL Scores; note don't judge the min scores.
UCLA: min 550
UCB: min 550
Swarthmore: avg 645
Carleto: min 600
Pomona: min 600
Macalester: avg 636
McKenna: avg 639</p>
<p>ACT (Note, these are US student scores, international usually need higher stats)
UCLA: 24 - 30
UCB: NA But higher than UCLA
Swarthmore: 28 - 34
Carleton: 28 - 32
Pomona: 29 - 34
Macalester: 28 - 32
McKenna: NA But probably on the same level as Pomona</p>
<p>Thanks. Does whether apply for financial or not make difference??
If if I don't need financial aid, will it be much easier??</p>
<p>need of financial aid won affect admission chance for most of schools...(i dont know if that the case for every schools)</p>
<p>try for 50~70 ranked schools(usnews)
schools you mantioned are extremely competitive...</p>
<p>OK. u mean LAC rank 50~70 ones ?</p>
<p>yeah..maybe 30(reach)~70...rank does not mean schools competitiveness, however, its still good indicator...</p>
<p>As a fellow Chinese; here are some advise for you from me. Please realize that these are simply my perspectives.</p>
<p>If you don't care about prestige/name recognition in China/US, then LAC's are fine. By no way do I intend to say that LAC are bad schools; in fact they will give you an education as good as one you would get from a top national university.
But if you do care about prestige; most of the >30 ranked LAC don't have that bang after their name. Getting into a top and well known LAC would probably be a reach for you.
Don't let the location of a school limit your choice; you probably will be fine anywhere. Location makes up a school; it doesn't define a school.
In my opinion, you should also be looking at national universities with ranks >30, perhaps with 1 or 2 reach schools that you love. A good public school education would be better than an "unheard of" LAC. (Please LAC lovers, bash me) You should really try for UM-Madison.</p>
<p>yep, good suggestion...
At first I haven't thought about LAC, but my advisor strongly suggest me to go to LAC. She said I can get a better undergraduate education. Then go to top graduate school. Probably she is not familiar with international admission coz' she think the school I am applying for will accept me. So I'm kinda confused...
Actually it's very easy for me to transfer to UMTC, no need for TOEFL or ACT... but I just wanna a best school with these score I've got...</p>
<p>If it was not your choice to apply to these LACs, merely your advisor's choice, then please apply to national universities. Beside; there are more Asian students at universities than LACs. That would probably be a plus for you.
If the above case is true, be sure to look into universities.</p>
<p>actually for me, either is OK. So what rank range school u think fit for me?</p>
<p>someone can tell me?</p>