So I have a couple of questions for people that know more stuff about US universities and their admission. I was a straight A student in my home country, I volunteered in a local NGO and also in Red Cross. I went to a couple of competitions (languages, math, physics). Afterwards I went to an IB school and even though my extra curricular activities are still good, my grades went a lot lower and I expect I’ll have a predicted of around 32-33.
I want to ask which colleges/universities I should look for (preferably East Coast). I’m not aiming for extremely good colleges, but at least decent ones.
Could you provide your intended major, home country, and any test scores? This helps. Also, what type of school are you looking for, and where? New England/New York has great schools and great job opportunities, but are super cold in the winter!! DC area is perfect for anything related to government, so jobs and internships in government are plentiful. Plus, if you need visa help etc your embassy is in DC. The weather in DC, Virginia and North Carolina is superb and these states have great schools. South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida are hot hot hot, but maybe your family might actually want to visit you since these are vacation destinations! New England in Autumn is amazing too though.
If you do not think you can get into an Ivy, I would definitely choose one to reach for and go for it. Brown, Cornell, and UPenn are generally regarded as the easier Ivy’s, but apply to the Ivy that you feel you would do well at.
That being said there are many big name schools on the east coast that are not so selective but have top notch educations:
New England/New York/Mid-Atlantic
Boston University
New York University
Temple University
Boston College
University of Vermont
Tufts University
Amherst College
Williams College (top lib arts in nation!)
Wellesley College (womens only)
UMass Amherst
UConn
Ithaca
Fordham
Penn State
Colgate
Hamilton
Virginia/North Carolina/DC
Georgetown
George Washington
George Mason
James Madison
American University
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Elon (Prettiest campus!!)
Wake Forest
University of Virginia
Virginia Tech
UNC Chapel Hill
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
Clemson
Univeristy of South Carolina
Emory/Oxford
University of Georgia (Athens)
Georgia Tech
Florida State
University of Florida
University of South Florida
University of Miami
PLUS there are tons of other schools that specialize in a certain degree, like Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, so major matters a ton!
^Wtf? Did you literally just list Duke, Williams, Hopkins, Georgetown, and Amherst as “not selective”? All of these schools are pretty much equal to Cornell/Brown or better.
Boston College
Tufts
Amherst
Williams
Georgetown
Duke (hahaha)
John Hopkins (umm…)
UVA (Depends if you’re in-state or OOS)
Emory
NYU (Uncertain on this one)
All of the schools listed above I wouldn’t exactly categorize as “not so selective” lulz
How, about the University of Southern Maine in Portland, the University of Northern Corado in Greley, college consortia of the University of Dubuque, Clarke College, Loras, Bates in Maine, Alfred in NY, University on New HAmpshire near Concord… You could search for the names is schools by state.
@stressedmhs, the OP is an international candidate, so he/she will be limited in a US job search. Immigration status affects international students’ work opportunities since employers must employ US candidates first, before attempting to sponsor non-citizens.
@randomIBStudent :
Have you taken the SAT/ACT?
Remember that there are 3,700 universities in the US. Start reading the Fiske Guide or Princeton Review’s Best Colleges.
That being said, with a 32-33 predicted, your choices are probably LACs ranked 50-125 (or higher).
A key question is How much can you afford?
Are you a US citizen being educated abroad, or someone who’ll need a visa to study in the US?
Don’t pay attention to the list in #1, as most of these colleges would expect at least a 36.
@williams2021@VANDEMORY1342@Alllviiinnn LOL I know they are super selective! I didn’t mean to write that they weren’t. I felt that as an international student he/she may have only heard of the Ivys, but these schools have equal education and with a 32-33 ACT, these schools are technically possible, though difficult. SO, I didn’t want the student to be limited in their applications because the profile was not enough for me to judge whether they could make it to a Williams/Amherst/Dartmouth or if BU/NYU or even a UMass/UConn was the best option. The schools I list I thought were appropriate for every category of the student’s list, it has reaches, likely’s, and safety’s, if I am judging the candidate correctly. I don’t want to omit a school like Duke because it is too hard, maybe the student actually has a shot there. That being said I understand I should have clarified my statement and taken out the “not as selective” portion. Thanks for ever so kindly pointing out my flaws.
@randomIBStudent, the first question is fees: do you have a budget? do you need financial aid? if so, that is the first factor for you to use in selecting colleges.
Most public universities (typically, but not always, called “University of [State Name]”* or “[State Name] State University” or “[State Name] Technical College/University”) have much higher tuition for students whose parents do not live (and pay taxes) in that state.
Many private colleges and universities offer financial aid (based on what they think your need is) and/or merit aid (based on your test scores). Most are ‘need aware’: that is they consider how much financial aid you need when they are deciding whether to admit you. If you are looking for financial aid, your best bet is to look at colleges for which you would be at the top end of the class. One way to figure this out is to look at the stats on accepted students (search collegedata.com), and aim to be in the top 10-25% of admitted students.
Most colleges and universities have ~10-15% international students, so when you are reading admission rates, be aware that they are always lower for international students than citizens.
*well known exceptions include University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California, which are actually private universities
@MYOS1634 Ahh ohk I am not familiar with IB so asssumed it was ACT. Now I see that some schools may be a bit of a stretch. In that case, an updated list!!
UConn
Quinnipiac
UMaine
Suffolk University
Syracuse
Manhattan College
the SUNY's
Penn State
American University
These are some I can think of, but there are plenty more. State schools are generally cheaper and still have great educations.
Some, like Penn State, are much more expensive for out of state students. ~$45k/yr last time I checked. OP should investigate thoroughly if budget is a concern.
Do yourself a favor and get a book like Fiske Guide to Colleges and start your research there. The responses on this thread will not help you at all. Some very silly information is being given out here.
Maybe, but it’s definitely harder if you’re out of state. Regardless, I’m not very well informed and I rely solely on information my relatives has given me previously (they said UVA was easy to get in because 200+ kids were admitted at his high school, so I thought so too).