International senior looking for colleges (long-ish post!)

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm a Finnish senior (female), applying for 2006 fall admission. I'll be graduating this June and will take a gap year. During my gap year I'll take courses in the open university and probably work on the side. The gap year is there because I felt like I needed a cooling off period after upper secondary school because of the intensity. I also want to check out life from a different perspective, but I threw in the open university because I don't want to feel like I'm doing nothing. </p>

<p>My GPA is 9.28 on a scale from 4 to 10. The maximum (10) is practically impossible to reach unless you get full marks on all the assignments and the exam, usually no more than one or two students in a course get a 10. Losing a single point in the exam can (and usually will) mean that you'll get a 9, not a 10. My school doesn't rank, but I'd say I'm roughly in the top 10%.</p>

<p>My school is often ranked (unofficially, there are no official rankings) in the national top ten and is very well known for its program in sciences and math. The courseload is rigorous and the athmosphere unfortunately quite competitive. Unlike almost all the other schools in Finland offers courses that can be seen as AP equivalents. They are offered in Bio, Chem, Physics and Math. I've taken the bio all throughout upper secondary (three years) and will receive a 9 in my final transcript. </p>

<p>I haven't taken the SAT yet, but if everything goes as it should (according to the practice tests I've taken), I should receive about 2100-2200. I will also take the ACT and SAT II (French, World History, Literature, Bio, Math IIC...haven't decided yet!). </p>

<p>I have quite a lot of ECs and whatnot, in comparison to the average Finnish student. The most important ones:
- A board member of a national branch of an international organisation, European Youth Parliament since Jan 2003, 1st VP since Jan 2005, I have taken part in half a dozen international events and half a dozen smaller, national level events, all over Europe.
- Freshman tutor during my second year, facilitator for tutors during my third year
- Student Government VP
- Student Representative in school's administrative board
- Member of my city's (2nd largest in Finland) youth council
- Senior Class treasurer</p>

<p>I have started looking for colleges and at the moment my favorites are Brown, Yale (I know, I know...), Tufts and Trinity College. </p>

<p>I'm looking for
- Mid-Atlantic or New England
- a liberal athmosphere
- absolutely no religious affiliation
- urban location, I love going out to gigs and seeing shows etc.
- medium size, about 2,500-10,000
- nice social life, but not one that's overrun by greek life
- good international relations program or alternatively other similar interdisciplinary programs such as Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies.
- pretty campus! It's not a must, but hey, if I'm spending four years there, it'd be nice...
- good dorm life
- relatively large international student population, I don't want to be the only intl. student on campus
- diversity of the student body is always a plus
- intl. FA not needed</p>

<p>Any suggestions? I really do need some safeties but can't seem to find any that please me and the collegeboard.com search seems to keep on thinking that Harvard College is where I need to be...</p>

<p>I'm asking for a lot, but I really appriciate the help. I don't have the luxury of a campus visit and this board has already been a great source! Thanks!</p>

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<p>Georgetown sound like a great fit (the religeous affiliation is not felt in any way).</p>

3

<p>the religeous affiliation is not felt in any way).>></p>

<p>Aside from the crucifixes in the classrooms. :)</p>

<p>You might also try Johns Hopkins, which has a very nice international relations program. Brown, U of Pennsylvania, George Washington U, Boston University, American U or NYU might also be of interest.</p>

4

<p>Macalester College has a very strong international relations department and good networking for internships at various NGOs. It's smaller than you are looking for but otherwise a great fit. Excellent music scene in the Twin Cities.</p>

<p>Join your fellow Finns. . .
<a href="http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/osmo2/bio.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/osmo2/bio.cfm&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.finnstyle.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.finnstyle.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Thanks for all the tips!</p>

<p>About Georgetown, American U and Macalester, sure they are religiously affiliated, but to what extent, do they just follow the work ethic or should I expect to be one of the few people not attending mass on Sunday? Georgetown website seems to make a pretty big deal out of welcoming students of all religions, but still, catholicism seem to be the "reigning religion" on campus. </p>

<p>I heard Princeton's international relations deparment is really strong, is this true? </p>

<p>How about some safeties...?</p>

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<p>george wash state can be a saftey...american u also a saftey. georgetown, definitely great for IR...tufts too</p>

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<p>For you, I would say that BU and NYU are safeties. You are going to be seen as a desirable candidate.</p>

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<p>BU definitely a saftey..but their IR isn't that great. George Washington State however, is in washington dc. so is american uni.</p>

<p>NYU, as internationals with good grades, you probably need around 1250s old SAT to get accepted but there's a chance that you'll get into florence. 1300s should guaruntee you in CAS but not stern. and also nyu isn't that popular with its international relations program, whereas tufts and georgetown, which are semi-reaches/good matches for you are.</p>

<p>and being in wash DC would also mean great internship opportunities!</p>

9

<p>I think that Tufts would be a really good match. Also, as a safety, you might consider Clark. It has a lot of international students, good international relations department and although it's not gorgeous, it's reasonably close to Boston. If you had any interest in Los Angeles, I would also recommend Occidental--it's smaller than you want, but you're in L.A. which would be a lot of fun.</p>

10

<p>Princeton is an outstanding school in all areas; it's programs in public policy and international relations are excellent. It is a reach school for just about every student however, domestic or international. </p>

<p>Catholicism is going to be part of the environment at Georgetown but there won't be any sort of religious pressure on individual students. Macalester's religious affiliation is a total non-factor, and I didn't even know American U had one. </p>

<p>Calibrating safeties is tough for internationals, though your aid situation is a real plus. It's probably not worth doing until you get real SAT scores and another semester of grades. That said, American is likely a safety, and Lewis and Clark would be less-selective small school to look into. I like the suggestion of Occidental, too.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for all the help!</p>

<p>reidm,
I won't be getting another semester of grades: 9.28 GPA is final, my school about a month ago. Nevertheless, the graduation is in June. Weird system, but gives people time to study for university entrance exams before the graduation hassle etc. I only have preliminary scores from my finals, but I should be in the national top 10% in all subjects, except English, where I'll probably be in the top 5%, at least. </p>

<p>BU's lack of excellence in the IR field isn't really that big of a problem, because of their UNI program, which is where I'd be applying to. </p>

<p>NYU doesn't really tickle my fancy because even though I said I'd want an urban area, Manhattan might be a bit too much for me. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a big sense of community at NYU. </p>

<p>For me, staying in the North East is kind the most important criteria, I've stayed on the Western seaboard a few times and I really do ascribe more to the Eastern way of thinking. Plus, East is so much easier to get to from Europe! </p>

<p>I'm trying to keep a cool head about the search process, sure it'd look great if I applied and got into HYPSM, (which I'm not, with the exception of applying to Yale, which has been my ultimate dream school for years) but I really am trying to find a fit so that I don't have to transfer after two semesters. Obviously prestige is a big thing, I'm not going to deny it, especially being an international student because the most prestigious schools are the ones you hear about the most. Harvard this, Stanford that...So I'm fighting hard against getting blindsided about the Ivies etc, which seems to happen to many international students with top stats.</p>