<p>Hello Everyone!
So I'm going to be starting for A-Levels Second year in the coming week and hope of applying into US for my Undergraduate studies.
I got 6 A*s, 2 As and a B (in First language Urdu) in O-Levels and 4 A's in my AS-Levels with the subjects being:
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Mathematics</p>
<p>I wanted information on which colleges I should be applying to and got these in mind which will be shortlisted and new names might be added:
Brown University
Dartmouth College
University of Pennsylvania
Rice University
Tufts University
Bucknell University
Trinity College
SUNY at Stony Brook
Smith College
North Carolina State University
Marquette University
University of Arkansas
Saint Louis University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Florida Gulf Coast University
University of Memphis
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Mercer University
Texas A & M University
Dordt College
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Harding University
Gannon University
University of Central Oklahoma</p>
<p>Moreover, I have a really weak extra curricular profile with me being only a good writer with nothing to prove on; have attended two MUNs and won an H.M. in one (will continue MUNs) and play Football. I have also been an intern in a hospital and currently am an intern in a Social Enterprise SEPLAA (Seeds of Education, Policy and Legal Awareness Association).</p>
<p>That’s fine, we’re trying to determine what criteria is used so can commit on those schools met your needs and recommend others that could also met your needs. </p>
<p>In other words, what are you looking for,other than a school that offers a BME program? Cost, location, Big or Small school? Brown and Texas A&M are two very different schools. :)</p>
<p>Oh! I apologize for not letting you know.
Actually, the cost is the biggest factor as I’ll be an international student. The location and the size do not matter much for me. :)</p>
<p>leGhost: American universities have a “personality”. You have the “personality” of one who loves to drink lots of alcohol until they start throwing up. You have the personality that’s very competitive in the classroom. You have the “personality” of the very conservative, pro-military one. You have the “personality” of “anything goes, let’s run around naked”. You have the personality of “smoking weed is cool” . You have the personality of “Let’s go skiing. Or let’s scale a mountain. Or let’s go camping in the freezing cold for a real thrill.” You have the personality of “let’s volunteer and spend our weekends helping those in need”. You have the personality of “let’s talk for hours of existentialism”. You have the personality that spends Saturdays tailgating/pregaming/watching the game/recounting the game/celebrating the game. etc, etc… Some of those are more preeminent at some universities, many mix, but you’ll rarely find a student who loves all of them.
When American students choose their college, they also look for a specific atmosphere, what other students do in their free time, what’s considered “cool” or “fun” or “uncool” or “a drag”, what’s the norm and what’s odd, what’s available to those who don’t fit the norm. You also want to check religion - since your first language is Urdu, I assume you’re Muslim, which means small schools known for heavy drinking or D1 schools may not be a good fit, nor would schools with strict religious (Christian) obligations.</p>
<p>For instance, these two universities:
Brown University
Dartmouth College
are polar opposites in terms of vibe. I can’t imagine one who’d fit in at both. Since these are super selective, they look at fit - how well do you know them?
Other examples:
Bucknell University is known for its drunken parties and how many of its students partake.
Smith College is a women’s college, meaning only female applicants (including transgender but I doubt it’s your case)
If you like Brown, you’d be likely to like Smith (if you’re a girl), but if you like Dartmouth I’m not sure you’d like Smith. If you like Dartmouth however you’d be likely to like Bucknell. If you’re in Pakistan right now, all four would likely be a HUGE culture shock for you.
Other examples:
Marquette University is fairly strongly Catholic.
Mercer University is also strongly Christian.
Texas A & M University is one of the most conservative universities in the country.
Dordt College is conservative protestant Christian.
Stony Brook is very “commuter”, not a good choice for international students who’d find themselves on a deserted campus on weekends.</p>
<p>Oh well yes.
I recently just realized Smith is a females college and I can’t help but feel embarrassed over my foolishness.
Your reply really was helpful. I need to decide what really my personality is; though I assure you it isn’t the partying or “YOLOing” one.
Yeah it would be a culture shock and I’ll cut off the above mentioned universities from my list.
But can you help me by letting me know how are Dartmouth and Brown different? I know it might sound idiotic but I don’t know how to differentiate as of now. :/</p>
This is a huge mistake. Your college will be your home for four years. This is true for every student, but particularly true for an international who won’t be able to visit family for a long weekend or even for some vacations. So you need to do some hard thinking and define your criteria for a suitable home. Given the list you came up with, the College Board search tool appears to be a very crude one–you have identified wildly different colleges, different in style, location, selectivity, etc., and it’s just not reasonable to think all of them would be appropriate for you. A small conservative Protestant college located in the midwest that teaches creationism (!) and accepts pretty much anyone who wants to attend (Dordt, which I had never even heard of before reading this thread) and a liberal, urban, highly selective school (Brown)–well, they might as well be on different planets. </p>
<p>Bottom line, you need to do far more research into US colleges. I suggest you obtain one of the college guides–Fiske comes to mind–and read, read, read. You will also need to address the subject of cost. If you will require substantial financial aid to attend college in the US, your options will be quite limited. Once you have a better handle on this subject, come back with a new list and you’ll get lots of helpful advice.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
Haha well… I’m interested in Genetic Engineering to be more precise and thus chose Biomedical Engineering as Undergrad major.
I will be applying to Trinity College in Early Decision. What do you think about that?
Ah well… I know that the internationals are rarely accepted and that bothers me. On a completely unrelated note, could you tell me if I have a chance of getting a Green Card? </p>
<p>@ b@r!um is the expert on immigration policies here on CC. You would need to ask her about your chances, which are probably not good since US policies are strict.</p>
On a completely unrelated note, could you tell me if I have a chance of getting a Green Card? </p>