<p>I think your list is fine, given the 5-application limit, his plan to take a gap year, and his willingness to wait to apply to his safety. It looks like he would have as good a chance as anyone at those colleges.</p>
<p>Tactics: He should apply to Michigan as early as possible, since it does rolling admissions, and it also seems to award merit scholarships very early. If he applies to Michigan in September, he will almost certainly hear by the beginning of December. Another value of applying early to Michigan is that if he is NOT accepted in the first wave of Michigan acceptances, and his ED and EA applications are deferred or rejected, that is a market signal, and you may want to rethink which schools you send your last two applications. (Hint: not Harvard.) Or you could use that to beg the school to let him file a couple extra applications (or better yet get them to agree in advance that if his early round is unsuccessful he can apply to more than two more schools).</p>
<p>I think the Columbia ED / Chicago EA pairing is a good idea. Either one could be a good fit for him; I think Columbia is better known for Tibetan. (If only because the daughter of Columbia’s top Tibetanist is better known than the entire University of Chicago faculty. Throughout all of its history. Nobel prizes and all.)</p>
<p>I’m not certain what UVa is doing on the list, unless you live in Virginia. It’s not urban, and it’s not particularly easy to get into from out of state, and I’ve never heard of the rich mix of cultures and creeds in Charlottesville (although I’m sure you can find some Buddhists there). But I don’t know anything about Tibetan or religious studies at UVa, so I could be completely off base.</p>
<p>Two more schools to consider, that may well meet his criteria: Toronto and McGill. They are fairly predictable in admissions, and easy to apply to. They are in diversity-rich urban environments, with diverse, international students, and I know Toronto at least has very broad language programs. Plus, maybe you can convince your school that, as Canadian universities, they shouldn’t count toward the 5-application limit. They do have some limited financial aid for U.S. students available (although that could be an issue).</p>