<p>Hello , I am an Egyptian student from Cairo . I am a member of the Competitive College Club organised by Amideast/EducationUSA .I will apply this admission season to ten colleges . My list should be classified as follows : 4 reach , 3 match , 3 safety . I already made this list , I have two standards : diversity and generosity in financial aid because all my family can afford is 2,000$ . The problem is that my adviser says I have to investigate the personality of each school to make sure I will fit in , but this is really time consuming . Especially that I am working on essays , French , World History and Biology subject tests , SAT 1 and TOEFL Another thing is I think it is really dump to waste my time investigating the personalities when there is diversity in all colleges , it is not like there is a college of 99% similar students . I do not know what to do right now , time is not on my side . Most importantly I do not know how to make my decision . Here are the colleges , with their acceptance rate ,that I am sure fit the two standards I mentioned , but they are all good I do not know which should I pick and based on what .</p>
<p>1-Lafayette college ( 40%)
2-Rice university (19 % )
3-Brandeis university ( 40 %)
4-Skidmore college (44%)
5-Lehigh university(33%)
6-Macalester college (35%)
7-Grinnell college (51%)
8-Colgate university (29%)
9-Oberlin college (30%)
10-Bates college (27%)
11-Colby college (29%)
12-trinity university (61%)
13-Carleton college (31%)
14-Colorado college (26%)
15-Dickinson college(42%)
16-Tufts university(22%)
17-Trinity college (30%)
18-occidental college(42 %)
19-Gettysburg college (40%)
20-Depauw university (57 %)
21-Fairfield university (72%)
22-Soka university of America (34%)
23-Wesleyan university (21%)
24-Pepperdine university (32%)
25-Swarthmore college (14%)</p>
<p>Your adviser is correct. Although every school has a reasonably diverse population, each one also has its own unique culture, in which you could be happy or unhappy. So yes, “fit” does matter. (For example, my daughter avoided any school that had sororities, because even though she did not plan to join one, they tend to dominate the social life at many of the schools that have them. Therefore, a school like this would have been a poor fit for her.)</p>
<p>And schools have different academic strengths. To narrow down your list, first decide what you might want to study and move the schools with a program in that field to the top of the list. Among those, you will need to consider not only the Greek (sorority/fraternity system), but whether the campus is in a city, near a city, or out in a rural area. This will be your home for four years so it does very much matter where you live.</p>
<p>Post again about your interests, scores and grades, and someone should be able to help you sort through the list you’ve made.</p>
<p>Thanks very much . I want to major in Political Science . But I do not know how I can determine the efficiency of a Political Science program . Lat year I scored 96% , the educational system I am studying does not have GPA . My extra-curricular activities are ( 1-Cooking Club for 2 years , initiated by me , 2-community service which is newly started , 3 months only , 3-Intellectuals Club , also initiated by me , where we read about random topics and recognize different symphonies , 4-Cooking classes , initiated by me at a nursery )</p>
<p>It’s hard to determine what schools to look at with no SAT scores set in stone. Your grades seem good, but test scores play a big part in getting admitted at most schools.</p>
<p>I know how important SAT and TOEFL scores are but still even before get them I must have a consistent list , one which I am able to defend , or at least that is what my adviser says . I just do not think I have the sufficient time to scrutinize all these universities .</p>
<p>Can you get a hold of a Fiske Guide to colleges? Most of the colleges are in that book and there is a description of the strengths of the school and also the culture and style of the school.</p>
<p>Also it looks like you want tuition, room and board paid for and that is not possible or extremely unlikely at these schools.</p>
<p>Hmm, you can find a lot of information on CC itself if you look for it (For example, google for Grinnell vs Oberlin. People who are deciding between two schools such as those two will list out, with help of other CCers who have visited those colleges and go there, their differences and similarities. By reading those things, you can gauge if you’re a good fit at such a school.) I have done a LOT of research so I know about all those schools you have listed, their academic strengths and their admission tendencies for international students. If you’d like, you can PM me and I will help you narrow down your list according to your preferences (fit?).</p>