Need help deciding where to apply

Hi CC community! I’ve read a lot of posts on here over the past year, and I finally decided to make an account so I could post something myself. I’m currently a high school senior who should be well into the college admissions process, but isn’t. I finished my common app essay this summer, and had it reviewed by multiple English teachers, so I am done with that, but the problem is I still have no idea what colleges to send it to. I am very lucky in that I have a wealthy relative willing to pay for my education, so cost is not a problem. My SAT score is a 1590, and my GPA is a 4.0 UW/4.5 (highest) W. I am currently ranked 1/600 in my graduating class at a competitive suburban public high school. My ECs are listed below:
TENNIS:

  • 2 years jv
  • 2 years varsity
  • 1 year varsity captain
  • qualified for state & placed 2nd
  • varsity letter
    DECA:
  • 4 years
  • 1 year vp of school based enterprise
  • 1 year vp of competition
  • 1 year vp of my school’s chapter
  • placed 2nd in state & qualified for international competition
    LACROSSE:
  • 2 years varsity
    LINK CREW:
  • freshman mentoring program
  • was selected by my teachers
  • 1 year on executive board
    SENIOR CLASS COUNCIL:
  • elected as president
    NATIONAL HONORS SOCIETY
  • vice president
    UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MED CENTER RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
  • worked directly with a professor
  • got my name on a research paper about gynecology research
    HOSPITAL INTERNSHIP
  • interned at a birthplace in my local hospital everyday during the school year
    SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
  • captain of the team
  • our school won 1st place in state & went to national’s every year i was on the team
  • competed in 5 events every year & placed in multiple competitions individually & w partners
    VOLUNTEERING
  • volunteered as a peer mentor/camp counselor for children & teens with disabilities
    CHOIR
  • 1 year concert choir
  • 3 years competitive audition select show choir
    I know that statswise it is POSSIBLE for me to be accepted to pretty much any university, but I also know it isn’t reasonable for me to assume that just because I have a 1590 and a 4.0 I will get into every college I apply to. I know there are students with perfect stats who have much more impressive extracurriculars than me (publishing a book, winning a national competition, etc.). However, do you think I have a reasonable chance at selective schools? My GC told me that I could try applying to the ivies and such, but that I shouldn’t get my hopes up because my ECs are just average things that every ivy applicant will have on their resumé. She also said that since I am asian (indian) american, I am at a severe disadvantage. Is this true? All of my classmates and family members expect that I will go to an Ivy League or other super selective school because I will most likely be valedictorian, but I am more fixed on going to the school that’s the right “fit” for me. I was hoping people on CC would be able to help me with that. Here is what I know so far: I prefer big cities over college towns, class size doesn’t really matter to me because I can see myself succeeding in a class whether it is big or small, I want a school where the students are more known for being studious than for being partiers, I want a school that is good for both global studies/international relations and neuroscience, since I am interested in both of these, and I am not yet sure which I want to study. Any help you could give would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading my long post:)

Sounds familiar. You’ve worked hard. With a little bit of research, you will almost certainly be admitted to a top-tier college or university. The problem is that you are already under pressure to satisfy the preconceived notions of what that means to adults in your life who may not have set foot on a campus in thirty years. My advice would be to buy or check-out your local library for a content-rich, college guidebook, one that gives you in-depth overviews for - at a minimum - the top 100 colleges in the country. Don’t get stuck in the ratings game; it’s way too soon for that.

If you follow the above advice, you will be amazed by the range and variety of college-level education in the United States which is still the envy of the world. Once you’ve narrowed down certain parameters like location, size, social orientation and your own long range goals, share your findings with the adults in your life. Refer them to the research you’ve done. At a minimum, you will need sensible back-ups to the Ivy League and there are MANY of them including many small liberal arts colleges (LACs) that operate below the radar of qualified scholars like yourself.

Northwestern University in Evanston–which is an upscale suburb outside of Chicago.

The trick to getting admitted to Northwestern is to apply ED &, equally important, to write essays that show specific knowledge & appreciation for the opportunities offered at NU.

Easy to switch schools. Easy to double major or one major & two minors. More demanding to triple major, but doable.

Consider: Princeton University & Harvard as well as Northwestern. For a couple of reasons, your post screamed Northwestern University when I did my first read. Nevertheless, if admitted to Princeton or Harvard, who could say no ?

If set on a career in medicine, then consider applying to some joint BS/BA & MD programs. Northwestern & Brown are two examples of the most respected joint programs in the country.

Although not a match in my mind (because I do not know enough about you & your social style), I think that Vanderbilt University might offer you significant scholarship money.

@sunflowergirl13: Although I could recommend many more schools, I see you at Northwestern University unless offered admission to Princeton or Harvard.

P.S. The University of Michigan is another to consider.

Although I have made my impressions clear, I think that it might be helpful to you to consider the list of the Top 15 Private Universities with the Largest Endowments:

  1. Harvard

  2. Yale

  3. Stanford

  4. Princeton

  5. MIT

  6. University of Pennsylvania

  7. Columbia

  8. Notre Dame

  9. Northwestern University

  10. Emory University

  11. Duke

  12. WashUStL

  13. University of Chicago

  14. Cornell University

  15. Rice University

Brown & Dartmouth College are the two Ivies which do not make this list; however, when broken down into “endowment per student”, Dartmouth College would be among the top 15.

The University of Michigan, although a public school would rank at #9 or #10 in terms of largest endowments.

Texas & Texas A&M folks may argue for their schools even though public universities, but their endowments are system wide & when broken down to a campus by campus method would not finish among the top 20 schools.

Stanford has a lot of sports teams and has the academic strength that you are looking for. I am wondering whether your excellence at a variety of sports might help you there. Of course it would be a reach even for a pretty much perfect candidate. It however is not in a city.

McGill might be a safety with your stats. It of course has both academic strength and is in the middle of a very interesting large city.

Look at Washington University in St. Louis–big city, strong research university, excellent academic programs, especially STEM. The areas around Washington University (University City and Clayton) have many recreational opportunities for students–restaurants, music, shopping. The St. Louis Art Museum is right near campus. Students are from all over–lots of diversity.

Johns Hopkins might be worth a look too. Like Northwestern, the odds are significantly better applying ED.

Emory too.

Of course most of us are telling your reach schools. What’s your home state? Depending on where you live, your state flagship could be a safety.

I may be wrong, but Kansas might be her home state based on her internship.

@circuitrider thanks for the advice! I think I will buy one of those books

@momofsenior1 I have already applied and been excepted to my safety school, the University of Kansas. I am a Kansas resident.

Adding Wash U & Northwestern to my list

I like Brown’s Neuroscience program, really good options for undergrad research. Do you want to go to med schoo or get a PhD?
https://www.brown.edu/academics/neuroscience/

Stanford has a few walk ons, but mostly recruited division 1 sports, so OP would know if she was recruited by now, its a good 18 month process. Its completely a different application process than she is considering.

You need safety schools and middle of the road choices though and I don’t think Northwestern is a shoe in, although you are very strong. I know girls with your stats and research experience, who were waitlisted at Northwestern and got into Brown. Binding ED at Northwestern is a good idea though, if you can be sure you want to go there. sounds like you have not visited. Need to like a cold climate on Lake Michigan.

Vanderbilt and U of Southern Cal are also good for neuroscience with warmer climates. Nashville is arguably one of the best medium sized cities for stuff to do and youthful feel. USC: Los Angeles, of course is a world class city, with many hospitals and jobs, and entertainment options, and beach not too far off.

@coloradomama I am not sure if I want to go to medical school. I am hoping I will find that out in college:)

The size of a school’s endowment is not a good indicator of quality of undergrad education.

A classic example is the fact that Yale completely missed the computer revolution. It took them until 2015 to realize that computer science was no longer a “niche” subject and that they would need to reorganize their department in order to prepare both CS and non-CS students for the 21st century.

Despite a $20B plus endowment, and rapidly growing student demand, Yale’s CS department was repeatedly told that they could not hire more professors - due to financial constraints.

Many schools with much, much smaller endowments were able to hire CS professors to meet growing student demand, and proactively prepare their students for the 21st century.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2014/10/21/cs-department-struggles-for-faculty/

https://www.businessinsider.com/yale-computer-science-petition-2015-3

https://news.yale.edu/2015/11/16/computer-science-department-21st-century

If the “girl” in the middle of your username is a nod to your gender/gender identification, you should be taking a look at the top women’s colleges. Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley definitely are known for attracting students who are studious rather than partiers. Check their websites to see which look better for your major(s).

Look first at schools which are strong with what you are interested in and THEN worry about the application process.

Are you looking for research? If so, consider some of the top undergraduate research places like U Rochester and possibly Pitt considering you mentioned neuroscience. Both are in cities. Brown, Stanford, and Yale also come to mind for neuro thinking of that alone. Georgetown comes to mind for International Relations and in a city. There are plenty to choose from as my mind starts having more names pop up - too many to list. Start looking online using your desired majors and see what appeals.

Will your rich relative help you fly to some of these place to visit them? I know my URoc lad fell in love with his campus when he visited and stayed with other students enjoying a night of talking about research while rehearsing for a dance club performance. He’d met his people… You could easily find the same appeal someplace.

Being from Kansas could be a nice little bonus to your application. Don’t count on anything, but you do have that going for you helping you stand out. Many schools like to have students from all of the states and Kansas can have fewer applicants than more populated states.

Reading your descriptions, I thought of Wellesley. Mount Holyoke would be a safety, and you’d need to express interest.