Plan for Visiting colleges on the East Coast(NY, PA, MA, MD, NJ, CT)

College Search & Selection
61

Should weather be considered a key factor in deciding what colleges to apply to? Because for us international students especially from China, we usually apply to schools all over the country hoping someone would accept us.

I have just visited some colleges in California last month. We went to UCB, UCLA, Stanford, USC, Pomona, and CMC. The weather was great but maybe a little too warm for Feb. Honestly I like them all, maybe not Stanford cuz there’s no way to get admitted anyways. The only major problem I have with those schools is that they have a huge number of Chinese students. I just don’t know if it really matters that much. Should I take the percentage of international students as a vital factor in consideration?

62

Do you want to attend a school where there are smaller number of Chinese students than the UCs or Stanford? Very good public universities like UVA, UNC, Georgia Tech, or privates like Duke and Vanderbilt all fit your bill for places that are not very cold, and their number of Chinese students are nowhere near that it’s like in CA.

63

LACs outside of California uniformly attract fewer Chinese students, but, for historic reasons are NOT evenly distributed across the US like research universities. If you include Ohio, ~90% of them are located in the NE. So, there’s that to consider.

64

Thank you all! Do you guys think having many International students is a deficiency? A lot of people say that but a few say it really depends on myself.

65

When I was a grad student (many, many years ago) the tendency was to house all the international students in the same dorm. In fact, it seemed as if every large university prided itself on having an “International House”. I don’t think it would be even physically possible to do that today nor do I think it desirable. The best approach, IMO, is to integrate them into the wider student population as soon as they are able to navigate their way across town without assistance. How many is too many? I live in New York City; there’s a medium size commuter college right next door to me and as the kids gather in groups around the plaza, I honestly can’t tell who is American and who isn’t. I imagine it’s that way in California, too.

66

If I wanted to find a job and stay in the US, would it make a difference for me to go to a LAC + grad school or a national university and grad school?

I’m just asking I have no idea whether I wanna stay or go back home after my education here.

67

Are you a US citizen or have a green card? Nobody needs to go to grad school to get a job.

68

@NoVADad99 No I am not. I’m a Chinese citizen. Since I am international, it’s way more difficult for me to get a job if I want to stay.

69

That’s what I was asking. It will be very difficult for you to get a permanent position in the US in your situation.

70

Is there a website where I can find what majors are colleges strong in? Cuz I am trying to find some low match and safety schools to visit. And I only know what I might not wanna do, so I will probably not visit the colleges who are strong in those majors. This sounds kinda ridiculous but

71

Hey guys, I have been researching universities and their locations for a couple days. And i have come up with a slightly more reasonable list of colleges that i would like to visit, with a few potential but uncertain ones due to their locations. Again, i would really appreciate any advice. Plus, if somebody can give me an estimate about how long the trip is gonna be and how i am gonna get to those places that would be great.

Here’s the new list:

Boston, MA: Harvard(just looking not gonna do the tour and info session thing way too many colleges in Boston), Boston University, Boston College, Brandeis, Tufts, and maybe Northeastern(do u guys think i should visit? I’ve just heard quite a bit about them trying to get a high rank fast. Would it be a match for me?)

Worcester, MA: College of the Holy Cross(i took your advice and it seems pretty decent with an acceptable distance from Boston. Would this be maybe a low match?)

New York: NYU, Columbia(just looking as well since it’s close and not realistic…), Fordham(not quite sure about this one cuz i don’t know if it is a decent safety school for an international student)

NJ: Princeton(kinda wanna check it out since its on the way from NYC to Philadelphia).

Bethlehem, PA: Lafayette and Lehigh(these are two more pragmatic choices, but i think i could either only choose to pass here or Princeton between NYC and Philadelphia. Otherwise it would be too complicated and inconvenient)

Philadelphia, PA: UPenn(might just look cuz it’s too good and too hard), Swarthmore, Haverford.

Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins(since it’s between Philadelphia and DC)

DC: Georgetown and George Washington(probably another safety? idk. They are very close though.)

And lastly my very uncertain ones: Vassar(NY), Trinity College(CT), Wesleyan(CT), all probably very unrealistic to go but i will just put them here and see what you experts and predecessors think.

It took a long time to research and type… Anyways, it’s just a tiny step for my college application and way to go! Thank you guys so much for your amazing ideas! Good night!

72

Though transportation can be a real obstacle, my opinion is that your itinerary should be based around schools – even if the number is fewer – rather than predominantly on convenience of travel. Your current itinerary may create the “streetlight effect” consequence of diminishing your chances of finding a suitable college.

73

@merc81 What do you mean by street light effect？ I don’t know what I wanna study and do so it’s really hard for me to find a college that fits me. And I don’t really like very rural colleges that’s also why I pick these ones that are around the cities.

74

“And I don’t really like very rural colleges, that’s also why I picked these ones that are around cities.”

With that clarification, I agree with your itinerary.

(The streetlight effect is something you can look up if you are still interested in the phenomenon.)

75

The difficulty is to find good matches or safeties, not reaches…almost anyone would love Harvard. Build the trip around your matches and safeties, and if time allows, visit a couple of reaches.

76

There aren’t many safety schools that I am interested in I that northeast area. But that’s where I am planning to visit this time.

77

Which ones ARE you interested in?

78

While in DC, you should add the University of Maryland at College Park which is just outside of the district. You can also visit George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, a close in suburb.

79

@NoVADad99 Thank you! UMCP seems pretty decent for a safety(it’s actually quite competitive since their last year’s SAT percentile is 1260-1420) and is fairly strong in business and engineering, while GWU looks pretty strong in humanities. That would be a nice combination to visit in one city.

80

I might consider these schools for low match/safeties: UTA, U of Wisconsin at Madison, OSU, George Washington, UMDCP, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Skidmore, and maybe one of the UCs(not UCB or UCLA).