Please help a guy decide!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First of all I'm new here, so I am probably posting this in the wrong forum.</p>

<p>I am a first generation college student, white, male, immigrated from Russia in '96.</p>

<p>According to these conversion systems from CollegeBoard and Princeton Review I would have a 4.0 uw gpa. Not sure what it would be for the weighted one, but it is 97/100 on a 100 point scale.</p>

<p>SAT Superscore: 2130----> CR: 690, M:750, W:690 (I hope to retake it and get math to 800 and writing in the 700s, reading is tough for me though.)</p>

<p>SAT II: Math 2: 720 US History: 720</p>

<p>AP: USH: 4 Calc AB: 5 Spanish: 3 Euro: 3</p>

<p>AP Scholar with Honor</p>

<p>Taking AP Physics B, AP govt, AP stat.</p>

<p>My school doesn't rank but I know I'm def in top 10%. Probably even top 5%.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: co-captain of Vars XC and Track teams, Sports Editor for School Newspaper, Chairperson of NHS, not official, but I'm going to be an Eagle Scout in about a month or two (hopefully).</p>

<p>Work/ Volunteering: Worked at some summer camps where I personally taught classes to kids ranging in age from 6 to 18. Worked as an assistant chef at a cafe. Worked as an intern for a big real estate company. Worked with Med School professor to create visuals for presentations to first year med school students. (Kinda put research into that). 50 hours at a community mural project (Volunteer). Worked in the Parent Coordinator's office during the summer for 125 hours (Volunteer). Around 70 hours from a camp I worked at (volunteer).</p>

<p>I think my essays are pretty strong and have some solid recommendations coming from APUSH and AP Calc AB teachers.</p>

<p>I am interested in Engineering and Sciences, but not certain if I would want to go into this field. I live in NYC but wouldn't mind going across the nation for college.</p>

<p>I want a school that isn't completely rural, has really nice facilities (the beauty of an IVY), students are generally happy people, I want to have a life in college, but definitely have great academics.</p>

<p>I'm thinking of upenn, Cornell, northwestern, nyu, Boston university, Brandeis, tufts, bowdoin, Dartmouth, brown, etc. </p>

<p>I really don't know though. Tell me about some realistic but good options.</p>

<p>I really liked UPenn, and that is prob my #1 choice, but what are some schools you can suggest that would fit my profile?</p>

2

<p>I also really like UCLA, but I heard they give very little fin aid.</p>

3

<p>UPenn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Bowdoin and Brown are all reaches.
Northwestern: Reach
NYU: Low match
BU: Safety
Brandeis: Low match
Tufts: Reach
UCLA: Match (OOS playing against you)</p>

4

<p>If you want engineering and sciences then some of the Ivies may not be a good choice. The best way to determine what school to attend is to choose one that is very strong in your major and has a teaching style style fits you best. My son is currently studying Mechanical Engineering at an excellent school in California. What we learned from the experience is that classes taken, GPA and test scores will determine where in the realm of “prestige” schools you will get into. For engineering and sciences, your GPA is fine. Additionally, your SAT’s are great and far better than average. However, they are too low for many elite schools. My kid was the same so we hired a qualified and reputable tutoring service and he upped his scores dramatically. Make sure to interview several services and ask for their track record of results before you determine who to choose if you decide to hire someone. Also, my kid did much better on the ACT and we decided to use those scores instead. Everyone is different when it comes to these standardized tests. Very important is what is your learning style. My kid wanted to spend most of his time in a hands on environment in the lab. Many of the schools that he was accepted to were too much theory and research based with professors primarily focused on individual research rather than teaching. This is a fundamental problem with many famous research institutions. In the end he chose a very reputable teaching college with a long standing reputation for a “hands on, learn by doing” teaching methodology that permeates every class and major. However, his school is best for students that are very clear on what they want to major in.</p>

<p>In your case, you are not so sure. So include flexibility in changing majors as part of your test to determine what school to go to. All in all you will get into a great school. However, I caution you on choosing for name value only. There is so much more to it than that. My kid actually turned down 6 top brand universities such as UCLA, etc. for Cal Poly San, Luis Obispo. His decision was based entirely on fit and I must say it was the best decision he ever made. The school is perfect for him.</p>