Please help me edit my college list

College Search & Selection
1

I’m an international student from India and I’m applying to the class of 2020 at each college. Can someone please comment on my college list? I want to trim it down and also add 1 or 2 more safeties/matches because my current list is only safeties and reaches.

Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, UPenn (Wharton; just for the kicks :-p ), Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Harvey Mudd, MIT, Georgia Tech, NYU, Carnegie Mellon (MCS), Williams, UC B/LA/SD and UChicago. I’m also looking at LSE in the UK but I don’t really like the London environment (I’ll keep this as a last resort if at all I get in)

I don’t really like large class sizes and I’d also prefer a liberal arts system. I want to major in math. I would also like to double major in classics or economics but it is fine if the school lacks a really good economics or classics education.

I think that I’m a competitive applicant at all the places (top 1% in school, 2320 SAT and really unique ECs to which I have shown dedication for a really long time, a few international and national level awards too). I’m also not applying for aid at all. I think that UCSD, Georgia Tech and NYU are safeties? The rest are all reaches.

The things that are important: strong math department and a good economics department, the ability to take grad level classes as soon as the sophomore year.

Things that matter moderately: Liberal arts education, research and internship opportunities.

Things that don’t matter much: sports (I would love to play but I do not think that I’m D1 quality. I’ll still try to walk on but if I cannot, I’ll play intra mural or club sports), weather, greek life, etc.

Financial aid - I’ll not be applying for aid anywhere.

Thank you in advance.

2

Is there are reason why CalTech isn’t on your list?

3

UCSD is no safety. Safeties are schools that you are sure you will receive an acceptance and are affordable. Can you pay $55k+/year? and although your SAT is outstanding, there is no guarantee. If you want small class sizes, you will not find them at the UC’s until upper division classes. UCLA has many classes with over 500 students. If you want a true liberal arts education, you should be looking at LAC’s not large public universities. Look at Harvey Mudd, Pomona college and Occidental to name a few.

4

@N’s Mom,
I have a friend who attends Caltech and from what I have learnt from him, it isn’t really a college for a person like me. I might apply there, but I’m not really sure.

@Gumbymom,
I’ll change my perspective of UCSD then. Thanks for correcting me. Yes, I can afford to pay 55k+ per year. The reason why I’m applying to UC Berkeley and UCLA is because they are awesome for math. The faculty is great and they have put up a good show at Putnam every year. Although I may have to forego a liberal arts education at Berkeley and LA, I might as well do it if I do not get into a good LAC. Harvey Mudd is already on my list. I’ll do more research on Pomona and Occidental.

How is Amherst for math?

5

Poor Dartmouth. Inclusiveness conceals the most brutal triage. :blush:

6

What is your sport?

7

@Dunboyne
I plan to apply to only 4 Ivies. Dartmouth just doesn’t appeal to me.

@lr4550
I’m a multi sport athlete - basketball and soccer. Have captained the varsity teams and played at the district/state level. I don’t think that my basketball skills are as good as the people actually playing for the college teams, but I have a good shot at soccer. I also intend to row crew :-p I’ll only play one sport and if I do end up playing at the varsity level, I’ll drop my plans of double majoring.

8

Any help?

9

Princeton, Columbia, Chicago, Williams, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, NYU, Reed, Wisconsin, Boston U.

10

GA Tech is one I’m not completely sure I would label a safety. Lately, especially the last several years, it has been very unpredictable when admitting OOS students and I can only assume this carries over to international students as well, if not in greater effect. Your scores and ECs should be enough, but I definitely wouldn’t characterize it as a sure thing. I would suggest more along the lines of match, maybe even low match, although the former would presumably be more accurate. However difficult it may be though, you seem to be an excellent candidate and I have no doubt you will be admitted to at least several of your target schools. Keep up the hard work and good luck!

11

Here’s a reality check. You have no safeties or even matches on your list (UCSD and Georgia Tech might count but I’m not sure). You face a high probability of a total shut out which is fine if you’re content with going to school in India but less so if you want to study math in the US.

Here are some safeties and matches which are highly ranked for graduate math.
-University of Wisconsin - Madison
-University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
-University of Arizona (safety)
-UC Davis (you’re already applying to the UCs. Tack this one on)
-University of Maryland - College Park
-Iowa State University (safety)

12

OP: None of the schools are safeties due to acceptance rates. As an ORM international, even with outstanding stats and ECs, you should consider that all universities with less than 30% acceptance overall are reaches.
Note that UCB and UCLA will now have a cap on OOS and international enrollment that will make admissions harder. So, automatic reaches. Rice and Vanderbilt would be good additional reaches if you can afford to apply to them.

I second Whenhen’s list, plus tacking on UCSB’s CCS (look into it :p).
I would also include Virginia Tech, NCSU, Penn State, Purdue, Colorado Boulder.
In all cases, apply to the Honors College.

For LACs, the most famous one is Williams but it’s another reach.

13

Temple would also be a safety, and - true to Philadelphia tradition - they have a strong varsity crew program.

14

@Dunboyne Thanks. I will take your list into consideration. Will Reed be a safety for me?

@Hertzog I was a bit skeptical about branding Georgia Tech my safety, but I appreciate that you corrected me. I’ll look for safeties.

@whenhen Thank you for your reply. I’ll take that into consideration.

@MYOS1634 Thanks for bringing CCS into my notice. It really looks like an awesome program. I’ll do more research about it. What about UIUC for math? Is that a safety?

@woogzmama Thank you for your suggestion. I’ll look into it.

15

It’s hard to define a safety for an international. Even with publics that have higher admit rates and lower scores, there are relatively few slots reserved for internationals, so even if you’re in the top 5%, it means far less than it does for an American applicant. If possible, include a safety in your own country.

Reed is not a safety because they rate the level of applicant interest highly. So how can you be sure that they see enough interest from you, especially when your stats tell them that you’ll be interested in other more selective schools? You need to find a school where “Level of Applicant’s Interest” is “Not Considered”: very likely a public with a fairly high admit rate and where your stats put you in the top 1%. Even at U Arizona, level of applicant interest is “important”, and I’m not sure how you’re going to convince Arizona that you really want to attend, with your stats. It’s hard to believe that Arizona wouldn’t admit you, but that interest criterion would worry me, as an international.

So it takes some time to narrow down a good safety, and even then, you might want to include another “likely”, in addition to a home option. You’re fortunate that you’re full-pay because that will improve your odds everywhere, especially with cash-strapped public universities.

16

The OP is not getting rejected from either the University of Arizona (a school which relies on OOS and internationals to maintain its current offerings) nor Iowa State which practices what is essentially [url=<a href=“https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/intl/requirements.php?action=display_country_reqs&type=%5Dauto-admission%5B/url”>https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/intl/requirements.php?action=display_country_reqs&type=]auto-admission[/url] for students who meet the requirements. This is why it makes sense to apply to them. They are highly ranked in math and moderately ranked in econ which is important for the OP since he claims he will be taking grad courses by his sophomore year, and he wouldn’t have to worry about getting accepted.

The OP could go on the University of Arizona’s website, watch Youtube videos of the school, and perhaps read through mailers published online. In the essay he could talk about the strength of the math department and the research they’re doing which is extremely easy to find online.

17

mumbai98

You asked about UIUC.

Think of Illinois as having about the same level of quality as UW-Madison. UW has a slightly better research/grad/PhD rep, but they are pretty even at the undergrad level. That would be the case in Math and in a great many other majors.

The campuses, on the other hand, are quite different…

18

Temple is in a horrible location. OP should consider Drexel, its a good school in a better area of Philadelphia.

19

Penn State for a safety. I like the suggestion of @MYOS1634: UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies (it has its own application). Call UCSB a “likely”. Boston U is a likely, but show some interest.

Data on International Students: http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students
Leading Institutions: http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/Leading-Institutions-By-Institutional-Type/2013-14

For a quick overview of college admission data, go to: college data. Search for a school and look at the Admission tab. There you will find a table called ‘Selection of Students’ that outlines how the school weighs its selection criteria. For the most reliable and up-to-date info, search for a school’s Common Data Set.

20

Any interest in Canadian universities? University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and University of British Columbia are ranked as high or higher than many on your list. University of Waterloo has an excellent co-op program. The acceptance rates are a lot higher than many American universities.