Please suggest colleges based on my stats (International Applicant).

In terms of a comprehensive list, do you prefer tech-oriented schools, or broader-based schools that might be comparably excellent for physics?

Since you somehow went from affording 12k to 300k, you can apply anywhere. Your chances will still be low. If you are looking at more safety/match schools I would look at some of the better state schools like Wisconsin, Ohio State, etc. They like full pay international students.

Yup. Literally my uncle said that he’ll pay. He is a businessman. You know the rest.

@merc81 Why not list both?!

OP, this is for you to do…no one can do this for you.

Apply to Wisconsin, UW Seattle, UF, Penn State, UMN Twin Cities, UCSB, UCSC…

I would add Reed and Grinnell and, to make your parents happy, Princeton.

Good luck!

Last question.
Is it worth applying to Caltech?

Why this continuous obsession with Caltech?
They ONLY accept 200 or so students, worldwide, that’s it!
A large number of students are from US prep schools, per my son.
Most of the others are domestic students who have won national competitions or have done something that is unexpected and “fit” what Caltech needs; this doesn’t necessarily mean anotherphysics major.
If you are an Asian international student your chances are automatically lowered by the fact that you will be competing with every Asian, from your country, who applies.

I got you. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Thanks to everyone who commented. Thank you guys!

Physics is an unusual major. Even large universities with huge faculties, world class facilities/labs, and path-breaking research activity in Physics will offer undergraduate students tiny classes, virtually unrestricted access to research and labs, and a lot of individualized attention. As such, the best undergraduate Physics programs will tend to the same as the top graduate programs. I would definitely look at some of the following schools if finances are no longer a concern:

California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University *
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology *
Princeton University *
Rice University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University *

Those are all reaches. You probably want to add a couple of safeties and targets:

University of California-San Diego (target)
University of California-Santa Barbara (target)
University of Colorado-Boulder (safety)
University of Maryland-College Park (target/safety)

Among LACs, I would definitely check out:
Amherst College *
Carleton College
Grinnell College
Harvey Mudd College
Lafayette College
Lawrence University
Macalester College
Oberlin College
Occidental College
Pomona College
Reed College
Swarthmore College
Ursinus college

Even if members of your extended family are willing to help out, it would be optimal if you could get a strong financial aid package and pay for college on your own without burdening or depending on anybody. As such, I would apply to the 5 need blind schools denoted with asterisks above. Do not, however, apply for financial aid to other schools as it will hurt your chances of admission.

Good luck.

Thanks so much!

If you are considering UCSB for physics, be sure to check out their College of Creative Studies program in physics. They also have a CS program. The CCS programs are designed for people who intend on going to grad school and want to start research early. UCSB is highly-ranked for physics (higher than UCLA) and not as high a reach as some of your other colleges.

Thank you! I will make sure to check it out.

As a future physics major, you might want to consider highly selective schools included in a Princeton Review list, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors” (PR prints no equivalent list for physics):

Harvey Mudd
MIT
UChicago
Caltech
Haverford
Harvard
Hamilton
Bowdoin
Reed
Rice
URochester
Carleton
Grinnell
Macalester

Though PR obviously intends to offer this as only a sampling, the list nonetheless can serve as one of the few published opinions on the strength of a quantitative field on the undergraduate level.

thank you!