Rate my college list & suggest more!

College Search & Selection
1

Below is my intended college application list, which, according to your opinions or perspectives, might (and probably will_) change:

  • MIT (REACH) I know this is a long shot, especially as an Indonesian (I've heard only 1-3 Indonesians attend MIT each year, and all of them have won medals for science olympiads), but I think I really fit in with the culture. Plus, online MIT courses are what rejuvenated my love for learning in the first place; Walter Lewin's physics course, 6.001x, 6.002x, are awesome.
  • Stanford (REACH)
  • Dartmouth (REACH)
  • Princeton (REACH)
  • Georgia Tech (MATCH)
  • Purdue University (MATCH)
  • Santa Clara University (MATCH)
  • Arizona State University (SAFETY)

I’m looking for your opinions regarding my list. My aim in making this post is to add more universities which I think is a good match for me, reducing some in my list which might not fit in what I’m looking for, as well as finding more safety schools.

Since I have not begun my application process, I will not list my stats. Instead, assume that my GPA & SATs are great, my ECs were great, my essays were stellar, and that my LoRs were great (but not glowing.)

Here’s some context: I’m an international student coming from a third world country in South East Asia. Specifically, Indonesia. My family is considered the upper class here, meaning we are quite privileged and are most likely able to pay for full tuition in top universities, though scholarships and financial aid would be great. My intended major is Computer Science & Electrical Engineering. I’m still conflicted about this, however. Mechanical Engineering would be fun. Therefore, I’m looking for schools which is strong in these fields (STEM.)

In general, I’m currently looking for schools with 10-50% acceptance rates since it may infer the overall quality of the school, but this may vary since I’m also looking for safety schools, and also reach schools which might fit me.

I’m trying to find schools which has a holistic approach to applications. Meaning, they value extracurriculars, essays, and my overall character the same way they value my quantitative statistics. I want schools which has a similar "solve the world’s problems"culture of MIT, or the entrepreneurial and collaborative culture of Stanford. I’m not a huge fan of schools in which students compete unhealthily against each other for arbitrary test scores; instead, I’m looking for schools in which students collaborate with each other to solve a problem and change the world.

Help would be highly appreciated!

2

Rice and the University of Rochester would fit the indicated range and general attributes of your current group.

With respect to some of what you’ve written, you might want to look into Swarthmore or Harvey Mudd.

3

A common recommendation of mine… consider the University of Rochester. They are pretty darn good at research and have the other aspects you’re hunting for too.

If you prefer more hands on with interning, etc, consider URoc’s neighbor, RIT. Many students like and do well in your fields at that school too. RIT is easier to get into, but still worthy of consideration for CS/EE fields.

4

Agree with the above additions along with RPI. Michigan also has a strong, hands on approach to engineering.

Not sure why Dartmouth is on your list as they don’t fit in at all with what you say you are looking for. If you want another, more rural ivy, Cornell is much stronger for engineering and CS.

Also, it’s impossible to know if your list of reach/match/safety is accurate since you didn’t post any of your stats.

Be aware that the big state flagships are often much more competitive for out of state/out of country applicants, especially for CS. Not sure I would list Purdue or GT as matches.

5

Hi, thanks for all the input!

@merc81 Thanks for the recommendations! I did some research on Rice, and I’ve put them in my list for now. I’m a bit hesitant about putting inhe rest of your recs, because of their low acceptance rates.

@Creekland Hi, thanks for the recommendations. I’ve put both URoc and RIT on my college list.

@momofsenior1 Thanks for your input! I’m currently researching the colleges you listed. As for why Dartmouth was on my list, I simply didn’t do that much research on it, though I’ve heard some people say it’s a great college. I have not listed my stats yet since I’m still in sophomore year, but I’m trying to prepare for college early, to get a head start. For your last statement - Would you list Purdue/GT as reaches, then? I assumed they were match schools from their acceptance rate.

6

Without test scores and the rest of your HS grades, it’s way too early to be categorizing schools.

That said, for Purdue, GT, VT, and many others, the engineering acceptance rate is much lower and students stats much higher than the overall acceptance rate/averages for the schools. For example, the average ACT score for Purdue engineering last year was a 32 and a 3.9 GPA. Not all schools will publish the breakdown by college but some do (like Purdue).

7

Dartmouth is a great college, but it is not known for Engineering or CS. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer quality instruction in those areas, but they might not offer the breadth of some of the STEM heavyweights.

I echo previous advice: if you want a rural school with strong STEM, Cornell is a better option.

I think U of Rochester is an underrated school overall and very good for your interests. It might be a high match assuming very high stats.

RIT is strong in STEM but you probably will not get quite the quality in other areas – humanities and social sciences. Those areas are part of a classic liberal arts education too (most US schools have distribution requirements in place to ensure a broad education). RPI would be similar.

If you think you might like a smaller, more intimate learning environment, with more professor interaction, you might also consider some liberal arts colleges. Swarthmore and Harvey Mudd have already been mentioned. You might also consider Lafayette as a less selective – but still very good – alternative.

I also suggest Lehigh as another possibility. It is about as selective as the U of Rochester and Lafayette and is known for STEM strength.

Another highly selective option is Carnegie Mellon. They are not as selective overall as Princeton/Stanford/MIT, but their CS and Engineering admit rate is highly selective.

8

Also, check out University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It’s another highly selective for CS and Engineering.

9

I’d add Cal-Berkeley to your list.

10

Have you thought about the environment/place you might like to spend in the next 4/5 years? An Intl from a warm climate might enjoy living in LA so I’d look at schools in LA like USC, UCLA, etc Easier travel to/fro home as well.

If MIT/Boston is acceptable then take a look at Northeastern(Co-op), BU, Tufts, etc.

11

GT is not a match for you, I don’t care what your (unknown) stats are. It is a reach for all non-Georgia applicants; so you need to seriously temper your expectations for admission there.

I suggest that you also look at NC State, Virginia Tech, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (lots of collaborative work there).