Rounding Out my College List

College Search & Selection
1

Hello CC! As you may have guessed from my username, I’ve been lurking here for some time, and I want to get your thoughts on my college list, if there’s one or two more colleges that might be “right” for me, and if there’s any I should cut. (Warning: long post!)

My stats:
Demographics: Asian male
State: New Jersey
Grade: 12
GPA: 4.0 Unweighted
SAT I: 2400
SAT II: Math II: 800 Physics: 800 World History: 800
AP Tests: Physics B (5), APUSH (5), Chem (5), Calc BC (5), World History (5), English Lang. (5), Music Theory (5)

Extracurriculars/Awards/Leadership:

  • FBLA (9-12): Chapter Webmaster; Won 2nd and 3rd place in different competitions, at the state level; Student Ambassador to Junior Achievement
  • Model UN
  • FIRST Robotics: Programming Co-Captain
  • Academic League: Captain
  • Science Research
  • Did an research internship at MIT for 6 weeks last summer
  • Volunteer Hours: 19 total (6 at a science fair and 13 as a member of a community organization; yeah it’s pathetic)
  • Piano: Studying for 12 yrs; got Grade 8 with Distinction in the ABRSM exam, among other honors
  • AP Scholar with Distinction

My current list of colleges I’m thinking about:

  • Princeton (high reach)
  • MIT (high reach)
  • UPenn (reach - still thinking about it)
  • UC Berkeley (reach/high match)
  • Carnegie Mellon (low reach/high match - need to think about it more)
  • Case Western (match - still thinking about it)
  • UC Santa Barbara (match - literally piqued my interest today; need to think about it)
  • Rutgers (safety)

What I want in colleges

  • Tuition: My family’s upper-middle income, but as for any more “safety” schools, I’l say <$40k/yr is acceptable, while <$30/yr is preferable, with financial aid. (Yes, I know about the Ivies and the UCs, but my parents say that they’re willing to pay for them if need be)
  • Undecided on primary major, though I’m looking in the sciences (biology, physics, perhaps comp sci.)
  • Interested in linguistics, international relations, or maybe economics as a secondary major/minor
  • I want it to be fairly strong in the East Asian languages, particularly Chinese and Korean
  • I would also like it to have some strength w.r.t. to music
  • Study Abroad programs have to be good
  • Size: Not to large, not to small: between 5,000 to 15,000 is optimal (main exception being Rutgers)
  • Area: In or near a city; any city with skyscrapers I will consider “good enough” (exception being Princeton)
2

You should consider adding some colleges that offer Chinese or Korean through the Language Flagship program. It is much more intensive than normal language study (see link for details), and it is always added on top of a major of your choice.

http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/content/domestic-program-1

3

I expect you will end up at your first choice, with scholarships, and rightly so. As you round out your list, another possible “safety” for you to consider that fits your criteria (other than your ideal size range) is the University of Washington in Seattle, which is a bioscience and CS powerhouse that has interesting and well established ties to Asia in both STEM and non-STEM fields. Here are a few links to explore:

http://www.biology.washington.edu/Academics/Undergraduate/Degrees

https://www.cs.washington.edu

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/uw-and-chinas-tsinghua-univ-creating-tech-grad-school-in-seattle-area-with-40m-from-microsoft/

https://sharepoint.washington.edu/phys/ugrad/Pages/default.aspx

https://asian.washington.edu/chinese-undergraduate-major

https://asian.washington.edu/korean-undergraduate-major

http://depts.washington.edu/uwhonors/apply/freshman/faq/

https://admit.washington.edu/Paying/PurpleGold

Congratulations on your outstanding achievements, and good luck in all of your future endeavors.

4

Other than maybe the music interest, you seem like a good fit for Johns Hopkins??

5

^ Excellent suggestion.

6

A follow up…Johns Hopkins music information

https://www.jhu.edu/academics/#!/divisions=peabody-institute

7

I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit. I’d say

  • Princeton (low reach)
  • MIT (low reach)
  • UPenn (high match)
  • UC Berkeley (match)
  • Carnegie Mellon (match)
  • Case Western (safety)
  • UC Santa Barbara (safety)
  • Rutgers (safety)

If you don’t get into HYPSM it’s definitely not because of your academic credentials, I’ll tell you that much.

8

There’s a pretty good chance USC would give you some money to attend. It’s much bigger than what you said you’d like, but so are Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

It’s reputation only so-so in the natural and physical sciences, but pretty good when it comes to the other subjects you were mentioning.

9

Case Western is on your list, but the University of Rochester is not? They are terrific in the sciences - esp Physics, but pretty much any/all with research, etc.

They have everything you are looking for, including music with Eastman.

You might also get really good merit aid from them.

10

Definitely Johns Hopkins. Some reason why Stanford isn’t on there too? It’s as close to SF and Princeton is to NY. And there are regular shuttles to Berkeley. Wash U in St. Louis perhaps? Or is that too suburban?

11

I would consider adding at least one more safety school to your list. also, have you thought about Boston U? It meets most of the criteria with the exception of price, and boston is an amazing college city

12

@laurrodes I actually thought about Boston U, especially considering that I stayed there during my internship. The problem is that it’s right across the Charles River from MIT, which I feel would be very awkward…

As for everyone else, thanks for the advice (and encouragement)! I’ve definitely added Johns Hopkins to my list, and I’m definitely thinking about other choices and changing up my list.