Safeties needed!! Too many reaches!

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am an INTERNATIONAL student from Taiwan (an important fact to mention) educated in Wisconsin & Maryland from 6th - 11th grade. Now, I am a rising senior seeking colleges >_<.</p>

<p>General:Asian female from Taiwan</p>

<p>Stats </p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 Unweighted. 4.57 Weighted.
AP : the school that i attended for my freshman & sophmore years didn't offer AP courses, but I took the most challenging classes possible
Junior Year - AP Chem, AP World, AP Lang, AP Calc AB, AP psy (self-studied), AP Chinese
(waiting for the scores, expect all 5's/4's)
: Senior Year - AP Physics B & C, AP Gov, AP Music Theory, AP Eng Lit, Multivariabe Calculus.</p>

<p>Rank: Our School doesn't Rank, should be in the top 5%</p>

<p>Standardised Testing: </p>

<p>ACT: 34
SAT II: Math II - 800; Chemistry - 800; World: 720; Bio: 730</p>

<p>EC's/Awards:
-founder & president of Science Olympiad; received ~15 medals at the regionals & state & nationals level
-active participant & secretary of mathletes; qualified for AIME
-active participant of Student Modeling a Research Topic (a club that researches about proteins etc)
-active participant of Chemathon, a competition sponsored by the U of MD
-Vice-president of Science National Honors Society
-Treasurer of Math Honors Society
-Member of National Honors Society</p>

<p>Research:</p>

<ul>
<li>interned at the Biochem department of U of Wisconsin Madison
-won a local sciecne fair with that project
-participated in Intel ISEF but didn't place
-interning at another univerisity this summer & will enter Intel STS</li>
</ul>

<p>Factors that I value:
-in desperate need of financial aids....
-would like the college to have a good science/bio program because I love math & sci
-prefers schools with internship/research opportunities
-since I live in MD, i prefer the the colleges in the new england, even the midwest area
-prefers collegetown/suburban/(but not TOO urban) area
-prefers diversity (with a relatively high percent of asians)
-willing to work hard; doesn't party much
-prefer small/medium classes with lots of guidance from professors </p>

<p>Schools that I am considering:</p>

<p>Reach: Swarthmore, Harverford, Wash U</p>

<p>Match: Wellesley, Smith, Oberlin, Carnagie Mellon, Wesleyan University</p>

<p>Safety:.......???</p>

<p>Please correct me if I miscategorized my schools... I only used my ACT score to group them... ^ ^ll...</p>

<p>Thank you so much!!</p>

<p>What is your visa status? Will you need to change to an F-1 when you start your program, or can you study with your current status? This can affect whether you can work off campus or not, and how much money you can make, which obviously will affect whether you can afford one college/university or another.</p>

<p>What is your family EFC? Run the calculator at FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans to get an estimate. Again, things might be different for you depending on your exact immigration status.</p>

<p>You need to find a financial safety. That is one where you can be admitted for certain based on your stats, and where you can pay international tuition without any aid. You should take a good long hard look at the Maryland community colleges. Montgomery College has a Biotech program based at the Germantown campus.</p>

<p>If you will be classified as a fully international student (such as F-1), your financial safety may actually be a public university/community college in another state that has lower international tuition. You should take a look at the threads on the International Students Forum. I expect that you will find useful ideas there.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And if you aren't afraid of Wellesley and Smith, and you are looking at Swarthmore and Haverford, why not consider Bryn Mawr?</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

<p>Look at Carleton and Grinnell. Neither would be a "safety," but they're strong possibilities with your scores and ECs. As a safety, consider College of Wooster in northern Ohio. Though not a "famous" name, it's renowned in the academic community for its senior independent study project as well as its excellence in the sciences (especially chemistry), and it ranks among America's top 20 Liberal Arts Colleges for graduating future PhDs. Plus, Wooster is very generous with merit money and is always looking to enroll more international students.</p>

<p>I don't understand these responses - you've got 800's on SAT II's; 4.0 unweighted; 4.57 weighted; you've interned already; 4-5's on APs; intel participant -- what am I missing that you're not applying to an MIT/Cal Tech level school?? I'd think that Carleton and Grinnell would be a safety?</p>

<p>What am I missing? Or is everything now so competitive that she's just not good enough to consider MIT/CalTech?</p>

<p>mom22girls--I didn't mention MIT or Cal Tech because I figured she wasn't interested in that type of school. The list she provided in post #1 was, for the most part, comprised of traditional liberal arts colleges. MIT and Cal Tech are totally different from anything she expressed an interest in. Which is not to say she shouldn't look at them. ... By the way, my daughter had a 35 ACT last year, 2290 SAT, National Merit Finalist/Scholar, Governor's Scholar in astronomy, 5's on all of her AP exams. Etc. She's just finished her freshman year at Carleton--which we did NOT consider a safety.</p>

<p>Check out Brandeis as a possible safety/match. Clark is a definite safety.</p>

<p>You'd likely be a STRIDE scholar at Smith, which means you'd have a paid research internship in your area of interest in your first two years (plus a merit award over four years.)</p>

<p>Smith</a> College: The Future of Smith</p>

<p>It meets every one of your characteristics.</p>

<p>You rock. I think you have a more than average, or good chance for an IVY, IF you stress your interest in science. Meet with profs, etc. and consider Brown and Dartmouth. (hey, why not?) The bigger schools often give bigger money, and vice versa. But D. is not very big for an IVY, even though its very well endowed. If you want small, I think Haverford is less of a reach than the other LACS you list. I think Vassar would be closer to a safety than a match, and its near,(1 and 1/2 hr. away) from NYC. A "true" safety, though, would be Fordham in the Bronx, NY, and Skidmore which is more rural, but Saratoga Springs, NY is a real pretty town.</p>

<p>from what you took it looks like you're interested in something science and math based why dont you go to a non-liberal arts school? most liberal arts school undegrads i know are taking that into law.</p>

<p>You need to look for good schools that will give merit scholarships to international students. Among the ones to look at are Wash/St. Louis, Carnegie-Mellon, Brandeis, Rochester, Rice, Tulane. They have a few, but not many merit scholarships for international studnts but your stats are good enough that you might land one. Have a serious talk with the financial aid offices at these schools.</p>

<p>Wow, thank you so much for all of your suggestions!!</p>

<p>happymomof1: I am currently an F2 transitioning to a H-4. I am pretty sure that I will be a F-1 once I am in college, which would enable me to work. I tried to run the calculator, but it said "Number in College must be non-zero for aid to be available...." Anyway, my father who was a phD student for the past 5 years just began to earn $90,000 annually. We don't have much assests... I guessing that our EFC is around $20,000? Schools that meet 100% of my needs would be ideal. </p>

<p>mom22girls: I would prefer Cal tech/MIT over ANYTHING!! Unfortunately, their acceptance rates are so low that I don't think I have a chance... Apparently, MIT only accepts 1 international student from Taiwan per year... Consequently, I figured that I will try for a less competitive school, keep up my GPA and apply for a good graduate school/school of pharmacy. </p>

<p>I know that science usually isn't associated with liberal arts school, but they are the ones that give more generous financial aids. The top national schools that also meet 100% of the students' needs? Realistically, I dont' think I am good enough, especially comparing to the elites of the elites from different countries...</p>

<p>You've got your EFC right. And since your family hasn't got many assets, your dad should be concentrating on feeding as much as possible into his 401(k) or whatever retirement account he qualifies for on an H visa instead of paying your tuition. You need to look for some places that will basically pay you to study there. They do exist. momfromtexas did a lot of research and found full-rides for her kids. Read her thread for some ideas:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>F-1 will let you work, but there are restrictions as to the location, number of hours, etc., etc. I don't understand the rules. Go over to the International Forum and ask B@r!um about it. She seems to have a good handle on this issue.</p>

<p>Lots of liberal arts colleges have good science programs. The problem is if you want to keep on doing research as an undergraduate, you will need to be looking for a university or an LAC where you can keep up with your pet research projects. If you do your research with someone at a place like NIH, you can study at any college or university within commuting distance.</p>

<p>Look at Ohio Wesleyan University for a financial/academic safety. St. Olaf College too, although their merit aid isn't quite as high. They have wonderful math/chemistry departments. I'm guessing that merit aid would be the same for international students and it's just the need-based that is hard?</p>

<p>And my friends said that being international at MIT, etc. was a disadvantage, while you may find it to be a "hook" at some of the smaller LACs. St. Olaf in particular prides itself on being international-friendly.</p>

<p>The colleges you listed ARE safety schools based upon your stats.</p>

<p>The key words are
[quote]
in desperate need of financial aids....

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You have great scores but I don't know how many schools will give full ride to international students. Brandeis, U of Rochester, Case Western, Macalester and Smith should be your match if money is not an issue.</p>

<p>Oh...Fordham doesn't give out great financial aids. It may be different for you since your score is higher.</p>

<p>Hope this will help :)</p>

<p>working outside the school with F1 visa is prohibited in the united states.
with in the school, u could only work 19 hours per week at most.</p>