Schools Worth Visiting for Me

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My family's planning our annual trip home to the US this summer and I wanted to see as many colleges as possible since we aren't sure if we'll go back in 2015. I need some suggestions on what schools to look at so I can make a more well informed decision when it comes time to apply. Here is my background information:</p>

<p>-I am a US citizen living in Singapore (not sure what kind of applicant this makes me...)
-I am a resident of California
-Asian (Chinese) but not a native speaker of Chinese
-I'm a sophomore at a world renowned international private school where we take more AP exams than any other school outside the US and 98% go to 4 year colleges
-4.07 W GPA (we only do weighted, honors aren't weighted)
-198 PSAT
-26 PLAN
- ~Top 10% in class of over 300
-ECs include:
-Secretary (future President of Habitat for Humanity) + Housebuilding in many neighboring countries like Indonesia and Cambodia
-Dance
-Taekwondo Black Belt + 3 Year National Champion
-Making YouTube videos (300,000 views, 5k subscribers) + sponsored collaborations with brands like Bobbi Brown, Lanvin, Balmain, Jimmy Choo, Bellabox etc. </p>

<p>GRADES:
*=honors
school got rid of minus grades sophomore year so some b+'s could have been a-'s
no APs allowed freshman year</p>

<p>Freshman:
Biology - A/A
English 9 - A/A+
World History - A/A
Geometry - A-/A
Chinese 5* A/A
Dance I - A
Dance II - A-
Ceramics - A
Theater: Improv - A </p>

<p>Sophomore:
Chemistry - A+
History of China - A+
AP Chinese - A
AP Human Geo - A
Algebra 2/Trig* - B+
English 10 - B+
Health - A+
Law - Pending
Lifeguarding - Pending
All semester 2 grades pending</p>

<p>PLANNING TO TAKE: </p>

<p>Junior:
AP Physics 1
AP Macro
AP Micro
AP Stats
Pre-Calculus*
English: Satire
English: 21 Century Lit.
China and the West
Dance III</p>

<p>Senior:
AP Lang
AP Physics 2 or 3
AP Calc
APUSH
+ other electives </p>

<p>I know my stats aren't perfect, but they aren't bad either, which puts me at a weird place when it comes to looking at colleges. Obviously my test scores and what not are a work in progress, but I was wondering what some good match or safety schools would be so I can visit them this summer. </p>

<p>Important:
-Location. Must be in California, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic (preferably Massachusetts, NY)
-Near a medium-large city/urban area
-Campus safety
-Good business program
-Pretty diverse
-Preferably private but not necessarily
-Must be selective enough--not a school that everyone can get into
-not a community college.</p>

<p>Not so Important:
-cost
-greek life/other organizations/clubs</p>

<p>*** I mainly need help looking for SAFETIES and MATCHES</p>

<p>I talked to my counselor and he said that colleges like Stanford + Ivies would be good reaches--a huge surprise considering my school generally only encourages kids to apply to schools they have a decent shot at (to keep their admit rates + funding high, it's bad but it happens) </p>

<p>The problem is that I don't know about a lot of colleges, mainly just the US News top 25, but here are my ideas (low-high chances)</p>

<p>Reach:
Harvard
Stanford
MIT
UPenn - Wharton</p>

<p>Match:
UC Berkeley
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
UCLA
Claremont McKenna<br>
Babson
USC
NYU </p>

<p>Safety:
Pepperdine
Syracuse
U of Oregon </p>

<p>Also, what are good majors for those planning on going for an MBA? </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help! </p>

2

<p>lafeyyette college
<a href=“http://www.lafayette.edu/”>http://www.lafayette.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Northeastern and Boston University would be a good match types. Both Top 50 US News schools (satisfies your rank/selectivity) in Boston with Top 25 ranked business programs. Also, I think some of your matches are more like low reaches. Those two I would classify as better matches based on your stats and PSAT, though they are not always accurate. A good test score could make them more matches. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>@PengsPhils‌ I agree, and thanks! </p>

5

<p>We are also Americans living in Southeast Asia (Indonesia). Students from Asian international schools generally do well in American admissions, but there are no guarantees and competition is rigorous. You would be considered a U.S. applicant, not an international.</p>

<p>I would use this trip to gain a general understanding of the options available to you and to visit some less obvious choices. My suggestion would be to spend more time on your safeties which are harder to identify and bond with. The super selectives, like your reaches, are easy to love but hard to get into, so don’t spend a disproportionate amount of time on them.</p>

<p>Some comments on your criteria:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Don’t limit yourself to schools with business majors. You can study economics, math, political science, international relations or really just about anything and still get a good job or be admitted to a top business school.</p></li>
<li><p>Look into small liberal arts colleges, especially ones that need to recruit high achieving Asians to increase their diversity percentages. Assuming you are female, be open to all women’s colleges for the same reason.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>3… You might want to re-think your California and Northeast restriction, or your urban restriction. This is where most Asians gravitate, and you would be putting yourself in the most crowded demographic. Visit some colleges in rural areas or in the midwest or south. At some, even the more selective, colleges that are not in cities or not in the Northeast, Asians are still considered URMs. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>In the next year focus your extracurriculars so that you have one or two activities that define you, that you can write about with enthusiasm. This is very important for top schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Since cost is not an issue, consider applying ED or SCEA to your top choice. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Some suggestions for you to research:
Reaches: Williams, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Chicago
Matches: Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Emory
Safeties: Smith, Rhodes, Colby, Scripps </p>