International full paying Chinese who goes to elite boarding school in the UK. Want to double major in a humanities+stats; plays cello at national level so perhaps a minor depending on my workload (I got into Oberlin C&C but Ohio is a bit…). Plans to go to a law school, preferably T6 so yes GPA and LSAT will be important. INTP+ Aspergers+ Bisexual, Thrive in healthy competition but very flexible in terms of living and mindset. My previous school was the top in the country and I have fallen severely depressed due to very conservative British vibe/unhealthy competition etc. I have lived on 3 continents and speak 5 languages.
I love Scripps for its food/campus/5C(Pomona reject… what can I say); visited virtual classes and the profs are amazing though I am slightly concerned about students’ intellectual abilities (like the conversations between students aren’t that clever in my POV, bearing in mind I also got into Oxford university for music but no I am not going there and my parents are happy with this choice, for many reasons that I will not talk here). I am also slightly concerned about their grad school destinations; heard rumours about their student body intellect.
Well Cal, everyone will know, yet Scripps will sound to my Chinese relatives/most employers that I went to a random community College (though I know they won’t be worthy of me plus I will go to grad ski). Cal will probably have more academic rigour, more nerdy kids like me but concerned about the “cut-throat” stress culture. I need a high GPA to go to T6 law not sure whether that will be possible there… My parents know they are pushing me into “prestige” ONLY, but the Asian countries are sometimes very utilitarian and I do understand my parents’ points. I also appreciate the fact that they are considering the unknown LACs like Scripps.
So yeah Scripps is awfully expensive, parents paying though… They’ll have to tighten their belt (we didn’t apply for FA cause we thought I would get a scholarship which clearly I didn’t…) but Cal isn’t much cheaper so idk… Please help!!! Thank you so so much!!!
and yes I want to go back to Asia cause I have always felt like an outsider in England, like many people secretly “discriminate” the Asians, from their blood… it’s condescending, I don’t feel I really belong to the Western world, here (or at least, UK)…
If you plan on returning to Asia, I’m not sure I understand how an American law school factors into your plans.
I want to work in a company that is not exactly Asian? Plus I am planning to work in the US a bit after graduating but eventually settling in an Asian branch
plus quite a bit of Chinese law firm want those with JD degrees (I have checked this, but thank you for pointing that out, I hope it makes sense now:))
I think you need to think through and research the JD piece more. US law won’t be any use to you practicing in Asia. Global law firms rely on their local attorneys. For example, if there is a Japanese law issue, you get lawyers trained in Japanese law involved. You don’t consult your American law trained lawyer who lives in Japan. If law school still makes sense and is likely, then you can go to Scripps because only your law school will matter. If not, for an international student, recognizable name brand matters and would point to choosing Cal.
The obvious question is how you feel about attending an all-girls school for college. As also, Cal is huge by comparison. Plus Cal is very urban, Scripps is suburban.
Scripps has a lot of pre-meds, and a lot of students from rigorous private high schools. The Claremont schools intermingle. There are lots of hard-studying brainiacs.
You will find witty people in both places. But if international name recognition matters, Cal wins out.
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I have experience in all-girls secondary school so don’t worry, I think it’s pretty important for my identity. That’s fine though.
If you’re used to top UK school rigor and are of Oxford caliber then I think you’ll probably find US courses relatively straightforward, the main difference being the dependence on continuous assessment (and to some extent busy work, though less than in high school) rather than just final exams.
I do the full IBDP now so coursework is a thing haha…
I can see there’s pre-med sort of stuff is pretty prominent whilst pre-law is like the advisor seems a bit weak