Where should I ED II at and suggestions for matches/reach?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a student from rural america, but I’m an Indian citizen and don’t hold a green card. I need financial aid. Applied last year as senior ended up waitlisted at several and got accepted to some. But in the end didn’t really work out. I’m researching about biomaterials right now and started a small tutoring business. My research paper on bio materials just got accepted into a pretty good journal. I’ve also traveled for a while. My CA essay is definitely better this year and recommendations are solid.

I’ve applied to several places with good merit/in state already (UARK, UArizona, Ole Miss, WVU). Also applied ED for Materials Science and RD for Emory.

I’m looking at other places to apply especially for ED II, I’m thinking about vanderbilt, tufts, or swarthmore. What about other reaches/matches that I can apply to (other than Princeton, Pomona, Yale, Notre Dame, Amherst, Brown). I also got rejected to Duke (really good supplements imo), northwestern (one of the best applications that I did imo), vanderbilt( there was a big mistake on it tho and last minute), WashU, Harvard

1/300 rank
GPA: 4.4 W, and 4.0 UW, but I did get a B+ in linear algebra senior year (college class)
1550 SAT: 800 Math, 750 English, 18 for essay.760 Phsyics, 800 Biology, 790 World History, 800 Math II,

AP Macro (5) , AP Lang (5), AP US (4), AP Bio (5), AP Chem (4) , AP Micro(5) , AP Stats (4), AP Calc BC( 5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP Government (5), AP Physics C: Mechanics(5), AP Psychology (5), APES 5, P Physics C: E&M(4)

Last Year’s Course Work: AP Psychology, AP Comp Sci, AP Environmental, AP Physics C both electricity and mechanics, Multivariable Calculus, linear algebra, French 4, AP US Gov, Engineering Internship in chemical engineering company.

Extracurricular:Varsity Tennis & Baseball, started my own tutoring program for students in the community, independent research in high schools under stem mentor, President of Interact Club (undertook big projects and contributed quite a bit), SGA Treasurer, NHS, Mathematics Club President, local-level piano

State Math Competition several awards, Economics Bowl state second, AIME (2x),

Voice of Democracy essay competitions regional 1st, National Merit Semifinalist, AP National Scholar, and a few local awards,

Probable Major: Materials Science, Biomedical/Biological Engineering, Biophysics. Maybe a double major in public policy.

2

Congratulations on your hard work and success! I appreciate your resilience and positive attitude.

If I may suggest, think about places that will be a good fit for you. You have a lot of very highly ranked schools on your list. They are all terrific, and that’s fine. Here’s what I think about though. Take Tufts an Amherst. Tufts is an urban school in a working-class type neighborhood relatively close to downtown Boston (you can see downtown from some parts of campus). It’s a mid-size national university. Amherst has a bucolic little campus in a town toward western Mass. I like both, so I could see someone else liking both. Or, Tufts is in Boston. Vanderbilt is in Nashville. One New England, one southern (more diverse but we saw lots of Confederate flag items in shops near campus).

What type of place would you like to live and learn? Maybe all these work, but maybe if you reflect on it, you might prefer a city to a rural area, or vice versa. Or a large school to a smaller one.

Anyway, here are two ideas. You sound entrepreneurial. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has a very project-oriented, hands-on approach. It has close ties to regional businesses, and students do lots of coops and internships. Beautiful campus in a nice part of Worcester. Great vibe, great students. Truly, you will find lots of students there with your level of academic ability. It costs a lot but can be pretty generous with financial aid. Run the NPC and see what it says for you.

https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan

https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/global-project-program

Miami of Ohio is a very good school and has engineering. It offers generous merit aid to high-stat students. Here’s a link to a simple merit aid chart, which will look favorable to you. Note that the Priority 1 deadline is December 1! If this looks appealing, you would want to get your application and FAFSA in very quickly. Good luck!

https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/

3

@TTG Thank you so much for your detailed answer!

I prefer New England over the south a tiny bit more, but I don’t really have a preference for a city or rural area. But, I don’t like colleges like NYU or small colleges in the Midwest. I used to only look at big schools, but I’m now leaning towards smaller schools.

WPI doesn’t have the best aid opportunities (both financial and merit ) for international students, but I’ll definitely give Miami of Ohio a look, it seems to have a good bit of scholarships.

4

Any opinions on ED 2?

5

With respect to ED2

The National Institute of Health funded research center for biomaterials (TERC) is located at Tufts. The person who runs it (David Kaplan) is one of the top biomaterials researchers in the world. If you want to continue in biomaterials research, that could make Tufts a good fit. A well written “Why Tufts” essay that maps your interests and achievements to specific Tufts’ programs could also increase your chances of admission.

Good Luck!

https://now.tufts.edu/articles/five-tufts-researchers-are-among-world-s-most-influential-0

https://engineering.tufts.edu/bme/terc/

6

@Mastadon Thank you so much! I think I’ve cited him before.

7

Any advice on Vanderbilt or Tufts ED 2? Which one is more likely and a better fit with my interest?

8

bump

9

Tufts for your major and interests. good luck!

10

Thank you @theloniusmonk!