Which colleges suit me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, guys!</p>

<p>I am from Brazil and I am applying already to 12 schools (and most applications are finished). I have very strong leadership ECs, 2100 SAT (very, very good for a Brazilian, it tops the scores of all five Brazilian students accepted to Harvard this year).</p>

<p>Could you guys tell me some options of matches and reaches that suit my profile?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I am upper middle class here in Brazil. Thus paying 60 thousand dollars per year is out of the question. I believe I would need at least 35% aid.</p></li>
<li><p>I went to the most traditional school of the state, so I am used to (and like) pretentious-preppy environments. But this is not a deal breaker AT ALL.</p></li>
<li><p>I am extremelly competitive and like cutthroat atmospheres.</p></li>
<li><p>I expect to start my professional life as an investment banker, and become a businessman/entrepreneur in the long-term. Will major in economics. Exepct to minor in finance, business management or some other business-oriented field.</p></li>
<li><p>I love to be surrounded by intellectuals. I like those european movies no one likes, jazz, classical music and indie rock. Even so, I also value the presence of business-oriented people (as I am also one). Therefore, the SAT scores of my prospective peers kinda matter to me...</p></li>
<li><p>I don't play sports (because I had a complication that affected my spine as a child), but I just love to watch them. </p></li>
<li><p>As I will be 5 thousand miles away from my home, I want a LOT of school spirit to fill that void.</p></li>
<li><p>I am a LIBERTARIAN, so no commie schools pls. </p></li>
<li><p>I do drugs, party HARD and drink HEAVILY, so no relligious schools eighter.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>FINAL COMMENTS: </p>

<p>Guys, even if you dont know a match for ALL the aspects I wrote, give me you thoughts.</p>

<p>Applying to most Ivies, UChicago, U of Toronto, Duke, NYU, BU, USC, </p>

<p>Thinking about: Emory, Northwestern, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore.</p>

<p>Please give me oppinions on these schools too! </p>

<p>Thanks already.</p>

2

<p>And my first choices are Harvard and Wharton</p>

3

<p>Forgot to mention: although not a deal breaker, I prefer urban and suburban settings. If rural, may it compensate with lots of campus [social] life.</p>

4

<p>please say something, im running out of time</p>

5

<p>Ask your school for ideas. They know you best.</p>

6

<p>I study in Brazil, where schools know nothing about american universities.</p>

7

<p>Given numbers 8 and 9 on your list, I’m trying to think of any reason why you shouldn’t just stay in Brazil and leave open one more spot for a deserving US student. You think we have “commie schools” (heads up–except for religious institutions, most US colleges have a pretty liberal faculty, but we have no “commie schools”), and you plan to party your way through college using illegal substances. Yup, CC’ers are just going to get in line to give you assistance.</p>

8

<p>Oh, the hypocrisy…</p>

<p>Dear MommaJ, </p>

<p>“commie” was an exaggeration for “very liberal”, as you certainly figured it out. For example, Brown is a university that I believe would not suit me, while Harvard (with Barro and Mankiw), would be more appropriate to my ideas.</p>

<p>And yes, I plan on partying, drinking and YES, DOING DRUGS TOO. How old are you to make that ridiculous remark? Doing drugs does not make me more or less deserving. My scores are fine, I was a valedictorian (graduated last week) and engaged in several political events of my state and country (including protests for the legalization of marijuana). This matters.</p>

<p>As I have never been, nor expect to become, dangerous to anyone, what I do to my private life is private. And guess what? You don’t get to judge me.</p>

9

<p>And your xenophobic implying on my contry is pathetic.</p>

10

<p>People should read more Ayn Rand, ASAP.</p>

11

<p>ah, geez. didn’t we just see this movie?</p>

12

<p>@gnazareths, you seem to forget that you will be asking to be allowed in the US as a guest. You’re right, I unfortunately don’t get to judge you officially, because I don’t issue the visas. (Unofficially, here on CC I can judge you as much as I like.) Since brilliant internationals looking to study in the US are a dime a dozen, if I had the power, I’d choose to award the privilege of coming here to study to one of those who didn’t announce in advance his intention to violate our laws with respect to alcohol and drugs. As for how old I am–old enough to have outgrown the Ayn Rand nonsense a loooong time ago. (You will too.)</p>

<p>PS-Watch out for liberals at Harvard–the place is lousy with them.</p>

13

<p>Yo, getting back to you. I also want a party-hard, play-hard environment with good econ schools. While I am a hardcore lib (social dem to be exact, detest Ayn Rand), I know what schools could best suit you. </p>

<p>I think Duke would be best you. Since it is kinda southern and preppy, people tend to be more fiscally conservative, but socially liberal as most generations are. I would say it is the most libertarian college in the country. Remember though, libertarians are a big minority in most places, though it’s popularity is going up among wealthy teens.
They also have a good econ program, great school spirit and sports (great basketball team and a very good football one). </p>

<p>After Duke, I’d say you check out UPenn. It is an ivy league, is not overly liberal (though its majority is liberal), and definitely has a very active social scene. They also have the best business school in the country.</p>

<p>I know you recommended me CMU, but I don’t think you should apply, as it is considered to be a nerd school mostly. Same reason why I don’t think I will apply.</p>

<p>Emory doesn’t have a lot of school spirit and isn’t very good for econ. Northwestern has more, due to the good football team it has. </p>

<p>NYU does not have a lot of team spirit. It is a very individualized college experience with not a lot of sports. It is also very liberal. Same goes to Boston U, except less drastic. </p>

<p>USC might be a solid fit. It has A LOT of school spirit, great football team and is a lot more moderate than most other UCs, due to its students historically being from a higher class. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t mostly liberal as it is still Cali. Most are liberals, but conservatives are still very present, and I would bet that there are a solid amount of libertarians, even though it hasn’t been evidenced in the polls due to the socioeconomic background of the USC majority. It is also VERY socially active. Note, my worries with it is it’s economics program’s strength. It appears to me that while it is solid, it is not one of the best at USC. Their business school is REALLY good though.</p>

<p>Check out Vanderbilt. It fits the same attributes as Duke, though most people there are moderates rather than libertarians, it still has it’s significant amount due to sharing similar socioeconomic factors as Duke (rich, young in a conservative state). It also has good sports and a lot of good spirit. They also have a pretty damn good party scene. It is located in one of the most conservative states in the country though.</p>

<p>So my top 3 for you would be, as far as fit goes:</p>

<p>1: Duke
2: Vandy
3: USC
4: Penn</p>

<p>Note, you should be aware that liberal schools will likely care less about your drug use, specially if it is just weed.</p>

14

<p>I hope this is just a ■■■■■. Otherwise I’ll find his contact info and report him to USCIS. :)</p>

15

<p>Be aware that many (most?) U.S. universities see international students as income producers. They aren’t eager to give an international student a 35% discount just because her or she may have academic merit.</p>

16

<p>Man, why can’t people just mind their own business? It’s his life and he’s probably a smart enough guy to know what he is getting into his own body. If you’ve ever read about drugs you’d know that as long as you use them responsibly, you will likely be fine. It requires STRONG will and a special type of person to do this, but what makes you say he isn’t that type of person? It looks like he has a good head on his shoulders and likely is extremely careful with his drug use. Just chill out, let him be. He came here for some tips on universities, NOT on his own personal life and lifestyle.</p>

17

<p>he’s probably a smart enough guy to know what he is getting into his own body</p>

<p>Sure, smart 18 year olds know enough. We should trust 'em to know.</p>

18

<p>Egonomics- that’s one of the more ignorant things I’ve read on the internet in a long time (and before you try to correct me and say “most,” no, sadly I have seen even more ignorant things than that comment).</p>

19

<p>The point of the matter isn’t whether he can handle doing drugs, it’s that he plans on doing it on OUR soil. Listen, I’m all for an intelligent student coming into our country and getting a good education; however, I refuse to support somebody who openly admits his intention of breaking the laws of the United States of America. I also don’t appreciate him demanding financial aid during his stay, when he’s just lucky to be in our country in the first place (he won’t get financial aid to most colleges, thankfully). I’m sorry, but it’s just absolutely ridiculous.</p>

20

<p>Go ahead and call me ignorant all you want, but I still believe what I stated previously. I understand why so many are so staunchly against drug use, but I disagree on denouncing him so greatly when we don’t even know the damn details. I don’t do drugs, but have read enough about them to know that not all users will be addicts and/or will go around killing people. It is also clear that not all drugs are alike and that experimenting with them is nothing new. Also your comment comes off strongly as xenophobic with a large amount of nationalistic arrogance. Also, I won’t even go on the point about breaking laws.</p>

<p>Now, let’s get back to the topic please. This thread has been derailed enough.</p>