Which Universities?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am currently a Junior at a west coast private school. The program on this website has concluded Caltech, Berkeley, USC, University of Rochester, and Harvey Mudd College are the best fit for me. But I am wondering further which universities I should apply to based on my scores and interests:</p>

<p>Major: Applied Mathematics/Physics</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.58
Unweighted GPA: 3.72</p>

<p>SAT Score: 2310 Composite
SAT Subject Tests: Math II (800), Chemistry (790)</p>

<p>AP Examinations: Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (5), World History (4), Physics B (5)</p>

<p>Current Schedule: Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra, AP Physics C, AP Biology, US History, English Electives (Irish and Russian Literature), and AP Statistics</p>

<p>ECs: Mathematics Club (president), Varsity Tennis (two years)</p>

<p>Awards: AIME 6+ Club (2010, 2011), AMC 12 Distinguished Honor Roll (2010, 2011, 2012), AMC 10 Distinguished Honor Roll (2010, 2011), Presidential Medal for Community Service, US Physics Olympiad Semifinalist</p>

<p>Language: I had completed the language requirement in 10th grade (French), but I have been fluent in English, Italian, and German prior to 7th grade.</p>

2

<p>I think as long as you keep up your amazing record you should apply to some ivies as well as those schools (if you like the east coast), I mean they’re unpredictable for anyone but you would definitely have a good chance. The UCs would also be really good, you said you’re from the west coast, if you’re in ca then tuition is a lot cheaper and I think you would get a regents scholarship (not sure if that depends on state of residency). Your stats are great though so you have a chance at some really amazing schools, good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>

4

<p>Cauchy-
Tell us what you want in a college, what you want to achieve in math/physics.
What is the best university environment for you to reach your dreams.</p>

5

<p>Many of the other UCs are good for math and physics, so consider them in your list as possible matches and safeties.</p>

<p>As advanced as you currently are in math (taking college sophomore level math as a high school junior – three years ahead), you probably want a school with a strong graduate program in math, because you are likely the student who will want to take graduate level math courses and do graduate level research as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard are among the usual private school suspects for math and physics (but they are all super selective). Minnesota and Stony Brook are worth a look as lower cost and possible safety-level admissions out of state schools good in these subjects, if you feel that the other UCs are not sufficient for this purpose.</p>

<p>Do you have cost constraints?</p>

6

<p>Ha, ha :), that’s what I’m asking you guys.</p>

<p>I’m considering a career dealing with Mathematics and/or Physics, but I don’t exactly have a clear idea as to what I want to do with my future.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the advice. As for cost constraints, I do not have any immediate restraints, though I’d like to save my parents as much money as possible while not forfeiting a good education. Possibly around $45,000 a year would be the maximum amount. </p>

<p>I’ll consider UCLA and UC Berkeley for in-state public schools and possibly Minnesota for out of state. Private school wise, I’ll consider some of the Ivy League Schools (Harvard, Princeton), MIT, Caltech, and probably Stanford as well. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the help!</p>

8

<p>Would be very helpful to know your class rank or at least your approximate decile. </p>

<p>I think your unweighted GPA will hurt your chances at some of the top-tier, most selective, schools on your list and also the ones that you are still considering. You have a rigorous course load but I haven’t been to an info session yet where the top-tier schools didn’t want the best grades AND the most rigorous course load. Check out the most recent decisions threads on this website for examples of those kids who were accepted/waitlisted/rejected. </p>

<p>Besides the usual Ivy schools, some more suggestions would be Duke, Rice, and Northwestern. I would also apply to UCSD. I’m not sure why UMinnesota would be on your radar. No disrespect to this good state school but to me that one doesn’t make any sense. </p>

<p>What I believe you REALLY need at the moment is a good financial SAFETY school you would be happy attending and one or two more solid matches. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Yeah, the lower unweighted GPA is due to my problems with English (I learned German and Italian first but all-around disinterest in language) and History (disinterest). UMinnesota was suggested to me by ucbalumnus. </p>

<p>jshain, do you recommend any good financial safety schools currently? My school only ranks the valedictorian, but not class rank. I estimate being in the top 25 students of 120. You recommend looking into Northwestern, Rice, and Duke, but what about UChicago, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon?</p>

10

<p>Chicago, Michigan, and Cal Berkley are all outstanding math programs, but I agree that you should apply to a couple ivies.</p>

11

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<p>I suggested Minnesota because it has a strong math department, not super-selective in admissions, and is relatively inexpensive ($30,000 per year list price for out of state).</p>

<p>You may want to consider whether a few other UCs like Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara may be safeties.</p>

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<p>That would pay out of state list prices for some public universities, but not all, and would fall short of the list prices for many of the private universities listed in this thread. Check the net price calculators on each school’s web site to get financial aid estimates.</p>

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</p>

<p>If chatter in other threads is to be believed, a rank of 25 out of 120 means your chance of getting into the super-selective schools is close to nil if you do not have a “hook”, as they are said to take only top 2% (preferably top 2) rank students without “hooks”.
[Is</a> class ranking really important?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1324666-class-ranking-really-important.html]Is”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1324666-class-ranking-really-important.html)</p>

12

<p>I just discussed this with my College Counselor yesterday. She estimates that my unweighted GPA Rank places me in the top 25% of students in my class, but estimates my weighted GPA Rank places me in the top 10%. Which GPA do colleges look at? </p>

<p>I also discussed with my parents the financial situation. They are willing to pay as much as they can “as long as I get a good education.” Whatever that means. </p>

<p>So I’m not sure anymore financially-speaking where I stand, but I don’t think cost is going to be the biggest concern.</p>

13

<p>GPA: either recalculated (common for state universities including UC which has a specific formula*) or holistic look at transcript (“almost all A grades, most rigorous courses”)</p>

<p>Rank: very important to some schools, not considered at UC. The super-selective schools that use rank heavily are said to be unimpressed by top 10% or top 25% (see rank thread linked above).</p>

<p>Cost: keep some low cost (low list price and/or big guaranteed merit for stats) schools on your application list, in case your parents overestimated their ability to pay for the more expensive schools. Run some net price calculators with them at some college web sites to check whether they find the numbers acceptable or shocking. You don’t want to be surprised in April that your parents are unable or unwilling to pay for any of the schools you are admitted to.</p>

<p>*10th and 11th grade course grades in a-g requirement courses, +1 for up to 8 semesters’ worth of honors/AP courses.</p>

14

<p>Remember, find your safeties first.</p>

<p>Some of the usual safeties are community colleges (followed by transfer), but those are inappropriate for you since you have already taken all of the math that might be available at a community college. Given that you are so far ahead in math, it is unlikely that undergraduate only schools (“liberal arts colleges”) will be appropriate for you, since you are likely to want to take graduate level math courses as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>Big research universities with strong math and physics departments would be your best choices. Note that their usual disadvantage of huge impersonal classes is generally not applicable to upper division and graduate math courses that you would be taking (though if you need to take any lower division physics courses, those may be large unless small honors versions of the courses are offered).</p>

<p>Since you are in California, several UCs are obvious candidates. Because of holistic admissions processes, it is hard to have them be ironclad safeties (though the less selective ones can be counted as very likely), but pretty much all of them except for Merced are at least respectable in math and physics.</p>

<p>Minnesota and Stony Brook are also candidates as well, due to low out of state list prices. Iowa State is another such school that is respectable (though not as much as the other two) but also has a [formula</a> which you can calculate for admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.iastate.edu/freshman/requirements.php]formula”>http://www.admissions.iastate.edu/freshman/requirements.php); if your formula score is high enough, you are in automatically.</p>

<p>Go to their web sites and show the net price calculators to your parents to make sure that they are ok with the costs.</p>

<p>Once you have your safeties lined up, you can then add other non-safety schools (though you will still want to show their net price calculators to their parents before applying to make sure that they find the costs acceptable – no point in applying if you cannot afford to attend).</p>

15

<p>This year I qualified for the USAMO (qualifying score: 215.5 - 135.5 on the AMC 12 and 8 on the AIME). Just finished last Wednesday.</p>

16

<p>I’m going to shamelessly promote NYU. For applied mathematics, we’re #1 in the US and overall, the Courant Institute (mathematics department) is highly regarded – top 10 in the US. </p>

<p>With high scores like yours, you could get close to, if not a complete, full ride.</p>

17

<p>NYU is a school where a top student may get a very nice merit scholarship – but those who do not tend to get rather poor need-based financial aid (which is why it has high average student loan debt). So you are aiming for the big merit scholarship, not merely admission, if you need financial aid.</p>

18

<p>^^ </p>

<p>Correct</p>