<p>And timing's running out! I've already applied to the UCs since they have early deadlines, but don't know which private schools to apply to. </p>
<p>Background:
Chinese public high school student
We don't have a GPA system, but I am in the top 10 of a class of 500.
TOEFL - 103
SAT 1 - 2040 (560 reading, 800 math, 680 writing)
SAT 2 - 790 Chem, 800 Physics, 800 Math IIC
I literally have no extracurriculars (100% my fault - I know)</p>
<p>Goal:
To major in something math/science-related at a top 50 US college. Open to liberal arts colleges as well (any shot at a top 15 liberal arts college?)</p>
<p>Will not be requesting financial aid (if this helps at all...)</p>
<p>Thank you - would greatly appreciate any advice. I'll take them very seriously!</p>
<p>For some reason, I can’t edit the post now, so I’ll follow up with an update here…</p>
<p>Realistically I know I’m not good enough to get into a top 30 college, so how about the following?</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd
Washington and Lee
Brandeis University
Boston College
College of William and Mary
Case Western Reserve University (thinking this may be good for me given their high acceptance rate and their focus on math/science)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Lehigh University
Boston University
University of Miami</p>
<p>Or are these all reaches for me as well? Would appreciate any thoughts. Thank you!</p>
<p>Not needing finaid as an international student is a huge advantage. </p>
<p>But rather than solicit advice from strangers with no framework for your process why don’t you start trying to narrow this down yourself based on your own preferences?</p>
<p>Usually students look at some of these features of a college:
~Size: a LAC can range from 1K to 3K students (average) and Universities can be small like Rice, medium like Yale or large like Berkeley. What size student body do you prefer?
~Curriculum: you can have a mandated core like Chicago (Uni) and Davidson (LAC) or an open curriculum like Brown (Uni) and Amherst (LAC). This is important: do you want to design your own program of study or do you believe the college knows some of what is important for you to study?<br>
~campus culture: do you want fraternities/athletics/arts/political activism/ traditions/parties…this can make a big difference in your college experience
~location: can be rural like Middlebury, urban like Columbia, suburban like Pomona</p>
<p>those are just a few suggestions for what to think about…
maybe you can list the things that really matter to you and start narrowing down your college choices accordingly, and then ask for advice. Top 50 universities and top 15 LAC’s is a very broad net to cast!</p>
<p>So now you have a list of colleges you’re interested in, are you asking for info about these schools? Or are you asking if they are appropriate colleges to apply to for you with your grades and scores?</p>
<p>Hi honeybee63, thanks for your thorough response. I appreciate it. </p>
<p>I’d say the latter - if they’re appropriate colleges to apply to given my grades and scores. </p>
<p>I don’t mind any college culture or curriculum so long as they have a math/science-related major. And because my parents are paying for this, they want me to go to a college that’s ranked well (Chinese mindset, I guess) - that’s their one strong condition for me going to a college in the US. It’s unfortunate, but I also don’t mind since I don’t have too strong preferences to start with.</p>
<p>And to elaborate on my lack of ECs - I went to a public high school in China where the primary focus is to prepare us for the Chinese standardized test, the gaokao, so ECs weren’t emphasized at all - I wish I had researched college admissions earlier as a freshman!</p>
<p>aigiqinf, I haven’t - that program looks amazing. I’d love to speak with you and learn more about it! Unfortunately CC wants me to have 15 posts first before having the ability to PM someone. Would you mind PMing me - maybe it’ll let me respond to the PM?</p>
<p>One other question you need to ask yourself is if your interest in science includes graduate school and research. You can get a good preparation for graduate school at just about any school but if your goal is to get into a Ph.D. program, a research university might give you slightly better opportunities.</p>
<p>If you like RPI and CWRU, you might look into other [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools. They are mostly small, some rural but most are urban and there are some research universities as well as undergradaute-only institutions.</p>