Yes, this is another one of those "which college should i apply to"

College Search & Selection
1

Thank god you clicked this open. Thank you.

Background info: Chinese, 17, came to US when I was 12, didn’t know crap back then but now I’m all good. Good at handle stress and getting good grades, God help me I don’t have any talents.

My parents said if I can get into the best colleges ever they would sell everything to make sure I go there, so I guess there isn’t a financial problem, but preferably the tuition is lower than 50k.

Academics:

3.95 Unweighted GPA

4.61 Weighted GPA

New SAT with writing: 1520

Math: 800 Reading + writing: 720

SAT II Math II: 760 SAT II Biology: 730

Also have six 5’s on the following AP’s: Chinese, physics c mech, macro econ, micro econ, calc BC, biology. The last four are self-studied.

Extracurricular activities:

100 hours volunteering at Johns Hopkins Cancer Research Lab

Science Olympiad Club (with awards (4th places) in wind power and electric vehicle)

Art Club

Robotics Club

(yes that is it. I wasn’t even aware that I should have extracurricular activities)

Science classes that I have taken (the last one is the one I’m taking right now):

Biology G/T, Chemistry G/T, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Chemistry

Math classes that I have taken (the last one is the one I’m taking right now):

Algebra II G/T, Precalculus G/T, AP Calculus AB, Differential Equations (my counselor let me skip calc BC because I got a 5 on the exam)

English classes that I have taken (^^):

Reg English I, English II honors, English III honors, English IV honors

Other notable classes: Spanish 1-4 (all honors), four years of PLTW (Project Lead the Way) from Introduction to Engineering Design up to Engineering Design and Development), two years of art

Nothing amazing, but please help me out. Thank you so much!!!

2

Wait forgot about something.

I am interested in Biology, computer science or engineering-related majors. THANKS A TON

3

You probably already have some idea of what types of colleges might interest you. That noted, URochester would be an example of a school strong across your potential majors of interest and that, based on your merit scholarship potential, might be nicely within budget for you. By following the overlaps to this and other schools, you should be able to generate an appropriate list. (Though it will be interesting to see the further suggestions you receive here.)

4

Hopkins since you already have connections there.

For more suggestions, you should list your preferences, geographic, school size, urban, etc. etc. Your stats are high enough to be a viable candidate anywhere. Still I’ll toss out Rice, Emory, WashU, CMU, Case Western

5

There are good suggestions above, including Rochester, Case Western, and Hopkins. I’d add Tufts. You are qualified for them and the others, although I’ll note that WashU will be very tough in RD, especially without a visit. Carnegie Mellon is also very challenging, especially for admission to computer science. Again you are qualified, but many qualified students are not accepted at these schools, so make sure you apply to a couple of schools you’d like and are definitely accessible and affordable. Certainly also look at your state flagship and any others excellent public schools in your state. You might also explore WPI and RPI (we are partial to WPI).

I’d like to add that I think it’s important to maintain a positive attitude, in the college application process and, more importantly, in life. That always goes a long, long way. I say this because you write,

“Background info: Chinese, 17, came to US when I was 12, didn’t know crap back then but now I’m all good. Good at handle stress and getting good grades, God help me I don’t have any talents.” You add that your ECs are “nothing amazing.”

Think about always being positive in your interactions with admissions personnel. One does not need to brag, and arrogance is not an asset. But being positive is important. People like positive people. Admissions personnel are trying to find good students and build a great community. Positivity is way better than negativity. It helps in life too. And you can be very proud of your hard work, which is perhaps the best complement to a positive attitude. Good luck!

6

Are you a Maryland resident? U of Md is a great school and has all that you are interested in and should fit your budget.

7

What is your citizenship/ green card status? It makes a big difference.

8

@TTG: Thank you for the wonderful comment. I did try to be positive on my resume and in my essays, and I hope that works out well for me. I am trying to “go big or go home” here, since top tier schools give a lot of financial aid once you make it in and local schools are relatively cheaper. Going to a middle-ground school that’s really expensive just doesn’t seem to be the best choice.
@Dolemite : yes, I am a Maryland resident and I will be applying to UMD priority.
@intparent : Permanent residency, technically temporary i-551 waiting on the i-829 to pass.
@nw2this : no worries mate, hopkin’s good as and it’s already my ED school
@merc81 : thank you! using the overlap, I did find a lot of great schools.

9

update: my list of schools:

UC Berkeley
Duke
GIT
Harvard
JHU
UMDCP
MIT
Upenn
U of IL urbana
UC Los Angeles
HCC (community college)