yet another narror the list/exchange student

<p>I´m going into senior year this year and am still finishing up a year abroad. I had a 3.95 gpa at the end of 10th grade (not counting a+s, out of 4.0). I took the acts at the end of 10th grade and got 29 (30 math, 28 reading, 11/12 writing). took the sats in 7th grade 490 verbal (ouch) 650 math (way before writing). I plan to take the sats and acts when i get back in september. </p>

<p>I grew up rural vermont. But have been living in a small city for the past year, and its good. I´d love large town, small-medium city.</p>

<p>As for majors, I´m thinking engineering, physics, math. But I have tons of interests (violin, dance, poetry), so a well rounded college would be nice.</p>

<p>I don´t need big parties, but I like a good social atmosphere. Intellectual, not dead. And there´s got to be some fun to be had.</p>

<p>That being said, I´m in a little of a panic because I have not thought much about college since I´ve been in Portugal. So my list is still a little crazy:</p>

<p>Brandeis
Brown
Cornell
Columbia (a little big i think)
Harvard (just a name?)
McGill (safty-ish, I´ve got family working and studying there)
Princeton
Stanford (I live in New England, so the trek is long. I´m used to being away from home, I´m here in Portugal, but it´d be nice to be closer)</p>

<p>Tufts
Williams (too little?)
Yale</p>

<p>And Carnegie Mellon?</p>

<p>As for the Exchange Student business, does it add to or take away from an app? My grades wont count (they are out of 20 and on a different scale anyway), but they will appear on my transcript. They were in the top of the class. I also learned another language...</p>

<p>Any thoughts? Thanks</p>

<p>To help you narrow down the list: Columbia is not in a small city by any stretch of the imagination.</p>

<p>To add a little something: Carleton.</p>

<p>Macalester College in St Paul, MN. In addition to a large international student body (I think 90 different countries represented in the incoming class of 2012), close to 10% of the American students have lived abroad as well, many of them former exchange students. You would definitely have the opportunity to use your Portuguese there!</p>