Hi guys, first time posting here.
I am a US-Taiwanese dual citizen that has lived in Taiwan since second grade. I am really interested in returning to the States for college but only have two universities on the list right now so I need some input.
Basic info to base your recommendations on:
Stats:
ACT 36 (E:36 R:36 M:36 S:34, Writing: 7 (I don’t do well under a time constraint)
GPA 3.8(approx. as Taiwanese high schools use 0-100 scale, I grade out around the low eighties)
Rank: top 5%
My high school is considered top 10 in the country(small country tho)
Awards:
-Teen Diplomatic Envoy contest champion (held by MoE and MoFA, went to Vietnam and the Philippines as a result of winning to interact with local students)
-First prize in national vocab contest
Other stuff I did:
-Baseball team in high school(we aren’t particularly good tho)
-Vice president of Movie club
-Summer prep program at Penn
-Fossil expedition led by art teacher
-Robotics contest (again, we weren’t very good)
-Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest(reached secondaries)
I suppose the lack of volunteer work (only a couple hours or so) will really hurt but I had some extenuating circumstances (Nuss-procedure surgery, for example, took up one of my summers).
Demographics: Asian male, Parents’ total income is around USD60000(a handsome sum in Taiwan, not so much in the US). I hope I’ll get financial aid.
Currently applying to:
*Rice ED
-Good weather
-Houston has direct flights to Taiwan
-Their residential college system and culture as a whole is really special
-Being in a metro area would probably help with internships, work opportunities etc.
-Good financial aid(ran the NPC)
*Clemson honors
-Grew up there and still feel connected
-Good weather
-A safety in terms of stats
-Taiwan is a sister state of SC so I will get in-state tuition
-Great football
I have looked at some LACs but for some reason they all seem to have a similar vibe. Maybe I need to look harder.
Schools would ideally feature mild weather for three quarters of the year, close to a metro area for flights and working opportunities (I realize Clemson isn’t metro but the school is special to me), and not be too big(like, under 30k or so). Also, I am not a huge fan of Greek life.
How picky are you about where you study? You are likely to need significant financial aid, so you need to be looking at some places that offer very good need-based aid (these will be your reaches), and places that offer very good merit-based aid for specific stats (these can be your safeties if they are affordable for your family). Go to the Financial Aid forum here, and start reading up on those two topics.
For the places currently on your list, sit down with your parents and run the Net Price Calculators that are on their websites. The results will give you a general notion of what your aid package might look like. Look at U of Alabama. Big football school with automatic admission and automatic aid that you probably qualify for.
You’ll find no shortage of northerly LACs that would be superb for the combined study of history and biochemistry (e.g., Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Williams, Haverford, Colgate, Trinity, Kenyon).
However, for examples that meet this criterion, consider Davidson and Pomona.
Just throwing out some ideas for decent schools that are less expensive and where you might get scholarships/aid…U of Houston, U of Central Florida, U of South Florida, UT Dallas (no football), Arizona State.
I can actually afford to be picky because with my grades in Taiwan I can probably make NTU, which is a pretty good university in its own right. Pursuing higher education in the states however has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I want to go somewhere to be intellectually challenged. Sooo, not any college I guess?
I have run the NPC on both my schools, and Rice is pretty generous while Clemson not so much. Still, they are still within range.
This seems like a very interesting path. However, from what I’ve found, most LACs are in the middle of nowhere, to put it bluntly. There are some exceptions though like Haverford etc. I understand their seclusion is part of its appeal, but there will be a significant period of adjustment.
I hope to work in the US if the circumstances allow, yet I hear there’s a recession coming on…?
It is hard to predict when a recession will occur. Of course, if it does happen in the next few years, you may want it to happen sooner rather than later, so that it may be over by the time you graduate.
But biochemistry and history do not have all that good major-related job prospects, so you would be competing in the generic bachelor’s degree job market with students of many majors.
As a male citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan), is the mandatory military service (appears to have been reduced to four months basic training) an issue for you?
@ucbalumnus, my physical condition (pectus excavatum) makes me ineligible for military service(according to my surgeon, who was in the army). After reading through r/biochemistry, there does not seem to be much of a market for bachelor degrees, and I feel that a PhD. could be in order. @MYOS1634, seems cold, but I will check it out!