Help me eliminate some colleges?

College Search & Selection
#1

<p>UVA
U Michigan
U of North Carolina @Chapel Hill
College of William and Mary
U Wisc-Madison
U of WA Seattle
U FL
Tulane University
U of Miama (FL)
U MD College Park
Fordham University
U MN Twin Cities
Rutgers University, state U of NJ
Brigham Young U Provo (I'm not LDS.Not a religious person, but it's so cheap I cant help keeping it...)</p>

<p>I'm an international student and I guess my major is Economics, like most of us do. If not Economics, I will probably do social science. Within acceptable ranking, tuition is quite important. I also value location and good alumni connection and stuff.</p>

<p>Thank you guys!!</p>

#2

<p>This is not nearly enough information. GPA, SAT's, EC's, etc. And are you saying you need financial aid?</p>

#3

<p>Actually those are what I want to avoid saying...I don't have GPA and SAT results yet. EC's are mediocre. These are what I predict: SAT 2000 GPA 3.5?? (not sure. I will know in August)
For public schools, I don't need financial aid. For private schools my family contribution is 45k at most.
Do you have comments about these schools?</p>

#4

<p>Well, if you meant this as a chance thread then it is totally impossible without the stats. If you mean it more as an overall "fit" issue, then you need to tell us what you prefer in a college. the usual questions are:</p>

<p>1) Size of school
2) Location (urban, suburban, rural)
3) Weather preference (warm, medium, love snow)
4) Are sports important. either as a spectator or a participant?
5) Are Fraternities/Soroities in your future?
6) Since you are international, is it important there are a lot of others of your nationality?
7) Anything else that is of particular importance to you personally?</p>

<p>Surprisingly (to some people), you really don't need to worry about major and who is strong in that area. Especially for Econ and the social sciences, schools along the lines you are considering are all strong for an undergraduate in those areas.</p>

<p>As far as money, $45K per year is a lot. It would leave you with little to no debt depending on the school. Be aware, however, that since you are OOS for all schools, public might not be that different than private, at least for some publics.</p>

<p>There really is no sense speculating in detail until you get some hard numbers for your SAT and GPA. I can tell you that if in fact you had a 2000 SAT and 3.5 (UW) GPA, you would have a good shot at a few (MN, Rutgers, probably Fordham), decent chances at some others and a few are a definite reach, like UVA and UNC. Which is good, that is what you want.</p>

<p>But better to get back to this board when you have some real stats. Otherwise it really is rather meaningless.</p>

#5

<p>Ew get rid of BYU! If you're not religious, why would you go there? You'll feel so left out and it's so conservative. Get rid of it.</p>

#6

<p>And add SUNY Binghamton to your list lol! They have A GREAT Econ program</p>

#7

<p>Thank you for such detailed info!</p>

<p>1)Size is not really a big issue, but what I'm concerned about is W&M's diversity.Hard for an international student to find a niche? Also Brigham Young, the same question.(not diversity but religion)
2)About location, all I care about is if I could find a job so that I won't owe my parents that much. Near NYC is certainly perfect, but school like Brigham Young, although in Utah, is a target school for investment banking(?). So it's not that bad.
3)I don't mind the weather
4)sports not very important. I'm a spectator
5)I won't join sorority, but I don't mind going to those "party schools"
6)don't need a lot, but still some ppl of same nationality will be nice(W&M and UNC not enough huh?)
7) personality...not very outgoing, not that kind of person that can grab whoever and talk like old friends...</p>

<p>Sorry that I dont understand what you mean by "since you are OOS for all schools, public might not be that different than private, at least for some publics". Did you mean their expenses are not much of a difference?</p>

<p>I will post my stats ASA I get them</p>

#8

<p>@elbeeen
BYU that bad for a not religious person? It's just really cheap and from the newspaper I read, it's yield rate is higher than Havard?! I thought that means acceptable.
Binghamton's ranking is quite low...If I do social sciences they might not be very good at them?</p>

#9

<p>Thank you for such detailed info!</p>

<p>1)Size is not really a big issue, but what I'm concerned about is W&M's diversity.Hard for an international student to find a niche? Also Brigham Young, the same question.(not diversity but religion)
2)About location, all I care about is if I could find a job so that I won't owe my parents that much. Near NYC is certainly perfect, but school like Brigham Young, although in Utah, is a target school for investment banking(?). So it's not that bad.
3)I don't mind the weather
4)sports not very important. I'm a spectator
5)I won't join sorority, but I don't mind going to those "party schools"
6)don't need a lot, but still some ppl of same nationality will be nice(W&M and UNC not enough huh?)
7) personality...not very outgoing, not that kind of person that can grab whoever and talk like old friends...</p>

<p>Sorry that I dont understand what you mean by "since you are OOS for all schools, public might not be that different than private, at least for some publics". Did you mean their expenses are not much of a difference?</p>

<p>I will post my stats ASA I get them</p>

#10

<p>@elbeeen
From the newspaper I read, BYU has a higher yield rate than Harvard so I thought that means it's acceptable, or even popular. It's just so cheap that the total expenses,after exchange into RMB,equals what I spend in China. Is BYU really that bad?
Binghamton has great location and Econ program, but according to its low ranking, it might not be very good at social sciences(?)</p>

#11

<p>


For some of the more prestigious OOS, yes, their tuitions can be as high or higher than some of the privates. For example, Michigan's OOS tuition is listed on Princeton Review as $35,974 and that is last year's. UNC-CH is listed at $22,880 which is certainly much lower, but still not cheap. Wisconsin about $23,000. UVA $31,870. And remember these are last year's. I just looked up UVA for 2010-2011 on the UVA web site and it is $33,782. And that is just tuition. You still have room/board, books, travel, etc. That won't vary too much, but could be a couple of thousand difference between schools. So I think you get my point, you have to look carefully.</p>

<p>You cannot go by yield at schools at all anymore, and certainly not at BYU. Also Nebraska is very high. All that tells you is that the applicants are very self-selective and know where they want to go when they apply, so essentially other schools are not competing for their attention. However, while there will not be a lot of diversity I also have found the students there to be very nice and non-pressuring with regard to their faith. I won't even comment on the conservative aspect, because you would be the one attending, not elbeeen. Clearly it wouldn't be for him/her, lol. Gorgeous location, too.</p>

<p>Again, I wouldn't worry about rankings, but let's see where things stack up when you get your stats. As far as fit other than academics, I would say eliminate UVA and Michigan based on cost. You can do as well for less money. Otherwise you seem flexible, so your stats will make the difference.</p>

#12

<p>Sorry for taking forever to answer! I was making waffles haha! :) But the reason why their yield rate is so high is because the mormons of Utah plan since birth to go there! So they apply, they get in, and they go. Nobody actually applies there unless they're going! I'm not knocking BYU at all and saying they aren't "acceptable". Honestly, I've never looked into the school academically so I'm sure it has great academic facilities! But virtually every school is good at preparing you for life after college so look into ones that won't be so confining. BYU is NOTORIOUS for being a conservative mormon school. I'd venture to say that 90% of the student pop. is mormon! If you're not, you might go insane. And it's not like Utah is that liberal of a state where you could hang out off campus and get a refreshing change of pace. Four years will be like that for you! If you were mormon I would say go for it but it's alooootttt to think about if you're not. Truly, there are better "cheap" public schools.</p>

#13

<p>And also, rankings don't really count for anything. In the public school world, Binghamton is very well known and after college, employers will be impressed if you majored in Econ there! But so are most of the schools on your list actually ie. UVA, Rutgers, Madison. BYU isn't very prestigious if that's what you're looking for. Regardless, rankings are usually based on funding or other factors that don't really reflect a school's capabilities. Binghamton's a great school and you should look into it beyond just what USNWR says.</p>

#14

<p>I c, so cross out BYU...I want a good college experience
If UVA/ Michigan give me offer, although low possibility,I will live frugally
Ranking is not everything, but it's generally accurate .Going to a better school I will be a better person don't you think? With well-rounded academics, it's easier to change major</p>

#15

<p>


Not necessarily, it depends on the rules of the school and how they have things set up. Frankly, I am not even sure how those two things relate.</p>

#16

<p>For private schools my family contribution is 45k at most.</p>

<p>Since the CoA for an international student is often higher than for a domestic student (because of the cost of international travel and because you have to demonstrate full funding before your Visa is granted), if your budget is $45k at most, then you probably should only include schools where the COA is at most $40k per year. </p>

<p>Your budget would eliminate...</p>

<p>Fordham
Tulane
UMich
UMiami </p>

<p>Since these schools would cost you over $50k per year plus int'l travel costs.</p>

#17

<p>@fallenchemist
sorry I didn't make it clear.
I meant if the university is more well-rounded, I can change to whatever major I want without regret choosing this school. What if that college is bad at the major I want to change to?</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids
Fordham
Tulane
UMiami</p>

<p>Actually I wanted to try if I could get financial aid or scholarship</p>

#18

<p>


Well, there are a couple of things wrong with that statement. First, at the undergrad level very few academically competitive schools will be "bad" at the vast majority of majors. Second, presumably you picked a school because it was "good" at your intended major. If you then switched because another major seemed more interesting, how bad can it be? You have a somewhat inaccurate view of undergraduate education at the top 100 or so American universities.</p>

<p>Be careful about financial aid and scholarships at various schools. The rules for international students are often quite different. You have to completely research each school.</p>

#19

<p>I would eliminate Tulane.</p>

#20

<p>"Since the CoA for an international student is often higher than for a domestic student (because of the cost of international travel and because you have to demonstrate full funding before your Visa is granted), if your budget is $45k at most, then you probably should only include schools where the COA is at most $40k per year. </p>

<p>Your budget would eliminate...</p>

<p>Fordham
Tulane
UMich
UMiami </p>

<p>Since these schools would cost you over $50k per year plus int'l travel costs."</p>

<p>This dollar amount would also eliminate UVA.</p>

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