Is my college list appropriate? (Cornell, Northwestern, UC's, etc.)

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hey everyone, it’s about time for me to finalize my list on the colleges I’m applying to. I was just wondering if my list is solid enough that I can start focusing on supplements instead of researching and comparing schools. Regarding school features, I prefer a medium sized school with additional opportunities for visual art and acting/film/directing-related stuff. I plan on going into consulting/business/law, and my majors of interest are Business, Economics, and International Relations. However, I would still like to take some classes in World/Asian History, Bio, Physics, and Computers since they are also interesting to me. I would prefer to be near an urban area for the excitement and internship possibilities, would like a significant Asian-American population on campus, and lots and lots of clubs. Here are some of my stats, and you can check out my old post to see more (although it’s kinda outdated).</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.3 out of 4/5 scale
SAT: 800 m, 770 cr/w, 2340 total
Subject Tests: 790 w history, 790 bio eco, 770 math 2, 690 chem (will not send if score choice)
AP Tests: 5s on the following: Calc I, Phys I, Macroecon, Lang/Comp, Psych, and US Gov.
Around top 10% in class (maybe slightly below)
High Course Rigor, but quite a few B’s mainly in English and Spanish classes, but also AP Calc.
Extracurriculars: Varsity Debate, Varsity Swimming, Varsity Academic Quiz Bowl, Trying to jumpstart an arts-related nonprofit, Current Events article writer for 3 publications, YMCA/Cancer Support Volunteering, Art Shows/Graphic Design/Illustration, Certified Lifeguard, Guitar.
Languages: English, Mandarin, Spanish - want to take Japanese in college.</p>

<p>Here is my list so far:</p>

<p>Northwestern (ED?) - Econ/Int’l -> Kellogg Certificate
Cornell (ED?) - AEM or HUman Ecology Policy
UPenn (ED?) - PPE/Int’l
Georgetown - Int’l Econ in Foreign Service
Emory - Econ/Int’l ->Goizueta
UCLA (OOS) - Bus Econ/Global Studies
Berkeley (OOS) - Econ/Asian Studies -> Haas
U Mich (OOS) - Ross
WUSTL - Olin
NYU - Stern or IR
Rutgers - Business
Tufts - Econ/Int’l
Carnegie Mellon - Tepper</p>

<p>-and finally, either Columbia (Super Reach) or UVA (also OOS) for the last spot</p>

<p>I have visited Cornell, UPenn, Rutgers, NYU, and Columbia so far</p>

<p>Please offer anything you know about how I would fit at any of these schools, ED advice, and whether I am overreaching (which I kinda feel like I am with only 1 safety). Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your list contains the same reach schools everyone else is applying to. And yeah, I think you need some matches or additional safeties.</p>

<p>One thing you have going for you (among many) is that you seem to have genuine interests outside the area you plan to study in college. I would play that up.</p>

<p>Also remember to be sure your family can afford the schools on your list before you go to the trouble of applying.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Have you checked what your parents are willing to contribute, and run each school’s net price calculator?</p></li>
<li><p>Will you be happy attending your safety if it is the only school that you are admitted to?</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>Have you asked your parents how much they will pay each year?</p>

<p>OOS publics can be very expensive. The UCs will expect your family to pay EFC plus $23k. So, if your EFC is $25k, then your family will have to pay $48k per year.</p>

5

<p>As far as I know, financing college won’t be too much of a problem for me, but again, I don’t know much about how financial aid works in general. I have a single mom, but overall our family still makes around $200k a year. However, I do have a younger sister that would probably need financial aid more than I will when she goes to college a year after me. I will run some school price calculators and let you guys know how they turn out. Again, my mom will support my undergraduate education, but grad/business school may be different.</p>

6

<p>Your list seems to address your interests pretty well, but nearly all are high matches or reaches. Rutgers, assuming it is your home flagship, is your only match/safety.</p>

<p>If you would be happy at Rutgers, your list is complete.</p>

<p>But since your interests might be well served by some LACs, I thought I’d list a few here that might interest you:</p>

<p>Oberlin - high match/match
Macalester - high match/match
Lawrence - match/low match</p>

<p>These are good midwestern LACs. Mac is in the Twin Cities, where art flourishes. Oberlin is known for its art programs, particularly music. And Lawrence has strong arts programs as well and is a top-60 (or so) LAC.</p>

<p>All three are strong overall, so surely your Econ/pre-law prep would be good.</p>

<p>Other than those three, I’d suggest some other state schools – for instance, the Universities of Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota are very strong in Econ and all of the usual pre-law majors. They might not be quite as hard as UCLA or Berkeley or Michigan to get into OOS – but you will get a fantastic education. </p>

<p>Finally, since you are interested in film… I think you should strongly consider USC (Southern Cal). They are strong academically overall and have (I think) a strong Film program.</p>

7

<p>You need to ask your mom how much she will pay. </p>

8

<p>If your dad is alive, most colleges will expect him to contribute to your education, and, frankly, why shouldn’t he? that may give you another source of funding so that your college expenses aren’t quite so much of a drag on mom’s resources. Regardless, you need to talk to mom and clear up some of the details around how much money she can provide. You might have to look at colleges where you’re a full tuition or full ride; you won’t know til you get the finances straightened out.</p>

9

<p>These are all some great points. I talked to my mom, and she is willing to pay for my entire undergraduate education, but of course, financial aid for certain universities (like NYU for example) would be a good help. My mom still said that it might be “unlikely” for me to get financial aid with our current income. I don’t know if my dad can contribute, either way, it won’t help me much since he is now working outside the US with a significantly lower salary than he previously made in banking. Simply put, I won’t limit my college choices financially, although getting some money from my state school/scholarships would be nice. </p>

<p>If you guys can offer some more non-financial insight, that would be great. Thanks!</p>

10

<p>Except for the UCs (which use FAFSA only), most schools will expect your father to complete a non-custodial parent profile. If cooperation is unlikely, or his income is significant, then you may want to make your list with the expectation of not getting any need based financial aid (i.e. list price or merit scholarships only). While the UCs are FAFSA only, $200,000 income will mean no need based financial aid and a $50,000 to $55,000 or so out-of-state list price. The most expensive private schools can run over $60,000 at list price.</p>

<p>At Berkeley, frosh are not admitted to the economics or business majors directly. Completion of the prerequisites with a 3.0 is needed to declare economics (which has a high-math pre-PhD option and a low-math option that is more popular). The business major has a competitive admission process to apply into after completing the prerequisites.</p>

11

<p>I assume you have done the research about which colleges you’d be able to get admitted in to the b-school directly vs. which ones are not like that.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say that Olin/WashU or UMich (without preferred admit to Ross) or Emory or NYU (non-Stern) are super-reachy. ED at NU/Cornell/UPenn may not be either.</p>

<p>A lot will come down to your essays. But yes, if you don’t get in ED or ED2, you may want to consider some other schools like Richmond, W&L, Lehigh, and Bucknell (LACs with b-schools) as well. Unless you’re fine with attending RU, in which case, reach away!</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the comments everyone. I haven’t really looked at liberal arts colleges (most are kinda too small for my liking), but some of them seem relatively interesting. I still think my best bet is to stick with my current list and maybe just take off the last option altogether. I’m also completely fine going to Rutgers, since my mom went there and I’m very used to the campus (my swim club used to train there).</p>

13

<p>The UC’s don’t give financial aid to OOS students, so you need to tell Mom that the UC bill will run $55-$60K per year not including travel expenses. The UC’s are funded by California taxpayers so the state’s first obligation is to the children of those taxpayers.
Mom will be paying about $240K for your undergraduate education. The UC’s will accept you at full pay but with a younger sister coming up are you CERTAIN that your mother will fund your education for OOS schools?<br>
Berkeley and LA are tough to gain admittance, even with your stats, and willingness to pay our fees.<br>
You really need to talk to your mother and find out if in one year, for an OOS school, she’d be prepared to write a check for $60K.</p>

14

<p>It seems like my financial situation will be tough, but not too bad. Still, we have just the amount of money where most schools will not offer need-based aid, but not enough money where my single mom can send both of her kids to 4 year colleges comfortably without aid. I’m pretty sure my sister will have to worry more about the aid part though.</p>

<p>On another note, I’m thinking about applying to UChicago instead of Columbia or UVA. Not that I have a good chance of getting in though.</p>

15

<p>What is your UW GPA? It can’t be 4.3</p>

<p>Have you look at Babson, Bently and Bryant?</p>

16

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</p>

<p>I’m confused as to what you’re saying here. Did your mom tell you she will pay for all the costs of any college you choose to go to?</p>

17

<p>My mom says she will be able to pay all costs, but that financial aid is preferable. However, she doesn’t think I will be able to get any. About some of the other schools, I have looked into Babson and Lehigh, although I would rather go to Rutgers (since it’s cheaper). My school apparently does not calculate unweighted GPA, but I’m guessing it’s probably around a 3.7, or 3.6 something at the lowest. I know it seems kinda low, but my school apparently has a really difficult curriculum and is top-ranked in the area, and I have taken the most challenging workload possible. Again, I don’t know how much high school reputation counts to admissions officers.</p>

18

<p>You have competitive stats for all the colleges on your list, including Columbia. I’m not convinced that OOS publics are particularly good values, and I recommend that you drop them. There is no harm in “over reaching”. In practice all the high reach universities on your list are high reach for almost all applicants. That doesn’t mean that all of them fail to get in. Add two safeties to your list – your State’s flagship and one of your State’s just-below-the-flagship university.</p>

<p>Think through the universities on your list. Are there 2 or 3 that you prefer to all the others. You’ve marked 3 with ED?. These are all great choices., and somewhat close in likelihood of acceptance – Penn probably the hardest. Applying ED can double your chances of acceptance. Perhaps one of these universities truly stands out for you. They are sufficiently different in terms of ambiance/feel so this may be the criteria to apply in deciding on ED. If you decide not to ED Georgetown has EA. At least apply there early. Good luck.</p>

19

<p>For schools with highly sought after Business programs, like Cornell (AEM ~8% acceptance rate) you have to show a strong commitment and interest in business through EC’s which I just don’t see here. You might want to apply as a IR major and then add business later on because you don’t claim two majors on any applications. Just a thought to get you into a better school (IR ~16% acceptance rate at Cornell)</p>

<p>I applied ED AEM this past year. I was rejected initially. Here are my stats if you would like to compare:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not Send
ACT: 32 (E28, M33, R31, S35)
SAT II: Math 1: 750 Math 2: 700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/538
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human (4), World (2), Bio (1), English Lang (3), Macro (2), Env Science (4), US Hist (2), Statistics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP English Literature, AP Psychology, AP US Gov, Teacher Assistant 1, Administrative Office Tech, AP Calc AB, Student Government
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Anne Frank Humanitarian Award, AP Scholar</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government (Student Body President, Student Body Treasurer), Class Council (Vice-President, Treasurer), Relay for Life Club (Founder/President), National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Varsity Soccer, Varsity Tennis
Job/Work Experience: Walgreens, Mathnasium (Math Tutor)
Volunteer/Community service: RCMA(250+ Hours)- Helping improve the lives and education of migrant workers and their families. Barefoot Hope(20 Hours)- Feeding the homeless of Tampa. Relay for Life(40 Hours)-Money to benefit the American Cancer Society.
Summer Activities: Worked at Walgreens, took MAC 1105 at local community college, as well as a honors virtual school class.
Essays: CA- Student Body President changed by outlook on leadership and success. CALS- Working with migrant children of RCMA inspired my future. Very Strong Essays
Teacher Recommendation: Very close teacher, excellent recommendation.
Counselor Rec: Very good
Additional Rec: Past SGA Sponsor, best letter I have ever had the privilege to read.
Interview: Over 2 hours, still in touch today. Best interview of my life.
Other: In touch with recruiter</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Applied Economics and Management(AEM) through CALS
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large Public (2400 Students)
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Leadership, Community Service, Rank, Testing
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Giving back to community.
Weaknesses: Unweighted GPA, Major Selection (8% AR for AEM Major)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was rejected because of my major selection, AEM, because it has an acceptance rate of only 8%. Also my unweighted GPA drastically hurt my application.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Accepted- UF Honors, College of William and Mary, Fordham, FSU, USF. Waitlisted-UVa. Rejected- Cornell, UPenn, Dartmouth
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: Community Service- Working with migrant workers.</p>

20

<p>Thanks a lot for the information. I’ve realized that fit may play a much more major factor than I thought in terms of Cornell AEM, and how selective it is in general. Regarding IR, I don’t think Cornell has a specific major for that. What would go along with that track? Perhaps Human Ecology Policy Analysis and Management, Area Studies, or something in IRL? And isn’t transferring in pretty hard? I’m pretty sure you can specify an alternate major, which I was planning to do (other than AEM).</p>