Is this a bad college list?

College Search & Selection
#1

Background and stats
-US Citizen studying outside the USA,British A Level Curriculum
-We have no GPA but I have straight A’s so near perfect I think

  • Highest marks in the country in Maths and Environmental Management in O Level exams
    -1520 SAT(760 each)
    -Intended area of study: Chemistry or Biochemistry
    -ECAs:
    1)Won prizes at regional or national level in about every major science/math Olympiad
    2)Leadership positions at my Science Club and Community service Club(also founding member of latter)
    3)Avid graphics designer,won poster design competitions and stuff
  1. School prefect(kinda like a student discipline manager
  2. School Magazine writer
    6)Volunteered in coronavirus ward
    7)Started an educational blog recently

FAMILY INCOME- AROUND $85-90K

Now,my list(7-2-2):
REACH-Harvard,Princeton,MIT,Brown,Dartmouth,Cornell,Rice
MATCH-Boston Uni, Georgia Tech,
SAFETY-UT Austin,Uni of Houston
(DAD LIVES IN HOUSTON BTW)

APPLYING EARLY TO-Harvard,Georgia tech,Uni of Houston

So is this a bad college list? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Don’t hesitate to be critical!!!

#2

BU and GT are reaches. BU has a 22% acceptance rate and GT has to take most of their applicants from GA so it’s much more competitive for OOS applicants.

This is an extremely reach heavy list.

Houston would be a safety.

Hopefully someone from TX can chime in about UT Austin and how they would handle an US citizen that studied abroad but who has a parent with state residency. UT auto admits the top 6% of students graduating from TX high schools. 90% of the class must be filled by TX residents. I’m not sure how they would look at your application. I’ll page @MaineLonghorn for her input.

#3

@momofsenior1 Thank you so much for your help!

#4

Is Houston affordable?

#5

@blossom Should be.My dad who lives in Houston suggested it.Plus my brother goes there.

#6

If you would like to enroll in a highly selective college, I recommend you consider adding a few schools from the ~25–50 range: https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/40090323.

#7

You’re able to apply to any. The question is which you match best at. Not what you want, but what they look for.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you’ve barely started looking at individual colleges. You need to do that leg work. Be informed, refine your ideas and be rational about how competitive your own academic and EC background is.

Can’t apply any strategy if you’re looking at them as simply a bunch of top colleges and you’ll shotgun.

This is more than stats and some titles and awards.

#8

Have you researched them and and you’re convinced they have strong Chem/Biochem offerings? It’s not an area I’ve overly familiar with, but at least a couple of them strike me as “name brand” schools that aren’t a great fit for the majors.

Not that ratings are everything, but some sample data points - Brown is #92 on USNews’ list of Global Universities for Chemistry, 30th in the US. QS has them in the 201-250 bucket.

Unless I missed it, I gave up looking for Dartmouth at #500 at USN and found them in the 451-500 bucket at QS.

I’d also certainly add another safety or two.

#9

Background and stats
-US Citizen studying outside the USA,British A Level Curriculum
-We have no GPA but I have straight A’s so near perfect I think

  • Highest marks in the country in Maths and Environmental Management in O Level exams
    -1520 SAT(760 each)
    -Intended MAJOR: Chemistry,Biochemistry or similar
    -ECAs:
    1)Won prizes at regional or national level in about every major science/math Olympiad
    2)Leadership positions at my Science Club and Community service Club(also founding member of latter)
    3)Avid graphics designer,won poster design competitions and stuff
  1. School prefect(kinda like a student discipline manager
  2. School Magazine writer
    6)Volunteered in coronavirus ward
    7)Started an educational blog recently

Expected family contri: <$10000
No preference on size or urban/rural.

So,which Ivies(or similar) could I strive for,realistically?
And if I’m not meant for any Ivies, please feel free to say so.

#10

Your list is very reach heavy. Both of your matches are really reaches IMO – BU is a financial reach and GA Tech is an academic reach. I’d call UT-Austin a high match at best (assuming affordability) not a safety.

In terms of your question about the Ivies – do your research and figure out which schools appeal to you. You already have five on your list – if anything I’d cut that number down. Keep in mind that the Ivy League is a sports conference and each school is different. A student who likes the academic freedom of Brown likely would not enjoy Columbia’s core curriculum. A student who loves the urban feel of Penn likely would not be happy in the more rural setting of Dartmouth.

#11

UT Austin is not a safety - you need to attend Texas high school and be in the top 6%. Since you did not attend a Texas high school and are not now a Texas resident, UT Austin is a reach for you, like it is for all OOS applicants.

So no matches, one safety, and seven very high reaches.

You, do answer your question - this is very definitely not a good colleges list.

You are a strong applicant, but you should be looking for colleges which fit you. Make a list of colleges which fit you, and them cull them down.

#12

Budget is under 10K- you need to find out whether any of the schools on your list (through merit and need) are going to come in below that level. And just because your dad and brother suggested Houston does NOT mean it’s going to be affordable. You need to do the legwork to figure out how much it costs and whether it will be within range. Living with your dad a possibility?

I would be surprised if BU was affordable btw…and I think you are putting the cart before the horse by worrying about “can I get in” before figuring out “can we afford it”.

#13

If you are interested in Chem/Biochem, it’s strange that many of the schools you listed are not top contenders in those fields. Have you considered UCB, one of the tops for Chem. If your family income is around 85-90k, and you have a sibling in college (even if it’s full-ride), it’s going to be tough financially, esp for someone applying for abroad. I think diff schools have diff ways to categorizing in-state, or US applicants vs int’l applicants, so you may want to research that.

#14

Note that the OP will be pursuing an undergraduate education, and that the top chemistry/CHNOPS programs for this interest may differ in their attributes from those of schools mentioned in this thread for their prominent graduate departments in these fields.

#15

@nomorecoll96: OP’s budget is 10K and UCB will be $65K/year to attend with little to no FA for OOS/abroad applicants. Not an affordable option.

#16

First of all, I think you are a competitive applicant for your reaches, but be aware that most of those competitive students still get rejected. Among your reaches, I think that Rice is your best shot if you are willing to do ED and if it is affordable for you.

I would like to get more information about your math awards, which is an area I understand well. In the US, most of the USAMO award winners I know received admission to at least one HYPSM. If you would like you can send me a PM rather than publicly discussing it.

I will be the contrarian and say that BU is not an academic reach but rather a low match, and I have about 500 data points on our school’s scattergram to back me up. For students with an SAT above 1500 and a GPA that places them in the top quarter of our high school (highly regarded public), the admit rate is roughly 80%.

The affordability issue at BU is a much bigger deal, but there is also a decent chance you could get a merit scholarship there. Whether that will be enough to make it affordable is still to be determined.

If you are interested in pursuing math, another college for you to consider is NYU, which has the world class Courant Institute.

Also, are Cambridge and Oxford a possibility for you?

#17

hebegebe- I have no doubt that BU will admit this kid. I don’t know enough about the family’s finances to know if it will be affordable- but for sure it’s not a slam dunk. BU gaps like crazy and merit could be 10-20K leaving an enormous hole.

So cart before the horse here. NYU- same scenario, my friend. This is a kid who needs auto-merit-- and big time.

#18

@blossom

I hadn’t read the family contribution limit of $10k when I suggested NYU. They give out a decent number of half tuition scholarships, but that will probably still leave leave a big gap.

I recommend you consider adding Texas A&M as an alternative to UT-Austin with a higher admit rate. Also UT-Dallas as a safety that likely results in merit scholarships.

#19

I agree with an earlier poster that UT-Austin might be in the “reach” category if you are classed as an OOS student (which is, not of course, to say that you wouldn’t get in, since you do have a strong resume).

If you are STEM-oriented and would consider UT and UH, you might want to add A&M, which is less reach-y than UT and more selective than UH.

Rice sounds like it would be a great fit for you. Consider applying there ED, unless you are dead set on trying to go Ivy.

#20

However, it may be that your high school has a really good connection to BU. I no longer have access to Naviance, but looking at Niche’s scattergram (a lot less reliable, but it’s what I have), the rejections in that GPA/SAT range do look to be sparser than the acceptances. So perhaps the OP could move it into the “high match” category. Without a school-specific Naviance data set, I would still hesitate to have it in any high admission rate category.

Still, as others have said, BU is still a high reach financially - the OP would need a serious scholarship to attend.

Thanks for subscribing! Be on the lookout for our next newsletter.

© 2021 College Confidential / Concentrical LLC. All Rights Reserved.