I’m from a remote small town, population 7,000, in a western state (not CA) and want very much to attend a large, diverse university (6000+ undergrads) in a big city.
My stats:
Public high school with approx 800 students
3.8 UW GPA
3.98 W GPA (using UC method with just soph/jr grades)
Will graduate with 2 dual classes, 5 AP’s, 1 independent study class
Top 20% of class
Male, Caucasian/Asian
Will not need financial aid
Extracurricular: Track 3 yrs, Cross country 3 yrs, Alpine skier 4 yrs, International visitor host 1 yr (I’d planned to do 4 yrs for all of these but Covid prevented)
Volunteer: Wildlife rescue volunteer 4 yrs over 100+ hours
Work: Construction 2 yrs (mainly during summers), Film editing (did very simple editing work for a film company, summer 2020)
Hope to major in Asian studies with focus on Japan.
I’d really appreciate any suggestions for universities that match my stats and interest for a major. Some reaches and some safeties would be nice.
Thanks!
Why not give your state. That will be your best choice. For merit aid see the Arizona schools and Utah. But you don’t give enough info. Do you want sports. Is there a certain city type you like ? You can go to anywhere from a Georgetown to Emory to BU to Pitt to UW to Ohio State. Denver is very good for international studies as is Charleston
So give us more info. Geographical preference. Big sports or not ? Weather ? What’s important to you.
Good luck
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Do you hope to continue with Alpine skiing? Are you recruitable at any level?
Possibilities for matches:
umn twin cities honors
Fordham
Safeties
Loyola Chicago
Georgia State
Suny Albany Honors
UHouston Honors
Reaches
Rice
Emory
NYU
BU
UPenn
GTech
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Doesn’t University of Washington/Seattle have a well-developed program of Japanese/Japanese studies?
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I am from Wyoming and I do not want to stay instate. I’d also like to go anywhere that is NOT like where I am now. Small town, rural, mountain west area. I am not interested in skiing or participating in any sports but will keep running for fun. I don’t care about the type of weather. I mostly want to go far away and to a big city where a lot of interesting things to do and see. I want a lot of diversity but I think I could find that at any big city. I think a school with big sports teams would be fun but it’s not necessary. I am not interested in Greek life or a party school. I guess I’d like a university where I could walk off campus and be able to wander around a big city without having to have a car and drive to it.
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I would look at Northeastern. Boston is a fantastic city for college students. Northeastern has a great Asian Studies major with a lot of offerings to suit your desire to focus on Japan.
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Do you have any skills in Japanese or any other Asian language? If not, are you hoping to learn a foreign language?
I think Boston would be terrific for you. Boston University really has the city as it’s campus. Northeastern would be another to consider.
What about some of the colleges in the DC area. If you demonstrate interest, American would be a good choice. George Washington would be good too but is VERY expensive per year.
What about one of the colleges in Philadelphia?
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USC
University of Washington
UC Irvine
University of San Francisco
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Although it has only 3,000 undergraduate students, Wesleyan University in Connecticut offers East Asian Studies & film studies & has a business district nearby.
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Pitt! Super friendly city, so a great place to experience urban life. Excellent Asian library.
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I did about 100 hours of free youtube Japanese language classes on my own this past year because I had so much time at home. But I talked my HS into letting me take an independent study class for next year where I plan to do an accredited Japanese language course. I’m not sure what I can do with that major but I’d like to study abroad in Japan and maybe find work there some day.
A lot have given you great recommendations. Being from Wyoming may help you at some private schools as they like to get all 50 states.
People here have mentioned great ones…such as Pitt. In city you might add College of Charleston where you’d get merit aid, Hofstra which is a quick hop to NYC which will both be social but not huge sports. Non-greek are fine. San Diego State for big college rah rah.
Boston as folks have mentioned is a great college town. Perhaps being from Wyoming will help but BU, Tufts, are likely reaches. northeastern has just a Japanese minor The Boston schools are certainly worth taking a shot at.
Good luck.
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Even if it’s a bit too close to home, Utah will be an obvious safety with Asian studies and Japanese majors, in a big city and cheap to attend with WUE. It will be hard to get close to that price (<$30K per year) at most of the universities mentioned in this thread.
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Georgetown U, George Washington, American U
Boston U
Denver U
U Chicago
NYU, City College of NY
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I wouldn’t recommend any of the CUNYs (city college of nyc) for someone out out of state or even from Upstate, because they’re almost entirely commuter (98%+). There’s a dorm at City and Baruch but the way the colleges operate follows their mission, which is dedicated to residents of NYC. For instance, each college has one dedicated hour in the week where there’s no class so students can join a club, but the assumption is that the rest of the time students are either in class or working, plus transportation time. Most commute from home and work in their neighborhood or borough. Honors and Macaulay students have “social” (networking, professional and cultural) opportunities in addition to the basics.
I also wouldn’t come from Wyoming for Hofstra, which is a regional university in a not so great area for college students.
A bit different from your wishes but worth looking into: Macalester. It’s very small but it’s ideally located. Being in a city doesn’t mean being close to exciting things to do, it really depends on your location. Macalester has the advantage of being in a fantastic neighborhood for college students. You can walk to shops, restaurants, a movie theater, a park, hop on public transportation or bike and be downtown in a few minutes. That area is one my favorite urban areas. 
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What about the Ohio State University? It’s all of Columbus.
University of Wisconsin…is in Madison.
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor…terrific place but not an easy admit.
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Diversity may differ in different cities. For example, compare Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Portland.
Some cities also have highly segregated (by both race/ethnicity and SES) diversity.
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Thanks for the detailed info on Macalester. Your thoughts on the area are very helpful. I’m realizing that maybe a smaller university in a big city would be a great option too just because there will be so much to do and other people to meet, not just students. Most of the kids I’m graduating with were in my kindergarten class. They are great friends, but I just really want to meet new and different people.
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