<p>Writing from Taiwan, I am a new member and glad to join your wonderful forum. </p>
<p>Princeton is on the very top of my daughter’s list for college (2007), but we know very little about American high school and undergraduate programs. Below are our concerns:</p>
<p>(1) Should we have a professional counselor in the US to help us for the application process?
(2) Is Princeton a friendly campus to foreign students (dormitory and social activities)?
(3) My daughter is interested in both physics and literature. How to choose a major for her? In Taiwan, we choose and (almost) stick to a major from the freshman year. </p>
<p>I can’t speak to whether you should hire a professional counselor-
but these websites should help.
Ill answer your questions backwards
In US while science majors often need to know from freshman year what they are going major in because of pre-reqs, other majors aren’t usually declared till junior year. Plenty of time to decide.
I haven’t been to Princeton, but most US universities are friendly places and have lots of activities on and off campus to meet others.</p>
<p>hpkao. Ni hao. I am not Taiwanese but have taken a few Mandarin classes:).</p>
<p>I am a Princeton alum and also the mother of a D now in her freshman year at Princeton. I believe she would say that Princeton is the most friendly campus possible if you control of course for academic rigor. Asian students are a visible presence on the campus and at least the Asian American kids are extremely integrated. </p>
<p>At Princeton you don’t have to choose a major until end of sophomore year. My D is currently torn between neuroscience, mol bio, and religion. Go figure. </p>
<p>As for the counselor issue, we didn’t do it, but it might not be a bad idea. BTW, the people on this site offer a service. I have zero affiliation with them, but it might be worth looking into.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your valuable suggestions. Now I can pass good advices to my daughter instead of my own (vague) thought. I had graduate degrees from Purdue and Clemson. But I have very little knowledge about American high schools and undergraduate programs. </p>
<p>My daughter wants to apply more competitive colleges (including Princeton, 2007). She is deeply concerned if there is a good chance. The best I can do is to say something nice and save more $ for her tuition. She is a self-motivated (and happy) junior student of the most competitive high school in Taiwan. Her update record:
GPA = 3.9/4.0
AMC 12 = 110
SAT I = 2380/2400
SAT II Literature = 790/800, will take math/physics and AP soon.
Join various school activities
4 musical instruments
Love to read and write (mostly in English)</p>
<p>What else tests and qualifications does she need? Aiming at her ideal, we try to complete the puzzle game.</p>
<p>Thank you once again. This is really a warm and wonderful forum.</p>
<p>Competition for admission to Princeton and other highly selective schools is very tough and anyone’s chances of getting in are pretty low. She is right to be concerned about her chances. Not only can you save more $$ (not all colleges give financial aid to internationals), you can help her by coming up with a range of colleges for her to apply to (ones that aren’t as competitive as Princeton).</p>
<p>I am not a Princeton parent. My daughter chose a different school as her first choice, and is attending there now. She had her heart set on that school, yet we had to prepare for the possibility that she wouldn’t be accepted. When applying to U.S. schools, it is very important to apply to a list of schools, any of which would be a good choice, and not pin your hopes on any one school.</p>
<p>Your daughter might be perfectly happy at Princeton, but it is important to know that admissions at the most selective schools are not guaranteed, even with professional help. Thousands of highly qualified students are turned down every year. It’s okay to love one school above all the others, but it’s important to be willing to love another just as much. </p>
<p>In the U.S. students are usually allowed to choose their own majors, and depending on the school, are usually allowed some time to explore. College is a time when you can expose yourself to many ideas and subjects, so you can better make up your mind.</p>
<p>As parents, of course we would like to guarentee our childrens’ futures, but the best thing we can do to make that happen for college age children, is to trust them to make their own decisions.</p>
<p>hpkao, Your daughter has wonderful credentials, congratulations to you and to her. Having said that, as others have pointed out, schools like Princeton are extremely selective; they reject many students with wonderful credentials just because they have many more applicants than places. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out why and how, but the best strategy if an American education is your goal is to apply to several schools in a wider range of selectivity.</p>
<p>A four year education at Princeton and most other selective private colleges will cost about $US160,000, not including miscellaneous expense and airfare. So you could be looking at $US200,000, paid over four years. If this figure is impossible for you (as it is for many Americans as well) then you should be steering your daughter toward colleges that are generous with financial aid for internationals.</p>
<p>Also, some schools have more ethnic Chinese applicants than others so the competition is greater. Sometimes you have a better chance with a college that isn’t popular with Asians. You should also consider schools where Chinese are unrepresented minorities.</p>
<p>If you would give us more information on your financial position we could better give you suggestions.</p>
<p>I would recommend the counseling services of College Confidential. We also live in Asia (though we are Americans and Westerners) and found them very helpful even at a long distance.</p>
<p>“Aiming at her ideal, we try to complete the puzzle game.”</p>
<p>This is as good a description of the competitive college admissions experience as any I have read. When my son was looking at schools, we did the $89 stats evaluation provided by this site to make sure we weren’t way off base. I think that if I didn’t live in the US, however, that I would certainly consider more extensive professional services, such as the folks on the main CC site offer. </p>
<p>Even if you do go with professional help for your D, the more that you and she know about the various schools, the more a professional can help. Best wishes in your D’s great college adventure!</p>
<p>There is a Chinese saying “Parents’ hearts are the same in the whole world.” I couldn’t agree more and sincerely appreciate your valuable suggestions.</p>