Transcend Admissions 2012-2013 Client Application Results

We are now at the very end of another application season.  It has been another great year for Transcend Admissions and our clients.  Many of our clients displayed incredible commitment and determination during the application process.  The effort they put forth is definitely reflected in the great results listed below.  Thanks to all of our clients for their trust and our consultants for their hard work as well.  We are very happy to report that our clients achieved a 90+ percent interview success rate and a 80+ percent admission success rate again this year!

school name / program	number of clients admitted	scholarships
United States MBA
Dartmouth (Tuck)	1
Michigan (Ross)	5
Michigan (Ross) GMBA	1
Cornell (Johnson)	3
UCLA (Anderson)	1
Virginia (Darden)	1	1
Duke (Fuqua)	1
Duke Cross-Continent MBA	1
UT Austin (McCombs)	1
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	2	2
Georgetown (McDonough)	4	1
UNC (Kenan - Flagler)	1
Emory (Goizueta)	1
USC (Marshall)	1
USC 1-year MBA	1	1
Washington (Olin)	1
Indiana (Kelley)	2
Washington (Foster)	1
Boston University	2	1
Wisconsin	1	1
Rice (Jones)	1	1
UC Irvine	1	1
Illinois (UIUC)	1	1
Ohio State (Fisher)	1
Penn State (Smeal)	1	1
UC San Diego  (Rady)	1
George Washington	2	2
SMU (Cox)	1	1
Georgia (Terry)	1	1
Non-US MBA
INSEAD	2
Oxford (Said)	1
Cambridge	1	1
HEC Paris	2
IESE	1	1
ESADE	1	1
Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)	4
CEIBS	2	1
Chinese University of Hong Kong	2	1
National University of Singapore (NUS)	2	1
Hong Kong University	1
Cass Business School	1
GISMA/Purdue	1
TiasNimbas	1
Master in Supply Chain Management
MIT - Master in Supply Chain Management	1
Georgia Tech - MS in Supply Chain Engineering	1
Maryland (Smith) - MS in Business (Supply Chain Management)	1
Master in Management
HEC Paris - Master in Management (MIM)	2
Duke (Fuqua) - Master of Management Studies (MMS)	1
Rochester (Simon) - MS in Business Administration	1
Master in Technology Management
University of Illinois (UIUC) - Master in Technology Management  (MSTM)
NYU (Poly) - MS in Management of Technology
UT Austin (McCombs) - MS in Technology Commericialization
Warwick - MSc in International Technology Management	1
Master in Finance
Illinois (UIUC) - Master in Finance (MSF)	2
Maryland (Smith) - MS in Business (Finance)	1
George Washington - Master in Finance (MSF)	1
Washington (Olin) - MS in Computational Finance & Risk Management	1
Washington (Olin) & Singapore Mgmt University - MS in Global Finance (dual degree)	1
Master in Accounting
University of Illinois (UIUC) - Master of Accounting Science (MAS)	1
U. Washington - Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc)	1
Purdue (Krannart) - Masters of Science (Accounting)	1
Maryland (Smith) - MS in Business (Accounting)	1
Master in Marketing
Northwestern (Medill) - Master in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)	2
NYU - MS in Integrated Marketing	1
Master in Public Policy
USC (Price) MS in International Public Policy & Management	1
Master in Sport Management
U. Michigan - MS in Sport Management	1
UMass - MS in Sport Management	1
Master in Urban Planning & Environmental Studies
U. of Pennsylvania (Penn) - Master of Environmental Studies	1
UT Austin - MS in Community and Regional Planning	1
U. Michigan - Master in Urban Planning	1
U. Wisconsin - Master in Regional and Urban Planning	1
Master in Human Resources
NYU (SCPS) - Master in Business and Workplace Education	1
Master in Fashion & Design Management
London College of Fashion (LCF) - MSc in International Fashion Retail Program	1
London College of Fashion (LCF) - MSc in Design Management	1
Undergraduate
Duke University	1
PhD
NCCU (College of Law) Doctorial Program in International Business Law	1

The Most International US Universities

American undergraduate schools pride themselves on creating a diverse student body. This means they are seeking to admit more qualified international students, feeling that their international backgrounds lend unique perspectives and insights into the world which their native student body would otherwise miss out on.

If the percentage of international students in US schools is a concern for you (whether you want to go to school with more, or fewer international students yourself) you should be aware of what the most “international” schools in the United States are.

We’ve sourced the list below to help you with your research for the upcoming school application season.

US Schools with the Most International Students

School	International
New School  New York, NY	27%
Florida Institute of Technology  Melbourne, FL	26%
Illinois Institute of Technology  Chicago, IL	21%
Lynn University  Boca Raton, FL	18%
University of Tulsa  Tulsa, OK	18%
Carnegie Mellon University  Pittsburgh, PA	17%
University at Buffalo–​SUNY  Buffalo, NY	16%
Purdue University–​West Lafayette  West Lafayette, IN	15%
Northeastern University  Boston, MA	14%
University of San Francisco  San Francisco, CA	13%
Andrews University  Berrien Springs, MI	13%
University of Illinois–​Urbana-​Champaign  Champaign, IL	13%
California Institute of Technology  Pasadena, CA	12%
Brandeis University  Waltham, MA	12%
University of Southern California  Los Angeles, CA	12%
Boston University  Boston, MA	12%
Worcester Polytechnic Institute  Worcester, MA	11%
University of Rochester  Rochester, NY	11%
Columbia University  New York, NY	11%
University of Pennsylvania  Philadelphia, PA	11%
University of Miami  Coral Gables, FL	11%
Emory University  Atlanta, GA	11%
Harvard University  Cambridge, MA	11%
Polytechnic Institute of New York University  Brooklyn, NY	11%
Brown University  Providence, RI	11%

 - Source: Forbes

Notice that there is a broad mix of public and private schools, east and west coast, small and large, technical and liberal arts schools contained in this mix. Keep in mind to that as a Taiwan student applying for undergraduate programs in the US, you bring the distinct advantage of diversity to the table. You should definitely highlight your international background and insight into Taiwan & East Asian cultures – American admissions officials will view it as a decided advantage in your favor.

If you’d like some help thinking about how to draw out your story in the most compelling way for your application to colleges abroad (whether in the US, Europe, or anywhere else) – I am always happy to discuss tactics and strategy with potential applicants. Feel free to reach me anytime at david@transcendadmissions.com.

Focus on What is Important When Researching Your Target Schools

One of the biggest challenges for students applying to undergraduate and graduate schools these days is the overwhelming amount of information available about their target schools. The modern marvel of the Internet has made it easy for applicants to learn everything from student faculty ratios to a professor’s office hours and research, but sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked with all of that information and lose sight of what is truly important.

Once one’s parents get caught up in the application process, things can become even more complicated.

“School X doesn’t give any financial aid – we shouldn’t bother applying there.”

“School Y doesn’t have an active enough Model UN club – you should only apply to schools that are really active in the Model UN scene since you want to get into international relations in the future…”

If possible, try to focus on what matters to you. According to Compass College Advisory Center, it takes 300-plus hours for parents to help their child through the admissions process. A large part of that time is likely wasted on worrying about details which are not critical.

If you’re just starting the college selection process and are feeling overwhelmed, here are a few tips:

• Set up a weekly meeting with your parents to discuss college, or graduate school research. Don’t allow every dinner discussion to focus on grades, test scores and recent rumors you’ve heard about specific colleges.

• Visit a few schools in person to get the feel for which schools suit your personality and interests. When you and your family visit a school you’ll get a better sense about the environment, the student body, the balance between work and play, and even how the professors treat their students. These are all important factors, but can’t truly be experienced unless you take a visit to your target school.

• Keep a running list of notes on your favorite colleges – the pros and cons – in a shared folder in Dropbox. This will let your parents see which schools you are researching and what you like about them from wherever they are.

• Do your best to determine which colleges are reach, target and safety schools and focus your visits on the reach and target schools first. Prioritize everything accordingly.

• Take a deep breath. You will survive. Your parents will survive. You will get into a school that suits you, make it through the entire application process without killing each other, and be able to look back on the entire application process and laugh in just a few short months.

Keep your personal limitations in mind when you are applying for schools. Especially if you are still taking classes, are working full or part-time – sometimes it can be very easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work you have to do to make your application as perfect as possible.

And of course, if you’d like help thinking through your application strategy and talking through your priorities – you can always reach me at david@transcendadmissions.com.

A+ Universities for B Students

What do you do if you want to go to college in the United States, but your grades and test scores aren’t 100% perfect? What happens if you aren’t the best standardized test taker in the world, or you were feeling sick the day you had to take your SAT & TOEFL tests and your scores suffered as a result?

We’ve sourced a list of 25 A+ Schools for B Students here from Forbes for your reference. These schools all provide outstanding value for their price, are all highly reputable and prestigious US schools, and require their applicants to be well rounded.

Each of the names of these schools is linked to a profile on the school itself, and the list includes acceptance rates and the range of SAT / ACT scores the schools typically admit.

U.S. News rank	School	Selectivity	Fall 2011 acceptance rate	SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile
#54	Pepperdine University  Malibu, CA	more selective	31.6%	1100-1330
#58	Fordham University  New York, NY	more selective	42.4%	1150-1340
#58	Syracuse University  Syracuse, NY	more selective	49.4%	1050-1270
#65	Purdue University–​West Lafayette  West Lafayette, IN	more selective	68.3%	1040-1300
#68	Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–​New Brunswick  Piscataway, NJ	more selective	61.1%	1080-1310
#72	Michigan State University  East Lansing, MI	more selective	72.9%	23-28
#72	University of Iowa  Iowa City, IA	more selective	79.8%	23-28
#75	University of Delaware  Newark, DE	more selective	58.2%	1100-1300
#77	Baylor University  Waco, TX	more selective	39.7%	24-29
#77	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry  Syracuse, NY	more selective	46.8%	1100-1270
#77	University of Alabama  Tuscaloosa, AL	more selective	43.5%	22-29
#83	Clark University  Worcester, MA	more selective	67.9%	1080-1310 2
#83	Drexel University  Philadelphia, PA	more selective	57.5%	1100-1310
#83	Indiana University–​Bloomington  Bloomington, IN	more selective	72.3%	1050-1280
#83	Marquette University  Milwaukee, WI	more selective	56.8%	24-29
#89	Auburn University  Auburn University, AL	more selective	70.0%	24-30
#89	Miami University–​Oxford  Oxford, OH	more selective	74.1%	24-29
#92	St. Louis University  St. Louis, MO	more selective	61.3%	25-30
#92	Stony Brook University–​SUNY Stony Brook, NY	more selective	39.2%	1130-1330
#92	Texas Christian University  Fort Worth, TX	more selective	37.7%	24-29
#92	University of Vermont  Burlington, VT	more selective	75.4%	1090-1280
#97	Florida State University  Tallahassee, FL	more selective	58.5%	25-28
#97	University of Colorado–​Boulder  Boulder, CO	more selective	86.9%	24-28
#97	University of Massachusetts–​Amherst  Amherst, MA	more selective	65.6%	1090-1280
#97	University of Missouri  Columbia, MO	more selective	82.3%	23-28

- Source: Forbes

If you have struggled in the past with standardized tests and are looking for some “match schools” to which you can apply, you should take a closer look into some of these universities -- especially if you haven’t heard of them before.

Although many of the most famous private schools in the United States have a longstanding reputation for excellence, the price tag of higher education has risen so much that many schools traditionally considered second or third tier are now being viewed as equal to the historically most prestigious universities in America. When selecting which schools to apply to, it is important to strike a balance between cost, quality, future prospects for employment, and other intangible factors.

If you would like any help talking through the pros and cons of the undergraduate schools listed here, or making the decision about which schools are right to apply to, feel free to reach me at david@transcendadmissions.com.