Chance-me: NC resident, Georgia Tech, Rice, UIUC, Purdue, NC State, UNC for Engineering [3.8/1580/35]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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North Carolina Resident (US Citizen)
Rising Senior in private school
Male/Asian
Georgia Tech Legacy

Intended major: Computer Engineering/ Industrial Engineering / Operation research / Applied Math

GPA: our school does not do GPA nor ranking. My unweighted GPA is 3.83, weighted 4.13. Our school does not allow AP level courses until 11th grade. We can only take 4 AP level course in junior year and 5 in senior year. Got B- in History in the first semester of 9th grade due to lost a close extended family member and not be able to go back to school with others for 4 weeks. B+ in history for the 2nd semester, and B+ in Spanish in 9th grade, Spanish B+ in 10th grade.

ACT:35
SAT: 1580

AP Calculus AB -5
AP Calculus BC -5
AP Physics C -5
AP CSA -5
AP microeconomics - 5
AP macroeconomics - 4
AP Chinese - 5

Awards:
AIME qualifier
Eagle Scouts
couple of regional robotics and science Olympiad award

Extracurriculars:

Team leader for School tech club for 3 years
Team captain for robotics team for 1 year
Team leader for school math club for 2 years
Reseach with professors in 3 local universities, one IEEE conference publication
Had a small group to volunteer for local community for 8 years.
volunteering at a computer donation center for 2 years
Volunteering at Schoolhouse.world for SAT tutoring

My initial thought on schools:

ED: Rice (not sure should go with CE or operation research)
ED2: Washington University at St. Louis
EA: UNC, NC State, Georgia Tech, Purdue, UIUC, UMich,
RD: RPI, UW Madison

Need advice on my chance of getting into those schools, especially Rice, UWash, Georgia Tech, UIUC and Purdue.

Thank you!

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Congratulations on your achievements. I can’t chance you but you will be a competitive candidate at all your schools.

You are fortunate to live in NC, with great public school options. Does your HS use Naviance or Scoir, and if so, I defer to that in terms of categorizing your schools/probability of acceptance.

Do you have any cost constraints?

Run the NPCs at all the schools on your list to get cost estimates.

Lastly, make the EA round at both RPI and U Wisc, rather than RD.

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For Purdue, you should take a look at its Data Digest, here: https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/ . If you click on the links for “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile” you can input data that is particular for you and see admissions data that is more relevant to you. This may help in advising your application decisions and expectations.

Generally, you might want to take a look at the Common Data Sets for the respective schools that you are considering, and specifically Sections C7 (which tells how the school weighs academic and non-academic admissions factors) and Sections C9-C11 (which provide objective data on matriculating students, which in turn can allow a rough estimate of how you compare to recently enrolled students). Some schools – such as Georgia Tech – weigh GPA more than standardized test scores; and the OOS kids I have known who recently got in to Georgia Tech were either valedictorian or salutatorian of their respective high school classes. (I’m not saying that you wouldn’t get into Georgia Tech if you’re not a valedictorian or salutatorian, but it is a marker of the level of competition among OOS applicants.)

Also, FYI, I think that Michigan recalculates GPA for all applicants – a B+ is a 3.0, an A- is a 4.0, etc.; so the GPA given to you by your high school likely will not be the GPA that Michigan considers for admissions purposes.

I think that, as an in-state applicant, you would have a pretty decent chance for NCSU.

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I think you need to first figure out the major you really want since computer engineering is a whole different admissions game relative to Industrial Engineering etc.

That said you should have a good shot at the schools listed except may be GT where your GPA is lowish and you are OOS.

Also, are you sure about paying 70k+ per year for UMich?

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Thank you! GT ranked #1 on Industrial Engineering - does that mean it is hard to get in as well?

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that is very informative! Do you know where I can find the admission rate per major?

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Thank you! Is EA has higher chance than RD?

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Generally, plus some majors fill up in the EA round.

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looks very strong for Rice. Your stats is everywhere a bit stronger than one of my former student (Texas private school) who’s starting at Rice this coming Sunday, and almost the same as another student (Texas public school). Rice prioritizes demonstrated interest. You don’t have to visit the campus but definitely attend their virtual sessions. If you know anyone attending Rice, talk to them, ask about their campus life, and include your reflection in your essays. If you prefer working independently to maximize your growth, Rice may not be a good fit; if you value collaboration and growing in a team, you’ll like it there.
changing major at Rice is not complicated, nor is adding a second major, so it’s ok if you can’t decide yet.

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see if this works for the GT acceptances/enrollment by college https://irp.gatech.edu/files/FactBook/Factbook_2022_FINAL.pdf

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Thank you! I visited Rice last summer already and really like the campus. that is why I want to ED it since I really want to go there. But I was not sure about my chance…

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Thank you! I will take a look for sure!

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This data is awesome! Do we have the similar data for each school?

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Each school meaning each department?

Btw, one of my s’s was a mech E at Rice. He loved it!

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You have to log in to see information on the department level; so I presume that you need to set up an account. I don’t know how that would work.

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In general, when non-binding EA is possible (i.e. offered at the college and not prevented by REA-type restrictions), apply EA. Some colleges fill up or fill up their popular majors early, so they become more selective in RD.

The same applies to rolling admission colleges. Apply early when the next frosh class or popular majors are still mostly empty.

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Also, apply early to a safety school, and get that admission under your belt – knowing that there is some place that wants you is a load off the mind.

I didn’t notice any safety schools listed in the OP’s college list. Perhaps the OP should think about one or two safety schools, where admission is all but guaranteed. (None of the schools on the OP’s list should be considered as safety schools.)

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Also, and FWIW, under Section C7 of the Common Data Set, Georgia Tech does not consider “alumni/ae relation” as an admissions factor, notwithstanding that you are a “Georgia Tech legacy.”

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Why ISyE at GT? It’s a great program but not CS although you’ll take plenty of CS classes.

I think OOS acceptance was around 13% last cycle. Also, GT doesn’t really admit by major. They admit students who could succeed in any major.

S20 is a senior ISyE.

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Kudos on your impressive record.

My son’s SAT was a tick lower than yours, he had comparable APs, but his GPA was a bit higher, and he was accepted by Purdue for MechE. I don’t know if CompE is as ultra competitive as CompSci, so the bar might be higher for you. If Purdue is one of your finalists, confirm that they are back to honoring their GPA hurdle for desired engineering major policy. We have a friend who is a UofM Eng grad who hires engineers out of Purdue and refuses to interview UoM students because the program is long on theory, but short on practical application. This is a sample of one, but something to consider.

What is your safety - NC State?