3.4 1600 Chances at decent engin schools?

<p>Alright, i'm just trying to get some sort of picture of what directions to aim,
Academics: 3.4 weighted GPA, 3.1 UW, 3.5 UC weighted, SAT: 1600
currently taking Calc III, English AP, Bio AP, and CHEM 210 (organic chem)at University of Michigan, but just for HS credit. will likely get an A in Calc and Chem, and B in English and Bio.
i've taken AP USHistory, Compsci A, Calc BC, Physics AP mech C, and Chem AP, got 5s all.
EC: Chess Club, 4 years, president
Robotics club, 2 years, treasurer
Science Olympiad - co-Captain
Ocean Bowl - 2years
Worked at Stucci's Ice cream during some of last summer and this year.
Some volunteering, like around 100 hours when all put together.
Bengali (basically Indian) in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Pretty good recommendations.
Applied to:
University of Michigan Engineering, Michigan State University, Berkeley, UIUC.
may apply to: GATech, MIT(u never know? lol), Chicago</p>

<p>any other schools I should consider that I'd have a decent shot at? Any here i shouldn't really hope for? and does anybody know if Michigan State is a decent Safety, or should I aim lower?
i'm okay w/ just about any engineering, but would like electrical. or i'd like majoring in physics, if it were at a school that's good for physics. thanks.</p>

<p>Other schools you may want to look into:</p>

<p>Cornell
Northwestern
Princeton
Stanford
Wisconsin-Madison</p>

<p>I don't know from your high SAT and low GPA it looks like you aren't living up to your full potential...may be frowned upon by some universities.</p>

<p>Regarding bern700's comment: that could be true, but the personal essay can easily make up for such things. However, he could still have problems if he applied to a state school in a state he wasn't a resident of. For instance, the University of California has higher GPA requirements for nonresidents. Hope that helps!</p>

<p>(oh yeah, I was going to suggest my school for engineering [UCSD], but the UC application deadline's already passed. You can always apply for winter or spring quarter though.)</p>

<p>You might want to add Purdue and Case Western. Your essay is very important, as will be your semester grades this year!</p>

<p>by the way, does anybody know about Reed? specifically, am I the sort of student they might accept? I've started thinking that I should look at some smaller colleges, ones that'd be good for a physics major?</p>

<p>CalTech... maybe Havard? your SAT and Ecs are good, AP are excellent!</p>

<p>maybe chicago</p>

<p>maybe just build ur own university in your room.</p>

<p>I'd just like to thank ya'll for being so nice and smart and stuff. I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>funny thing is, i'm not all that lazy, i'm just ridiculously forgetful of anything practical, and most of my time is poured into trying to pull things out of disarray, where they fall back again.</p>

<p>i say that to ask this: do you know if it's at all redeeming if a teacher mentions that i'm a decently hard worker but forgetful? on one hand, it might indicate i'm not academically arrogant, but it might make them think 'so this is all that this guy can do? if he couldn't improve in college if he tried, so he's not worth it'. i'm not expecting anyone to know about something that obscure offhand, but i thought it might be worth a try? :-)
again, thanks a lot folks!</p>

<p>Good smaller schools for sciences:</p>

<p>Bates College
CalTech
Carleton College
Davidson College
Franklin and Marshall College
Goucher College
Grinnell College
Middlebury College
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Reed College
Rice University
Swarthmore College</p>

<p>qqa, you're my new friend... you're JUUUSST like me. :D</p>

<p>Don't aim too high, go for the middle</p>

<p>okay, so I got into illinois! it only took them a week after they got the last of my materials to make a decision. which is pretty dope. hopefully this is some use to other people in my situation.</p>

<p>oh, and what does 'bump' mean? is it just to 'bump' your thread to the top of the search results? because that's pretty funny if it's true.</p>

<p>lastly: what's my shot at chicago? i'd really like chicago because it's pretty good financial-aid wise and it's sounds like such an awesome school. Assuming I wrote good (not fantastic but better than average) essays and had a decent interview, how would they look at a student like me?</p>

<p>happy kwanzaa and boxing day! (I checked the calendar)</p>

<p>Chicago is an awesome school. You would have to major in Physics (they do not have engineering), but what a great academic institution. Your chances are cent, but your essays are going to have to be awesome. </p>

<p>Congratulations on UIUC, it is a good school. You can now rest at ease...with the bear necessaties!!! hehe</p>

<p>qqa -
congrats on your first admit! </p>

<p>Your Chicago essay is going to be crucial. If you can't put the time into it, look at some of the smaller schools on Alexandre's list. I like Reed, Oberlin and Grinnell for you. The other thing with smaller schools is if you get disorganized, someone may notice and nag you for that essay or experiment. An LAC might be a better place.</p>

<p>Hold on a sec. 3.1 UW GPA? That seemingly would kill your chances at Chicago but you do perfect SAT score... MIT though? No. Berkeley, no clue. I can't really say. It depends on how universities regard test scores. It depends on how they regard four years of hard work, too. </p>

<p>APs? Pretty good, pretty good. :)</p>

<p>Um, using forgetfulness as an excuse for anything is bad! BAD BAD! Silly, too.</p>

<p>In the end, write some kickass essays. Chicago and schools on par and a bit above are all tossups.</p>

<p>well your grades are low regardless, but a 3.0 at Greenhills is much better than a 3.0 at Huron or Pioneer. </p>

<p>Greenhills is really good at getting its kids into college; with a good essay you'll have a pretty good chance at Chicago from there.</p>

<p>it's true, a 3.0 at Greenhills does mean more college admissions-wise. However, I haven't found smart Greenhills kids to be any smarter than smart Huron kids. I'm from huron though.</p>

<p>MIT, i'm applying strictly because a friend of mine that went there wants me to apply. I'm applying to Cornell because my dad wants me to. At least I can say I tried. But yes, I certainly acknowledge that my chances at either are miniscule to none.</p>

<p>You guys have probably got my chances correct or optimistic, we'll find out soon. However, there's no mention of an UW GPA on my transcript, it only says 3.4. Unless those colleges recalculate my GPA, which I don't beleive is the case for MIT, Cornell, or Chicago, I'm thinking that's what they'd see, though I could be wrong. even If I am, I'd still like to ask:
hypothetically would a 3.4 really ruin my chances at Chicago? I know my chances aren't so hot, but does a 3.4 seriously weed you out?</p>

<p>whatz yer calss rank?</p>