<p>And Terrance Tate (no relation to Terrance Tao) teaches at Michigan. </p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Terry Tate Office Linebacker](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94)</p>
<p>Michigan’s math department kicks UCLA’s behind…literally!</p>
<p>Ok, so “Terrible” TT doesn’t teach math anywhere, but knowing the folks on this forum, so of you will probably Wiki it just the same.</p>
<p>Fiona, UT-Austin is liberal. The city is liberal, the faculty is liberal and the students range the spectrum, but on average, lean left of center.</p>
<p>You don’t want to have only one “lottery ticket admissions splurge”, especially if you can compete at that level (which it seems you can considering your freshman SAT and Calculus AB completion during sophomore year), because the selection looks at tiny characteristics or aspects of you; the college selects the exact people who they want for the class out of a pool of extremely qualified applicants. If you apply to multiple reaches, you increase the chance that one of the reaches likes the person you are and admits you. Although people like to say that applying to all the Ivy League colleges does not increase your chances of being accepted to one of them, that only holds true for extreme reach applicants. If you have the objective measures good enough to contend at that level, maximizing your opportunity by maximizing your reach applications (obviously, within reason) is the most intelligent course of action for you. If I were you, and received SAT scores above 2250 and three 750s for SAT IIs, I’d apply to Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Caltech, MIT, Harvey Mudd, and Olin, in addition to some of the other safety colleges listed.</p>
<p>Although Yale isn’t really reputed for math and science, I’d argue both are underrated; Yale has poured one billion dollars into them, and the rankings haven’t reflected this yet. It fits all your other criteria admirably, has the second most generous financial aid policies in the country (Harvard’s are slightly better, and Princeton’s are slightly worse), and the fact you would be applying as someone interested in math and science (and can clearly show your love for them) will help you a bit int he admissions process. It would be a good idea, because I think you have a fairly good shot at getting accepted (assuming SAT score improvement), and having any acceptance at that level is beneficial. I can discuss in further depth how the rest of the criteria are matched through a private message, if you wish me to. Just message me indicating you want the information, and I will be happy to respond to you.</p>
<p>Check out Rice University in Houston, TX.</p>
<p>Another Texas university, but one that excels at math and engineering and goes against the gun-toting flaming conservative Republican stereotype baggage of Texas - Harris County, where Rice is located, is Democratic and voted for Obama. Studies show that huge urban cities (such as Houston, Chicago, NYC etc) tend to be much more liberal; it’s the rural towns and farms that retain strong conservative values.</p>
<p>Houston is also the 4th biggest city in the country and 2nd in most Fortune 500 companies (behind NYC); moreover, it is widely acknowledged as energy capital of the world. A Rice degree is gold in Houston and with an engineering degree, lots of companies and firms will want you.</p>
<p>And a note to Austin - it’s about as liberal a city as you can get, trust me. It’s the most liberal city in Texas (Houston is second or third), and is very gay and hippie-friendly.</p>
<p>I would add Princeton for “strong and challenging academics in math, the sciences, and engineering”.</p>
<p>comments on some of the schools listed so far:</p>
<p>California Institute Of Technology: don’t apply to Caltech, not the kind of school you go to get any socialization or fun</p>
<p>Columbia University: good pick but I would put Harvey Mudd above Columbia for engineering</p>
<p>Cornell University: same feedback as Columbia</p>
<p>Northwestern University: pretty good school, however I would not consider it among your reach/likely schools since there are better schools than Northwestern that you could consider on your list.</p>
<p>Princeton University: excellent sciences/engineering programs, mostly an undergraduate school so that’s a plus. However, there is an “elitist” feel to the school so if you feel uncomfortable with that, the school might not be right for you</p>
<p>Rice University: add to the list if you want, very small school, great social life, challenging academics and Houston is a great city</p>
<p>Stanford University: add to the list if you want, great atmosphere and very good engineering program (2nd to MIT)</p>
<p>Swarthmore College: good engineering program, however it seems that the engineering department is very limited in the courses/majors you have but UPenn is nearby if you need to cross register.</p>
<p>University of California-Los Angeles: large classes, very competitive, however LA doesn’t have good public transportation at all so you may need a car.</p>
<p>University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor: large classes, large school, unless you’re in the honors program you won’t get as much individualized attention as at a smaller school like NMT but the reputation is excellent.</p>
<p>University of Texas-Austin: party school, not a place to go if you don’t like the alcohol/drug culture</p>
<p>University of Wisconsin-Madison: party school, not a place to go if you don’t like the alcohol/drug culture</p>
<p>Yale University: not known for its engineering program</p>
<p>Lots to say here :)</p>
<p>Re UCLA: I think it might be worth adding to my list. LA isn’t my favorite place, but it’s worth further examination nonetheless. I’m not exactly sure what mentioning Terrance Tao was meant to prove - how many classes would I probably have with him? One, if lucky?</p>
<p>Re Caltech: Not exactly known for happy students, but I know someone who is attending so I can find out more.</p>
<p>Re Cornell/Columbia: I’d consider Cornell (though it’s in the middle of nowhere). Columbia is out.</p>
<p>Re Texas: I might have been misunderstood. I am not looking for colleges that are specifically liberal or conservative - I am looking for somewhere that welcomes debate and doesn’t rigidly split down illogical party lines. Believe me, the only thing I hate more than a gun-toting conservative zealot is a stoned hippie. I’m not sure UT is such a good fit though, regardless of politics.</p>
<p>Re multiple reaches: I was misleading with my earlier comments. I don’t intend to apply to just one high reach. However, I am not going to apply to ten “top” schools unless I genuinely want to go to all ten. I have no interest in Yale or Princeton and therefore will not consider them. I think Stanford, MIT, Mudd, and Olin make a nice group for the moment. Also, I don’t necessarily buy the elite-school propaganda. Ultimately, I might be able to get a better education and find a better fit at “lower” schools. So, I don’t intend to apply to every Ivy or stress about getting into a “top” school unless said school actually seems to fit my needs well.</p>
<p>Re Rice: I’ll take a look at Rice. Thanks for the recommendation.</p>
<p>Here’s what I’ve got now:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon
Colorado School of Mines
Georgia Tech
Harvey Mudd
MIT
New Mexico Inst. Mining & Tech
Purdue
Stanford
University of British Columbia
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Michigan
Minnesota - TC
Northwestern
Olin
Pittsburgh
Toronto
Utah
Washington
Waterloo</p>
<p>I would replace Utah with Northeastern University, the co-op program at Northeastern is excellent at securing a good job in engineering (I know since 2 of my cousins have high paying jobs thanks to Northeastern’s co-op), seems like you might be interested in that since you also listed Waterloo</p>
<p>^ I really don’t think Northeastern has the same total-safety status as Utah. Nonetheless, it is interesting due to coop.</p>
<p>Speaking of Waterloo, do you know if it is respected here in the US? I obviously can’t depend on being able to stay in Canada for the rest of my life after graduation, and I would need a degree that is respectable here. All I know about Waterloo is that it is one of the world’s best colleges for math, that Microsoft hires more from there than almost anywhere else, and that it has the biggest coop program out there. Can anyone give more info that can’t just be read on their website?</p>
<p>I really can’t say anything about Waterloo’s reputation in the United States. However, you can go on their co-op website and see if there are any companies that students work with in the United States only since most students get job offers from their co-op companies</p>
<p>btw, I have a 3.1 unweighted GPA and was accepted to Northeastern engineering with a $14,000/year scholarship</p>
<p>If you don’t want there to be lots of partying then you better remove all the state schoos:</p>
<p>UC Berkley
Washington
Michigan
Minnesota
Purdue
UC Sandiego
Utah etc.</p>
<p>How big of deal is this for you?</p>
<p>I don’t think these schools are huge party schools, students in engineering and many other fields are very serious about their work at these schools. However schools like ASU, West Virginia are a different story…</p>
<p>^ It both is and isn’t a big deal. I’ve had a great time in high school even though I despise the majority of the people in the school simply because I spend the vast majority of my time with people I like. The stoners, partiers, etc. tend to segregate from the rest of us.</p>
<p>Here’s my requirement: there must be on-campus housing where it is possible to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, observe normal standards of hygiene, and hang out with people without being drunk or stoned. I don’t care if most of the school parties provided that I can hang out with intelligent people who don’t and live in an academic dorm.</p>
<p>The schools I think that would not fit your drinking/partying criteria that are also good for engineering are:</p>
<p>University Of Florida
Penn State
University Of Texas
UC-Santa Barbara
University Of Iowa
University Of Colorado
University Of Illinois
Arizona State
University Of Tennessee
University Of Wisconsin
Lehigh University</p>
<p>a way that I used to figure out if most of the school parties, drinks or not is to go to the Facebook “____ Class Of 2013” page and skim through what people put down for their roommate surveys (whether they drink, smoke, party etc…)</p>
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<p>There is probably no better place in the US to study Math than Princeton. Caltech and Berkeley would be good options too. Stay away from LACs though; they may have excellent teachers, but won’t offer the depth in upper-level Math coursework that you are probably looking for.</p>
<p>plus the OP is considering engineering so unless the LAC is Swarthmore or HMC, it probably wouldn’t be a good fit for the OP.</p>
<p>How much money is your family actually making? Top schools like Yale or Princeton might be more affordable for you than lower schools, if you are in the 100-180k range. Most will expect you to pay most of the money, while Yale or Princeton will have an expected contribution of 15000-35000 (depending on the income and you family’s assets). Don’t just ignore them because you think they are elite schools and unnecessary. If they are cheaper, they may make sense over a lower ranked school for that reason alone.</p>
<p>haha engineering. As a Penn State student myself I can tell you there are ALOT of kids doing engineering. almost too many for me. Not that I have anything against them its just that I’m a Finance major and ppl @ penn state aren’t all about raking in the $$. which is a bummer lol.</p>
<p>but yea do engineering at Penn State and u cant go wrong.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I know. But something about Princeton really rubbed me the wrong way - the whole “eating club” thing really creates a pretentious and (to me) kind of creepy atmosphere.</p>
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<p>My mom is a doctor and my dad is a professor (with some consulting on the side), so it’s a solid income. We also have good savings thanks to full benefits for grandparents who served in the military or NASA. I’d have to check the numbers for last year to give you an accurate estimate. Price is obviously something I need to consider, but I have a good assortment of bargains as well as pricey schools (NM Tech is certainly a winner in this regard :P)</p>
<p>@BMWdude335: Schreyer Honors College is very interesting, but otherwise I don’t see too much about Penn State that interests me.</p>