<p>With average financial aid factored in, must cost less than 35k. </p>
<p>Size: </p>
<p>I'd prefer to have a school on the smaller size, my preference would be for a school under 5,000 people, but that's not a big priority for me. </p>
<p>Small class sizes are very important, though. </p>
<p>Labs and Facilities: </p>
<p>Cutting edge labs and modern facilities, especially in electrical engineering are a must. Also biomedical engineering facilities and research programs would be a definite plus. </p>
<p>Academic Atmosphere: </p>
<p>This is one of the most important things to me. I want a school where kids aren't there to party and the emphasis is on schoolwork. I don't have a rich and full life, I've had times where I've literally spent an entire day only stopping my studying to eat and sleep. And while I can't see myself doing that everyday, I definitely want to go to a school with tons and tons of coursework, and a student body that is really enthusiastic about the work. </p>
<p>Admissions: </p>
<p>My GPA is a 3.6 (unweighted), I have a 2130 on my SAT (720 CR, 710 M). I have taken one AP class and 2 AP tests that had nothing to do with the class. I got a 5 on both AP tests (Computer Science A, World History). I will have taken 4 classes at the community college and will have a 4.0 GPA. At my high school I'm right at the top 20% of my class. </p>
<p>So I'm looking for a school that isn't extremely selective (like MIT), but rather is a level below that.</p>
<p>It sounds like Carnegie Mellon would be a perfect fit for you. (The number of students is slightly above 5,00 though.) They have one of the top ECE majors in the country - arguably stronger than MIT - and they are easier to get into. Keep in mind that if you apply for ECE, you must state that on your application (and not just the School of Engineering), as it's a more selective process to get into ECE than the school itself. </p>
<p>It's definitely a work-hard kind of place. It's not for everyone, but for students who are serious about what they are learning.</p>
<p>In looking at your SAT scores, your math score is a little low for the average Math SAT score for Carnegie Mellon engineering. You might want to re-take your SATs if you want to pursue engineering.</p>
<p>Rice is another option, but it's significantly more social.</p>
<p>Cost is a tough one for us to consider without more information. For instance, will you qualify for need based aid? Are you willing to take out loans? Are you looking for Merit Aid? (Hint - Carnegie won't give you any merit aid.)</p>
<p>You should probably look at any of the engineering schools with good reputations. All I list here are quite generous with merit money.</p>
<p>Worcester Polytech
Rose Hulman
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytech</p>
<p>If you are a hard worker, you will not feel like the "odd man out" at any of the engineering schools.</p>
<p>Good points, weenie. I didn't focus on cost since there is no way to know the OP's financial situation to know what he would receive through financial aid. Carnegie Mellon is expensive. While they do give out some merit aid, it's only to a few select individuals. Rice's merit aid is much more extensive, but your SAT scores are on the low side, so you shouldn't count on any merit aid there. The tuition at Rice is $28,000 compared to $36,900 for CMU, though.</p>
<p>My financial situation is such that I could afford to actually pay 30k a year, at an absolute maximum. </p>
<p>I plan to retake the SATs again, and I don't want to speak ahead of myself, but I think I could do better. </p>
<p>What about Cooper Union, Webb, or Franklin Olin? I've looked a lot at them because they're "free", and I seem to be academically in their ranges (well, maybe not Olin). </p>
<p>I'm already looking a lot at Carnegie Mellon, RIT, RPI, and I just started looking at Rose Hulman. Thanks for the suggestions!</p>
<p>I think Olin is just too hard to get into. I don't know anything about Webb. We were sort of put off by the numerous bad reviews on Cooper Union - we read (often) about everything from no campus, unhappy students, to worn out facilities, but we never visited so I don't know.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that even at some larger schools, the engineering departments felt very intimate. I thought U Pittsburgh felt very nice, as did Northeastern.</p>
<p>If I nail my SATs when I retake them, and get near perfect on the SAT 2s (I'm a pretty good math student, so I'm not ruling it out), would I have a shot at Olin or MIT. </p>
<p>I've been reading a lot about Olin, and it seems to meet every criteria I have for a college. </p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon would be nice, but its flat out too expensive.</p>
<p>-Boy Scout for all 4 years, but not Eagle, some low-level leadership though
-Vice-President of Chess club Sophomore year
-Vice-President of Computer Club Junior/Senior Years
-Author of Computer Club Constitution
-Football freshman year (I was really bad though)
-I've talked a little with my school's IT about having some of my mathematics computer programs (graphing, integral calculator) posted on the school website
-I'm a really passionate programmer, and I've written tons of programs. In addition to that, I wrote an 800 page (12 point font, but that includes pictures and each page is only 550 by 400) tutorial on programming: </p>
<p>I really doubt that means anything to colleges, but perhaps if I could convert it to PDF and at least put it on my school's website, it would count for something... </p>
<p>I've never made a full-fledged video game, but I do have some "shells" where some of the coding is done but the whole thing is nowhere near complete. I do have some completely finished applications though.</p>
<p>Case sounds like a good fit for you. Your ECs are fine for any of the engineering schools. Your ECs are fine for most schools in general, just not for the ones that really scrutinize them (Ivies, Stanford, Duke, etc). I would not rule out Olin for you. You show evidence of being able to accomplish things on your own- the programming, the tutorial, and the 5's on the self-study APs. I am impressed by that. Worchester sounds like a great fit, too. RPI- not a bad fit, but frats and partying do play a serious role there. (And hockey).</p>
<p>Rose-Hulman really sounds like a good fit for you. Definitely check it out, pay a visit if you can. It's small and engineering only so you really are going to be in a place where everyone is kind of similar to you, but everyone is also different; everybody has different interests.</p>
<p>My guess is that with a 3.6 GPA Carnegie, Harvey Mudd, and Rice will not offer you enough merit aid to get cost of attendance below $30K. (People on CC recommend U Chicago to every student!) Not that you have a bad GPA by any means - it's just that those schools will be awarding whatever money they give out to much higher stats. Unless of course you qualify for lots of need-based financial aid. Case is a good suggestion because they might give you merit money.</p>
<p>Don't stress too much about ECs. As other posters have said, I don't think the engineering schools care as much about them. Frankly, they seem very numbers driven.</p>
<p>I'd look into U. Chicago, but sadly the lack of engineering is a deal breaker for me. </p>
<p>Rose-Hulman looked good to me since it only has an undergraduate computer engineering, and </p>
<p>I'd suppose I could go as high as 35k, but really no higher. Are there any "third party" scholarships that I might do well with to maybe take $2k-$5k off the cost, since I really would like to be able to consider Carnegie Mellon. </p>
<p>How should I present my extra-curriculars to a college? Should I integrate my person programming accomplishments into my computer club vice-presidency (like saying that as computer club leader I wrote tutorials for public use to expand student knowledge), or should I list them individually (that takes out accountability though).</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon tuition, room and board for fall 2007 is $46,610 (does not include any other expenses), so unless your family qualifies for aid you're going to need more than $2000-$5000. </p>
<p>That said, have your parents filled out the FAFSA calculator? That's a good place to start.</p>
<p>When you do your resume, you can add the programming under a heading "Hobbies." Be sure to describe your role in the computer club - it sounds interesting. (In other words, don't just list your title, but tell what you did.) For that matter, on your resume, be sure you describe all your ECs - make it tell about you. Don't just list things.</p>