I am a high school senior likely going into chemical engineering. I have:
34 ACT
5.06 GPA on a weighted 4.0
Class rank: 6/198 -at a private college prep high school if that means anything
Will have 6 APs by end of senior year (Bio, Chem, Calc BC, Stats, Spanish, and U.S. History)
As of now the colleges I am looking at are:
Illinois- in state
Purdue
Wisconsin
Texas
Clemson (would likely receive $15,000/yr based on ACT)
Texas A&M
Other schools I’m considering but not so heavily are:
Vanderbilt
UVA
Iowa State
Georgia Tech
Based on rankings and reputation I feel like U of I or Purdue is the no-brainer, any advice on these programs and which would be the best for landing a good job right out of college?
Those are all fine engineering universities. When it comes to the traditional engineering disciplines, ranking really do not matter. Different schools have different strengths that set them apart from some peers, but all that really matters is ABET accreditation. Nearly all of the engineering schools you have heard of in the U.S. are ABET accredited. Incidentally, there’s not much difference in the schools on your list. I would say that Virginia probably doesn’t have as many engineering department assets as most of the others on your list. ChE at Wisconsin and Texas A&M is excellent.
Minnesota? Relatively low cost out-of-state with a good chemical engineering department.
However, Minnesota and Purdue (possibly others) do not admit directly to the chemical engineering major; frosh need to complete preparatory courses with a high enough GPA for automatic admission to the major (others are admitted to the major depending on how many students attempt to enter the major relative to its capacity).
If you have National Merit, Texas A&M has a good scholarship for you (includes waiver of the additional non-resident tuition).
As far as tuition, they’re willing to pay for Illinois in state because they know it’s a rewarding choice down the road. They would probably want me to get some money from Purdue an Wisconsin but I’ve heard Wisconsin doesn’t give much for OOS.
U of Illinois is a top engineering university and admission is very competitive.
You might want to consider additional options for ChE, such as…
Illinois Institute of Technology
Iowa State University
Colorado School of Mines
U of South Carolina-Columbia
Rice University
U of Rochester
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Missouri University of Science & Technology
My son just went through this and applied to some of the same schools for ChemE that you are considering and others have mentioned. His stats on balance were similar I think; 36 ACT and 3.75 unweighted GPA (I have no idea how to interpret your GPA; maybe someday there will be a Rosetta Stone for that…). His results may be a decent guide for you:
Minnesota: accepted with $10k scholarship. That would probably make it the same or slightly cheaper than your in-state option.
Wisconsin: accepted, no scholarship
Delaware: accepted, $10 or $12k scholarship (can’t remember), invited to interview for full-ride Presidential Scholarship
Other options that may offer merit scholarships are WPI, Tulane, and Alabama (I believe you would get free tuition plus a $2500 stipend at Alabama). Most of the highly-selective privates tend to offer need-based aid only. Your stats put you in play, but you and your folks will need to determine whether that’s doable.
UIUC is a great school and is stellar for engineering. Definitely consider it and don’t look down on it just because it’s instate for you. There are thousands of prospective engineering students OOS dying to get in/attend.
I can’t see you getting denied from UIUC with a properly filled out application early in the process.
Your parents have said that they can afford to send you there.
Frankly, I can’t see why you’d even apply elsewhere.