Chance a kid in CE for top STEM schools mid grades/SAT but good ECs. [VA resident, 3.71 UW, 1450 SAT, <$40K]

Plz tell me I am not in over my head here…
Demographics Middle class male

  • US domestic * US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: VA
  • Type of high school Large high school(class size of 700):
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional):
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): None

Intended Major(s) Computer engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.71 UW
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.22 W
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1450(780 math tho)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

Awards

Extracurriculars
-Wrote articles for a company about AI
-ASSIP internship where we made a game to combat alzheimers. Published our findings in a scientific journal managed by ASSIP
-Worked at a advertising startup and managed a group of 8 workers

  • Worked as an intern in a startup and then got onto their SAB board. Led meetings for the startup to their clients. On their wall of fame.
    -Boy scouts(life scout) Assistant senior patrol leader, Troop guide, and under me our troop doubled in size due to my recruitment. ~50 hours of volunteering
    -Developed companies websites using html/CSS and javascript. about ~100 hours of volunteering
    -Science olympiad secretary, help do fundraisers for the club and helped other members prepare for scioly competitions.
    -Worked at kumon for about 1 and a half years, did data entry there as well as tutor young children in math/reading
    -Officer of computer graphics club

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) about 40k

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability) George Mason
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
    George washington university
  • Match
    Virginia tech
    NC state
    UVA?(ED)
    Upitt
    UMD
  • Reach
    University of Florida
    UIUC
    Purdue
    Georgia tech
    Wake forest
    Case western

Congratulations on your achievements!

UVA and UMD will be reaches for you, not matches, IMO.
Probably a little easier at UVA since you’re in state and applying ED.

Unfortunately that means all the out of state public schools will be unaffordable. Purdue comes closest at around $42k.

Good luck!

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UMD seems to accept a ton of students from my school with similar credentials to me so I put it as a match. I agree that UVA is a low reach

Ok, that’s good. But for engineering? The acceptance rate for engineering is much lower than for other (especially non STEM, non business) majors.

In any case, it’ll be unaffordable. Sorry.

How will George Washington University be affordable?

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Georgia Tech is out of reach for OOS student with your Stats. Likelihood is slim to none.

I agree that UMD is reach, not match and the same is UVA.
Georgetown is not “Likely”. It is more like match at best. It is possible a low reach.

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I think GWU is a match and UVA/UMD are both reaches.

I would add another safety so that you have choices. I also question how GW will be affordable.

Virginia Tech engineering could be tough also. Just too many very good high stats instate students as well as all the OOS engineering students they admit. Good luck!

VT is rrly weird on how they do their admissions. They usually accept the people with rrly good ECs but mid gpas while waitlisting the guys with a 4.4+ weighted gpa. Thats why its a match school for most.

CE is in the ECE department at Ohio State and students follow either an EE or CE pathway. It’s a direct admit major. CS/CSE is a separate department.

https://engineering.osu.edu/undergraduate/future-students/admissions/new-students

The National Buckeye and Maximus scholarships (apply by Nov 1, EA for best consideration) also stack with ECE department and CoE scholarships (application through Ohio State’s scholarship universe opens in Dec.) so being in the $40k ballpark is very possible even with the $4,000/yr engineering fee.

https://engineering.osu.edu/undergraduate/future-students-undergrad/engineering-cost-and-scholarships

Applying by Nov 1 (that means you’ve submitted your application and documents) is important to avoid getting bumped to RD. Apply soon and continue to followup until you verify everything is in.

What courses did you take in HS? What Science and maths specifically, as you are aiming for Computer Engineering?
What is your rank(decile)? Ask your counselor if your school does not rank. All schools send a profile so the colleges will be able to estimate your rank

In-state for VA is tricky in part because there is so much variability in GPA and course offerings. Some schools give 0.5 to AP and Honors and only offer that level in some classes, others give 1.0 or even 2.0 points added for AP, IB, DE. For example , there are schools with almost 3/4 of the graduating class with wGPA above a 4.0. Others it is less than 1/3. Your 4.22 could be close to top 10% or could be below the top half. This matters a lot since it is rare for an unhooked student to get in to UVA if they are in the bottom half, even with ED. Dean J has done many blogs on how she goes through a transcript, and the description is very similar to what other T25 schools have released. Most schools will acknowledge the transcript is the most important thing: did you challenge yourself in the context of what is offered at your HS, and for Engineering, how did you fare in Stem classes in particular? Without this context it is too difficult to chance you.

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