For those of us in the Northeast, Caltech may appear to be an easier admit. Nearly all very strong students interested in STEM from this region have MIT on their lists. Far fewer from this region have Caltech on their lists. All else being equal, geographic diversity is a factor for both of these schools, which makes MIT a relatively harder admit for applicants from the Northeast. The two schools also have ever so slightly different preferences, with Caltech being more focused on students’ passions for fundamental sciences (as opposed to the applications of them). Another factor is athleticism. MIT is increasingly putting greater emphasis on it, while it’s nearly a non-factor at Caltech.
A clarification is in order here. CMU is #7 in engineering and #1 in CompSci, the OP’s desired major.
Your description of GA Tech rejecting very high stats students reminds me of CWRU last year. There were many tales of woe on CC from high stats students being rejected by Case EA, but invited to apply ED II because the school thought it was being used as a safety for kids applying to CMU, GA Tech, etc.
Nikita, under the Texas “Top 10% Rule” wouldn’t you automatically be admitted to TX public universities?
I believe admission is guaranteed, but major isn’t.
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That’s quite the loophole. “You’re accepted, but not into CompSci. You can, however, study 14th Century Albanian History or Bolivian Folk Dancing.” Do they play the “apply for general admission, and once accepted apply again for your major” game?
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UT Austin admits directly to CS, but many applicants to CS do not get into the major even though they may get into the campus.
Texas A&M admits to first year general engineering. Students apply to the specific major later. However, it is unlikely to get into CS if one’s college GPA is below the 3.75 automatic admission threshold.
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It sounds like UT Austin is on the same program as Purdue.
For CS yes.
Purdue does do engineering differently (first year engineering with secondary admission to major, 3.2 college GPA automatic admission), but CS is separate from engineering there.
Purdue’s written policy is that students who earned a 3.2 GPA freshman year are placed in the major of their choice. Last year during an information session on campus, however, the admissions representative let slip that due to resource issues students who made the GPA cutoff were still not guaranteed their desired major. The audience - including my son and wife - was stunned, and a parent (who happened to be a professor of engineering at UT Austin) stood up and asked why anyone should go to Purdue if they did not get their desired major after meeting the school’s requirements.
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CS is the College of Science at Purdue and is direct entry.
What you are describing is the transition to major process in the college of engineering and well over 90% of students get their first choice majors.
With the exception of a few privates with the greatest amounts of resources and the schools where majoring in CS isn’t in high demand (many LACs, for example), all colleges have to do something to ration their limited resources to meet the unprecedented demand. Students face at least one of the following:
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higher admission hurdle to the major (or the department that includes the major);
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a secondary admission to the major/department;
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a set of major-specific criteria to meet to remain in the major;
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a long waitlist for popular courses (or rationing for such courses) in the major.
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Another exception is at colleges that are not that selective and do not attract high numbers of top end students intending to do CS. These colleges may not have to ration CS courses or major access or have higher admission standards for CS than for admission in general, since “natural weeding” based on the difficulty or workload of CS tends to keep numbers down.
This exception includes a very large number of colleges, but less commonly those popular on these forums.
mom, unfortunately, the year our son applied Purdue was not honoring its “over 3.2/guaranteed major” policy at the college of engineering, which was a big turn-off. This, of course, was a holdover from COVID admissions where take rates were out of whack, and some schools had difficulty managing class sizes.
Let’s bring the discussion back to the OP.
If MIT is your top choice, then apply EA to MIT. Do you have any other questions?
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Do you think I could get in there? Or is it better to ED to a less competitive school I have a better chance at
If one is going to apply ED anywhere, I believe it should always be at one’s favorite school otherwise you may always end up wondering, “What if I would have gotten into my top choice?” MIT is your favorite school, thus that’s where you should apply early. That works out particularly well since you haven’t done any visits anywhere out-of-state, and most of the schools on your list are out-of-state. Since I don’t believe in applying ED to a school you haven’t visited, you don’t need to worry about that issue since your top choice doesn’t have ED.
With respect to your chances, I certainly think that your odds are better than the overall admissions rate. @hebegebe gives you pretty decent odds, and that’s an opinion I very much respect when it comes to math-related admissions. Do I think you’re a lock for admission? No, but I think you stand a decent chance. Frankly, based on the information you have shared, that’s where I’d shoot my early shot.
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