Chance/Match rising senior with "smart slacker" stats and non-standard ECs

College Search & Selection
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Hello, looking for help with DD’s (HS class of 2023) college list. Need to know if/what we should add or remove from our list below (please be honest and let us know if she does not have a shot, or if there is a safety we should add)

She is from an overrepresented demographic and wants a competitive major. I hate the whole rat race culture, and have steered her towards state schools, but I also don’t want to hold her back.

I think with her stats, she might be competitive anywhere and nowhere - so I want to make sure we have a good mix of colleges- problem is I am not sure what would be a safety and what would be a reach just because her stats and ECs are (I think) all over the place. She basically follows her own passions.

Here are her details:

Basic Info:
South-Asian female from very big competitive public high school in MA - no ranking
Unweighted GPA: 3.8 (6 APs total all 5s, some honors and DE, others regular)
SAT score: 1560 (780/780)

Extracurriculars:

  1. Almost all focused on Music. - plays multiple instruments, classical, jazz and rock bands. Played in Carnegie Hall (not solo), won scholarships to camps etc. Also has a DipABRSM (a British Royal something diploma certifying her ability to perform - not sure this holds much value here in the US, but it was a LOT of work)

  2. 3 years of involvement in a Police explorer program, promoted to sergeant

  3. 3 years of volunteering at farmer’s markets and local organic farming communities - she even grows her own vegetables and very interested in sustainable farming.

  4. 2 summer internships (1 paid and 1 not) and a side gig teaching piano to younger kids.

Cost Constraints: We could pay full price, but really don’t want to. Ok with standard OOS (maybe $55K all in), but lower the better. No need-based scholarships.

Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
or Bio-chem (for possible pre-med)

Non-academic preferences: Would prefer a bigger school with more options. She would love something near a big city. We would like one with a “good reputation” and good co-op or internship opportunities. Within 8 hours of MA would be nice, but not a deal breaker. Again, not looking to pay full price private, but might for a super-reach.

List so far:
(Please let me know if you think we have classified this right)

Safety:
Penn State
U Pitt
Umass Lowell, UNH or UMaine (one of the 3- not sure which has better Engineering)

Target: (Are they really?)
Umass Amherst
Purdue
Illinois Urbana Champaign
UMD College Park
WPI (test blind though, so ouch!)
Rensselaer (RPI)
UConn
U Rochester

Reach:
Boston U or NYU (one of the 2)
Northeastern
Tufts

Super Reach: (the Hail Marys - may not even apply)
Cornell
Rice
Carnegie Mellon

Any help with the list will be deeply appreciated. Thanks!

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Her best bang for the buck will be UMass Amherst, her in state flagship.

Is there a particular reason why there are so many out of state public schools on the list? They’re going to be expensive for the same experience she would get at UMass.

She should add UMass Dartmouth and UMass Boston.

Has she looked at Franklin Olin College?

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If $55k a year is the most you’re willing to pay (and nothing wrong with that at all!) then you’ll need to take all the private colleges off your list.

I’d add UDel to your list. Very strong in chemical engineering and they do give OOS merit $$.

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4

UMass Amherst checks a lot of boxes.
Very strong Chem Eng program.
Best value as an in-state student.
The marching band, if any interest, is well
regarded and performed at the Rose Bowl
and Macy’s Day parades in not too distant past.
The music scene in the pioneer valley is really vibrant as well.
#1 college food in the nation, don’t underestimate that one! Most sourced locally from campus farms. The Alumni network is awesome too.
There is also a Newton campus of UMass Amherst
for Boston area internship opportunities.
I would say UMass Lowell has the strongest engineering of the New England area safety list schools.
With such good stats there may be good merit offers from private colleges that come in even more affordable than the flagship.

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5

Case western is a private with a good chance of meeting budget with merit. This is a school that manages yield so be sure to demonstrate interest if she applies.

ETA: I’d consider Case a match for your D.

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6

With those extracurriculars, she might consider USC in California. Their engineering program (Viterbi) looks for kids with interests in additon to engineering. Engineering Plus – USC Viterbi | Undergraduate Admission

She would need to apply before the Nov 1 EA deadline to be considered for merit scholarships.

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Thanks for the suggestions! Will definitely look at USC and Case Western!

UMass obviously is very high on our list, but I just don’t know if she will get in (from what I hear, engineering is a reach with many OOS applications, and her Ecs don’t have much science) - and I guess same with most of the other schools in the list.

We focused on OOS schools close-ish to big cities with good engineering programs. Plus most of them allow a 2nd choice which I think is a good thing to have if Engineering does not happen. With test scores optional this year, it is hard to rely on just GPAs (she does have some Bs, and I feel that “everyone” on this board (and the world!) seems to be 4.x+ UW)

The good news is she really loved all the schools in the list (we have visited most of them). Obviously she liked the Uber-shiny campus of the privates - and I am okay if she decides to take loans for the delta - her choice!

Thanks again for all the great suggestions.

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UIUC is probably a reach for engineering, less so if she leaves engineering/cs. But it’s also fairly expensive out of state. Have you run the net price calculator for the schools on your list? Rice is an expensive private BUT offers great aid if you qualify:

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9

U Rochester is probably going to be more than you want to pay, but will give her opportunities if she wants to continue with music. I think you don’t have to worry about WPI, it is more of a target for her than U Rochester which might be a reach rather than a target.

I’d add RIT to the list as another target. As you said,

so cast a wide net.

If you’re really worried about having a safety, she can apply to Iowa and hear back within a day or two. Their Admission Index is right on the website and I believe she would qualify as an auto admit. Further than you want to be, but the price is right, nice college town and great engineering program.

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My D is a chem E, co-op student at Purdue. She’s about to start her senior year. Purdue has far exceeded our expectations. Let me know if you have any specific questions or if your D would like to speak to her. My D is part of the outreach committee of the Society of Women Engineers and is always happy to talk to any potential students.

Purdue and UIUC may be more of a low reach theses days for OOS applicants but I think your D would be competitive for Purdue.

If co-op is important, your D may want to look at U of Cincinnati as a safety.

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Do you mean Iowa State, not Iowa?

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UMD Clark Engineering should be a nice fit, as well as possible Honors College, apply by Nov. 1 for consideration, and for possible merit.
Could also enjoy College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, BSOS. Or, even Col. Agriculture and Natural Resources.

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Apply to Pitt now to maximize chances for merit.

Penn State most likely would be full pay and not a direct admit. Skip?

Surprised Georgia Tech isn’t on list. Lots of co-ops and direct flights to Atlanta.

NC State? Good engineering school and most likely direct flights to Raleigh.

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14

Congrats to your daughter. Great record. Is the 6 APs what her school offers or they offer a lot more and she chose not to take ?

I think most of not all schools support co OPs today. I know of kids from several SEC and other MW type schools in coops. It’s the company, not the school. The schools all love them.

I think her ECs are fantastic - they needn’t be engineering focused but many engineers seem to be musically inclined…my son included and actually musicians from major bands like Boston and Styx started as engineers (many more). .

I do have concerns with your categorization if your daughters schedule could have been more rigorous or if her math isn’t calc AB or higher.

I think the other thing is cost. Then you also say near a big city.

So Penn State should be removed on both counts. Pitt works but you’d be close on cost. If you apply early, there is a merit chance.

I think Purdue and Illinois are reaches. And Purdue while works financially, Illinois is a $60k COA and doesn’t. Neither is near a big city. Purdue an hour away an Illinois more. They are not middle of nowhere but no access to big city.

Cornell. No city access. No merit so you are over $80k a year. Tufts. Yea city access but same - no merit.

So your daughter can go for cheap in city to very good schools with lots of career success. UAH - low 20s . She can go reasonable. Kentucky. Cincinnati Tennessee - all in city. All with merit.

Or like Delaware mentioned b4, Minnesota is highly rated for Chem E as is Wisconsin - both in city but Minnesota will be less with nice merit. Arizona, in Tucson, with a 3.8 will be mid 30s, etc. Arizona State another that could work. Florida State works too - city access and low 20s but engineering is not on the main campus. Couple miles away. NC State is one more. The campus is a mile or so away from the main one. All these would save you $$ and give city access.

The same can’t be said of your list so I’d tweak in that sense plus assume Purdue and Illinois as reaches…but not right based on cost (Illinois) or location (both).

As for BU or NYU merit is unlikely at both but my guess is more likely at BU. NYU engineering is in Brooklyn I believe, away from the school. I’d probably go Ga Tech as a reach instead of Tufts or Cornell, etc.

I guess I’d say she’s great but follow your thoughts - so RPI and WPI are not big to feed other interests like you noted you want.

And then check geographies, cost and chance of merit.

Good luck.

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I think that U. of Rochester, NYU and Tufts are extremely unlikely to meet your budget. If you haven’t seen it before, this site is really nice to look up typical merit aid packages. (If a school’s not on this list, check its Common Data Set.) And the Super Reach schools are also unlikely to reach your budget, but it appears as though you have a different budget for those schools.

The first school that popped to mind when reading your description was U. of Minnesota. It’s not within an 8-hour drive, but I would imagine there are direct flights available, depending on where in Massachusetts you are. The location in the Twin Cities means there are tons of opportunities for co-ops and internships, and I’ve read some very nice comments about what I think were their engineering facilities (it was definitely STEM, but I feel like engineering).

If you’re looking for another safety would be University at Buffalo (aka SUNY Buffalo). I don’t know how strong its engineering program is (as in, I don’t know, not that I’m doubtful about it), but it is ABET accredited, I know there are some parents of happy SUNY Buffalo students on the board, and it’s a larger campus in the main town of western New York. SUNY costs are also very reasonable for OOS students.

Another safety would be New Jersey Institute of Technology. It’s not huge, but it has about 8k students. And if she’s willing to go even smaller (3-4k) then I’d also consider Stevens Institute of Technology. And they both are very close to New York City (Stevens is literally just across the river), so definitely tons of opportunities there for a metro area.

I’ll also second the suggestions of Case Western and U. of Cincinnati.

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Great suggestion. I missed that.

OP’s daughter should get decent merit aid from them based on her stats.

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I agree with others that U.Mass Amherst and U.Mass Lowell seem like very good choices.

You might want to run the NPC on UVM and see whether a merit scholarship is possible. If your daughter qualifies for a presidential scholarship then this would cost well under $55k per year, otherwise it probably would not. It is a very good university in a very attractive location. I do not know how it is for Chemical Engineering, although it does have a very good premed program (and also a very good pre-vet program, which overlaps in terms of many of the courses being the same). It also fulfills the “near a city” preference.

I would be surprised if you see a merit scholarship from any of BU, NEU, NYU, or Tufts. These are likely to be reaches from an affordability point of view as well as from an acceptance point of view. One daughter was accepted to two of them with a higher GPA but lower SAT, and with no financial aid (somewhere else ended up being both a better fit and more affordable).

I think that U.Mass Lowell and UNH are both good choices, and would be tempted to apply to both if only so that you are highly likely to have at least two affordable choices when the time comes. While I think of them as academically comparable (for most majors) the locations are certainly quite different.

I like music as an EC for an engineering or any STEM major. I have worked in high tech for my entire career, and have known many coworkers who play – in many cases who play well enough to get up on stage (and in two cases to even have it show up on their tax return at the end of the year). Music and STEM seem to go together reasonably often. With this in mind I might mention that both U.Mass Amherst and U.Mass Lowell have decent music programs.

I am not as convinced that the “further away” out of state public universities offer much that you could not get here in New England.

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Here is a list of UIUC majors groups by how difficult it is for undeclared students to declare them. There is probably some correlation to how difficult direct frosh admission to each major is.

https://dgs.illinois.edu/major-selection/declaring-your-major

Note that chemical engineering at UIUC is in the liberal arts and sciences division, not the engineering division.

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Both have chemical engineering and both use the Admissions Index.

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I missed the 8 hour thing - sorry - although all I mentioned have flights and many non stop. UMN, for chemical, definitely one to consider and lots of flights - and tons of jobs/co ops right there.

I thought of UVM but doesn’t appear to have Chemical Engineering.

SUNY BUff - great choice.

Add Rutgers (right at top budget). Stony Brook, URI and VCU- would meet your city criteria and cost plus 8 hour thing.

Good luck.

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