Chance Me: Asian Male (Valedictorian) from Alabama with high hopes in MechE [3.98, 33, $25-30k]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Your main state schools -so in your case Bama. Some would still consider an Auburn type school. or Clemson in addition to a U of SC. Your biggest, well known colleges.

From College Raptor - it’s close enough :slight_smile:

A flagship university tends to be the most known university in its state. It is generally the first public university ever founded and the one that receives the most support from the state government. It’s an institution people tend to search for the most, one with a good doctoral program profile. The majority of flagship universities count with and NCAA Division I athletics and are members of the Association of American Universities. Both groups are very important in the United States, being a part of them is a sign of leadership and prestige.

Category:Flagship universities in the United States - Wikipedia

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As an Alabama resident the school you described this way…

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Not a representative sample of the public flagships I had in mind :slight_smile:

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Why not?

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Because its strengths, and the opportunities and experiences it offers, are different from the public flagships that are considered top engineering schools. For example, I can’t think of Alabama being anything like Berkeley, Michigan, etc.
That’s nothing to do with rankings - they’re just very different types of schools.

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In general, when people say public flagship they mean the most prominent public and/or the land grant uni in each state.

U Alabama is that, even though some might not see it as strong as U Michigan or UVA for example. It might not be ranked as highly as some other public flagships but that doesn’t mean it’s not a flagship. The only option for college for many students is an in-state one.

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I totally agree, and to be clear I never said it wasn’t a flagship. I just said it’s different from the other flagships typically regarded as the best for engineering. Undoubtedly, Alabama should be considered by in state applicants and any others for whom it’s a good fit.

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GIGO (garbage in garbage out)

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IB math AA HL or SL? Either should include precalculus, while HL should include plenty of calculus.

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School only offers SL. But I already got the problem figured out so it is no problem.

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If all money stuff put to the side, can I get realistic odds for the schools that I am applying to (if I applied MechE). Especially Cornell ED. Thank you.

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I think you can go back tot he original answers.

Auburn is a safety. Purdue is a reach and UW (3% OOS acceptance for CS) is likely the highest reach on your list - but you have as a safety.

Your targets and Reaches are all that.

Could you get in? Sure.

Will you - I’d say Auburn and then maybe maybe maybe Purdue but I’d lean against the rest.

But neither myself or any one else is an AO so we don’t really know.

Alabama is good - geographic diversity. First gen - I forget if we decided you truly had it or not - is good (that might be another thread I’m confusing with).

Your ACT - great - but not great enough…especially reading and science - if you can focus on those for improvement.

Others have said Ga Tech likes Valedictorians and Salutatorians so maybe that’s a path for you.

But if I had to guess - I’d say Auburn is the only definite with Purdue less than 50/50 but maybe 35/65 and the rest - small chance.

But again, I’m not sure anyone truly knows.

Best of luck.

PS - if you change to engineering, the comments might change somewhat - like UW wouldn’t be your hardest reach, etc.

But you need to study first and foremost what you want - and where you go should matter far less than that.

PPS - two years ago Cornell let in 1930 of 9017 ED, much better than 3922 of 58K+. But it’s still a tough get.

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A note to the OP about Cornell’s ED numbers - that includes all the recruited athletes, legacy students, big donors, etc… For an unhooked student, ED at Cornell is a very tough admit.

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Great point - on athletes and other dignitaries, etc. thanks!!!

This student may be first gen - there’s a few threads and I forget if this was the one - when a parent was college educated but in another country).

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Cornell is a reach, but ED will probably help you. If you’d like to maximize your chances, consider retaking the ACT to get better reading and science sub scores.

And really dive into why you want Cornell. The supplemental essays need to show your interest.

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Any more specific changes that might come if I applied engineering?

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Perhaps - but again, what you want to study is far more important than the name.

I know I’ve mentioned it too many times - but my kid turned down Purdue for Alabama (as do many who get into high ranked schools). He’s now working with Purdue kids - same money, same program - and as he said, see I saved you $80,000. He chose Bama for the dorm room and likely to be closer to mom. You want ABET - whether Auburn, UF, WUSTL, etc. - I’m not sure you’ll find a huge difference in outcome although your day to day experience will be. And no matter where you go you’re going to be surrounded by brilliance in that major. And if you have car interest (it seemed like it), there’s certain schools that will have more experiential than others.

So figure out the major - or the area. Many schools admit you to the school - and not by major - so that’s something to look out for too.

If you were to study engineering - Purdue would still be a reach but a possible reach and I do agree you could help immensely with your ACT. And the superscore.

UW has a 33% OOS acceptance in engineering vs. a 3% in CS - so maybe it’s a low reach - but unless you want to be in Seattle or not near home, would UW be worth it - over Auburn (or Bama). Only you can decide that.

I would still say your targets are reaches and your reaches are reaches. And yes, an ED could help - my kid had better stats and was WL at WUSTL. I often think - what if he ED’d…would that have mattered? And I haven’t checked out the stats vs. 2019 but at most high ranked schools acceptance rates have fallen.

So - would it make a difference - at UW, potentially for sure and I could see Purdue happening - but I’d call both low reaches.

And GT - if they truly want Valedictorians like some have said - maybe they are possible too. Your #s work - but their #s are for the entire school and I imagine engineers are different.

And I’d still - given your original list - think you’d be heading to Auburn - which is a fine school. And if you developed your original list for CS -maybe if you did engineering that list should/would change?

And last thing I’ll reiterate again - I’d rather you go to South Alabama to study CS than WUSTL to study engineering - if in fact you wanted to study CS.

And find the right school for you - some on your list are huge. Some aren’t. Some are huge in the major. Some aren’t. Class size or program size, etc. These are far more important distinctions than a “rank”.

Don’t game or change a major in hopes of easier admission somewhere. Study what you want and then you can figure out the best home to do so.

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This! 100%

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I talked to my parents about how much they are willing to pay/year and they said 25-30k. Nothing else has been determined. No NPCs have been done.

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That’s a good start!

Hopefully they will run some NPCs soon so that you can try to determine if you are likely to receive any need-based aid, or if you will have to work with the amount they can contribute, plus any merit money, plus the amount you can borrow yourself (5500 freshman year, 6500 sophomore year, 7500 junior and 7500 for senior year).

Wishing the best for you!

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