Your stats for caltech are pretty good, but caltech is super competitive and selective so thats when essays, recs, and ECs are the end deciding factors.
MIT: Pretty big reach GPA wise
Vanderbilt: Match
UChicago: Reach
Cornell: Match
Stanford: Reach
Georgia Tech: Match
Virginia Tech: Match (arguably safety)
UMichigan: Match
Brown: Low Reach
Harvard: Big Reach
Chance me back please:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1828886-northeastern-university.html#latest
@bitensky Well I have only gotten one B in AP US history first semester… I’m not really sure how to calculate my UC GPA but unweighted is probably like 3.9 or something.
I’m going to try to get a live audition and arts supplement so i can show my dedication to cello and orchestra. Hopefully, that will shine through. Thank you
Hey, @catfanatic6. Check out:
http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
@bitensky I think my UC GPA is a 4.25… my school doesn’t offer that many APs and I guess being in orchestra and tennis kind of drag down my GPA…
Lol grade inflation at my school kinda got my hopes up
Thats still a competitive GPA, and I think you have a solid chance for most UCs. Berkley and LA probably are a low reach.
@bitensky THANK YOU!! I also really like UCSD, though it isn’t the best for my major. I’ve visited UCSD like 6 times (because a family friend goes there) and the architecture is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, UCSD is the perfect distance from home.
Your welcome and good luck!
Hi @catfanatic6 , your list seems pretty good to me. I’m not so convinced Caltech is not a good match for you, as long as you promise yourself to work hard and work smart (start psets early, talk to TAs early and often, etc) if you are admitted. I feel like they need students like you that will grow into their passion to make sure it stays an interesting lively place (versus having all students with a singular focus on science).
On your question about liberal arts colleges with engineering, a few ideas would be Swarthmore, Bucknell, or Smith.
Rice (already on your list) has a nice liberal arts college feel, and maybe you should add Washington University at Saint Louis and Johns Hopkins as similar places to look at. And Brown on your list is great as well.
As a different direction, Rose-Hulman and Embry-Riddle might be interesting to you as well.
My friend applied to Caltech EA, her standard scores are similar to yours, and she enters the national finals of S.-T. Yau High School Physics Awards (YHPA). The final award will be available in Dec. I think she has a good chance of getting in. Maybe you need a heavy award to prove your sci talent. Sorry about chancing the other universities, I mainly research about LACs.
chance back please?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1829673-nyuad-class-of-2020.html#latest
@inn0v8r Thank you so much!! I will definitely look into those. Btw, do you think I should mention Quiz bowl on my application? My team didn’t rly win anything. I only did it sophomore year though because I didn’t like the competitive environment (and cause lots of the kids were pretty rude). I originally wasn’t going mention it because my award is so irrelevant, but now everyone is telling me that i need more science-y ECs? Thanks!
Sure thing, @catfanatic6 . And sure, can’t hurt to mention quiz bowl if there is room, though if there is not, it seems fine to me to omit it.
By the way, on your comment “I really love the cello, but now that I’m speaking to people on CC, I feel like it may have been a huge waste of effort.” - please don’t be tempted to think that way. It is part of what makes you who you are, and you have nothing to feel bad about for doing it. If a college does not appreciate it, then they are probably not the college for you.
If you were to have gotten into an imperceptibly “better” college because you didn’t play cello, but you weren’t yourself any more (if that makes sense), would it really be worth it?? When you look back in 20 years with the perspective that those years will give you, I guarantee you the answer will be NO.