Chance me for engineering at t20s!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics
From GA, USA-I go to a small private christian school-African american woman-Upper middle class income.
One parent went to GA Tech, but dropped out (he now has a bachelors degree) and another parent went to Vanderbilt for grad school, but transferred out. I’m also a 16 year old senior, because I skipped 9th grade.

Intended Major(s)
Engineering, industrial if the school has it; if not, mechanical.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4?
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.39
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 composite

Coursework
(My school does not offer AP/IB courses)
By graduation, would have taken-
Math: H Alg. 1, H Geometry, H Alg 2, DE College Alg, DE Pre-calc, DE Calc, DE Stats
Science: H Bio, H Phys Science, H Chemistry, H Physics

Awards and Extracurriculars
Here’s a link to my (edited) resume! I removed a few of my volunteer activities for privacy reasons. But the highlights are: Vice President of NHS, Treasurer of Habitat for Humanity, Executive Board Member of Student Council, Copyrighting Editor of Yearbook, and over 100 services hours. I also play two varsity sports, and was a College Board National African American Recognition Program Winner.

Essays/LORs/Other
I’m going to be honest, I am not extremely passionate about engineering (my lack of engineering related activities may prove that) so I fear my essays may be weaker than other students. However, my letters of recommendation should be strong.

Cost Constraints / Budget
No cost constraints to worry about (for now…)

Schools
BTW, these are just based on the ACT score, not cost.

  • Safety * UGA(EA), Lehigh(RD?), Case Western(EA), Howard(RD)
  • Likely * GA Tech(EA)
  • Match * Cornell(RD), Notre Dame(RD)
  • Reach * Duke(RD), CMU(RD), JHU(RD), Rice(RD), Vanderbilt(RD)

I know that I am going to apply to UGA, GA Tech, Howard, CWRU, JHU, and Vandy. I would like to apply to Lehigh so I have another safety on my list, but I also do not want to apply to more than 10 schools. Any suggestions on how to narrow my list down? With these schools, I’m more concerned about quality of student life than prestige. Thanks!

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You might want to rename your uploaded document as there is a potential identifier in the title. I’ll look at you post and comment in a little.

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You might also want to look outside of the T-20 (whatever that means) bubble. There are many great engineering programs that cater primarily to undergraduates, because they don’t offer PhDs. They often get mistakenly overlooked. Such schools include Harvey-Mudd, Rose-Hulman, Cal Poly and Olin College of Engineering. All are great and provide a powerful and different experience than you’d get from a large, research oriented institution.

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Thank you for pointing that out! I’m trying to see if I can change it without deleting the whole post…

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That’s a great point! I’ll look into these schools as well.

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Click the pencil at the bottom to edit.

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First question: what is it about engineering that you are interested in? really specifically, what sort of career are you envisioning? That can help refine which programs will suit your overall goals.

And the most important question: what is your budget? is your family full pay, w/ no need for loans? if not, are the NPC/EFCs affordable at all of these schools? Is the Zell Miller an important part of the conversation?

Finally, IMO if you don’t see yourself as somebody who is hardwired to be an engineer I would not apply to Cornell (great program but it takes a ferocious amount of dedication to get through it) (also, I would argue not a match), and probably not JHU. There are some starkly different campus cultures on your list (eg Vandy/Duke/Lehigh/ND v Cornell/JHU/CW/CMU)- are you sure that you are equally happy with all of them?

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Deleted link

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Hard to beat GT if you are in Georgia (hard to beat even if not) but for instate rates it is a bargain…good luck!

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Congratulations on your achievements. I think you will be competitive at many schools…but why engineering if you aren’t passionate about it? It’s a tough academic road anywhere, with little opportunity to take electives and explore other subject areas.

I agree the vibes and settings of some of the schools on your list are dissimilar….what factors are most important to you? Lehigh and CWRU are matches, not safeties. Cornell and ND reaches.

You said you are upper middle class….will your family qualify for need based aid? What is your budget? Are all of these schools affordable per their NPCs? If affordable, you might consider applying ED or REA, as appropriate.

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I think you will get in to more than 1 elite university. Your only problem will be deciding which awesome school to attend.

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Curious as to how you came up with your list? What are you looking for in a school?

GT and Notre Dame couldn’t be anymore different. I’m surprised to see them on the same list.

I also think your list is reach heavy and you’ve mischaracterized some of the school.

If you like GT, Purdue and Michigan would be worth considering.

If ND is more appealing, Dayton would be a good safety.

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As a CBNRP winner, you might want to look at this list of engineering schools known to offer merit, and pick a couple of real safeties:

College Board National Recognition Program (includes former National Hispanic Recognition Program) Class of 2022 - Specialty College Admissions Topics / Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums

Direct links to scholarship amounts are available at College Board National Recognition Program (includes former National Hispanic Recognition Program) Class of 2022 - Specialty College Admissions Topics / Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums

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GT is on my list because if I get in, I will basically have a full ride. However, I think I would enjoy the school climate of ND more. And I’ll look into Dayton!

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One thing I would mention is that since you will be a young college freshman AND you are coming from a small HS, you may want to consider how far away from home you want to be and how large (potentially overwhelming) of a university you want to attend.

Good luck to you!

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This link is really helpful!! Thank you so much.

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Out of all of the majors I’ve explored, I am the most interested in engineering. I just havent had any defining moments in my life that I would be able to write an essay about related to engineering…if that makes sense.
The most important factor is the school community. I’m hoping that I go to a college where most students are on-campus, involved in clubs/sports, don’t often venture too far off campus. Vanderbilt, out of all the schools on my list, is the school that I would like to go to most based on campus life, if that helps. And I’ll adjust my school list accordingly, thanks!!
We are not applying for need based aid, assumably because we won’t qualify for any. Since I’m not 100% sure about any colleges, I’m nervous for applying ED…

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I haven’t thought about post-college, but I was hoping that pursuing engineering would give me many options in careers… But for college, I’m very interested in learning about problem-solving in the business world. I’m also very interested about how products, specifically technology, get upgrades and become more efficient. Physics is one of my favorite classes that I’ve taken, so anything related to that is also intriguing for me.
I don’t have a budget, and we are not applying for need based aid, but we also would rather not pay $70,000+ each year for college, so Zell Miller is pretty important.
Also, could you elaborate on how those campus cultures are different? Thanks for your advice!

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I’m happy to see Lehigh on your list. I think that’s a good match for what you are looking for.

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This is a desperate oversimplification but think extrovert vs introvert as you look at their marketing materials / student videos on YouTube, etc.

As far as engineering programs… the best for both industrial & mech e is the girl next door, so GaTech is the one to beat: every other school on your list should have to make it’s own case that it is at least as good- financially, academically, socially (or at least on 2/3!)

Except for the cost implications (OOS, no merit) I would suggest Purdue and UMi.

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