Hi! I’m a junior in highschool and I was wondering what my chances were for my reaches and also if you can recommend me any matches and safeties I would appreciate that, because I don’t know of many right now.
I am interested in either going into either Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Biomedical Engineering
UW GPA: 3.96
ACT: 33 (taking it again to hopefully get 34+)
I haven’t taken any subject tests but plan to take Bio and Math 2 in the spring
Most rigorous courseload available at my school
Extracurriculars:
Classical Piano: 12 years
STEM Club: (11-12) I started a club at my school where we have fundraisers to help children in underserved communities have access to STEM programs. We also go to underserved schools and run activities with the kids
Diversity Council: (10-12) Help promote diversity at my school, I lead assemblies and travel to conferences
STEM Website: (9-12) I run a website geared towards women in STEM that also has a blog attached to it.
Internship at a Law Firm (9-12): I help with marketing for the firm
Speech and Debate (7-10): I have over 20 awards in Debate and have advanced to the regionals
Varsity Tennis (10-12)
Community Service:
Volunteer as a teacher’s assistant at a youth program (7-12)
Race: URM female (black)
I’m lucky to not be too worried about financials for college.
I would really appreciate if you could chance me for the schools in the title, and reverse chance me for matches and safeties that I could also apply to. Thank you!
This seems like an odd mix of schools. Yale for engineering?
You have good stats, especially if you can get the ACT up a little bit.
I would suggest thinking hard about desired location, school size, liberal arts requirements, etc… Cornell and GT couldn’t be more different in their approaches to engineering.
What’s your budget? Are you looking for schools with merit scholarship or needing financial aid?
There are lots of great engineering schools that would fall in to a safety and match category for you but I feel like I need more from you about what you are looking for in your college experience.
To answer your questions,
I don’t really have a desired location as I’m fine living anywhere. For school size 5000-15000 is a good size for me. I’m not really into liberal arts school, and I’m financially stable enough to not need merit scholarships or financial aid.
Thank you!
RPI would be a good match for you. Clarkson a good safety but may be too small for you (3000 students).
If you don’t want lots of liberal arts requirements, you may want to strike Cornell. They have a great engineering program but lots of out of college requirements.
There was a URM female student with a profile close enough to yours along with a selection of reach schools that asked for a chance me and I will attach that link. I don’t ever chance students, but your profile is amazing and believe you will find your way to a great school.
I agree with some of the previous sentiment. I’m not sure I’d choose Penn or Columbia for undergraduate engineering, and certainly not Yale. How did you form your list? You’ve included some pretty marginal engineering programs at fancy name schools and overlooked LOTS of really strong engineering options.
Let’s back up and talk about what you’re looking for. You felt Rice wasn’t a fit. Why? What do you see in Yale to offset their weak engineering program, ESPECIALLY considering you aren’t looking for what they are actually good at, liberal arts.
Describe your ideal school and maybe then posters can give suggestions.
@eyemgh After looking at the advice of others, I think I will be taking Yale off my list since I agree that their engineering program isn’t remarkable. I felt Rice wasn’t a fit since it was too small and my ideal school would be a population 5000-15000 and Rice is about 3000.
What I’m looking for in a school is a school that is in a city as I am not into rural environments, a good social life (clubs etc.), school spirit, and a diverse student body.
If you could recommend me some engineering options I would be really grateful as I am not very knowledgeable on many schools with strong engineering programs! Also do you have any match and safety options?
Some big schools feel small and some small schools feel big.
Although Rice has a fairly small UG student, at about 4000, their graduate program is almost as big. They also have fairly robust athletics. It will feel much larger than schools like Lafayette or Bucknell. Its engineering is probably better than many on your list, although what constitutes good engineering at the undergraduate level is highly subjective.
Beyond size, and city location, what about region? Where you go to school won’t limit where you can work after, but there will always be more opportunities in closer proximity to your school, no matter what school you go to. What about weather? Can you stomach frigid temps? How about high humidity? What hobbies do you have? Do class sizes matter to you? What about the use of TAs for labs and discussions? Have you looked at job placement? Although you say finances aren’t an issue, what would happen with the money you saved? Have you done any school visits yet? If so, where? Lastly, what state are you from?
Congrats on your achievement. You will have lots of opportunity, so focus on more than names. Some of the biggest names can be the worst fits.
Starting a club focused on children and running a blog are not the level of math-sci activities for STEM at the Ivies and Duke. The competition will be in robotics, on the science team, have some experiences that show the mindset and the stem collaboration.
What is the rigor? Highest math and science courses you took and will, next year? What AP scores?
And the kicker: how can you show you’re ready for a top program, in STEM? What can you add to your activities asap? Top colleges will want to see you saw opportunities and pursued the right ones.
In engineering, a tippy top college is not vital to a future career. What is great is finding the schools where you can be empowered, explore, get excited and do your own very best.