Hi CC, I’m a senior applying to UIUC, USC, Mudd, CMU, several UCs, Cornell, and Cal Poly SLO for electrical/computer engineering and just wanted to know what my chances are! Applying UIUC EA (for Computer Engineering) and the rest regular decision.
General Info: Asian female, middle class, California resident
GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.4 W
SAT: 1600
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 730 Chem
Course load: rigorous, taking college math right now at a CC
ECs:
Math Club President for 2 years
COSMOS for a math cluster
internship for engineering
CyberPatriot state level for 3 years
long-term volunteering commitment at food bank, 200ish hours
Academic Decathlon team captain for 2 years, some regional awards
short term job as programming instructor for middle schoolers
current job as math instructor at Kumon
Awards:
National level award in a certain humanities competition
1st place award for research-related website design in a regional competition
National Merit Semifinalist
standard school awards for math, science, etc.
I know my ECs are fairly lackluster compared to people who have done research and won national math/science competitions, but just wanted to know where I stand for now, especially for UIUC. Thanks in advance :))
Hi - with you Math scores - you should include MIT too! Assuming some of the schools are safety - because if you have a perfect score in SAT with strong Math scores across the board, you should apply to all the top engineering programs in the country.
@intparent thank you! And yes, I’m planning on putting a lot of effort into my Mudd essays, since it’s one of my top choices : )
@kg2013 thank you, but from what I’ve read, a perfect SAT doesn’t necessarily make me more competitive for an engineering school than someone with, say, a 1550. But I’m considering adding MIT to my list, thanks for reminding me!
@Mwfan1921 that’s a great resource, thank you! Do you have any essay tips for engineering specifically, especially seeing as my ECs are more math than CE/EE oriented? I’m struggling with how to convey my passion for engineering and robotics when the only robotics-related thing I’ve ever done was in an engineering class.
I don’t think colleges expect your career and major plans to be fully baked as a HS senior. It is fine to say that you look forward to exploring robotics further in college.
USC-Probably
UC’s- my friend got wait listed at Berkeley but then got in and she got into UCLA and had lower grades and much less ec’s. So I would say probably.
Cal poly- reach
Cornell-maybe
Harvey Mudd-maybe
Perfect SAT does make you stand apart - Don’t sell yourself short! More importantly, I should say, for Eng student, SAT Math scores of 800 in both SAT and/or Subject test tells me something about that student!
@NS1114 thanks! I forgot to mention I’m applying to Berkeley EECS so that has a sub-10% acceptance rate from what I’ve heard - I don’t think I can get in there. Why do you say Cal Poly is a reach? I was under the assumption it’s mostly stats and a little ECs based?
@asiangal From the stuff that happened last year to my friends who were seniors, Cal Poly favored people who had some research or work experience as well. I would say it is a high match.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you are not a match at any school. You are a rare person with perfect scores. The problem you might have is to convince the school that you really want to go there since they will think you want to go elsewhere.
Apply to MIT only if you feel like MIT is a good fit. For many it isn’t.
As for Cal Poly, they admit by algorithm, most important is GPA, accounting for roughly 45%, then test scores, which account for roughly 33%. Rigor accounts for roughly 15%. That leaves ECs, including work, accounting for the rest.
They do not qualify the ECs or work, other than to give bonuses in the algorithm for an EC leadership role, and major related work experience. Although ECs account for a tiny piece of the algorithm, they make a difference at the margins since SO many applicants are highly qualified.
Read the application carefully, carefully watching out for things that have tripped up others in the past, like failing to list HS level math and language classes if they were taken in middle school (you certainly did). If you do that, you should have a very good shot at Cal Poly.
As a side note, you need to dig deeper into what you will experience at each school. What unifies them is reputation. What you will experience will be radically different amongst them. I can’t think of two more opposite college experiences than Mudd and say UCB/UCLA/UIUC. You need to decide what is important to you.
If you want more information on why my son chose Cal Poly from out of state and how it has worked out for him, feel free to PM me.
@GoBears2023 I have work experience as a math instructor (current job) and coding instructor (old job). Are you referring to more major-related work? I do have an internship but it was unpaid.
@eyemgh rigor as in course rigor? I have a pretty rigorous courseload - although I haven’t taken all the APs our school offers, I’ve taken all but 3-4. Regarding the major-related work experience, I do have the math instructor and coding instructor jobs as I mentioned before, but considering EE/CE aren’t directly related to those, do you think they still count since math and programming are significant elements of engineering?
Regarding my college list, I definitely have a preference for private, smaller schools which is why I’m applying to Mudd. But since obviously I don’t have too great of a chance at those privates, I added state schools (UCs and Cal Polys obviously provide phenomenal educations that I would be very fortunate to take advantage of).
Not sure if I can PM you seeing as how I’m a new user - would you mind PMing me? I would love more info on Cal Poly since I feel like I haven’t researched it enough. Thank you!
I’ll PM you tomorrow. As for “is it major related” or not, they don’t police that. It’s fairly open to interpretation. I would say your experience is absolutely major related.
Course rigor is defined. That’s the only way it can be incorporated into an algorithm. Cal Poly openly published this until 2013. By everything we can tell, they still do, but they won’t acknowledge it. One thing has certainly changed. The SAT was updated, so the concordance tables have likely shifted. Still, it’ll give you a good idea.