Chance Me?? I have A LOT of schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Im a white, male senior at a semi-rural high school in Northern CA and wondering if these colleges are realistic choices for me.
Trying to get in for mechanical or electrical engineering, but wondering as those are out competitive if I would be better served with trying for economics, physics, applied math, or some other less competitive majors?

Schools: Cornell, Brown, Pomona, Reed, Carnegie Mellon, Carleton, Occidental, Lafayette, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Santa Clara University, Whitman, University of San Francisco, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, Cal Poly SLO.

1390 SAT (M:690 E/W:700)
30 ACT (working on getting it up but that might not go well so Im running with 30 at the moment)

AP tests:
AP Environmental sciences: 4
AP US History: 4
AP English Lang and Composition: 4

GPA freshman year: 2.83
English 1 (B/B)
French 1 (B/A)
Int. Math 1 (B/B)
Biology 1 (C/C)

GPA sophomore year: 3.25
English 2 (B/B)
French 2 (A/B)
World History and Geography (A/A)
Int. Math 2 (B/B)
Chemistry (C/C)
Drama (A/A)

GPA junior year: 4.39 W, 3.71 UW
AP English Lang and Comp (A/B)
AP US history (A/A)
French 3 (A/A)
Precalculus Honors (B/B)
AP Environmental Science (A/A)
Makers (Intro to product design)

GPA Senior year: in progress, but aiming for around a 4.5 W and 3.8+ UW.
AP Literature
Product. Innovation and design
AP Macroeconomics
AP Calc AB
Marine Biology
AP Physics C: Mechanics

UC GPA: 3.82

EC’s, in somewhat-of-a-particular-order but not really:

  1. Climber: I’ve climbed Mt. Rainier, Mt. Shasta, and Mt. Baker, and train for a large amount of time each year.
  2. I was secretary for my junior class and Im currently the Associated student body secretary: Ive helped with school events and also helped spearhead a local food drive with all the local high schools and worked with local politicians.
    3.Ive ran track and cross country for 2 years: never anything noteworthy aside from 4th place in pole vault at the county championships but thats not quite stellar.
  3. I’m the president of a large club at my high school that focuses on business and technology related things: I’ve helped organize events, tasks related to running the club, etc. Actually helped head a merger between my club and the Robotics club at my school. I’ve been in this club for two years.
    5.National Honor society: Volunteered through here to a club that helps local veterans (cleaned local veterans hall, folded flags, etc.) and worked preparing meals for people with low income. I’ve been a member since junior year.
  4. Peer tutor since junior year, helped other students for 2 hours a week in subjects they were having difficulty in.
  5. A couple odd summer jobs but nothing really noteworthy

My rec’s should be pretty good
My essay is quite good

Don’t know if this matters but I’ve had ADHD most of my life and I only recently learned how to deal with it successfully, hence the upward trend.

Any responses are appreciated :slight_smile:

2

So you have schools on your list that don’t offer engineering majors. Carleton, Reed. Occidental, Pomona, Whitman. That could be one way to pare your list.

Also, you have a lot of reaches given your test scores and grades. You aren’t really competitive for Cornell, Brown. Pomona, CMU, or Carleton. You could keep one or two if it makes you feel better to try, but your odds of admission are quite low.

Someone with more experience with UC admissions could comment on the UCs.

Have you run the net price calculators on each school website to confirm that they are affordable?

3

For the LAC’s I was planning on doing a 3-2 program where I spend 3 years at the LAC then go to a engineering school for 2 years and get 2 degrees :). I have ran the net price calculator and they are affordable (well, to an extent, but its manageable).

4

@Gumbymom is an expert on the UC’s! :smiley:

5

The UC’s tend to be very GPA focused so a UC GPA below 4.0 will impact your chances at the majority of the UC’s and Cal Poly SLO. Also Cal Poly SLO uses 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation with a 8 semester Honors point cap. Being recently diagnosed with ADHD and how you dealt with the problem is hopefully addressed in one of your personal insight essays. Your upward trend is good but Senior grades are not considered the UC application review unless you are invited to submit a supplemental to explain your grades.

Your test scores are within range and you have some good EC’s and I like that you are a climber (another good personal insight essay subject).

I will quote you some statistics and these are not major specific and based on capped weighted UC GPA. ME or EE will require higher stats and will have lower admit rates.

Your list is Reach heavy, I see no safety schools and there is a high chance you may be shut out of the UC’s. You need to add UC Santa Cruz and Riverside to your list along with some Cal States such as CSU Long Beach, San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton or Cal Poly Pomona.

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%

2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71

2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:

UCB: 1360-1540

UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280

Best of luck, apply widely and identify 1-2 safety schools.

6

Only a very tiny number of students actually complete 3+2 programs. If you want an engineering degree, start at a college that offers the major.

7

I second @intparent comment above.

8

Ditto. Not to mention you have to pay for a fifth year of college

9

Consider adding some WUE schools that have mechanical engineering, such as NAU. https://wuesavingsfinder.wiche.edu/search-results.php NAU also gives merit aid to OOS students, including WUE students, if their unweighted core GPA is at least 3.0. https://nau.edu/office-of-scholarships-and-financial-aid/founders-scholarships/

10

@ConfusedSudent In addition to @corinthian 's excellent suggestion of NAU, I recommend ASU and UNM, where your test scores/grades might qualify you for merit money that would bring the cost down to CA in-state costs or lower.

11

ASU has a merit scholarship calculator you can use: https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator. Be sure to use your unweighted core GPA. Don’t use your UC GPA. The core GPA is calculated using the classes that form the competency requirements: https://admission.asu.edu/freshman/competency-requirements. That’s the same for NAU by the way.

12

University of Utah would be another school that is affordable and is a match. The climbing (and general outdoor lifestyle) there is great too.