Chance me please?

College Majors Architecture Major
1

<p>Im reposting this here hoping to get a better outcome. </p>

<p>Since it is now coming down to the wire, with the application process starting very soon, I would really like to get some input from you guys as to what my chances are.</p>

<p>My prospective major will be Architecture btw.</p>

<p>My (kind of) finalized college list, ordered by interest, is:</p>

<ol>
<li>MIT (reach, I know this, but it has been my dream school since 3rd grade.)</li>
<li>Drexel</li>
<li>Northeastern</li>
<li>UMass Amherst</li>
<li>Ohio State</li>
<li>NJIT</li>
</ol>

<p>*also looking into Syracuse, RISD, and others but not too sure about these. Definitely open to more suggestions!</p>

<p>Okay so here is my basic breakdown:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2040 M:660 (low, I know) CR: 690 W:690 -Essay:9
SAT II: Planning to take in the fall, Math 2 and most likely Biology, not sure what score to expect
ACT: Will be taking in the fall as well</p>

<p>GPA: 4.33 weighted, not sure unweighted but would say around 3.9
Rank: School does not rank
All high school classes have been Honors, took AP English Language junior year and got a score of 5</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:</p>

<p>Architecture Studio II
AP English Literature
Physics
Calculus
AP Human Geography
AP Environmental Science (maybe)</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Junior Statesmen of America (Debate Club) Since freshman year
Consumer Bowl (Kind of like a quiz bowl about consumer laws in New Jersey) 10-12, Captain this upcoming year
Urban Agriculture 11-12
Japanese Honor Society 10-12
Japanese Club 10-12</p>

<p>Volunteering:
English and Assistant teacher at kindergarten and 5th grade level in rural school in Guarne, Colombia
Animal Shelters in NYC</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Childcare for 5+ years
Tutoring in Math and Spanish
Internship on Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design and programming at Ross International Design and Machining-Moldes Medellin (Latin American branch of American company)</p>

<p>I am Hispanic, come from a single-parent low-income home if that makes a difference.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post but thank you to anyone that helps me out, it will be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I think your high grade point and ethnic and family background will go a long way in compensating for your midlevel SATI scores. I don’t know which, if any, of the schools on your list require a portfolio, but if they do, that will be a major factor as well.</p>

<p>I think taking the ACT is a good idea. You might consider taking the SATI again too after doing some prep as it’s quite common to see improvement the second time as you get more familiar with the test.</p>

<p>I’d also suggest that you contact QuestBridge immediately. This is a wonderful organization that helps match high achieving low income students with top colleges all over the country (including MIT).</p>

<p>If you need financial aid to attend, you should be looking at schools that guarantee full aid. Again, I don’t know how the schools on your list stack up on need based aid; but as a general statement, some of the more selective are the most generous. If you go with the BS/BA+MArch route, think about how you’re going to finance the masters.</p>

<p>Because you’re considering two different degrees and you’ll want a range of selectivity in both, your list may be on the long side. You already have a good foundation of safeties. As a high achieving URM I think you could add some additional reaches and high rated matches – both in the BArch and BS/BA category. </p>

<p>For the BArch I would suggest Cornell, Rice, Syracuse, Auburn, Tulane.</p>

<p>The BS/BA list could include just about any college that appeals to you. I’d look at Princeton, Brown, University of Virginia, WUSTL, Cincinnati.</p>

<p>I’d also suggest that you look at some of the small liberal arts colleges even if they don’t offer an architectural studies major per se. Even the most selective – like Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Hamilton – would find you a person of interest. Many are quite generous with financial aid and their track record for MArch admissions is quite good. </p>

<p>Ohio State and UMass seem outliers to me. UMass’ BFA architecture may not be what you’re looking for. I’m not sure I understand the rationale for including Ohio. Unless you have a reason to be in Ohio, I think there are better choices for the BS. If you want to include a big State school, then I’d suggest University of Michigan.</p>

<p>RISD seems like a different direction to me.</p>

<p>Lastly, you need to focus your ECs so that they present a clearer picture of what you’re most interested in, basically who you are and what you can contribute to the campus community.</p>

3

<p>Just FYI - Tulane has recently added a 4 year BS Architecture degree in addition to their MArch 5 year degree (MArch and BArch are both five year undergraduate degrees). That’s nice you have multiple options within the same university. <a href=“http://architecture.tulane.edu/programs/degrees”>http://architecture.tulane.edu/programs/degrees&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>MIT - reach
Drexel - safety
Northeastern - match
UMass - match/safety
OSU - match
NJIT - safety</p>

<p>good luck! :-)</p>

5

<p>Just get the SAT math score up to make things safer at Northeaster, and boost your chances at MIT. </p>