Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): First gen
Intended Major(s)
Biomedical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 98.92
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 103.41
Class Rank: 2/250
ACT/SAT Scores: 34 (All 34s)
Coursework (AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
5 APs Taken: Physics (5), Psych (5), US History (5), Lang (4), World (4)
6 APs to Take: Chem, Bio, BC Calc, Gov, Micro, and Lit
Awards
AP Scholar w Distinction
Highest Honor Roll
Extracurriculars
Bioengineering Research at a Local University (Hopefully publishing soon) (Will also be submitting to Regeneron STS and competing at local state fairs)
President of Math Honor Society (11-12)
Vice President of Science Honor Society (11-12)
Treasurer of National Honor Society (10-12) (Along with Algebra 2 and ACT/SAT Tutoring)
Science Olympiad (10-12)
Mathletes (9-12)
Key Club (10-12) ~20 hours volunteering
50+hours Volunteering
Various summer programs (Rochester Pre-College, Cold Spring Harbor Research Camp)
Experience in several CAD programs: AutoCAD, SketchUp, SOLIDWORKS (Certified Professional) and MatLab
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: 7-8/10
AP Physics Teacher: 9/10
AP Lang Teacher: 8/10
Counselor: 8/10
Schools
Safety *
RPI (EA)
SUNY Stonybrook
Hofstra University
Match
Northeastern (ED2)
Tufts
Boston University
NYU
Villanova
Are your parents fine with being full pay at any of the schools on your list? Alternately, have you run the NPC?
Is Northeastern definitely your second choice? Also, is Cornell definitely your first choice? There is a chance that you might get into Cornell, and a greater chance that you might get into Northeastern. As such, this might take away your chances at the other schools on your list.
Cornell is definitely my first choice at the moment. My parents are okay with paying for top schools on my list. I am unsure if I should ED2 to northeastern though as I am unsure if I would be able to get into northeastern through early action.
I am not sure your matches are matches- I know Tufts, BU and Northeastern are all very difficult admits. Does your school have a history of students being admitted to those schools?
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments in high school so far. Your future looks very promising.
I am known for being conservative in my chancing of students. I think you stand as good a chance as anyone at getting into the schools on your list. Unfortunately, those schools could fill their incoming classes multiple times over with the number of qualified students they receive and it really just depends on what a school is looking for this year. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were accepted to all of the schools on your list. But chancing, to me, means what I think your odds are. With that preface, here’s how I would categorize your chances.
ETA: This chancing was done prior to reading about the # of students from Cornell accepted. Later posts indicating the percentage of students who were accepted to Cornell indicate that OP’s high school is of an exceptional and particular caliber, and this chancing in no way equates to what it would be based off that additional information. I am leaving it up here for the later comments to make sense.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Hofstra
Likely (60-79%)
RPI
Stony Brook (placing this one here rather than extremely likely as I’m unsure how competitive the engineering fields are to get into…CS & engineering are usually significantly more competitive than the school as a whole)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Villanova
Low Probability (20-39%)
Northeastern
Boston U.
NYU
Lower Probability (less than 20%)
Tufts
Cornell
MIT
U. Penn
Villanova is not ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering or any variation thereof. NYU is accredited for Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, and, stunning me, MIT is accredited in Chemical-Biological Engineering. Is that where your interest lies for biomedical engineering, or are you interested in prosthetics or other non-chemical aspects of the field? Of course, perhaps engineering experts out there can explain how biomedical engineering might fall in a different field (as I can’t imagine that MIT wouldn’t have something relevant), but I would at least investigate those two schools more to make sure that they have what you need.
Do you have a clear first choice? If so, that’s the only place I would consider EDing. But, that’s only if the Net Price Calculator (NPC) results in a price that your family is willing and able to pay. Is your family and willing to pay for each of these schools as demonstrated on the NPC? If not, then I would urge you to reconsider your list as most of these schools do not offer merit aid.
Wishing you the best of luck this application season.
I respect and value your handicapping ability but I had a question…had you considered OP is ranked 2 of 250 at a school that had 7 Cornell matriculations last year and a history of success at top 50?
That’s good that your school has a history with these colleges. I would talk to your guidance counselor about your specific chances for these schools. And make sure your parents are good with the finances- what do your parents mean by top schools? Will they pay for all of the schools on your list, or only certain ones?
I did note where OP was in his class, but had sorted the schools prior to reading the OP’s later posts about 7 students being admitted to Cornell from the prior year. With that info, then yes, OP’s chances definitely improve. The school guidance counselor would definitely be a better source for chancing than random folks on the internet who have no background knowledge of the specific school.
@nick11111, do you know how many students applied to Cornell last year? Are half of the students accepted, more, less?
If 2/3 of the students from your school who applied to Cornell were accepted, then you can probably ignore all of my categorizations from above, as that is well above and beyond any typical school’s results. Your school’s guidance counselor is definitely who you should be asking these questions to.
Around 1/2 of the students that applied got into Cornell. On often, around 2-4 students attend Cornell each year. This year it just happened that 7 were accepted and 4 will be attending. Additionally, I have been talking to many classmates and it seems I am the only one EDing to Cornell. I am unsure if this approves my chances in any way.
My GC mentioned schools like SUNY Binghamton, Rutgers, Penn State. However, our guidance counselor only really see our grades and scores as we do not really provide any information about our ECs prior to our annual meetings.
I think you should look at those schools, at least. Those seem more likely/matches than some of the ones on your list at the moment. Did your GC say anything about Cornell ED?
Rather than chancing you, I’d like to know what unifies the list? What do you want your experience to be like beyond rank and prestige? I ask because the experience at many of them will be quite different. I can’t imagine a student who would like Tufts engineering thriving at MIT. They are VERY different. That’s no judgement on quality, but day in and day out college life.
