Chance me? Very nervous about applications!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m an Asian Vietnamese male, parents make around 90k, from Dallas, Texas.

Major: Chemical Engineering (pre-med major)

Colleges I’m applying to:

Texas A&M

UT Austin (Reach)

Baylor University

Penn State

NYU

Boston University

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

University of Colorado Boulder

GPA: 93.61 (school shows only weighted GPA, doesn’t show us unweighted; also had a weak Freshman GPA of 89)

2nd Quintile; highly competitive class (i.e. a 96 will place you only into the 1st Quintile) - around 250 in my grade

SAT: 1350/1600 (650 Reading, 700 Math), no essay; second attempt: 1330 (660 Reading, 670 Math), 5/2/6

Took 3 years of German, stopped after Junior year

(Most likely will not be sending in any AP scores)

Past AP Courses: AP Physics I (3), APUSH (2), AP English III (3), WHAP (3), AP Macroeconomics (Didn’t take)

(Current) Senior AP Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Physics II, AP English IV, AP Government, AP Calculus BC

Essays: Mediocre to good; I’d rate them a 6/10

Extracurriculars:

Chess Club (Freshman to Current)

Mu Alpha Theta (Sophomore to Current)

Varsity Wrestling (Sophomore to Junior)

Varsity Tennis (Freshman to Junior)

Asian American Club (started in the current year)

Over 80 Service Hours/Volunteer Work (School requires us to do 5 hours per quarter, thus 20 hours per year)

TAPPS Calculator (didn’t place last year, will be doing again this year)

TAPPS Science (competition hasn’t started this year)

TAPPS Spelling (placed 7th last year)

Thank ya’ll so much for reading through this and chancing me; I highly appreciate it!

2

All the schools on the list are reach schools. UT and A&M have ridiculously selective engineering programs and you’d be likely denied. The rest are either private or out of state. For the others, even if you got in, it would be unlikely you could afford them. If you were to apply with your current list, there’s an almost certain likelihood you would end up spending your first year at community college. Cost is a precondition before you even put a school on your list. You’ll want to include a lot more schools in Texas like UT-Dallas, University of Houston, Texas Tech, Texas State, and UTSA.

3

You need to run the NPC’s for schools and see if they’re affordable. OOS tuition is expensive and you have good, inexpensive schools in-state. Be thankful. I’d apply to many Texas schools like Houston, TTU, or UT Dallas.

Also look at schools to see if they are direct admit to engineering or whether you have to compete for openings when you’re a sophomore. I think Penn State isn’t direct admit.

If you’re thinking med school you want to minimize undergrad costs and keep a high GPA. Engineering is a great degree but tough.

4

If you really want to go to an out-of-state flagship, consider U of Utah in SLC. It has many of the same positive attributes as CU-Boulder but is much less expensive, offers more merit aid, and allows OOS students to become residents after the first year. It has a great Honors College, for which you might qualify, plus a med school and a major city that would offer great premed shadowing/etc. opportunities.

Even with the max OOS merit award, CU Boulder would cost upwards of $50K/year with no need-based aid available. Penn State is similar I believe. NYU and BU are both expensive private U’s that do not meet full documented need, and your stats would not get your merit aid.

As others have stated, your best bets for schools that you can a) get into, b) afford, and c) get med-school-worthy grades once there are in-state. (Staying in Texas is also smart in terms of having relatively affordable in-state med schools to aim for.) U of Houston has a Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering program, and it’s a straight shot on public transit to the largest medical complex in the world. And it’s a match/safety for your stats (a safety for admission to the university in general, but I’m not sure how much higher engineering stats are vs. the school as a whole). At least apply there - you have no solid safeties on your list at all, right now (remember a safety isn’t a safety unless you can get in AND afford to attend), and that’s not a good strategy.