Chances at MIT, Georgia Tech, etc.

Hello.

I was wondering what you thought my college list is reasonable considering my stats. Thank you for all of your help.

-MIT: - reach.
-Georgia Tech: - reach.
-University of Michigan: - reach.

-Virginia Tech: - target.
-Columbia University - target. (I’m very connected)
-Purdue: -Target.
-Carnegie Mellon - Target.

  • University of Illinois - Target.

-university of Colorado Boulder - safety.
-university of Texas Austin - safety.

  • Stevens Institute of technology - safety

In my freshmen and sophomore year, I didn’t do well at all. I had around a 3.4 gpa (unweighted) in each. However, in junior year, everything changed. My cousin died from a drug overdose. I started working really hard, and I received a 4.0 gpa, and a 35 on my act. So far, I have a 4.0 in my junior year also. Additionally, I have taken at least 2 science classes each year, with 4 in my junior year. All math and science has been AP or honors, and all history and English has been regular. By the end of my senior year I will have taken AP computer science, AP chemistry, AP physics, and AP calculus.

I would want to be an electrical engineer at MIT, and I already have lab experience. I designed, built, and published a paper on robotic fish by myself. I have won the nasa hackathon, and I have built many other robots and computers myself. Additionally, I have published 4 scientific articles with myself as either the author or co-author. Lastly, I am an Eagle Scout, and a nationally ranked and rated fencer.

Thank you so much for your help.

You’re off the mark on reach vs. target.
CMU is a reach (their EE program is among the most competitive in the country).
Columbia should also be a reach (I’m not sure what very connected means, but unless you’re family is a big donor, it’s a reach).
Georgia Tech and Michigan are targets.
The EE program at Purdue is also very competitive and is approaching reach territory for you.

Also, keep in mind the OOS tuition at Colorado is insane.

@soze Michigan is definitely a reach not target (or match). Check out the GPA. With 2 year of 3.4 and one year of 4.0, the cumulative uwGPA is 3.6. It is way below the admission average for CoE there (3.9). UMich considers GPA to be very important (more so than test scores).

OP, where is your home state? Are you from Texas?

@billcsho - totally agree. Michigan has a 20% OOS acceptance rate nowadays and a lower one for Engineering, probably about 15%.

Michigan is definitely a reach.