Chances at some reasonable schools (I hope)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I would be much obliged to you guys if you CCers could give me an evaluation of my stats and my chances at the schools I am currently considering for application.</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>Rising senior from SC hoping to go into Electrical Engineering</p>

<p>SAT I Composite Score- 2210/2230
CR- 790, Math- 720 (740 in March), Writing- 700
PSAT- 207 (Probably Commended Scholar)
SAT II- Math IC- 730, taking two more in October</p>

<p>Class Rank- 1 of 318
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 5.03 weighted (SC Uniform Grading Scale), 4.25 UC GPA (Including only AP courses as weighted)</p>

<p>AP Courses:
1. Physics C Mech.- 5
2. Statistics- 5
3. Calculus BC (Taking this year)
4. English Literature (Taking this year)
5. Chemistry (Taking this year)
6. Physics C E+M (Independent Study this year)
(Since my school is on a 4x4 block schedule, it’s impossible to take more than 4 AP courses per year, and it’s hard to obtain the required prerequisites to enter AP courses before your junior year) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards: </p>

<p>Rensselaer Math and Science Medal Winner
National Honor Society (2 years)- President Senior Year- Starting a school and county clean up program, starting an adopt a road program.
Mu Alpha Theta (3 years)- President Senior Year- Starting a tutoring program for underclassmen.
Academic/Quiz Bowl Team (2 years)- Captain Senior Year
French Club (3 years)- Vice President Junior Year
2005 Commencement Marshal
Math Team (4 years)- Placed 25th out of 250 at the College of Charleston Math Meet</p>

<p>I am heavily involved in music, and I am usually at some kind of rehearsal four nights a week during the school year. Various leadership positions here, namely in school orchestras (concertmaster, section leader, asst. concertmaster, etc).</p>

<p>South Carolina All-State and Regional Orchestras- Selected for the past 6 years</p>

<p>NJROTC Drill Team (freshman year in high school)</p>

<p>Worked a summer at a local music shop. I now put in one day a week at a restaurant. </p>

<p>Audited Physics courses this summer at Clemson University.</p>

<p>Worked at local United Way’s Success by 6 program twice to promote literacy in our area (Probably around 25 hours total).</p>

<p>40-50 volunteer hours at the library.</p>

<p>Probably around 20 more volunteer hours at other miscellaneous places.</p>

<p>300+ volunteer hours playing for the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, a non-profit organization that plays for the local Anderson community.</p>

<p>Probably good recs.</p>

<p>Here are the schools that I am considering:
Stanford (SCEA)- Reach
UC Berkeley- Reach
Georgia Tech
UIUC
Purdue
Ohio State
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Clemson- In-State Safety</p>

<p>So, are these schools reasonable?</p>

2

<p>THEY ARE REASONABLE and you are right about reaches. let's see those SAT IIs when you take them. math IC doesnt count.</p>

3

<p>I think UC Berkeley is more of a match. While Stanford is a reach for everyone, I'd say you have a great shot at every other school on your list.</p>

4

<p>Berkeley would be a solid match if you were instate, but because you're not it's more like a high match/slight reach. Stanford is a reach, and the rest are matches or safeties.</p>

5

<p>I think you should apply to more of the highly selective schools. </p>

<p>Stanford - reach
Berkeley - slight reach
Georgia Tech - match; possibly even safe match
UIUC - safe match
Purdue - safety
Ohio State - safety
Rensselaear - safe match</p>

<p>As you can see, you need more matches and reaches, unless you have a particular reason for the schools on your list.</p>

<p>The ones w/ stars are ones I think would be best given your prospective major...</p>

<p>If I were you I'd pick one or two of these
-Harvard
-Princeton
-Yale
-UPenn
-Duke*
-MIT*
-Caltech*
-Columbia
-Dartmouth</p>

<p>then pick one or two of these:
-Northwestern*
-Cornell*
-U Chicago
-Vanderbilt
-Emory
-Carnegie Mellon*
-Michigan*</p>

6

<p>I agree with Stambliark41-with your statistics, you should reach a little more. Do you need financial aid? Why are you interesting in applying to state schools as an out-of-stater? (Note- no engineering at U of Chicago.) Check out Johns Hopkins University- great engineering, and you can take music at Peabody Conservatory. Check out University of Rochester- you will probably get some good financial aid there.</p>

7

<p>Thanks a lot guys for your input!</p>

<p>OneMom- I have visited these schools, and they all seem very engineering-focused and I can see myself attending there. Out of state seems to be best because of the lack of great engineering programs here in SC (well, Clemson has a decent program). You're right, the problem with these state schools is that I don't think I'll get a lot of financial aid. However, I don't know if I can get into the really great private institutions such as Cornell and Caltech. What a dilemma. </p>

<p>stambliark41- So, how would my chances be at Cornell and Carnegie Mellon? I thought about Cornell, but I decided that I didn't want too many reach schools. I would hate to be rejected from all the schools that I applied to.</p>

8

<p>Carnegie Mellon is a match, possibly safe match. Cornell is a slight reach, possibly match. The only reason I'm hesitating is your math scores are low for wanting to be an engineering major.</p>

<p>All of the ones in list 2 you have a fairly solid chance of being admitted to. The ones in list 1 are reaches for everybody, but you are qualified and should give a couple a go.</p>

<p>If you like all the ones on your list, I would stick w/ those and add a few more selective ones. With the list you have, you should have no fear at all of being rejected from all of your schools. This gives you the chance to reach a bit more.</p>