Hi all,
I would like to know if if I’m “Ivy League” material or in a good positions of going into a top tier schools for mechanical engineering. I already have a list of schools that was created from the forums in a different thread. I just created this thread out of curiosity, but also a way of seeing how many reach schools I should apply.
Here are my stats as of right now:
State: Illinois
Ethnicity/Gender: Asian Male
Income Bracke: $200,000-$250,000
SAT I: 1st Try: 1370 [M 710, EBR 640]—2nd Try : 1390 [M 790, EBR 600]
SAT II: MATH II: 650
Weighted GPA: 4.456
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
AP Scores: AP Human Geography: 4, AP World History: 5, AP US History: TBA, AP Physics 1: TBA, AP Statstics: TBA
Senior Course Load: AP Computer Science Principles, AP Biology, AP Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Micro/Macro Economics,
Extracurriculars [No Leaderships Positions Given at all except for Interact Club]
Math Team- State Qualifier, won many ribbons in meets
Science Olympiad:
Robotics:
Interact Club: Done numerous volunteering work
JV Boys Volleyball: JV Athletic Award, won two tournaments against difficult competition.
Volunteering/Work Experience:
100+ Hours in Chinese School- Basketball Coach and Tutor. Organized Chinese New Year Events and School Events.
Currently Interning for Private Company (Engineering Related)- Using Auto-CAD and handling testing operations.
Miscellaneous:
Voted from 5 groups to take part in creating blueprints for a house thst will be built.
2nd Place for Photoshop Manipulation for a Local College.
Hi 
Your stem accomplishments are very good. 790 SAT math and ECs are great. Your GPA is fantastic. In fact, everything looks great except two things. First of all, your math II score. To be competitive for a top tier school, you’re going to need a much higher score, hopefully 770+. The second thing that I think will be an issue is your SAT score itself. Honestly, as an Asian guy in stem from a fairly common state, you have some really tough competition. That SAT English score will need to be at 700. However, I am aware that there are only a couple SAT dates before deadlines and you still need to retake math II. I suggest you take SAT math II in August and try the ACT in September. Take the SAT/subject tests one more time in October if you think you need to. Good luck!
Your ECs and GPA are awesome! As @justdreaming said, your math II score is fairly low. It’s fairly notorious for being a brutal SAT II and the curve is deadass awful. It sucks, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Try to avoid reporting that score if you can.
Your normal SAT math is amazing, too- you just need to bump your english section by 50-100 points. This is something where taking a lot of online practice tests will help you a lot. Start out with ones that give instant feedback (I think Khan Academy has a practice test like this) that tell you why your chosen answer was incorrect and weigh out all the answer options for you after you get the question wrong. Once you get more of an intuitive feel for what answers they’re looking for, you’ll start to notice score improvement pretty quickly.
I think that you stand a chance at reach schools, but treat them like the reaches that they are and focus on finding “match” schools that you connect with well. You might like Purdue and state schools like UC Irvine and Michigan Tech! Those are great for STEM. State schools can be better for engineering than privates, imo. Even if they’re out of state for you.
If the SAT 1 test is troublesome for you, try an ACT. Right now Ivies are massive reaches. The other posters have noted that you are in a bad demographic (Asian male) and your competition for admissions will have SAT 1 test scores north of 1550 and Subject scores close to 800 on everything. And even with those scores, they will get outright rejected.
Add Purdue, UIUC, Indiana-Bloomington, and Penn State as good state schools that are potential matches.
As another poster noted, your Math 2 score needs improvement. Barron’s and Dr. Chungs are 2 of the best prep books out there. The Math 2 curve is actually really generous. Theoretically you can get up to 10 questions wrong and still get ~750. 650 is really low since you should have learned enough geometry and trigonometry already for the test.
I did note that your superscore from the 2 best sections is 1430. That might get you into the better midwestern publics (UIUC, UM-Twin Cities, and UW Madison). WashU may even be a reach since your GPA is high enough and this year students have been accepted with SAT 1 around 1400.
Thanks you for your comments. I forgot to mention that I took the Subject Test when I was still learning PreCalc in January . Now I’ve learned all the topics in PreCalc and some of Calculus, so I think I can get a 750+. I know that I can omit 5 and still get a 800 if I don’t get any wrong.
@Hamurtle I’m working on my reading over the summer, and I’ve bought books like Erica Melzter for reading and writing. I’m planning to take a pretest in testing like condition and see what questions I got wrong. You said that for Ivy League Schools I need a SAT score of 1550+ or a 35 on the ACT. Is that score Superscored or a score from one sitting? Also, I know California Public Schools don’t Superscore like UC Berkeley and UCLA, do you know what SAT score would be ideal for me?
The super-selective schools are likely super-reaches, since your test scores are on the low side (compared to other applicants to those schools) and your ECs do not appear to have anything that would stand out (compared to other applicants to those schools – probably need some state or national level achievement for that).
@ucbalumnus Which schools are super selective? Are they Stanford, Caltech, MIT?
So Cal Tech and MIT may actually be easier for you than the top tier ivies, since they don’t give as much advantage to hooks (legacy, athlete, minority, first gen). Why are you so ivy focused for MechE? They don’t have as strong a mech eng program as the colleges that posters have mentioned - stanford, mit, uiuc, purdue, in addition to michigan, berkeley.
@theloniusmonk I’m not Ivy Focused. I said in my original post that I was curious to see if I have a chance or in a good position in getting into those top tier schools regardless of tuition and etc m. This will help me decided on how many reach schools i want to apply to
33+ or 1500+ should be your target but still a reach. 34 or 1550 is better. While a 35/36 or 1600 is great, people get i with 33’s and 1500’s. They also get rejected with perfect test scores and GPAs.
If you can get to a 33/1500, pick a few and apply. You never know. Just don’t lock in. I think you have the right attitude.
1430 SAT superscored makes getting into a highly selective school (Ivies, MIT, Caltech) a major, major reach. Your chances are further diminished by being an Asian male from a large state from an affluent family. No offense intended, but your info fits squarely in the Asian stereotype of studious kid who gets great grades and has typical nerdy EC’s without any leadership roles. There will be tons of Asian males with the above and perfect/almost perfect test scores that get rejected from those schools.
If you want to improve your prospects for any top school, including the better state flagships, first try to get your EBR score up in the SAT to close to or over 700. Because most schools superscore the SAT (and only formally use composite ACT scores), I think you have a better shot at just focusing on improving your EBR score, rather than take your chances with the ACT which will be a somewhat unfamiliar test with a Science section and less time to answer each question. BTW, all of the highly selective schools require the optional writing section of the SAT and ACT.
Take a look at SAT II requirements for your list of colleges. If you intend to be an engineering major, some schools like Caltech and MIT require 1 math and 1 science SAT II. Many of the highly selective schools require/recommend 2 SAT II’s. They are not quite as important as the SAT I or ACT, but conventional wisdom says you need to be over 700 to be competitive. I think your guidance counselors did you a disservice by not having you take at least 1 other SAT II in June when the subject was fresh in your mind. AP’s do not substitute for SAT II’s.
Your essays and LoR’s have to be exceptional. You don’t have EC’s that can stand on their own like major national (or even state) awards or recognition. The essays and LoR’s have to give better context to your list of EC’s to demonstrate positive attributes like commitment, perseverance, energy, leadership, and service.
@BKSquared Haha, no offense taken. I see where you’re getting at, and im well aware that perfect score scores get rejected, too. I mentioned a few post before that k already improving on my EBR section this summer break, and retaking the SAT II. I will for sure take your advice in clarifying how my EC’s aren’t “extraordinary”. My school don’t give out leadership roles except for NHS and Interact Club, so that’s why I don’t have a leadership in my other clubs.
@theloniusmonk" I’m not Ivy Focused. I said in my original post that I was curious to see if I have a chance or in a good position in getting into those top tier schools regardless of tuition and etc m. This will help me decided on how many reach schools i want to apply to"
Your post title is “chances on ivies or top tier”, then you start your post with “am I ivy league material?” If you really are focused on ivies, and the prestige that comes with it, then I’d pick one of Penn, Cornell to apply ED, your chances are much higher and they have the top two engineering programs of the ivies. But you’ll have to improve your tests, by a lot, since you’ve taken the SAT twice, I’d focus on the ACT and see if you can get around 34. The Math 2 has to be retaken, aim for 750 min on that. Good luck!