<p>I’m most likely going to apply RD. I want to do engineering, preferrably bio/medical engineering. I know my critical reading is fairly low, but I was looking at statistics, and it seems that Brown didn’t expect a good portion of students apply with a CR score in the low 600s. I’m just hoping my other stuff will even out that one score. Do I stand a chance?</p>
<p>Academics
</p>
<p>Activities
</p>
<p>General Awards
</p>
<p>Hobbies
</p>
<p>Subjective
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<p>Tux,</p>
<p>Like many of us, you stand a chance. Your CR score, an important one in the SAT portfolio, is a bit low. What one doesn't know, and what no one can answer for you on CC, is whether the adcoms will overlook this. </p>
<p>I know that you've asked this question many, many times on different threads (Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, Swarthmore, etc.) and you seem to get the same feedback. Many tell you are a long shot (given your CR score) at these top schools, others tell you you have a decent chance. </p>
<p>Given this consistent feedback, are there schools you are applying to that are strong in engineering, where your CR score will not be an issue and where your chance of admission is higher? Schools like the following come to mind:</p>
<p>RPI
Lehigh
Stevens Institute of Technology
Purdue
Clarkson
WPI
University of Michigan
Rose-Hulman</p>
<p>While these don't have the same name recognition factor of the schools on your list, they are first-class institutions for engineering education.</p>
<p>Tux,</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I spoke with my Physics tutor this afternoon at Harvard. He is a PhD student. His wife is doing a PhD in bio-medical engineering at BU; she did her undergrad at RPI. He says the very top Ph.D programs for bio-medical engineering in the US (couldn't comment on undergraduate programs) are not at any of the Ivies. </p>
<p>They are at the following places, in no particular order:</p>
<p>MIT (though no formal department)
University of Texas - Austin
Boston University
University of Virginia
University of Michigan
Georgia Tech
Case Western Reserve
UC - Berkeley
UC - San Diego</p>
<p>While there may not be a link to strong undergraduate programs, these school may be worth looking at if you are seriously interested in this field. He also said that it is less important where you go to undergrad (so long as it is sufficiently strong in engineering and you do well) but it is important where you do your graduate work.</p>
<p>BalletGirl, I don't understand why you pop up in everyone of my threads and give me the same thing over and over again. </p>
<p>I know my SAT critical reading score is good, but for your information, people who have chanced me for Swathmore have said that I have a couple of hooks being Muslim, writing about that in my essay, and my robotics stuff, which is pretty big at Swarthmore. I've gotten mainly the same thing from another Penn student who said that the my extracurriculars particularly stand out and that if I write a couple of good essays, I stand a chance of getting in. As for Cornell, three out of the four people who chanced me said that I was strong engineering applicant and that they knew several people who had gotten critical reading scores very close to mine. I also made another chance thread a couple of months ago for Brown. My scores, then were slightly lower. People said I still had a chance and that my essays would be the defining aspect. </p>
<p>So, if all you're going to do is highlight my SAT scores over and over again without even looking at anything else, then stay away from any chance threads I might make from here on out. I don't need somebody to keep reiterating my weaknesses. I know what they are. However, I do appreciate the list you made for me, but I'm most likely going to get a full ride at Rutgers, which is my only safety.</p>
<p>You seem pretty confident and it sounds like you've gotten a lot of feedback from other chances threads you've made. If you don't want anyone to keep pointing out your weaknesses, what are you looking for? I know we all need a bit of reassurance this time of year. It's frightening, it really is. But if we wisely select schools to apply to, we'll all end up somewhere and we know that. </p>
<p>Anyway, I just don't see the point of you making this thread if you're rejecting feedback. We can look at your resume and build up your ego or tear it down. It's obviously not going to make a difference in the admissions process. </p>
<p>okay, I don't know why I'm ranting. end rant. sorry.</p>
<p>^ I second this post.</p>
<p>Whats the purpose of your chances post? To inflate your ego? Fine. Send a PM with what you want me to say.</p>
<p>And please people probably dont understand this </p>
<p>
[quote]
Distributed Computing Projects (World Community Grid sponsored by IBM (
FightAIDS@Home, Human Proteome Folding 2), Folding@Home by Stanford University
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</p>
<p>But there is nothing special about his achievement. Anyone out there can download a ruddy screensaver and let it run. </p>
<p>Though I doubt the Adcoms would understand this, everyone is a volunteer developer in the OSS world. If you get listed on the Gentoo Dev. pages, then we are talking sense. So I personally dont care about this part.
[quote]
I wrote about being a Gentoo Linux contributor and volunteer developer
[/quote]
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<p>There may not be. It's just a hobby. That's all. I mentioned it to my counselor, and she told me to list it as a hobby in the additional information section. That's all.</p>
<p>I didn't really mean it that way. I know what my weaknesses are, but BalletGirl points the CR thing out in every single thread. That's what annoys me. I've heard from the same person over and over again. I don't want to hear the same thing from the same person in another thread. If that's all BalletGirl will ever give me, then I don't want her chancing me at all.</p>
<p>Now, if somebody else mentions it in a post, then it's fine. However, if anyone really read the beginning of my thread, then you shouldn't really need to mention my SAT scores at all. I know that they are weak.</p>
<p>
[quote]
everyone is a volunteer developer in the OSS world
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's not true. If we're looking at Linux users, then most are not because most people do not use distros like Gentoo or Slackware, where significant knowledge is required and bugs manifest themselves very easily. </p>
<p>That was just a general description of the short essay. I talked about my work that I'm doing under my mentor. I should be a dev soon.</p>
<p>As for the confidence thing, I'm confident that my application is the best it can be. I did the best I could, and in the end, I accepted everything. That's where the confidence lies. The confidence has nothing to do with my chances. I know that I have to sell myself better than a lot of applicants.</p>
<p>Well, it's good to know you've done your best and you're presenting the strongest application possible. This is really the best thing you can think about so that you can quit worrying about applications (when they're done, of course!). This is what I'm telling myself to shake that nervous, anxious feeling, anyway.</p>
<p>As for chances threads, and this isn't directed at tux, they're just no good. They're not going to give us a fair judgement of our "chances," because only admissions officers know that. People might tell us "You're in! No question!" and then we'll be disappointed when we're rejected. Or we might be told we have no chance and this will discourage us from trying. </p>
<p>It's best just to know we've done all we can and we just need to sit back and wait. And watch TV, or read, or do something we haven't had the time to do because of this whole mess. Let's all relax instead of stalking around CC with our fists clenched with nervousness.</p>
<p>Okay, that post was really for ME. Whoo, I feel better now. I'm going to go read some Beckett!</p>
<p>
[quote]
That's not true. If we're looking at Linux users, then most are not because most people do not use distros like Gentoo or Slackware, where significant knowledge is required and bugs manifest themselves very easily.
[/quote]
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<p>Most are not? Lets talk sense here. Most of the users who use gentoo or slackware ARE developers. I agree there are other users too who use it for normal purposes. Freenode Channels are a proof of this fact. Users generally use their derivatives.</p>
<p>But anyways adcoms wont know, so its to your advantage.</p>
<p>(Just in case you are wondering, I was a dev for VLOS and Kororaa)</p>