Chances/Where else should i apply?

<p>hey again. im a white jewish male from nj. </p>

<h2>GPA: ~3.7uw ~4.02 weighted...heres the breakdown:</h2>

<p>Freshman Year:
Geometry A
Health C
Hon Debate A-
Hon English I B+
Hon Bio B-
Gym A-
Programming B
Spanish 2 B
World History A-</p>

<p>GPA: 3.5547</p>

<p>Sophmore Year:
AP US Hist A
Algebra 2 A+
Hon Robotics A+
Health A+
Hon Excel A+
Hon English II A-
Hon Chem A-
Personal Finance A+
Gym A+
Spanish A</p>

<p>GPA: 4.3938</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Physics B A-
Gym A+
Health A+
Hon Government B+
Entrepreneurship A
Vietnam A
Hon Contemp History A
Precalc A+
AP Euro B+
Hon English III B+
Spanish 4 A</p>

<p>GPA: ~4.2</p>

<p>Senior Year (guesses):
AP Art History A+
AP Statistics A
AP Calc AB A
AP Chem B+
AP English B+
Spanish 5 A-
Hon Engineering A</p>

<h2>GPA: ~4.5-</h2>

<p>SAT I: 1420/2110 (720m, 700v, 690w) -retaking in october</p>

<h2>SAT IIs: US Hist 740, Math IIC 740, Physics 720...I didnt do quite as well as i wouldve liked but i dont think its worth retaking</h2>

<p>ECs: Teachers assistant at synagogue, will get teacher cert. at end of year
Religious school from 1st grade - now(its most forum/debate oriented now and i dedicate time to it)
League bowling
school bowling 9, 10, (maybe 12 and if so captain, they already told me, but i dont know if i want to...i really dont like it)
school volleyball 10, 11, (12)
Volunteer at library and historical society
Intl. Affairs Club
My schools version of NHS
philosophy club
peer tutoring</p>

<p>Work every summer...bagger freshman year, subway last year, working at my synagogue this year</p>

<h2>I know i dont really have anything that stands out or is special. I will probably write an essay on a rare disease i had in 5th grade and maybe one on my dedication to my synagogue if thats advised.</h2>

<p>Heres a preliminary list of schools i want to apply to (for engineering):
Columbia, Swarthmore, (Penn maybe? someone just told me to), Cornell, Bucknell, Lehigh...i really dont know where else! any ideas would be nice :) I want either a small but preferably a medium sized school and preferably on the east coast (or else UMich, northwestern, etc would be nice.) I also wish some of the schools i like werent so frat involved :(</p>

<p>anyway, thanks for any help or advice</p>

<p>upppppppppp</p>

<p>i think you need some more safety schools besides Lehigh... i'm not sure which would have good engineering though...</p>

<p>yeah thats the problem im having...finding safeties for engineering (well there is rutgers)</p>

<p>I had a similar GPA as yours and had similar scores before I bumped them up. I applied/looked at similar schools, but I think your list is a bit reach heavy. Columbia, Swarthmore, Penn, and Cornell are all reaches. Bucknell and Lehigh are matches with around 60% chance or so at each. Some safeties you could look at are RPI (I didn't like it, but it has around 5000 students which seems like your ideal size), RIT (I didn't look there, around 10000 students), or WPI (around 3000 students). For another match, I would recommend Lafayette, as its pretty similar to Lehigh and Bucknell.</p>

<p>thanks, i know i have a couple reaches on there but my philosophy is that if i think i have some chance and i really like it i might as well apply or else who knows if i ever coulod have gotten in. Ill probably end up applying to 3 or 4 reaches. I am looking at lafayette, forgot to post it. Also RPI looks interesting, never considered it before. Is it considered a prestigious school at all? also, are there any good campus pics? I cant seem to find any</p>

<p>DISCLAIMER: I am basing my answers basically on stats for these schools. :)</p>

<p>If you're applying to Columbia for engineering, will you then be applying to SEAS? If so, you have a good shot. For Columbia College, it will be a reach.</p>

<p>Swarthmore will be a reach as well but good essays and recs can overcome that, especially for LACs.</p>

<p>Cornell is a safe reach...if that makes any sense...it's leaning towards a match but kind of a reach b/c its an Ivy. </p>

<p>Bucknell - I'd say your in.
Lehigh - I don't know much a/b Lehigh.</p>

<p>Hah we're so alike. Male Jews from tristate area who worked as teachers assistants at their synagogue. You fluent?</p>

<p>yeah it would be Columbia SEAS</p>

<p>and no, im not fluent, although id like to learn in college :( i barely speak any anymore. I only help out 2nd graders for hebrew, mostly i do judaica studies. I used to be really anti-synagogue but when i went to israel last year i really loved it and became much more involved. hopefully one day i can become fluent</p>

<p>upppppppppppp...also, could i get merit aid at any good eng schools?</p>

<p>u got a C in health ? lol</p>

<p>yeah it was some stupid **** but they wouldnt change it</p>

<p>Whoever said to look into Penn is right =)
The engineering school is already solid and they're focusing on it like crazy...new buildings and all.
And you'll make your mom happy by meeting a nice jewish girl.</p>

<p>haha you know, my mom isnt very religious but she does seem to want that :p I do too though, probably, as im proud of my heritage :D Do i have any chance at Penn Engineering though? Because I live outside philly, we have like 20-30 kids apply there each year :(</p>

<p>also, how is Uni. of Rochester?</p>

<p>I think Brandeis is a great match for you. The frat scene is not very big. (5 frats, off-campus and not recognized.)</p>

<p>Jewish life is wonderful, and the local temples are always looking to hire Brandeis students as teachers.</p>

<p>In terms of engineering, there's a joint program with Columbia, in which you study at 'Deis for three years and earn a BA in a science (usually physics) and then spend two years at Columbia to earn a BS in engineering.</p>

<p>See page 41 of the bulletin for details: <a href="http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/bulletin/covers/2005_06print/001-069.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/bulletin/covers/2005_06print/001-069.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>i really dont like brandeis, or else id def apply</p>

<p>up one more time</p>

<p>and no, im not fluent, although id like to learn in college i barely speak any anymore. I only help out 2nd graders for hebrew, mostly i do judaica studies. I used to be really anti-synagogue but when i went to israel last year i really loved it and became much more involved. hopefully one day i can become fluent</p>

<p>It takes a loooooooong time. Youll probably need to be immersed in Israel for a good 5 years to be fluent. I've been speaking hebrew since I was 4 (going on 18), still nowhere near fluent. Rediculously difficult language.</p>

<p>yeah i really wanan learn a second language and i was thinking about hebrew (still am) but it does seem very difficult, esp. reading w/o vowels i cant even comprehend being able to do that lol</p>

<p>reading without vowels isnt a big deal. It just comes down to permutations of how many ways you can say the word. It's just knowing where it fits in context. Grammar and vocab are the two most difficult areas.</p>