Changes for top engineering school?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What do you think my chances are for the following colleges?
Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, U of Mich</p>

<p>Class Rank: 3 of 300
GPA: 4.14 (weighted) 3.98 (unweighted)
PSAT: 202, 96 percentile
SAT: Not taken
ACT: Not taken
AP Taken: World History (Scored 5)
AP Currently Taking or Will Take: US History, Physics, Calc, Stats, Chem, Psych, Lit, Econ</p>

<p>Volunteering: Summer soccer coach, 5 hrs a week since summer before junior year
EC: Soccer (4 yrs), Track (2 yrs), NHS (2 yrs, Treasurer), Liberal Action Committee (2 yrs, co-founder), Spanish Club (2 yrs), Speech (2 yrs), Math League (3 yrs, state every year)
Work: PC Tech at Circuit City</p>

<p>I plan on taking the SAT, ACT, SAT II Physics, US History and Math II. My dream school would be Stanford but I'm not sure if I can get in. What would I have to score to have a change of getting in? Also, what else could I do to improve my chances? I am currently a junior and want to go for engineering. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>honestly, i would toss princeton out for engineering. Im an prospective engineering student (senior in HS) and like you should focus closely on Umich Stanford, berkeley, georgia tech, U of I Urbanna, and USC. Honeslty, even though princeton may be great for law and such, not so good for enineering. ive already been accepted to Umich and im waiting for stanford and berk and im seriously considering umich. If you need anything PM and ill help you more. Check this list out. Maybe it will help you focus:
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/eng/brief/engrank_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/eng/brief/engrank_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>Stanford: Reach
Princeton: (what the freak? Princeton engineering?) Reach
Northwestern: (Northwestern engineering?) Slight reach
Carnegie Mellon: Match
U Mich: Match</p>

4

<p>Cant say anything bout your chances w/ the other schools...but i think that it probably be a match/safe match...assuming that you do well on your sat/act (2050+/31+)</p>

<p>anyway...i have to agree w/ the other posters....most of your list seems reasonable for engineering...but princeton and northwestern??...good schools if you want law or english or something...but i would definetly not recommend them for engineering...like stressaholic said...you prob want to look at UIUC and maybe University of Wisconsin-madison if youre serious bout engineering...</p>

5

<p>I like your list. I would add Cornell as a slight reach and probably Purdue as a safety.</p>

6

<p>That US News and World Report link to top engineering schools does show Princeton and Northwestern on the list, pretty high up.</p>

7

<p>Add U Illinois as a safe match and Purdue as a safety.</p>

8

<p>I actually did use US News to find good engineering schools. It lists Northwestern as 21st and Princeton as 17th. I will admit I added Princeton because of the prestige and will probably toss that off my list. But what does everyone think about Northwestern?</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to improve my chances at any of the colleges on my list? (Besides win the Nobel prize or end world hunger) I know my EC's and leadership may be a bit lacking...</p>

<p>Thanks everyone</p>

9

<p>Not as known for engineering, more known for Journalism and liberal arts.</p>

<p>PS: Write a great essay on your interests in the technical studies.</p>

10

<p>The most important thing you can do to improve your application is raise your scores.</p>

11

<p>PSATs are low so you should study hard for the SATs</p>

12

<p>I am scheduled to take the SAT on April 1st. I took one practice test and my weakness is reading, specifically fill in the blank and long passages. Does anyone know a good way to study for these two areas?</p>

13

<p>Read a lot of classical books. its boring but it helps, believe me. </p>

<p>Then, buy Collegeboard's official book. its the only 1 that has official practice tests. do a practice test and make sure to go over those you got wrong.
Also, while doing it, mark any you are unsure of and go over those too. </p>

<p>Basically, practice makes perfect</p>

14

<p>Northwestern has 4 departments in the top-10 (mat sci, industrial engineering/management sciences, civil, mechanical) and 3 more in the top-15 (biomed, chem, and environmental). Northwestern has the oldest and one of the most well-established engineering co-op programs in the nation. It is also one of the premier research centers for nanotechnology. Those who think Northwestern isn't good for engineering is completely misinformed.</p>

<p>The "overall" engineering ranking is a joke. Nobody would ever think of USC as higher than CalTech but that's what that "overall" ranking says. USC also has no department ranked in the top-10. That tells you how big the disconnect between that "overall" ranking and the departmental rankings. Read the ranking methodologies and think critically what they mean.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the info Sam. Do you by any chance know where I can find department rankings? I'm curious how my other schools fare.</p>

16

<p>
[QUOTE]
honestly, i would toss princeton out for engineering. Im an prospective engineering student (senior in HS) and like you should focus closely on Umich Stanford, berkeley, georgia tech, U of I Urbanna, and USC. Honeslty, even though princeton may be great for law and such, not so good for enineering.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I know someone who's going to Princeton for engineering. I'm interested on engineering, and I did apply to a few engineering schools, but a lot of my apps went to schools with broader scopes. The engineering departments at many ivy league schools are underrated. They DO have the huge endowments, and big-name profs.</p>

17

<p>You can get the online version of the 2006 US News graduate ranking. I think it costs like 15 bucks. I can list them out later when I have time.</p>

18

<p>Here are the departmental rankings: </p>

<p>Biomedical/Bioengineering:
Stanford 20
Princeton NR
Northwestern 12
Carnegie Mellon 32
UMich 12</p>

<p>Chemical:
Stanford 5
Princeton 8
Northwestern 12
Carnegie Mellon 16
UMich 12</p>

<p>Civil:
Stanford 4
Princeton 22
Northwestern 8
Carnegie Mellon 15
UMich 8</p>

<p>Computer:
Stanford 2
Princeton 14
Northwestern 28
Carnegie Mellon 4
UMich 6</p>

<p>Electrical:
Stanford 3
Princeton 10
Northwestern 28
Carnegie Mellon 8
UMich 6</p>

<p>Enviornmental:
Stanford 1
Princeton 24
Northwestern 15
Carnegie Mellon 8
UMich 8</p>

<p>Industrial/Manufacturing/Managment Sciences
Stanford 4
Princeton NR
Northwestern 4
Carnegie Mellon NR
UMich 2</p>

<p>Material Science:
Stanford 4
Princeton NR
Northwestern 2
Carnegie Mellon 12
UMich 8</p>

<p>Mechanical
Stanford 2
Princeton 10
Northwestern 10
Carnegie Mellon 10
UMich 4</p>

<p>Nuclear
Stanford NR
Princeton NR
Northwestern NR
Carnegie Mellon NR
UMich 2</p>

<p>Petroleum
Stanford 2
Princeton NR
Northwestern NR
Carnegie Mellon NR
UMich NR</p>

19

<p>Looks like a theme here :) Thanks Sam.</p>

20

<p>Princeton does have a very respectable engineering program. They're way better than USC. This is undergraduate education, and going to Princeton which is tied with Harvard for #1 overall, is way better than going to school that is ranked a little higher only for engineering. Its not like you wont get respect for getting a degree from princeton, even if it is engineering.</p>