<p>@blueiguana: Like I have said numerous times before, money is not a factor right now. What that means is, assume my family can afford whatever the tuition is. And again, as I have said, I do not have scores as of now, therefore I am not asking for a perfect match. I simply want to here what other good schools are out there–schools that are not extremely selective. </p>
<p>@tk Thank you again for all the suggestions and information. :)</p>
<p>Supamik: you should get a good college guide and start reading about colleges and get a sense of what is appealing. One excellent source, principally detailed essays, is The Fiske Guide to Colleges. Another popular, though slightly snarky, source is The Yale Insider’s Guide to Colleges. You might consider curbing your tendency to snark at every poster who doesn’t tell you what you want to hear. You are asking for information that you really should be gathering at this stage yourself. As has been pointed out, it is hard to know what constitutes either a safety school or a match when you have revealed so little of your resume.</p>
<p>I assume you are going to write me back a snarky post! But do I at least get points for giving you the college guide titles?</p>
<p>Based on what you have said, some schools I would look into (both reach-type schools and more “practical schools”):</p>
<p>Rose-Hulman, MIT, CalTech, Northeastern, Vanderbilt, RPI, Carnegie Mellon, the Claremont Colleges, BU, Harvey Mudd</p>
<p>I know they’re bigger than you would like perhaps, but I think for engineering/sciences, it would be worth looking into UMich, the UCs, UNC Chapel Hill, UVa, UW-Madison, UIUC, and Minnesota Twin Cities. They have great programs in these fields and you may be able to find the smaller community you were looking for within them.</p>
<p>supamik - </p>
<p>Regarding Harvard, Stanford, and Cornell, you wrote . . .
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<p>Suggesting that, although they might be a reach for other students, they wouldn’t be a reach for you. And you wonder why we perceive you as arrogant?</p>
<p>You also wrote, regarding SAT/ACT scores . . .
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<p>True, but the schools you mentioned won’t even look at the other factors unless your test scores are in the required range. Yes, the admissions decision may be holistic . . . but only for those who make it past the first threshold.</p>
<p>Finally, with regard to your request . . .</p>
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<p>There are hundreds of good schools out there! The problem is that you said you’ve already done “tons” of searches without finding anything you like . . . despite all the data available to you on the internet, including what’s right here on CC! So how do you expect us to help you???</p>
<p>@dodgersmom I ignored your first post, yet you post again. Why are you so interested in my thread, and why do you continue to criticize me?</p>
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<p>That’s too bad. I’ll suggest again that you follow the link I provided . . . it’s been the topic of much discussion the past few days. You never know . . . if everyone else who’s read or listened to the commencement speech that’s referenced in that thread was impressed by it, you might be, too.</p>
<p>I’m wondering why you don’t have scores yet? When did you take the SAT/ACT? Do you have a plan for retaking? Or taking any SAT II’s? Have you worked with the college counselor at your high school? It seems with your academic qualifications you might want to apply ED or EA at some of the suggested schools - something you’ll need to get moving on to meet deadlines. Have you visited any of your 3 dream schools, or other schools? I believe you said you live in Nevada, so visiting is something that needs to be planned for ahead of time - no quick weekend drives. Although you say money is not a concern now, do your parents agree? You might want to consider financial safety as well as academic safety.</p>
<p>I just took the SAT and ACT, one 2 weeks ago and the other Saturday. Yes, I will retake them if they are not up to par. Yes, I am taking the SAT subject tests. Counselors at my school don’t help much when applying to schools. I have decided that applying early action isn’t in my best interest. I have visited Stanford. My dad is the one, in fact, who told me to just worry about getting into the schools, and he will worry about the money. Obviously, I have discussed that with my parents.</p>
<p>In case you didn’t know, the education in Nevada is one of the lowest in the country.</p>
<p>I did not know that, but I’m guessing admissions officers do. Given that, they may significantly discount your high school academics. You’ll need to do a bang up job on your essay and interviews (where applicable). And, while you do not consider yourself arrogant, it’s obvious that most of the people who have replied to your post do. I would just advise that you read your essays with a very objective eye and make sure that attitude does not come through in your writing. You’ve been given some great recommendations, you should probably do some research and come up with several alternatives. I have attended presentations given by the admissions officers for all 3 of your schools and they will tell you that they are not “safe” for anyone. They are all awesome schools - but they are dream schools for everyone.</p>
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<p>He is aware that total cost of attendance can be up to $60,000 per year?</p>
<p>If you have any question on whether he may be overestimating his ability or willingness to pay for “any” college, be sure to pick a low cost safety. If you have any realistic chance at getting into Stanford and the like, you may be able to get a guaranteed-for-stats full or near-full ride like those listed in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a> , as well as have a reasonable chance at competitive full rides at places like NCSU, Georgia Tech, UNC-CH, Duke, etc…</p>
<p>Use [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx) to search of schools offering your desired engineering major.</p>
<p>Use <a href=“American Chemical Society”>American Chemical Society; to search for schools with chemistry majors.</p>
<p>What are the responsibilities of an “intern” at the peds office? Is this paid or volunteer? Are you really considered an intern or are you shadowing the Dr? If you inflate your summer activities that may work against you. Not saying you are, just saying to be careful.</p>
<p>It is paid and I am really considered an intern. It’s part of a program my state has.</p>
<p>For engineering, I highly recommend Rose Hulman and Olin. True hidden gems but extremely presitgious to others in the engineering world. For an interesting pre-med route, check out Tulane’s Creative Medical Scholar program. If engineering is not certain, but you want an intellectual campus full of incredibly smart and engaged people, check out U of Chicago. Of course, both Caltech and MIT seem like a natural for a science person. Vanderbilt and Duke would offer you prestige as well as nicer winters than Cornell.</p>
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<p>Chicago has no ABET accredited engineering degree programs, so you would only want to go there if you are reasonably sure that you do not want to do engineering.</p>
<p>Slightly older but excellent thread. The student who researched the thread is at Swarthmore.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html</a></p>
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<p>I will reiterate what other posters have said: make sure that your parents understand the true costs of these schools. If you’ve said “Dad, Stanford costs $60k a year” and he’s said “We can afford to pay $240k for your undergraduate education” then yes, you have had the money talk. If, OTOH, he continues to say you shouldn’t worry about the money, then you SHOULD worry about the money. I and the other parents here have seen many, many students who are accepted to wonderful dream schools, only to find that their parents figured that these schools would offer their children huge scholarships. If your father hasn’t run a Net Price Calculator for Stanford (which does have very generous aid), then you need to worry.</p>
<p>My father is very aware of the costs of college.</p>
<p>Thank you @MizzBee!</p>
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<p>Correct.
However … Chicago recently started up a new Institute for Molecular Engineering that might interest you.
[About</a> | Institute for Molecular Engineering](<a href=“http://molecularengineering.uchicago.edu/about/]About”>http://molecularengineering.uchicago.edu/about/)</p>