<p>Now that junior year is over my stats have changed a little (for the better!)</p>
<p>Race: second-generation Hispanic (dad is Salvadorian, mom is Mexican. They immigrated in 1990 and became citizens in 2000.)
Location: Germantown, Tennessee (suburb of Memphis)
GPA: unweighted 3.42/4.0. My school uses a very tough grading system where 93-100 is an A and 85-92 is a B. This year my GPA was a 3.83, so my grades show a definite upward trend. I also go to one of the top 5 public schools in Tennessee.
Class Rank: ~150/566 (won't be sure until next year)
Avg. Grade: 91.68
Honors I've Taken: Honors Geometry, Honors English, Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, Honors Spanish III, Honors Algebra II, Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors Spanish IV
APs I've Taken: AP Chem, AP Bio (waiting for results, expecting 4s on both)
Next Year's Honors/AP: AP Calc BC, Ap Physics C (both tests), AP Statistics
SAT: 800-M/640-R/740-W/10 essay. 2180 total/1440 M+R
ACT: 30 overall
PSAT: 206 overall
EC: Member of Model United Nations, member of 30+ Club, member of the high school bowling team. I have been bowling since 2000 and have won numerous citywide and statewide competitions and also a scholarship. I also play tennis and raquetball recreationally. I'm going to 2 engineering-related non-credit summer camps and will spend a total of a month in them.
Other: 2nd statewide in the National Spanish Exam, 2007, National Hispanic Scholar, National Commended Student
Intended Major: Materials Science/Enginnering or Chemical Engineering. I'm very interested in nanotechnology.</p>
<p>Chance me at these schools please!</p>
<p>Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
Purdue - West Lafayette
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Pennsylvania State - University Park
University of Florida
Carnegie Mellon
Rice
Cornell (I know it's a reach, but is it too much of a reach that it is not worth applying to?)</p>
<p>I don't think that I need to tell you that you're a lock for GT, VT, Purdue, Illinois, Penn State, and UF. Most schools recalculate GPA, so your average grade should translate to around a 3.7. This should put Rice and Carnegie Mellon and Rice. Cornell would still be a reach, but much stranger things have happened in admission. If you like schools like UF you should definitely check out Michigan. You seem to have the grades and GPA to get in there, though its not a lock.</p>
<p>I would definitely apply to Cornell if that is a school you are interested in. It is obviously a reach but you do have a slight chance. Good luck!</p>
<p>Georgia Tech- Accepted
Virginia Tech- Accepted
Purdue - West Lafayette- Accepted
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign- Accepted
Pennsylvania State - University Park- Accepted
University of Florida- Accepted
Carnegie Mellon- Probably Accepted
Rice- Maybe/Probably Accepted
Cornell- Probably denied but you have time to work on it :)</p>
<p>To me Georgia Teach, Virginia Tech, Purdue, U of I, Penn State, and UF are locked in for acceptance. Carnegie Mellon, Rice, and Cornell are debatable</p>
<p>the fact that you are URM is going to help you a lot. work on your class rank if you can though. Depends on your school, but if you apply regular decision, you class rank can be changed depending on your 1st semester senior grades. So hopefully that works.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. I was going to apply ED to Cornell but my parents said we couldn't afford it, and I really don't want to take out a student loan :/. I heard ivy league schools barely or never give scholarships, is this true?</p>
<p>You are so in at Purdue. I don't know much about others... I don't know what they accept but I know Purdue is pretty easy to get into, but its a good school, if you don't mind vowels...</p>
<p>your school's grading system is no different than any school that i know of, including the grade school that i went to. I'd say rice and cornell are your biggest reaches</p>
<p>So save for Cornell, Carnegie Mellon and Rice, I'm pretty much a lock-in for those schools? I thought Georgia Tech and Illinois would be relatively difficult.</p>
<p>i also wouldn't call yourself a lock in at illinois. they have raised their stats tremendously in the last few years. I live in illinois and there were kids that i know of with pretty similar numbers as you who got wait listed or denied</p>
<p>I think you have great shots for most of the schools, and reaches for CM, rice, cornell. Your GPA is a little low but you are also a URM, which will help.</p>
<p>Besides the engineering summer camps, it might help if you had another ec related to the science/math field.</p>