College List and Your Suggestions

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, everyone! I just want to ask you how my college list looks right now, and what schools you would suggest for me, because I plan on applying to maybe one or two more reach/low reach schools with good engineering programs. I don't have, or know anyone who has, much information on the "higher-level" schools such as MIT and the like, so I would appreciate any information you have to contribute. </p>

<p>I'd also like to specifically ask about Northwestern and its engineering program if anyone has some insight. Course rigor, teachers, etc..</p>

<p>Please leave cost out of the discussion for right now.</p>

<p>My current college list is as follows:</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis - Match/Low Reach (Applied)
Notre Dame - Match/Low Reach (Applied)
Michigan - Match (Applied)
MSU - Safety (Accepted)
Purdue - Match</p>

<p>Here's my basic rundown just copied and pasted from another thread:</p>

<p>-Backkground-
Ethnicity: White male</p>

<p>-High School/Academics-
GPA: 4.0 UW
Rank: 1 of 162; Valedictorian
Course Rigor: Rigorous; Honors Math and Science; College/AP Chemistry
ACT: 33 Composite
School: Slightly Above Average Public School</p>

<p>-Extracurriculars-
LEO Volunteering Club (11-12): Founding member
SADD (9-12)
NHS (12): School only allows seniors in
Science Olympiad (11-12): Event Captain, 1st Place Regionals Team/Individual
Church: Volunteer/Member
Engineering Camp at Notre Dame
Little League Volunteer (9-12): Coaching, Try-outs, etc.
Soccer (9-12): Scholar Athlete, Captain, All-Conference
Track (11-12): Scholar Athlete
School District Strategic Planning Committee: Student Member
Most Outstanding Student (in a Class) (x14)
Academic Award for Excellence (9-12) </p>

<p>-Side Activities-
Digital Art: 50+ Unpaid projects for various people
Website Design</p>

<p>-Application Essay/Writing (If it helps)-
Very good writer, with expert help</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Case Western, Carnegie Mellon…but what other criteria? location size FA etc?</p>

3

<p>I think MIT & CMU might be far reaches for you, based on the ACT score and your current list. (Just trying to be honest. Those schools are very competitive.)</p>

<p>You might want to consider Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech. I assume you considered Illinois & Wisconsin already – both have very strong Eng programs, as you surely know.</p>

<p>Northwestern is pretty good, but I myself wouldn’t rate it above these others.</p>

<p>If you haven’t done this, suggest you check out US News rankings, as well as the college finder here on CC.</p>

4

<p>

You do know you’ll be paying full freight at Purdue? (I assume you are IS for Michigan)</p>

5

<p>Leaving out the cost discussion at your request. </p>

<p>You need SAT subject test for most of the “higher-level” schools such as MIT, Northwestern and the like. For most of these schools you’ll need a Math subject test preferably Math II, and a physical science subject test such as Physics or Chemistry. You’ll need to score in the 700s to be considered competitive, and 750+ to be a strong applicant. </p>

<p>Without these subject tests, you have not met the application requirements and will be rejected with absolute certainty. </p>

<p>I think that Northwestern is comparable to Michigan, though the quarters can be nice to break things up a little more. </p>

<p>If your Math ACT score is very high, I do not think that MIT and the like are out of reach for you. They are reaches for everybody, but I don’t think that your probability of gaining admission is so low that you shouldn’t try. You definitely need to get on the ball with those SAT subject tests though. Without them it’s a non-starter.</p>

<p>It’s hard for me to see Michigan rejecting their own valedictorians, so your worst case is pretty darn great.</p>

6

<p>CMU’s School of Computer Science (SCS) may be out of reach, as the difficulty in gaining admission to SCS is apparently comparable to that of MIT, but the OP is interested in engineering, not CS, and CMU’s College of Engineering (CIT) would not be out of reach.</p>

7

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<p>Well, the Northwestern website simply recommends taking SAT Subject tests, and only requires them for two schools (neither of which I’d be applying to) and for home-schooled applicants. It would make me much more competitive, I’m sure, but it’s not that big of a deal considering it isn’t in my top three to five school choices. </p>

<p>I actually scored better on the ACT and have a higher GPA (simply academic qualifications) than a student from my school who was accepted into MIT two years ago. You never know what could happen. Though, for MIT, you indeed do need a subject test in math, so I’ll just cross that right off the list. I wasn’t really considering it either way. </p>

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<p>I did say to leave cost out, but I do realize that’s a possibility. Though you can’t say that with certainty until you here it from Purdue itself. I’ve heard that I could receive $0 to $18000 in scholarship, so I’m not going to accept or disregard any of the numbers I’m getting from the community here. Don’t take it personally. </p>

<p>Thanks guys.</p>

8

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<p>So don’t you think that most competitive applicants will abide by the recommendations of the admissions office?</p>

9

<p>FWIW, student from my D’s school was accepted into NU Communications (theatre major) with ACT 31 and no subject tests (and no arts supplement video - though this person had a very strong theatre resume, very strong GPA with lots of AP courses and applied ED). Of course, theatre may be different than other schools (though I have heard it is the most selective of communications majors…)</p>