This is only my second post on CC, so please correct any missteps I make!
I’m a rising senior having quite a bit of trouble narrowing down my college list, so naturally, I’m turning to CC for help. I’m an intended double major in bioengineering/neuroscience and economics, with a 36 ACT, 2 800s on Subject Tests, a 3.85 UW GPA (4.3-ish weighted), decent ECs, and compelling personal circumstances (I take care of two critically ill parents).
I’m deciding between Haverford, Swarthmore, Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, Wellesley, Tufts, Rutgers, U Mass Amherst, Case Western, BU, U Wisconsin – Madison, Northwestern, UVA, and U Rochester. I can choose at most seven of those, with a safety/match heavy final list.
Any recommendations? Kinda flailing over here.
Don’t try to double major in an engineering and liberal arts subject. Although not impossible, it is very difficult to fit in the different requirements. If you have an interest it another topic, it is fine to use up any electives you have with that topic.
If your parents are very ill, then money might be an issue and UW- Madison provides little or none. Unless you are in state, you might think twice about applying there.
You look at the strengths of the colleges’ engineering and econ programs, check courses offered, prof backgrounds and research areas, student research opps, etc. Other than schools which expect you to enter a college of engineering, you explore courses once there.
If you do enter in engineering, as Eeyore said, you use electives to explore econ. You aren’t declaring a double or triple major now.
Run the net price calculator on each college. Those which are obviously too expensive can be removed from your application list, or moved to the reach category if you need competitive merit to make them affordable.
I’m assuming the OP has looked at the OOS tuition charged by all those flagship publics. If her family can afford them, there’s a good chance some of the wealthy LACs on her list will come up with enough grant money for her to attend. She just needs to run the NPC on a few of them and resist the temptation to apply ED.