<p>I am in my senior year and I want to major in computer engineering or chemical engineering when I go to college. I have put together a list of all of the colleges I am applying to, and would like to hear some advice because I am very new to all of this. I want to get away from my NYC lifestyle and go to a campus away from home, but if I must stay it isn't that much of a big deal. I took the SAT in May and will be retaking it in November to try and improve my score. Here are my stats:</p>
<p>CR: 680
M: 720
W: 680
Overall: 2080
My weighted average is a 99.82%, and I am currently taking AP Statistics, AP English Literature, & AP Chemistry. My HS doesn't rank but I am definitely in the top 10% if not better. I currently participate in Cross Country, Swimming, and am part of the National Honor Society, Newspaper committee, Yearbook committee, and Student Government. I will also be in definite need for financial aid or merit scholarships because I only live with my mother and her salary isn't a lot. Here are the schools I am applying too:</p>
<p>MIT
Stanford University
University of California -- Berkeley
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Illinois -- Urbana -- Champaign
Carnegie Mellon University
California Institute of Technology
University of Michigan
Cornell University
SUNY Alfred
SUNY Delhi
CUNY City College MaCaulay Honors
Virginia Tech</p>
<p>That's it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :D.</p>
<p>Alfred State and Delhi seem very out of place on that list! I would suggest getting rid of the tech SUNYs and applying to the universities. Binghamton, Stony Brook or UB would be better choices than Alfred or Delhi (have you visited these schools?), given your stats. </p>
<p>Is there some reason you want a more vocational school atmosphere? I don’t think you would find the curriculum or opportunities you should be looking for and the social atmosphere may be lacking as well. Alfred and Delhi have a significant number of students enrolled in associate degree programs and draw heavily from the surrounding areas, which may not be what you’re looking for. Also, they’re both somewhat remote and rather difficult to get to from NYC!</p>
<p>Ah, thank you for the suggestions. I will remove Alfred and Delhi and add Binghamton and Stony Brook. Which do you recommend more Stonybrook or UB for my interested careers mentioned earlier?</p>
<p>Afaik, UB is the only SUNY with a true Chem E major and it looks like they offer a few options for further specialization within that. They also offer several computer sci majors and combined programs. I believe you would be a strong candidate for merit aid and an offer for their honors college, which is very good btw. (The same would probably apply to Stony Brook). From what I know, UB has a very involved and motivated student body and tons of activities and thousands of residential students (including many international students) who do not go home every week…from reading posts by other students, this may not be true at Stony Brook where many students seem to commute or go home on weekends. Beyond that, I’ll try to tell you a bit about UB and let others who are more knowledgeable about SB weigh in with their thoughts.</p>
<p>Caveat: I’m probably biased as my D is one of many who chose UB over other (OOS/private) schools based on the strength of their curriculum, research opportunities, etc. but we have not been disappointed. She is a sophomore with a science major, so I don’t know as much about the engineering programs…you might want to ask for more details on the SUNY Buffalo (and Stony Brook) forums here. The facilites (from labs to dorms) seem very good and well-maintained in comparison to other schools we looked at and they have just built a new engineering complex. D’s friends are pretty serious students and seem very happy at UB…good professors and many other things going on there to keep interest high as well as some very good internship and fieldwork opportunities, even at the sophomore/junior level, and a decent social scene. Large class sizes are a given at the lower levels though, which is probably true at most universities.</p>
<p>A few random notes about UB/Buffalo area…it is relatively easy to get back and forth to NYC - airport is fairly close to North Campus and Amtrak is accessible by the subway which stops at South Campus. (This is not the subway you’re used to…it’s one line only but nice to have if you’re a hockey fan or want to go downtown for events.) The university provides charter buses for students going to NYC for breaks/weekends several times a semester at a very reasonable price (IIRC it was about $90, round trip, last year). There is a large contingent of NYC/LI kids at UB. We’ve found that Western NY’ers are very friendly people in general and that the weather in Buffalo is not as bad as you might think, storms tend to dump a lot of snow but they’re extremely adept at handling that. Otherwise it’s generally sunnier than other parts of NYS (which makes my kid very happy). UB’s academic buildings are interconnected and there is a shuttle that runs continuously around campus, so students actually don’t have to spend much time outside in inclement weather but the main campus has lakes, woods, walking/bike trails, and courtyards everywhere. </p>
<p>Hope that helps with the safety school decision…good luck with your apps!</p>
<p>Berkeley, UMich, and GT should come off. They won’t give you the financial aid you’d need to afford their $40k-50k per year costs and your stats aren’t high enough for the merit to make them affordable. </p>
<p>UB would probably be affordable because of Tap, Pell, a small fed loan, and maybe some scholarship money.</p>
<p>Rutgers has a good engineering program and you might qualify for scholarship money based both on your stats and your need - look at the Scarlet scholarships on this page</p>
<p>I was asking because some schools offer additional scholarships for first-gen or URM students who have financial need. These programs often come with other “perks” too. In finalizing your list, it’s important to consider what the financial package might be if you’re accepted. As Mom2 noted, some of the OOS publics on your list are unlikely to offer you enough aid to be affordable. Targeting schools that are known to give good aid to kids with your profile will give you a better range of offers to consider in the spring and allow you to graduate with little or no debt!</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the full-tuition Ackers Scholar program that UB offers (separate app required) - I’m pretty sure it can also be combined with the Dean’s Scholar awards (which is nice program as well for engineering students):</p>
<p>These types of programs are more than just financial awards and can make your entire college experience more rewarding. </p>
<p>If you decide to add more NY schools, you might look at University of Rochester and perhaps Syracuse. Both have Chem E and computer science majors and both have been particularly generous lately for kids with good stats and financial need.</p>
<p>Rice is particularly good at chemical engineering. It also has excellent mech eng, bio eng, elec eng and comp sci programs. Plus, it has small class sizes.</p>