College List

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone! Its my first post on CC, but I’ve been a lurker for a long time.
I’m a senior looking for feedback, recommendation, and criticism on my college list.
I don’t plan on showing my entire college app, so here are some info that should be sufficient:
Senior
Salutatorian (2/65) but maybe valectidorian…maybe o_o
4.0 gpa? (98/100)
My GPA has shown a positive trend throughout the four years
SAT: Mid 1300s out of 1600 :frowning: :’( I’m not a very good test-taker… I always end up checking multiple times and second guessing myself and attempting to fill in the ovals perfectly, and then having no time to do, say, 10-20 questions
Essay: 18/24
SAT CHEM AND MATH II: taking Nov. 5
ACT: waiting for scores
Senior course load consists of Physics, College Calc, College English, among others…
I’ll sum up everything else by saying that I have an adequate amount of leadership positions, am heavily involved in several sports( most important being Varsity Tennis: All-Star, first seed, participated in sectionals several times, etc), have a LOT of community service and extracurriculars. I have a very unique essay idea that really defines my character. :wink: Teacher recs should be fine. Overall, its competitive Blah blah

Some “hooks” (not really lol) :
Female, low-income, first gen
I’m Asian, but Chinese so… Not an underrepresented minority RIP

Fun facts that may or may not boost my app: skipped a grade, got a 100 on the Common Core English NY Regents, RPI Medalist, play piano (6 years) and flute (8 years), fluent in 4 languages and learning 2 on my own

Alright, now on to the juicy stuff…

I’m mostly applying to engineering colleges in the Northeast

My list

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) ED II
Cornell University
Columbia University
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Princeton University
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) EA II
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
University of Chicago (UChicago)
New York University (NYU)
Cooper Union
Johns Hopkins University
Boston University
University at Buffalo EA
University of Rochester

-I know what you’re all thinking… too many colleges and too many reaches…;-; I do have 8 fee waivers though (plus the 4 on the CB site?)
-Ugh I’ve done a lot of research and they all seem like a good fit for me and vice versa. I think it’s more of the fact that I lack confidence

  • I don’t have a preference between a core curriculum or an open curriculum
  • my first choice is RPI and I think it’s a high match…it’s probably more of a low reach but I just want to feel good about myself…

…

PLEASE help a poor soul out. I WILL BE VERY ATTENTIVE OF ANY AND ALL FEEDBACK!
I know my list needs to be weeded out, so rather than criticizing my long list and how I haven’t down my research, please give me helpful insight and tips instead. It’s a stressful time people :frowning:

Note: I wrote this very quickly on my phone, so I apologize for the abruptedness and any possible grammar errors.

2

Do you have time to try the SAt one more time? MAKE yourself not check and not be overly cautious in filling out the bubbles. Many of the schools on your list are out of reach with your SAT score. Without higher scores, I’d ditch all the Ivies, MIT, and UChicago (which has no engineering anyway).

3

I’m planning on taking the December SAT one last time and seriously studying my butt off for those RD schools. I think I have OCD, but doesn’t everything think they do? D:… it’d be nice to have test accommodations
And you’re right about UChicago; it just somehow made my way on the list woops

I have this mentality where I know those colleges are crapshoots, but maybe my essay will convince them otherwise

4

You have a solid chance at RPI going ED. You should get into RIT and Buffalo. The Ivies, Chicago, JHU, CMU, MIT are not realistic. Rochester, BU, NYU, WPI are matches to low reaches.

5

RPI Is a great school… With all the others on your list, I’m curious to know why it is your first choice!

6

It’s close to home, and has been my first choice since I was a fifth grader who participated in the Bernard Harris Summer Science Program @ RPI (: It also has a great dual program for my intended majors. I’ve visited 4-5 times and loved the visit each time.

7

User your waivers wisely, focus on your matches and safeties to start with. Use the last few on reaches if you have waivers left. Also… NYU does not usually give very good financial aid. So they are another one that you should consider possibly skipping.

8

What would you say are my safeties and matches from the list above? And the reaches you think I should apply to out of the bunch? To me, it seems my safeties are only UB and RIT. Could you suggest some possible safety schools to add to my list? The reaches I do plan on applying definitely are Cornell, Columbia, and CMU (even if my chances are close to none).

9

Look at @wisteria100’s post. Those are your safeties, matches, and low reaches. But drop NYU due to FA issues. Then I guess apply to the 3 reaches. If you get a better ACT score or can bring up your SAT score, and have great subject test scores, you might have a shot at them. But I would leave your list the same in any case.

10

@RPIgirlx, what is your SAT Math score? Stony Brook, Stevens, and Worcester might be matches.

If you’re looking for a large population of Asian kids, Stony Brook has an even larger number than Buffalo - 27.3% compared to 16.9%.

11

This is assuming you’ve run the NPC and all your schools are affordable (there is little sense in applying to a school that you can’t afford without taking on mucho debt…):

Reaches: Ivies, MIT, UChicago, JHU, CMU, Cooper

Matches: NYU, U of Rochester, Boston U, RPI, WPI, RIT

Safety: U at Buffalo

If you can get that SAT up to around 1450, i think you’ll improve your chances at your reaches and high matches. Your rank and GPA are already competitive. (but i think you’ll probably get into RPI in the ED2 round, so you might not be completing too many apps…)

12

Not trying to be negative, but could the relatively low SAT scores(for these schools) cause some of the schools that would seem like obvious matches to be high matches or reaches?

Maybe people with more experience with these types of stats can chime in.

Would @RPIgirlx’s excellent rank and GPA easily outweigh the SAT scores at the schools on her list that seem like they would be matches. Not trying to make you feel bad @RPIgirlx. I was a very slow test taker too, and I have a lot of OCD traits.

Here are the average Math SAT scores at some of these schools - NYU - 682, RPI - 716, U of Rochester - 695, WPI - 695, BU - 672, RIT - 635(estimated).

13

My Math score currently is at the 650-700 range.
If I were to get a near perfect score on the Math II subject test, to what extent would it “make up” for my math score?

14

@RPIgirlx, I would think that score range would make those schools I listed matches, but I’m no expert on the subject. Others here would know better.

Sorry, but I’m not sure about the Math Subject test either, but you have a great resume. You should end up with some very good choices.

15

You have a decent shot at RPI - being female helps (they want to balance their m/f ratio). Great school. My D is an engineering sophomore there. Coincidentally, she applied to nearly all the same reaches as you have on your list - went to RPI as they gave the most aid. She likes it there (well, freshman year was great but sophomore has been a killer - the courses are tough! but that’s not a bad thing; good nerdy student body that she fit in well with). I hope you get in!

I would drop NYU - not good aid there. I’d also drop Chicago, Columbia, Princeton, Penn and MIT - those are not realistic by any stretch of the imagination and you’re honestly wasting your time with the applications (they take time!). Cornell and CMU are reaches too but worth rolling the dice on. Add Rice and Duke if you want another excellent reaches. Rest of the list is good.

16

Alright! I think I have a pretty good idea as to the number of dream colleges I will apply to. I’ve dropped UChicago and NYU from my list (yikes, definitely needed that heads up about their aid), and obv still need to weed out more of those unrealistic ones, but overall I’m aware of my matches now. Thanks for the helpful feedback. Wish me luck to raise that sat score (and sat 2’s)!
Is there any other safeties that you guys think I should take a look at? Once again, preferably in the NE, with a great engineering program, and will give me generous aid. To piggy back off that; is there any chance that worse case scenario I might not even get accepted to RIT and UB/matches/reaches and be forced to take a gap year? Or is it safe to assume that my safeties will indeed be “safeties” and I’m being too paranoid…?

17

@RPIgirlx, just want to make sure you know about the NY STEM incentive program. Did you say you’re a resident of NY state? If so, you can go to one of the SUNYs basically tuition-free if you’re willing to live and work in NY for 5 years after graduation. They give you a credit for the “standard” tuition, around 7K per year. So you might end up paying 1K or so in tuition each year.

18

You’ll be fine - you should get into RPI, WPI or RIT. If you feel you need another back up, apply to a SUNY (assuming you’re in NY) or UMass if you’re there.

You actually might have a better chance at Chicago than MIT or Princeton, and Chicago has an interesting molecular engineering program if that’s your area of interest.

Good luck!

19

@WalknOnEggShells @insanedreamer I am indeed a NY resident. The only SUNY school I’m interested in at the moment is University at Buffalo. Oswego, Paltz, Geneseo, Albany, etc. aren’t on my radar (various reasons such as location or lack of intended academic area)… is there another SUNY school like UB (besides Stony Brook)?

20

Binghamton has Engineering and it’s a great school.