College Possiblity

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, I'm new to the College Confidential scene and I thought that this might be aplace for me to learn about College and College Admissions. I'm a junior in high school with a decent GPA and decent SAT/SAT 2 scores and I'm hoping that you guys can help me on what colleges I might be well suited for. </p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 92.48 out of 100
Weighted: 95.48 out of 100</p>

<p>SAT 1 Scores:
November 2011:
-Reading=620
-Math=710
-Writing=690</p>

<p>January 2012:
-Reading=580
-Math=800
-Writing=750</p>

<p>SAT 2 Scores:
-June 2010=Biology M:700
-December 2011=Physics:800
-December 2011=Math IIC: 800
-December 2011=Chemistry:780</p>

<p>I really want to major in either Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, or Pharmacy/Medicine. Please help me out. I don't know what to do.</p>

2

<p>I think first, you have to make some decisions as to the kind of school you want </p>

<p>Big School, Small School. Urban, Suburban, Rural, State School or Private School (which may depend on your family finances) etc. things like those.</p>

<p>To help, try this. To help – try this [College</a> Search - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/)</p>

<p>After that, you have put together a list of reaches, matches and safeties.</p>

<p>Based purely on the numbers, you should get into an excellent school. Whether that means “Ivy/Ivy Peer” (if that’s what you even want, but that’s the question many ask here) is really hard to say – Your grades are hard to judge out of context. It looks like some kind of A- (say 3.7 ish) – which might be a little low (but not deadly). However, if this puts you in the top 5% -10% ish of your class, may be ok. The SAT CR, is a bit low for this type of school, but again, maybe not deadly to your chances. The SAT Math/Writing and your best SAT2s are obviously fantastic. Based on what you’ve shown, I don’t think there is any school that would be ‘impossible’ for you.</p>

<p>You haven’t shared ECs, etc. So there’s a lot missing.</p>

<p>Other than the 25 or so schools in this very top tier, you’re probably very competitive everywhere.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much. And the reason I didn’t put up my EC and stuff is because I participate in a lot of things and it was a lot to list out.</p>

<p>I’m also taking the March test just for the Reading to bring it up to at least a 700.</p>

<p>And yes, I am looking towards an Ivy league school or places similar to Ivy leagues.</p>

<p>And with my scores, based on numbers alone (if I were to bring my reading to at least a 700), do you think I have a good chance at getting into MIT or Columbia?</p>

4

<p>If you’re looking at Ivy League schools, then you should share your ECs with us. You don’t need give us an entire laundry list of ECs- just share the ones that have been most important to you (you should follow a similar strategy in your applications). </p>

<p>The top schools get plenty of applicants with good grades and good SATs. ECs and other aspects of the application become differentiators. Furthermore, the top schools tend to be more holistic in evaluating applicants. You’ll need to provide your ECs in order for us to comment on your chances.</p>

5

<p>Altright, here is a list of my most important EC’s.</p>

<p>Academic Decathlon
-Captain of the Team
-Won Gold Medal in Math at a Regional Competition
-Scored the Highest in the Scholastic Division at Regional Competition
-Scored the Highest in the Scholastic Division at the States Competition</p>

<p>New Jersey Chemistry Olympics
-President of the Team
-Won First Place in the state in 2011
-Won 4th place in an anion lab</p>

<p>STEM (Science Technology Electronics Mathmatics) Club
-Started up the Robotics Club
-President of the Robotics Club
-Won First Place at a Qualifier event to gain entry into State Competition
-Placed 3rd in State Competition</p>

<p>Cancer and Stem Cell Research
-I do summer and school research for Rutgers University during the summer and the weekend during the school year.
-Preparing a paper to be published in a science manual and journal</p>

6

<p>Before you get too far into the college search process YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO YOUR PARENTS ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD. It’s no use to fantasize about those fabulous $50,000/year schools if your parents can only afford the state u. If money is an issue, you and your parents both should think about - and research - financial aid, scholarships, loans, etc. This is as much a learning process for them as it is for you. There’s a wealth of information on the Parents Forum on this site - as good a place as any to get started.</p>

7

<p>Financially, my parents can support my tuition but for room and board stuff, I have to pay for by my own so that’s why I have a part time job. Currently, I have saved up roughly over $1000</p>

8

<p>Room and board for four years will cost a lot more than $1,000. The subsidized Stafford loan limit is $23,000 for four years.</p>

<p>Rutgers is a good school for computer science and should be in-state tuition if you are a New Jersey resident.</p>

<p>Minnesota is a good school for chemical engineering and is relatively inexpensive even for out of state students.</p>

<p>Will your parents cover the full cost of these schools (which is less than the tuition alone at CMU)?</p>

<p>Try putting “net price calculator” in each school’s web site search box.</p>

9

<p>Listen to every financially related post, you do not want to be taking out too much student loans. The name of a school isn’t always worth the loans.</p>

10

<p>Also note that there are some big-merit-for-high-GPA-and-test-scores safety schools, such as the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Huntsville), that can be used as low cost safety schools if you want low cost safety options besides going to community college and then transferring to Rutgers.</p>

<p>Some other lower cost schools include Virginia Tech and Stony Brook.</p>

<p>Some very selective schools are exceptionally generous with financial aid, so it may be worth applying to them (check their net price calculators). However, they cannot be considered safeties due to their admissions selectivity.</p>

<p>You can check [ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) for ABET accreditation of chemical engineering degree programs. For computer science, ABET accreditation provides assurance that the degree program meets a minimum quality standard (which is a reasonably high standard), although there are some good computer science degree programs which are not ABET accredited.</p>

11

<p>Ah yikes. And my parents have agreed to pay for the full tuition of the 4 years should I attend college. And I shouldn’t be taking out too many student loans.</p>

<p>Do you guys think I have a shot for MIT or Columbia?</p>

12

<p>Columbia and MIT</p>

<p>Your Strengths – SAT MATH & SAT2s
Your Weaknesses – GPA may be a bit low, SAT CR is a bit low.
ECs look fine, publishing may help.</p>

<p>Bringing up the SAT-CR would help. However, at this stage, there’s little you can do about the grades. I’m assuming that your GPA puts you in the top group at your HS, but not very top (i.e., valedictorian or close).</p>

<p>Shot at MIT/Columbia</p>

<p>First – it’s interesting that you list these two schools. Though they are the top choices for many, in a lot of ways it’s curious. I think that the schools may offer very different educational experiences – MIT more science focuses student body, Columbia more general student body. I would advise looking into this and deciding whether you prefer a “Technical Institution Approach” or a “University Approach”. There is no right/wrong here, but you are likely to find a difference and a preference (My D applied to engineering schools last year and this was major factor for her).</p>

<p>Now, as to your chances look at some facts – Last year Columbia’s overall acceptance percentage was about 6.4% (though engineering was a bit higher – 9.9%. MIT’s admit percentage was about 9.7%</p>

<p>[Columbia</a> College admit rate drops to 6.4 percent](<a href=“http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2011/03/30/cc-admit-rate-drops-64-percent]Columbia”>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2011/03/30/cc-admit-rate-drops-64-percent)
[MIT</a> Facts 2012: Admission](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/facts/admission.html]MIT”>Undergraduate Admissions – MIT Facts)</p>

<p>Putting this into context – the vast majority of students who ‘have a shot’ will not get admitted to either school.</p>

<p>With this in mind – yes, I think you have a ‘shot’. However, each would be considered ‘reach’ schools.</p>

<p>You might want to add Cornell. (IMHO (as a Cornell Alum) better engineering school than Columbia), Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Michigan, Northwestern, Rochester and maybe Wash U. – to your list. All have higher admit percentages, but are excellent schools. I’m sure there are many others too, these just come to mind quickly. Also you’ll definately need some safety schools (none of these are pure safeties).</p>

13

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</p>

<p>Full tuition may be up to about $40,000 per year. But full cost of attendance may be up to $60,000 per year. Which is it that they agreed to pay? They do realize what it costs these days, right?</p>

<p>If it really is only full tuition, then note that even $40,000 is more than the full cost at places like in-state Rutgers or out-of-state Minnesota, Virginia Tech, or Stony Brook, so it is definitely worth applying to those type of schools.</p>

<p>Note also that admissions is getting more competitive; make sure your safeties are really safe.</p>

14

<p>@zephyr15</p>

<p>Oh dang. Thank you so much. It’s actually helpful for me to have someone advise me on this stuff. It’s been so stressful for me and it’s relieving for me to know that people are here to help. Also, yes, I was also thinking of Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and Michigan. I just said Columbia and MIT because a lot of people I asked said that if I’m interested in what I want to study (Chemical Engineering or Computer Science), Columbia or MIT might offer me a better program.</p>

15

<p>My $0.02: I’d add Purdue, Case-Western & Iowa. With your stats they are likely match/safety schools and all three have been known to be a little freer with financial support. For a another reach look at Penn. Personally, I think MIT is unlikely and your (comparatively) low CR could make Columbia and Penn tough as well.</p>

16

<p>Schools to consider with very good reputations in both computer science and chemical engineering:</p>

<p>MIT
Berkeley
Stanford
Caltech
Princeton
Georgia Tech
Wisconsin
Texas
Illinois
Minnesota
Michigan
Purdue
Cornell</p>