If you have a suitable affordable safety that you like, the rest of your application list can be anything that you want.
But you may want to prune it by eliminating
But also check whether your major at UT Austin is competitive admission. Automatic admission to the campus does not necessarily include admission to competitive majors.
Yes, having one safety and it being a top public school is not wise. You need, as someone said, three safeties. I would figure out the usual - size you want as your list is all over, urban, suburban rural…do you want big sports. All those things.
Nothing should matter more than fit. But you can find others - if money were an issue - for example if you want to stay region and it doesn’t sound like you want to - but an OU or Arkansas. An LSU, etc.
You will only choose one school - but have 3 safeties because in case something goes wrong, you have fall backs.
Anyone can get rejected at a top 40 school - so expand the list. You can even go lower but then use Honors as a crutch to make that school better. Arizona State or South Carolina for example. Pitt is great in the sciences but easy to get into. So would be a good safety with an urban setting.
You only go to one school - so don’t panic you get into many. This is an exercise to cover yourself in case UT doesn’t work out. You can even find schools without supplemental essays to write so you don’t have to do more work although with the list you have, you’ll probably have 90% of essays covered anyway.
oh, and someone mentioned costs - yes some are $80. Some are free. A lot, btw, offer free apps. Chicago did this year if you filled a FAFSA as did WUSTL. Pitt, Minnesota, Colorado School of Mines and lots of other schools. Many allow you to self report test scores so there is a way to keep costs down if that’s an issue.
You might look at schools that are a tier down but which offer lucrative scholarships. If you are National Merit, you would receive a half-tuition scholarship at USC. They also award some very competitive full-tuition scholarships.
A Texas resident with top 1% class rank and meeting other admission requirements with respect to high school course selection will not get rejected to UT Austin or any other Texas public university, due to the automatic admission policy.
But the main question is whether the desired major is a competitive one and, if so, whether the OP is likely to be admitted or denied that major. However, the top 1% class rank at 1590 SAT score are strongly competitive for even competitive majors.
If there is any concern about getting into the major, then an affordable safety where entrance to the major (or where the major is not competitive) is assured as well as admission to the campus should be added.
Yes - I did not read up to the stats…but still good to have choice.
What risks?
You aren’t taking a risk applying to those schools … what are you risking? Application Fee??? (you may get it waved regardless).
You got your awesome safety/target locked up … as they say in poker you are free-rolling.
Imagine yourself at Caltech or MIT!!!
DS is a Chem major at Carleton, the program is fantastic and he loves the professors. Really nice kids, too.
Schools like Central Florida, Arizona State, Alabama and some others will give a full ride (or close) to NMSF’s and have good chemistry departments, if not as famous as some of the others. I couldn’t convince my DS to take them up on the offer:) but it would save a lot of money for whatever you decide to do after graduation.
I think the very top tier is worth incurring some financial burden.
Having gone to MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton is worth the extra money.
The opportunities are boundless, the people you meet, the project you work on …
If the OP has a chance to get into one of those schools, he shouldn’t focus solely on the
financial aspect … Chemistry is a lucrative field, he’ll be able to easily earn back the money…
Career surveys that I have seen that list chemistry major outcomes tend not to show very optimistic job results compared to many other majors.
Averages are averages …
Question is - does OP feel he could be deep in the right tail of the “outcome” distribution?
He may not even end up doing chemistry … (my buddy who went to MIT ugrad and Stanford grad school, dropped out to take on a senior position in a unrelated-to-chemistry startup) …
Who knows what OP ends up doing with his life …
With a bunch of debt, you can’t take the risk at the startup with a low salary but equity. Debt can severely limit post grad options.
I am usually the first one to argue against bad college financing decisions!
It irks me BIG time when I read fluff pieces like this about some TERRIBLE financial decisions made by students (and their families)
(I mean what the HELL was she thinking)
But some schools just give you THAT much more of an edge in your career.
I wish I had saved the post from a few years ago from a student that need a bunch of need based aid. They were a double legacy(both mom and dad) from Yale.
Perhaps if the OP switches from chemistry to Wall Street or consulting for a career direction. But if the true passion is chemistry, would switching to Wall Street or consulting be satisfying other than the money aspect?
True that.
Passions change … utility functions change … personal circumstances change …
I went to college aspiring to be next Robert Tappan Morris (I didn’t know just how much trouble he was in at the time) … but ended up having a career in finance (still code all the time though) …
Chem is a techie enough major to give OP options … maybe chem engineering, maybe biotech, maybe something else …
(but then again - UT should provide OP with all the options in the world - and in a very cost-effective manner)
There is a saying that chemical engineers can do the work of chemists more easily than the reverse, and it seems to be reflected in the greater success rates and pay levels that post-graduation surveys seem to find by major.
The belief that “STEM majors have good job prospects” is not uniformly true. Biology and chemistry are the usual examples of STEM majors that have weak job prospects. Compare chemistry with chemical engineering and other majors at https://career.virginia.edu/UniversityofVirginia-Class-2019 , for example.
Maybe instead of selecting a college, OP should think more about selecting a major?
Maybe this kind of info is of outmost importance!!!???
Why not major in Chem Engineering or double major … or even TRIPLE major
(given that the chem requirement will be highly overlapping with ChemE)?
(plus starting salary isn’t a perfect indicator - I for once accepted a job that paid the lowest salary of all my offers - 40% of my highest offer at the time)
I think you did a good job putting Case Western on your list. A nice school with opportunities for community engagement and a single door admission which would allow you to explore your options.
You might look at OSU. The different colleges within the university would mean you might have to navigate some internal transfers and maintain a good gpa to assure your major. Their club sports are varied, friendly and easy to join. It would likely be in budget with their Maximus and National Buckeye scholarship. But, I would encourage you to take the time to apply to their Morrill and Eminence scholarships which require additional essays. Morrill is a scholarship for students that support diversity and Eminence Fellows are an honors cohort that address an issue they identify. To apply you need to meet their early action deadline.
I should add that usually the early action (non binding - college just gets back to you sooner about their decision) deadline for OSU has been Nov. 1 (moved to the 15 this year) and it seemed like they were sticklers for having everything received by that deadline this year.
For your tippy tops you’ll probably need an early decision (binding agreement) strategy to maximize your chance of acceptance.
Good Luck!