College Visit shell shock

<p>thought I was in decent ACT/SAT standing with 33/2250. on college visit yesterday Purdue said over 500 35+ACT applicants and last week at GT their applicant pool stats even worse. Was I being delusional thinking I had a chance? starting to panic. 5 on BC C and Nat. Merit and currently in Multivariable but low 670 on Physics II and only 3 on AP Physics. plenty of other APs, all 5s. weighted 4.4. not much EC except award winning musician, math TA and tutor. Female if that helps?</p>

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<p>ACT/SAT scores gets your foot in the door. AP classes and HS classes/grades are what opens the door.</p>

<p>Being a female is really helpful to get into Engineering. Not so good if you want to be a singer. I’ve seen some engineering schools with only 35% female. I’m sure those schools are eager to admit a qualified female.</p>

<p>MIT acceptance rate for males, 5%, females, 15%.</p>

<p>You guys are focusing on the wrong thing here. Sure, being a female only helps, but the OP’s stats are just fine even if she was just a regular ol’ white guy. The point of these schools saying that is that this isn’t high school anymore. You are almost certainly not going to be the star pupil you were before because these types of schools are where all the star pupils end up. A 33/2250 should be more than competitive at both schools.</p>

<p>by the wayy… 35% females in Engineering?? Dang I want to go to that school. sure my school is sitting at 20% or less.</p>

<p>I was just focusing on one advantage. I wholeheartedly agree, shouldn’t be a problem. Being a female is just icing.</p>

<p>It’s getting easier to apply to multiple schools. Students and families tend to be narrowly focused on a handful of institutions, whether they be the Ivys, prestigious small LACs or powerhouse state engineering programs. It’s quite possible that nearly everyone who applied to Tech also applied to Purdue. They can’t go to both.</p>

<p>Get your application to Georgia Tech by October 15 and you will know on December 15! Go to their website and read all the reasons to go ahead and get it in early. Also, I don’t normally do chances but I think you will get accepted on December 15. It is terrific school but prepare to work hard.</p>

<p>Don’t let the sheer number of applications scare you. With Common App, it’s easy for any students to apply to 10+ institutions nowadays. You may want to try to get your SAT Physics above 700 (try for 750 if you have enough time), but other than that your quantitative credentials are competitive. I would be more worried about writing a strong essay at this point.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and I did have my applications in to Purdue and Georgia Tech by Oct. 1 so that if I don’t get in one or the other, I would have time for a Plan B. also applied to U of Illinois. Trying to gear up for Physics SAT again but really lacking in momentum. I took all 3 the same day, my math was an 800, history 780, but thinking maybe my physics teacher left out a lot since I had an A+ in his class.</p>

<p>Do any of those schools mentioned even care about SAT II tests? I know Illinois doesn’t and will just ignore them if you submit them. I also know that Purdue and Georgia Tech don’t require them. I am pretty sure neither of them factor them into admissions either and just use them maybe for placement if provided.</p>

<p>Physics retake or not, I still think you’ll be fine. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I heard that bio engineering has a higher percentage of women. You might want to see if they need help with the biology part.</p>

<p>The stats the OP says were stated by the Purdue rep. seemed a bit off to me. I just check S Naviance account and the average accepted student had</p>

<p>ACT 29
SAT 1976
GPA 3.86</p>

<p>This is the average of the past three years. It seems that even if the stats for this incoming class are skewing the averages toward the upper end, it still is not what the tour guide/representative stated. Also, since Purdue is on the common app. it’s likely a good number of ‘overqualified’ students throw their hat into the ring.</p>

<p>@dietz199</p>

<p>That doesn’t contradict anything the OP said. The OP stated that the tour guides said that over 500 people had applied with an ACT of 35 or better. That still works with what you just said.</p>

<p>boneh3ad. Good point. I should have added…IMO the OP has a pretty good shot at Purdue</p>

<p>Are those the statistics for the incoming class or for accepted students? Large state universities with powerhouse engineering programs sometimes have low conversion rates because highly qualified applicants see them more as safety schools that they can just throw $75 at to have a backup. Looking at them like that is probably a mistake, but when applying is as easy as checking a few boxes and (maybe) writing a supplemental essay, and when you’re parents are paying the application fee, why not?</p>

<p>In regards to the SAT II’s, if you don’t plan on applying to any elite private engineering schools, you don’t need to worry about the physics. I just mentioned it because if you’re applying to MIT/Stanford etc, it’s probably worth your time.</p>

<p>Being a female will definitely give you an edge over males in engineering.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure Purdue doesn’t even care about SAT II’s. at least I applied without them and was accepted. Anyways, you definitely have a good shot at Purdue. I got in with a 29 ACT and a 3.9 GPA. So, you definitely shouldn’t think they you don’t have a chance.</p>