Confused Senior needs your Advice

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I need help deciding on the last few schools to apply to

Stats

Large high school ~1000 students per grade

4.94 uncapped weighted gpa

3.65 unweighted, 4.35 capped weighted gpa

On the UC Scale, my GPA is a 4.13

Hooks: URM (African American)

Intended Major / Field: Environmental Chemistry / Biomedical Engineering

ACT: 34 superscore, 32 composite

ECs (trying to be as vague as possible)

These are the most important ones I would say

3 x ISEF finalist (3rd place twice, and 2nd place this past year)

JSHS Finalist and Category winner
MIT THINK winner

Research Intern at local university since 2018

Summer research intern at T50 university

Published Research in minor Journal (big for my field)

Featured presenter at National chemistry meeting since 2020

President of HS Science Fair club for 3.5 years

President of HS science volunteering club for 4 years

(helped to set up pop up science exhibits and demos with local science museum at local libraries and schools)

PSAT African American Recognition scholarship

Teacher teccs:

I picked two teachers I know fairly well, knowing them for 5 years and 4 years respectively due to taking their classes starting in middle school.

While I don’t expect them to write the most amazing recc letters I think it will be positive overall.

Caveats:

During the first semester of my junior year due to issues with my family, it put a lot of stress on me. I got a C+ in both AP Spanish and Calc BC my first semester. I got a B second semester in both AP Spanish and Calc BC and then I took Calc 1 + 2 over the summer at a local college and got an A in it .

My Calculus BC teacher saw how much i improved over the summer and then actually recommended me to take Multivariable Calculus
(which is a invitation only class at my High school)

*Also I would have asked her for a letter of recc, but she refused to write one. But given my prior academic history it is really no surprise.

This past summer I also took a biostatistics course at a local college and also got and A

So far I am doing much better and have A’s in all my classes this year (including Multivariable Calculus, AP physics C: E and M, AP Lit, AP Psych, and AP Gov, as well as the rest of my classes.

I got the rest of my college list down and written most of the essays are written

I need help deciding on the last few schools as I am close the 20 school limit

Currently I am strongly considering for my last 5 schools

Duke

NYU

Cal-Tech

Stanford

Others schools to consider as other options for the last few schools:

Olin

Boston University

Northeastern

Emory ( I am already applying to Gtech, so I’m worried both will be too similar )

Tufts

Williams

I have most of the essays done for the last few schools. Some schools like WashU actually reached out and offered me a fee waiver, so it allowed me to be able to apply to more schools.

Any help is really appreciated

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Is there some reason why you feel you need to apply to 20 colleges?

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Olin is a very different experience from most schools. If you’ve researched it, I would think you’d be clear whether you want to apply or not.

Emory and GT are both in Atlanta, yes, but very different experiences.

Would your CC calc prof be a possible recommender?

What’s your financial situation? Do you qualify for a lot of need-based aid? If you do, GT OOS may not be affordable. If you don’t, then elite privates that don’t give merit aid will be very expensive. Have you run Net Price Calculators for all schools?

What other schools are already on your list? Does the 20 include UC’s and CSU’s, or are you saying that you’re applying to 20 Common App schools in addition to CA public U’s?

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Congrats to you. Where you should apply with your last depends on where you have applied.

Do you have any safeties ? If not your last app should be a safety.

Any budget items to know about ??

If we have to choose from above, I’d go Tufts if full pay or Emory otherwise. Olin and Cal Tech don’t fit. You might call an advisor in the program at Emory - if you need to take classes at ga tech and Emory you might find it inconvenient.

Not sure by it might be too similar to Ga Tech. Other than a city name, it’s not. Or do you mean they share the major ?? That’s be my concern - if it’s at both schools…the transport.

It’s diverse (Emory) and likely the easiest on your list to get into but maybe do your second major (Chem) as an easier entrant.

I think your C+ will trip your up at many regardless of the after.

Good luck.

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Without knowing your budget (and how that relates to Expected Family Contributions determined by colleges…i.e. will your family qualify for financial aid and be able and willing to pay what colleges think they should pay…which many families cannot) as well as what schools you’ve already applied to, this is pretty impossible to answer. When we get more info, would be happy to offer advice.

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Which do you like best ? A fee waiver alone is not a reason to apply. What if you don’t like the school. My kid got fee waivers to WUSTL, Chicago and W&L amongst the elite plus several more. But the first two didn’t interest her so she didn’t apply.

Your list is all over. Why these schools?

I hope you have targets and safeties although I imagine with your profile you’ll get into some of these.

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I just feel that because of my situation I am trying to apply as broadly as possible in order to have the best chance of getting in somewhere

I at least hope that some of my ECs will be able to help with my application

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Currently I have two “safeties” being University of Washington and Ohio State (in state)

As for EFC I just ran it and it is around 15 to 20k per year

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EFC or net costs from the net price calculators?

Apply to Ohio State NOW and apply for their Morrill and Eminence scholarships. There is an early application deadline for these. Get them done…you are in the ball park for these.

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My EFC is 15-20k

My current Full college list is:

I have most essays done for these schools:

Harvard REA ***
Georgia Tech EA ***
Ohio State (in state) EA ***
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Upenn
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Uchicago
WashU
Rice
USC
University of Washington

Still have to write for:

Georgetown (unsure if I should apply…although that have a good premed program)
MIT
UCs (Berkeley, LA, San Diego)

I picked based of mainly researching location, programs I liked, and graduate school placement

Which is why there is a lot of schools that might be “different”

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The EFC from the net price calculator

I am working on polishing my EA apps and how to apply about a week from now.

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How did you run the EFC? FAFSA does not equal what a school will give you.

I don’t see UW as a safety or affordable.

Have you run net price calculators on any of your schools ?

Also if you want to do biomedical engineering why Williams ?

As another safer, rather than UW, look at UAB, CMU- that’s Central Michigan, Miss State, or Memphis. You might look at Wichita State too. Gotta meet cost. Make sure they are ABET in the major.

What I’m saying is - make sure you can afford any school on your list. Efc is not that. Check each net price calc. UW is a reach but has Oos merit but not much. It is not a safety. Pitt has diversity scholarships so might be worth a look.

I’m guessing you need to redo your list. Too much strength (reach) unless you are fine with tOSU. And you need to by individual school ensure you can afford where you are applying. You are impressive tho. But it’s a competitive world.

Best of luck.

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Oh, when you talked about UC’s, I thought you meant you were a CA resident.

If you’re an OH resident with a 15-20K EFC/budget, I don’t know why you’d even bother applying to UC’s. Where are you going to get 67K/year to attend a UC?

And with maximum OOS merit, UW-Seattle will still be 45K+/year. Likewise GT.

Fortunately, tOSU in-state is a great option, so you can “shoot the moon” with reaches as long as the cost projections look affordable.

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If your EFC is $15-20k/year, then there are a few schools that you need to remove, because they won’t meet your need: Washington, all the UCs, and probably Georgia Tech. They give virtually no need-based aid to students from out-of-state, the UCs give negligible merit aid, and Washington and Georgia Tech are extremely unlikely to give sufficiently generous merit aid.

Would you be happy to attend Ohio State? And will it be affordable for you as an in-state student? (I’m not saying don’t apply there…you definitely should…but we’re figuring out whether it’s a “safety”.) A safety is a school that is highly likely to accept you AND will be affordable AND you would be happy to attend. If it doesn’t meet all three requirements, then it’s not a safety.

Also, have you checked with your family if they are willing and able to pay the EFC of $15-20k? Many families are not able to do so, which is why I ask (and will determine whether you need to focus more on schools that offer merit aid.) Which NPCs did you run for those estimates? Not all schools are equally generous in determining need, so you will end up needing to run it for each school.

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Intially I liked Williams because of the location, but I took it off my list due to it not aligning with my major.

But I also read that it is the best lac for stem, and harvey mudd was simply a bit too expensive for me.

Whats confusing is that I re-ran my EFC after asking for more info from my parents on a more reputable website (https://studentaid.gov/) and it said 26 to 30k

I am interested in Environmental Eng as well as biological sciences (like bio med eng)

So depending weather I switch majors, the school’s should be strong in science regardless

Case western is a bit expensive, and I did’nt like Purdue’s location.

my concern is the Umich has too many people from my school applying and overall I did’nt like the school as much.

I have family in CA and in the Washington area which is why I added the UCs and UW.

Would be getting rid of NYU be a good move??
Also what about Georgetown…although they do have good pre-med placement Idk if it is a good idea to still apply??

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Currently my plan was exactly that. I am fine with going to tOSU, but it would be great if I could go to uni outside of my state just for a new experience.

I have family in the UW and UCs areas which is why im applying

Also isn’t UW only competitive for CS???

I was also considering UVA…but they are not as strong in science??

Is URochester a good option. Although I did hear that they are expensive :confused:
I liked the open curriculum and they are a great research school

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For each college you consider, web search for “[name of college] net price calculator”. Then go there to use the net price calculator to see what net price that specific college may give you after financial aid. This is probably not the same as the EFC from the FAFSA formula.

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Don’t go by the list prices of schools. You need to run the NPC for each one. If you look at the list prices, none of the schools on your list are affordable for you. So eliminating possibilities (like Case Western or Harvey Mudd) because they’re too expensive, when all the schools on your list are too expensive by list price is a bit of a head-scratcher for me.

You need to ask your parents how much they are willing and able to pay for your college education, per year, without taking loans. Then come back and let us know so we can advise you on whether the schools with no merit aid (most of the ones on your list) will work, or if the focus needs to shift to merit-based aid.

So, moving towards the merit-aid front:

Case Western (OH) can offer generous merit, and has full tuition scholarships for Ohio residents, and several options for graduates from the Cleveland area, if you happen to be from that part of Ohio. They like to know that an applicant is sincerely interested in them, so you’ll want to show a lot of interest (attending info sessions if they visit your high school, opening their emails, attending online sessions, doing an in-person visit, etc).

If you’d like additional chances for a full ride, you may want to look at some of your in-state schools that are ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering in case you don’t get one from tOSU, namely:

• U. of Akron
• U. of Cincinnati
• Miami (OH)
• U. of Toledo
• Wright State

Check the dates for when those applications are due…you may not have sufficient time to hear from tOSU about what merit aid you will receive before they need to be in if you are to be considered for their full rides.

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UCs generally do not give need-based aid to non-California residents. Large merit scholarships are rare and highly competitive.

Many majors at Washington are more popular than their departments have capacity for, although you need to check whether they manage it by direct frosh admission or secondary admission after enrolling as an undeclared student.

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OK - let’s slow down.

The EFC is not relevant in this case. You or rather your parents need to runt he net price calculator for each school. Google the school name and Net Price Calculator.

U Michigan is unaffordable for you OOS as is each UC, Gat Tech, and Washington - unless you are able to spend $45 to $70K a year. That’s why I mentioned UAB, MIssissippi State, etc - these are schools that will be cheaper - maybe still not affordable for you but much less than those you chose.

You are concerned with the name but these are all ABET schools and all will be fine to get you to where you want to go, including grad school. So each should have ABET accreditation for the major.

CWU meets need as does NYU. Gtown too - but again, what do they say it will cost you. You need to look at each school as they all look at finances differently.

I’m not sure how you can like Williams location ((literally the middle of nowhere) but also like CWU (a couple miles from downtown) or NYU - as urban as you can be - not even a campus.

In my opinion - you should blow all these schools out - you don’t need another reach. You have too many. You need to remove some reaches and put in some safeties or if tOSU is a place you can afford and be happy, it doesn’t matter where you apply - you’ll likely end up there and it’s a fine school. U of Cincinnati is in state and has ABET approval - so that would be a much better addition then any you are talking about. Why - it’s solid, it’s approved, and most importantly - relative to the others, it will be affordable.

You are chasing a name - but this is engineering - and in this case, the name won’t matter.

Good luck.