<p>I'm looking for colleges that would fit my interests and academics. Based on my academics, I would like to be considered average (top 50 percentile) or above-average (top 25 percentile) at the college.
I'm strongly interested in majoring in chemical engineering. Second choice would be chemistry. I prefer colleges that aren't too big, with small student:faculty ratios and a strong emphasis on science. :)
Really, there's nothing too special about me so schools like MIT and Caltech are basically impossible for me. I just want to go to a decent school, not necessarily Ivy or extremely prestigious.</p>
<p>Academics
34 ACT, 3.93 unweighted GPA.
This year's AP's (junior year):
Chemistry, Macro/Microeconomics, Eng. Language
I'm certain I'll get a 5 on the Chem ap exam, on both Econ exams perhaps a 4 or 5, and on English... most likely a 4 but 5 if I'm lucky (those multiple choice questions kill me!)</p>
<p>Senior year APs: I will be taking Calc BC, Biology, World History, and Eng. Literature.</p>
<p>SAT subject tests: I'm taking Chem and Math II in June. Did two practice chem tests and they were pretty easy, scored 800 on both of them. Probably a 700+ on math II. </p>
<p>EC's are pretty weak. Played one season of soccer freshman year. Absolutely nothing sophomore year. Junior year: Environmental Activists club, Chem club (unofficial but I dedicate a lot of time to running experiments before actually meeting to ensure that they don't go wrong), Gay-Straight Alliance (however, I stopped attending meetings because the club was inefficient), National Chem Olympiad finalist (not sure if top 50 or top 150 finalist, results didn't come out yet). Over the summer, I'll do some volunteer work or get a job.</p>
<p>Misc facts: Asian female, live in suburban area, decent high school</p>
<p>What’s your class rank or percentile?</p>
<p>Some schools to consider:</p>
<p>Rice
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Northeastern
Cornell
Harvey Mudd
Cooper Union (Significantly different experience from most colleges though)
UC Berkeley
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>Will you be applying for financial aid? If so, will that be a big concern for you? How much would you need and how much do your parents make?</p>
<p>Have you checked out Harvey Mudd? It’s part of the Claremont Consortium in Claremont, CA (a suburb of LA). One of 5 contiguous campuses so you get a LAC-like experience but with a medium-sized school’s worth of options.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure about financial aid. My parents’ combined income is around $140,000— could I even qualify for financial aid?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about class rank, we don’t really have that. We just have individual class ranks (for a specific class). But my school is pretty competitive, getting a 30 on the ACT is considered “average.” </p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll look up all of the schools mentioned so far.</p>
<p>Sophia, You should clarify the money first. Private colleges cost over $200K and you want to be careful about piling up undergraduate debt. Ask your parents to use an on-line calculator to get an idea of how much need based you might be eligible for. If that works for your family, then proceed with a wide list. </p>
<p>If, however, the estimated family contribution is too high, then you should be looking a colleges/universities that offer merit based aid, which would be different set.</p>
<p>Women are URMs in many engineering programs and I think you’d be a person of interest. MIT/Caltech are definitely reaches, but not out of the question. Just understand the money first, then make sure you have a balanced list of reach/match/safety.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about engineering or chemistry, but I would look at Smith for good financial aid for women in sciences. I’d also look at some of the rural/remote LACs that have a hard time recruiting high achieving Asians: Grinnell, Carleton, Hamilton, Williams.</p>
<p>Re your extracurriculars: These don’t have to be traditional like sports or student government. You should think about how you could leverage your interest in science to an individual EC. The appeal really depends on how you present it in your application. Use your essays and recommendations to amplify who you are and what you do in your non-academic time.</p>
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<p>Depends on the school and the details of your family circumstances (such as assets in your name, assets in your parents’ names, and the number of dependent children in your family). At the wealthiest, most selective and expensive private schools, if your assets and obligations are typical, you might qualify for as much as ~$25K in need-based aid.</p>
<p>[2012-2013</a> EFC Quick Reference](<a href=“http://www.stratagee.com/resources/efc_quick_reference/1213_efc_quick_reference.html]2012-2013”>http://www.stratagee.com/resources/efc_quick_reference/1213_efc_quick_reference.html)</p>
<p>In addition to the above suggestions, consider:
University of Rochester
Case Western
Rose-Hulman
Bucknell</p>
<p>Michigan (one of the few state universities that is need-blind & full-need for US applicants)
Minnesota (strong ChemE, relatively low OOS costs)</p>
<p>^^ Smith College is one of the few small LACs that has an engineering program. Carleton, Grinnell, Hamilton and Williams do not (although they are all fine schools). Other LACs with engineering include Swarthmore, Lafayette, and Union College.</p>
<p>@texas Michigan.</p>
<p>I really like the prospect of going to an LAC, but none of them seem to offer a specialized chem engineering degree. I’m not really interested in engineering in general. I really love chemistry… I’m currently taking organic chem and AP chem. I groan when my teacher doesn’t make tests hard enough, I ask questions a lot, and I enjoy spending hours on one particularly difficult problem to refine my problem-solving skills, always reading and expanding my chemical knowledge. I also have a lot of informal lab experience.</p>
<p>However, I’m not an excellent math student. I always somehow scrape an A- every semester in my math classes (like a 90.0) because I have very inconsistent test scores ranging from 65’s to 100’s. I’m worried that the math classes engineering majors are required to take will overwhelm me. I’m great at math when it’s applied to science, but math in its pure form is unbearably boring and difficult for me. </p>
<p>I’ve been strongly cautioned not to major in pure chemistry, and go for chemical engineering… Should I follow this advice? I heard finding a job as a chemistry major is very difficult, while chemical engineers are in need.</p>
<p>Chemical engineering can be a lot more than chemistry or math. It is one of the toughest branches of engineering. You can put a little more effort into math if you are getting 90. It would be hard if you are getting 80.</p>
<p>You will do a lot better in the job market with engineering than just chemistry. </p>
<p>There are only so many LACs that offer engineering. You should consider Olin (it might be pretty tough to get in but they do look for people who are interested on the practical side of engineering). </p>
<p>State schools have some of the best engineering schools.</p>
<p>Have you had any conversations with a guidance counselor? They should be able to give you a good list to start looking at. Also, have you used the College Board’s website or College Navigator (government site [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics)) to start searching? You can enter lots of criteria (size, location, test scores of applicants, GPA of applicants) and it will give you a list for you to start with. The fact that you are considering chemical engineering will help narrow the list a little.
Also, many engineering schools have a problem with the male/female student ratio and are eager to get good female students to apply and attend. They often use merit scholarships as an incentive. You didn’t mention what part of the country you would like to go to school in, but you can consider places like Case Western Reserve U, RPI, WPI as examples of th</p>
<p>If you’re serious about engineering, use the ASEE [list</a> of accredited schools](<a href=“http://profiles.asee.org/]list”>http://profiles.asee.org/) and search through it, carefully, for schools with strong Chem. Eng. programs. All you do is follow the link for any school. then look to the menu on the left side of the page (once you get to that school) and click on “Areas of Expertise.” It will take some time, but you can identify the programs you want in the locations you want. Some schools have grad program and some don’t - take your pick.</p>
<p>As noted, Swarthmore, Smith, and Union are LAC’s with strong engineering programs. You can also go to just about any strong LAC, study chemistry, and then get a dual degree at one of the major engineering schools. There are dozens and dozens of LAC’s that partner up with Columbia, Dartmouth, RPI, WashU, and CalTech to offer that kind of joint degree.</p>
<p>Michigan and Michigan State both have good engineering programs. I’d start there. </p>
<p>Also consider Purdue (the female factor will be helpful here), U. Minnesota, Georgia Tech, maybe Tufts. Lehigh, maybe even McGill in Canada.</p>
<p>Be sure to have the money talk with your parents to clarify what they can contribute. Check the net price calculators at each school’s web site to see what the net cost after non-loan financial aid will be, and compare to what your parents are able and willing to contribute. A small gap (e.g. about $5,000 per year) can often be made up with either summer job earnings or subsidized Stafford loans; a larger gap (up to about $10,000 per year) would need both summer job earnings and subsidized Stafford loans.</p>
<p>If uncertain about cost limits, be sure to include some less expensive schools in your application list, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State: about $30,000 per year</li>
<li>University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa: full out of state tuition + $2,500 per year for your GPA and ACT score, leaves about $12,000 per year of other expenses</li>
<li>University of Alabama - Huntsville: full ride for your GPA and ACT score - about as safe a safety as you can get</li>
<li>State universities in your state of residency</li>
</ul>
<p>You can use the accreditation search at [ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) to find schools with ABET accredited chemical engineering degree programs. Note that there are some smaller schools like Bucknell that have chemical engineering. UA Huntsville has only about 6,100 undergraduate and 1,600 graduate students.</p>
<p>Be aware that chemical engineering graduates tend to have better job and career prospects than chemistry graduates.</p>