Dear Parents - please help a confused student

Parents Forum
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<p>Finally the madness of college admission results is over. Though I have reasonably good stat (4.0 uw and 4.6w GPA, rank 5/370, SAT 2320 (760,780,780 in a single sitting); SAT2 Math2 800, Chem 800, US Hist 790; ACT composite 35; 9APs) I could not get a place in Princeton and UC Berkeley (because I am an OOS, UCB tightened the OOS quota for this year). I did write good essays and have reasonable EC with a few awards, science research, and over 600 Community Services hours, however, these stat, essays and awards were not enough for them. Oh well, life goes on !</p>

<p>While waitlisted in Stanford, I got admissions at UT Austin, Rice, Carnegie Mellon, Univ of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Case Western and Univ of Minnesota.</p>

<p>With my interest in Chem Eng, I am selecting UT Austin because, I believe, UT Austin, UIUC, Minnesota, Rice, Case and Carnegie Mellon are all about the same in Chem Eng rank, but in my case, Austin will be close to home and also from financial aspect. I presume they all are a rank below MIT, UCB, Stanford and Caltech. Well, let me console myself , I am reserving these big four for my Graduate studies per se.</p>

<p>I have visited both Stanford and UT Austin. Stanford is awesome but Austin is not bad, and if I go to UT Austin I will be close to my family, just over 2.5 hour drive. Looking at curriculums, both UT Austin and Stanford have good courses and I feel I am a good fit. Also, as I am interested in nanotech, semiconductor and energy areas, both have excellent faculties doing research in these areas.</p>

<p>1) My question is how likely I can get in Stanford from waitlist (they say there are about 750 (2% of total ~38,000 applicants))? I know it is hard to say, but based on past records if any one has..</p>

<p>2) Is it worth going to Stanford and paying ~$250,000 for 4 year tuition and room&board ? At UT Austin, I will be an in-state student from the second year as my dad’s job has been relocated to Texas recently, and UT has given me a good scholarship (over $7,000 per each year for 4 years) through its Engineering Honors Program. So my tuition fees from second year will be less than $5,000 per year. I expect to get some research work too from the second year onward. So, the total will be about $80,000 or less for 4 year tuition and room&board.</p>

<p>3) How well is UT Austin BS Chem Eng Degree recognized? If I maintain a good GPA (hypothetically, over 3.9) and have good summer research experiences, can I get admission to MIT, UCB, Stanford or Caltech for a PhD Program? </p>

<p>4) Finally, hypothetically, if I get a Ph. D from one of these four, will the BS of UT Austin still be a point to frown over when I apply for a job in say Boing, Intel, big oil companies, etc..</p>

<p>My parent are asking me to make up my mind asap. I would appreciate your comments/ advices..</p>

<p>Thanks..</p>

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<p>I didn’t do it, but search for the Common Data Set for Stanford. Assuming there is a link somewhere on their web site (most colleges have past years), go through the past few years. There is a spot where they say how many students were offered waitlist spots, how many took the spot, and how many were accepted.</p>

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<p>Congratulations to you! You have much to be proud of. You impress me with your thoughtfulness and pragmatism as well. UT Austin sounds like a great option! Do well there and I am betting you will have great success applying to a top grad school if you so choose in four short years.</p>

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<p>Gosh, these questions I am not sure anyone will know the answers to. I am a believer in going to the best college you feel comfortable with. It will help if you feel good there to excel. Really you have excellent choices.</p>

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<p>UT- Austin is a very good school. May I suggest you look at their career and grad school placement? You are saying UT-Austin is on par with UIUC ( a school I am familiar with ) and I do know students who intern for Boeing- all placed through career placement services/job fairs on campus. I bet UT- Austin students/grads do very well finding internships, jobs and grad school opportunities. I would go with the affordable option and the one that wants you at this point - ymmv.</p>

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<p>Definitely take the lower-cost option! You say it has excellent research facilities in your field…sounds perfect. A college YOU like that likes you enough to give you money. :)</p>

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<p>Personally, I think there is value in the smaller private schools with more opportunities for undergrads, and often a more personal touch. </p>

<p>I like Rice and CMU from that list. Most grad school in engineering is paid for by someone else, so no point in saving the money for it. </p>

<p>I guess it depends on whether your parents can afford the private school and are willing to pay. UT Austin at in-state tuition is pretty nice. </p>

<p>Chances of getting off the Stanford wait list - slim to none.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for suggestions and advices. I decided to go to UT Austin rather than waiting for the Stanford chance from the waiting list. Many people are saying there is a very, very slim to none chance to get into Stanford from the waiting list.</p>

<p>Well, I guess my future depends on my next four-year’s achievements at UT Austin rather than graduation from a one-rank higher college :-)</p>

<p>Hook 'Em ! Long Horn hear I come !!</p>

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<p>FYI, 2011 WL stats for different colleges:
[Waiting</a> Lists Have Plenty of Company - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/waiting-list-2011/]Waiting”>Waiting Lists Have Plenty of Company - The New York Times)</p>

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<p>congrat! go to UT and don’t look back. if your major was in business, my pick would had been Stanford.</p>

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<p>OP - I am under the impression that when UT Austin gives you a scholarship, it automatically eliminates OOS tuition. So you may in fact be paying 3k tuition each year if you have 7k per year award? Please check on it.</p>

<p>Stanford waived their waitlist last year because an additional 100 people enrolled. However, they admitted 200+ fewer students to compensate which means they may end up adding 30 people in my opinion. The way the waitlists work is quite tricky because they like to fill niche gaps to add people where they enrolled fewer than expected despite admitting the right people they wanted. So it is anybody’s guess whether you will make the cut.</p>

<p>UT Austin’s proximity to the chemical industry makes it one of the best programs in the nation for chemical engineering.</p>

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<p>I may be missing something…why didn’t you accept the Stanford wait list and matriculated UT Austin? Then, should the wait list come through…Then decide between the two.</p>