Do I have a good chance for any of these?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey CC’ers,

I’m looking to do the QuestBridge college match and here is my list of “reaches” so far:

MIT
Princeton
Stanford
Tufts
Columbia
USC

Only around 15 of QuestBridge’s partners offer accredited engineering programs. And about 13 offer civil engineering or environmental engineering, and hardly any offer both of those, which is why my final choices are going to be made up of a lot of these reaches. I am about 60% sure I want to major in civil engineering with a concentration (or possibly double major) in environmental engineering, but I’d also like to go somewhere with actuarial sciences, statistics, or accounting as well (that’s a small consideration though).

The reason why MIT, Princeton, and Stanford are at the top of my list is because they are nonbinding. The rest are binding. Tufts is above Columbia and USC because Columbia requires re-evaluation of my financial situation every year to be eligible for the “guaranteed” scholarship, and I personally don’t like USC’s environment. I really would like a smaller, LAC-esque school with decent facilities/dorms.

Stats/Credentials (I’m an Asian American if that helps):

Most recent SAT: 720 CR, 750 M, 670 W (2140); superscore is 720/750/690 (2160)
SAT II: 760 on both Bio E and USH, 780 on both Chem and Math 2
PSAT: 72 CR, 68 M, 72 W (Pre 2015) and 750 Reading/740 Math for post 2015; 225 NMSC index–I am a semifinalist
GPA: 4.0 uw, 4.8 w
AP tests: Received 5 on Calc BC, Chem, APUSH, and Euro and 4 on Bio. AP Scholar w/ Distinction (if that matters?)
IB: Will be taking IB English HL assessment

Current schedule: Orchestra (first chair cellist for 4 years), IB English, AP Gov/Econ, AP Phys C E+M and Mechanics, AP Statistics

Other ec’s and plans for this year: Secretary of Science Olympiad (will be participating for 3 years, medaled 3rd for a few events, team placed 3rd regionals), President/coordinator/secretary of poetry club (participated in this for 3 yrs), President/Secretary of Model UN (4 years), worked as private music teacher and volunteered in music-related activities for 1.5 years. This year I have less classes, so I will be either working, volunteering at a public library, tutoring/mentoring a neighbor (paid) or going to therapy (haven’t decided yet).

I may also self study for AP Literature, Language, or Psych.

I’m aware that my scores are pretty low, and I’m kind of in a sticky situation because my options for QuestBridge are either these super-selective engineering schools, or relatively uncompetitive LAC’s that offer one or two ABET-accredited general engineering programs.

Any comments on my chances are appreciated!

2

Hate to do this but…BUMP! I’m open to any feedback; I just want to know the reality!

3

I mean I don’t know much about engineering specifics (I’m not much of a STEM person) but I’d say your stats are pretty good. However–and others will probably warn you of this as well–nobody has a “good chance” of getting into those schools. Admissions are unpredictable. Everyone applying to those top schools is just as talented as the next person.

Make sure you have safeties and match schools too. And highlight your personality in your essays; be creative in order to try and stand out from the crowd.

4

@corbeaux This might be a dumb question, but how exactly do I figure out what my match and safeties are? Do I just find colleges whose highest range of SAT matches mine?

5

It’s not a dumb question! Your match schools are ones that your scores fit in the middle/top range of applications; I’d guess if your scores/GPA are that school’s average or higher. My match schools’ acceptance rates are between 30% and 50%; it would probably be similar for you seeing that we have around the same SAT score.
Safeties are schools that you will probably get into; I don’t want to specify a specific acceptance rate but something upwards of at least 60%. They’re your “fallback”, if you want to think of it that way. Also safeties are ones that you could almost certainly afford (in-state schools typically). Price matters too!

Make sure you like all the schools you’re applying to, not just your reach schools, because no one knows how admissions decisions will turn out, and you should be happy to go to whichever school. Apply to a variety of places; don’t just get tied up in the brand name of top schools.

Also check within other CC threads for more advice! There are lots of people who have been through the application process and who know more about engineering schools/questbridge than I do.