Good Colleges for Engineering?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m going to a be a senior this school year, and I’m currently working on making a decent (and balanced) list of colleges to apply to. But, I feel like a lot of my schools are reaches, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me some similar or good schools? I’m thinking about doing chemical engineering but I’m not 100% sure yet
Thanks!

Colleges:
Stanford - top choice
Columbia
Carnegie Mellon - top choice
University of Chicago
Tufts
Rice
Tulane (Its in the state i live in so its a safety right now)
UT at Austin (I’m not 100% with it but I’ve heard its good with engineering, so I’m thinking of applying to be safe because most of my schools are complete reaches)

GPA:
Weighted: 4.55
Unweighted: 3.83
SAT (I did quite badly on it and I’ve only taken it once): 1890 (Reading: 660, Math: 630, Writing: 600)
SAT II: Math I: 720, Math II 620, U.S. History 710 (I’m planing on taking chemistry in the beginning of the school year too when I have more time to revise and I might retake math II)
ACT: 35 (English: 36, Math: 31, Reading: 36, Science: 35, Writing 11) (this was my 3rd time taking it)
AP (I haven’t received the scores yet but Ill update when I have): English Lit and U.S. History
I will be taking English Language, US Government, Calculus and Physics 1 (algebra based)
Rank: 4/90ish
I recieved all As and Bs in 8th and 9th grade and I’ve had all As in 10th and 11th grade.

About me:
Gender: Female
Race: White
School: Private Catholic school (not Catholic though)
Born: England
Live in: Louisiana (moved in 2006, about 6 months after Hurricane Katrina)

ECS:
I will be the president of Diversity Club for senior year (since 9th grade)
SPCA Club (since 10th grade)
I was chosen as one of 12 students to go on a service trip to build a house in Belize (however I was hospitalized with Pancreatitis the week before so I couldn’t go) but I attended meetings and planned fundraisers for the trip all junior year and will be working with the next group of students to go through senior year
Identity team (it worked with the service trip and helped with the fundraisers) (in 9th grade, 11th and will be 12th)
National Honor Society (Since 10th grade) (will be an officer next year)
Mu Alpha Theta (Since 10th Grade) (will be an officer next year)
Tri-M Music honor society (since 11th grade) (was an officer in 11th grade and will be next year)
French Club (since 10th grade)
Dead Poets Society (since 9th grade) (was an officer last year and will be next year)
Debate Team (since 11th grade)
Choir (since 8th grade)
I will be on student council for 12th grade

My school requires that we reach a certain amount of hours of service each year, so since 8th grade I’ve done at least 25 hours of service.

Other things:
I placed 2nd at a MAO competition in a group doing gemini (a type of math game)
Myself and a partner also placed 3rd in the state playing gemini at the MAO state tournament
In 9th grade, my group and I placed 1st in state in a science competition and 2nd regionally
I’ve also gotten a french award for the national french exam and I think one from the national Latin exam one year
A few girls from our choir were also chosen to sing at a luncheon for a state senator.

Thats all I can think of right now
I know my SAT is really low but my ACT is quite high ( I probably wont submit my SAT if I don’t have to, but I’m thinking about taking it again and properly studying considering I didn’t before)
Thanks so much!

2

UT Austin should not be counted on as a safety unless you are in the top 7% in a Texas high school.

Also, what are your cost constraints? Is Tulane known to be affordable to you?

What about Louisiana State University and Louisiana Tech University? Note that you would get an automatic full ride scholarship at the latter, if cost is a big concern.

3

Chicago does not offer Engineering as a major. You can major in Computer Science or Physics though.

Your ACT is excellent, so no need to worry about the SAT. But for the schools on your list, you are going to have to improve your SAT 2 scores. Also, for an aspiring Engineer, you sort of have to take the Math 2. Chemistry is fine as a second subject test.

4

@ucbalumnus Well in all honestly, i’m not too sure about UT right now, but I’ll keep that in mind thanks.
And no Tulane is ridiculous but cost isn’t really a restraint for me. Plus my sister goes there now and she got 20,000 off the bat, so I think I might get some money.
I’m more interested in going out of state, which does make it a bit more difficult for me, but I might look into them a bit more

5

@Alexandre Oh wow thats dumb of me, I had it on my list when I was looking into computer science schools and I didn’t really check again but thank you for letting me know. I do need to retake the SAT IIs, I was initially only going to take US History but then decided to take the other two, so I hadn’t really studied. I’m probably going to retake the Math II and take Chemistry. Thank you!

6

Your have a sister currently at Tulane paying over $40k (even after that $20k discount), and you say cost isn’t a restraint for you? Are you sure about that? Have you actually discussed this with your parents?

Being a female interested in engineering, you are a competitive candidate for nearly any school. What do you seek in a college (size, location, vibe, activities, etc.)?

7

@Chardo Well my parents say its not too much of an issue but of course its something I’m going to keep in mind.
Size wise I’d prefer medium or small, I’d prefer to go either to California or up north, I’d prefer to avoid super party schools but they don’t have to be completely dry or anything, I don’t really mind much for activities. I just want to find a school that has good academics and a good vibe to it.
Really any good engineering schools, I want to look into them all and see what they’re like before I add them or rule them out.

8

“Not too much of an issue” could be a recipe for a let down in April. Have they told you what they are able and willing to contribute? If you ask “if I get into Tulane without a scholarship, would the cost be affordable?” what would they say?

If they are unable or unwilling to give you a budget, you may want to consider automatic full ride schools like Louisiana Tech for your safety options. There are possibilities from http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ . If the budget amount is relatively small but non-zero, an automatic full tuition scholarship may be enough.

9

@ucbalumnus Ok thanks, I’ll check that website out and make a bit of a longer safety list. Thanks!

10

Are you a citizen or permanent resident?

Your sister’s award was merit? yes, you’d likely get merit from Tulane as well.


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ACT: 35 (English: 36, Math: 31, Reading: 36, Science: 35, Writing 11)

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I don’t know if the more highly selective eng’g schools (that admit directly to eng’g) will have an issue with the Math 31 score. Anyone know? The 35 is impressive, but the math is what brought the score down.

Is that a super score or from one sitting?

UT-Austin is never safe to any OOS student, and it’s only safe for Texas students who have the needed upper 8% GPA (or whatever the number is these days).

11

UT Austin is a safety (for the campus, not necessarily for the major) for those with top 7% class rank in a Texas high school. It should probably be considered a reach for all others, due to the limited number of spaces for non-automatic-admission applicants.

12

<<<
Tulane (Its in the state i live in so its a safety right now)


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While likely you’ll be admitted, it’s not a safety.

13

@mom2collegekids I’m currently on a visa but in a few months we’ll be in the full process to getting green cards and becoming permanent residents. And yes it was a merit based scholarship.
That was from one sitting. I was thinking the same thing about the math score, but I’m hoping that I can get a better SATII score and kind of balance it out.
And ok I didn’t really know that about UT Thank you.
The reason I have Tulane as a safety is because if you live in the state have above a 28 and above 3.5 and apply by a certain date you are accepted automatically, so I know i’ll get in as long as I apply

14

@ucbalumnus Ok thank you, I’m not sure if I even want to apply there, so I’ll keep that in mind thanks.

15

With that ACT score, Georgia Tech would be a good fit for you. It is top tier in engineering, and being 2/3 male, they really value girls that want to do engineering. Plus its in the southeast so not too far from home for you.

16

@mohchan360 I have it on my list, i’m thinking about applying. Thanks!

17

Here is a link to colleges that offer engineering programs: http://best-engineering-colleges.com/. Click on the “Chemical Engineering” link on the home page (or whatever engineering subfield) to get a list of colleges that have chemical (or whatever) engineering programs.

This may help you narrow down your list, and allow you to start researching individual schools.

18

To help my daughter narrow her list, I searched the ABET website for accredited Chemical Engineering undergraduate degrees (her current preferred major). You can then download the search results to a spreadsheet. The list from ABET is nice because it has links to all the colleges for easy browsing. I then cross-referenced it with admissions selectively and financial aid information I found on collegedata.com.