Good engineering schools for me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everybody,</p>

<p>I'm a prospective engineering student (currently grade 12), but I'm a little lost in this whole admissions process. I feel that my options are somewhat restricted by a relatively low GPA and average ECs, and so I'm not sure exactly where I should be aiming as far as schools go.</p>

<pre><code>As of now, my list consists of:
</code></pre>

<p>MIT (I'm getting an interview, if that helps)
UC Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
GA Tech
WPI
Possibly U Mich and UIUC, though they don't seem like the best fit for me.</p>

<p>Ideally I would like to be in an urban environment, with a medium sized student pop. I'm fine with large universities as well. My dilemma is this: I have no clue where I can reasonably expect to get into. I'm assuming MIT/UCB/CMU are going to be out of reach, especially for engineering. Is there any schools that I'm missing? My list seems a bit short. Do I need a safer school? Is there any school that you think is in the "sweet spot"?</p>

<p>My credentials are below.</p>

<p>--School: Fairly typical as far as student achievement goes. Suburban MA. I am a white male.
--GPA: 3.75UW, 4.25W
--ACT: 35
--SAT II: Taking Chem and Math II in the fall
--Class Rank: Don't officially know yet, just that I am in the top 5/185
--AP Scores: English Lang (5), Chem (4), taking Physics B, English Lit, Euro, and Calc AB this year
--Note: Took most rigorous courses available, except for freshman year because I transferred from a private middle school so my placement was a tad screwed up. Fairly decent upward trend, though.</p>

<p>--Sports: Varsity Tennis (10,11,12)
--NHS: 50 volunteer hours per year, Tutor chair (coordinated tutoring in my school)
--I also completed an independent service project where we organized a day of team building activities for the incoming freshman class of 220 kids. It was a pretty big deal, and we had about 350 people involved.
--Varsity Math Team (11,12): Highest scorer from my town Junior year
--I interviewed applicants over the summer for a variety of positions at our school (English teachers, Science teachers, Vice Principal)
--Senior Leader: served as an advisor to a group of freshmen, met almost weekly
--Family + Community Leaders Club: Volunteer work for events around town, sometimes overlapped with NHS</p>

<p>If I forgot anything, it was probably too minor to count anyways. If it makes a difference, I think my recommendations will be strong and I hope my essays will be too.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance guys!</p>

2

<p>MIT: high reach (but NOT out of reach!)
Berkeley: mid reach
Carnegie Mellon: high match / low reach
GA Tech: low match / safety
WPI: safety
UMich: low match
UIUC: safety</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the feedback! I’m also a legacy at WPI, so I think it will make a good safety :)</p>

4

<p>UMich and UIUC are pretty similar in admission stat for Engineering with mid 50 ACT 31-34 and average GPA ~3.9. You GPA is obviously below their admission average, so you would be a high match (may be match) for them even with a very good ACT. What is your class rank? For MIT, shot for 780+ in SAT2 for Math2 and Chem. Your should have taken them already. For Engineering, UCB, UMich, and UIUC are on the same tier level and should have similar chance unless you are in state for one of them. Where is your home state? You may also consider Purdue which is slightly less competitive.</p>

<p>Assuming you are out of state:
MIT: Reach
Berkeley: High match (what is your UC GPA?)
GA Tech: match to low match
UMich: high match
UIUC: match to high match (do not accept recommendation, apply to specific major)</p>

5

<p>My class rank isn’t officially published yet, but I know I’m in the top 5 out of 185, and more than likely either 3 or 4. I know I should have already taken the SAT IIs, but I had to miss my previously scheduled tests because of family commitments. Poor planning on my part. My home state is Massachusetts, and my school is fairly average, with maybe 1-3 going to top schools each year.</p>

6

<p>your class rank is very good. In general, you need to be within the top 10% for good schools and 5% for prestigious schools. If you really want to apply to UCB, calculate your UC GPA. It will be very expensive for oos though (same for UMich). If you want to apply UIUC, think about which engineering major now. You need to apply to that major directly although you can always change that after admission.</p>

7

<p>Could you point me somewhere that would tell me how to calculate my UC GPA? I haven’t done that yet, and don’t really know how. My major is going to be Materials Engineering.</p>

8

<p>MIT: reach
Berkeley: high match/low reach
Carnegie Mellon: high match/low reach
GA Tech: match
WPI: safety
UMich: high match
UIUC: match</p>