Coursework (AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP Biology: 5, AP Chemistry: 4, AP Calc BC: (In progress), AP Physics C Mechanics: (In progress), AP Physics Electricity and Magnetism: (In progress), AP English Lit: (In progress). School only offers around 8 APs. 4 years of Spanish. Awards
National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program, Illinois State Scholar Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Marching Band: Second in command. Helped organize additional practice and group get togethers. Won big state competition.
Hospital Volunteering: Oncology wing
4 Year Varsity Swimmer: Helped new swimmers and freshmen. Won decently sized conference
Reef Aquarist: Cultivated and sold coral to local fish stores or conventions
Volunteer Club: Raise money, plant trees, etc.
Lifeguard: 2 years. Saved and treated people
Junior Varsity Tennis: Manage and Lead underclassmen
Principal Advisory Council: Bring up school problems and suggest solutions to them.
Essays/LORs/Other (Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
I’d say essays are pretty good. Did research on supplemental essays and name dropped alumni and specific programs. I’d also say CommonApp essay was good. Spent a lot of time planning and drafting and had many people look over it. Related it to Pixar Movie Coco and how I want to be remembered.
Schools (List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)
Safety (certain admission and affordability) : Illinois State University (EA), Southern Illinois University, Illinois Wesleyan University (EA), University of Illinois Chicago (EA), Loyola University Chicago.
Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable) : Rose-Hulman (EA)
Match : University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (EA. This is the school I’m aiming for. Top priority school), University of Wisconsin Madison (RD), University of Colorado Boulder (EA), Purdue.
Deep breath! You have a well balanced list and will have plenty of acceptances. UIUC and Purdue have become tougher admits for engineering but you are in the ball park with stats and course rigor.
Which, if any, schools on your list have you visited? You have some very large state schools and small-medium private schools.
Some thoughts by school…
UIUC: Strong in engineering and the natural sciences. My son did not apply because the campus seemed run down and under resourced compared to other Midwest engineering schools like Purdue. On the plus side, it is highly ranked in engineering and the natural sciences and in-state tuition is a beautiful thing (though Purdue was less expensive than our in-state flagship, UofM).
Rose Hulman: Great for engineering, but I am not sure about a pure science major like biology. On the plus side, Rose focuses almost exclusively on undergrad education with class sizes capped at 30 students and professors who self select for teaching rather than doing research. They are also very generous with merit aid. On the minus side, it is very small (~2,000 students) and located outside Terre Haute, IN.
Case Western: You may want to look at this school. It is a top 50 medium sized private school that is particularly strong in BioMed Engineering, and has strong ties to The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital. It supports students who want double majors and minors, and provides a good amount of student support. Like Rose, they are generous with merit aid.
CMU: Outstanding in engineering, very well resourced, and the campus is in a great location. On the down side, it is not very student-friendly and they are miserly with aid.
University of Pittsburgh: You might want to look at Pitt as a safety or likely. It is a small state school (~20,000 students) that feels very small and manageable. It is strong in health care related fields and has a world class research hospital. There are opportunities to cross register with CMU, which is next door.
I’ve only visited UIUC because that is the closest college to me. I will visit only the schools I have been accepted to though. Thank you JackH2021 for suggesting other schools to me! I’ll take a look at Case Western and University of Pittsburgh
No reason to panic - you have too many safeties unless your eall love them. They are, in fact, safeties - as is Rose Hulman.
CU Boulder is a low match - likely. Then Purdue and then Wisconsin - maybe a small reach - as is Illinois. Your last three are unlikely.
Depends on your budget - you could go to an Alabama for near free or a great school like Arizona State. Minnesota would be good too - and easier than Wisc.
Your list is fine as is - but a lot depends on what you seek - geography, size, budget, etc.
I agree. For biology it’s a likely or safety. In 2019, from my kid’s decently ranked public Illinois high school, nobody with the OP’s stats was rejected. That area on the Naviance graph was one big mass of green checkmarks. Acceptance rates at UIUC have not changed since then, as far as I can tell. I do not, however, know how many of those were accepted to engineering.
So @LodedDiper - UIUC microbiology is a likely or a safety, but engineering may be a reach.
For U Colorado, I would say that biology is likely or safety, but engineering is more competitive.
Check you school’s Naviance for all of your colleges, and assume that, for biology, acceptance rates are what Naviance says, but for engineering they are lower.