[ b]Objective:[ list]
[ ] SAT I (breakdown): 1440/1600 (March *new SAT wasn’t familiar with format/material)
[ *] SAT I superscore (breakdown):
[ *] ACT (breakdown): 32C E:34 M:31 R:32 S:31 (will be shooting for 33+ in June)
[ *] ACT superscore (breakdown):
[ *] SAT II:
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.74
[ *] Weighted GPA: 4.15
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top decile
[ *] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Chemistry ( ) AP Macroeconomics
[ *] IB (place score in parentheses): IB Physics ( ), IB Spanish ( )
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Spanish Lang, AP Bio, AP US History, English electives.
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/list] [ b]Subjective:[ list] None worth listing, some minor photography awards
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Only a couple of minor ECs. No major, extraordinary ones.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Work over summer of Sophomore and Junior summers, possibly during Senior year as well.
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:[/list] [ b]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):**[ list] Around 100 hours of volunteer hours working around the community and with some of my ECs.
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): MI
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: Large Public (A little over 2000 students total)
[ *] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ ] Income Bracket: Low. Will qualify for full aid from 100% need schools.
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/list] [ b]Reflection[ list]: First Generation
Other comments: interested in STEM areas of study, but I am not entirely set on engineering as a major choice. Open to suggestions. Economics is a potential major as well. Also open to check out LACs.
Preferences:
-Location: All the way from near a large city to in a small town. Prefer not to be set IN a large city, however, it’s not off the table if it happens to be.
-Weather: Anything works here. I’m used to both very hot and very cold, as I live in MI.
-Size: Nothing TOO small (i.e. population of <2000)
In state I assume Michigan State & Michigan Tech would be options to explore.
Lehigh meets need, your ACT is above the 50% mark, and they have engineering. Same with University of Rochester. Both are also need blind in admissions for US citizens.
Each college has a net price calculator on their website. Run it for each school you are looking at to see what you may be expected to pay.
For economics, these analyses can be helpful: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges” and “US Economics Departments,” IDEAS.
As an opinion, a 2000 student cut-off can be counter-productive in that it eliminates some excellent colleges with both wide-ranging academics and full sports programs (often 1800+, as in some NESCAC colleges such as Colby).
@merc81 I just noticed right after I posted that the 2000 cutoff was foolish to add when I had stated earlier that I was interested in LACs. Therefore, to be more open-minded with the approach, one can disregard said statement.
@intparent I’m not set on engineering; economics is as big of an interest of mine as engineering at this point. Obviously if I were to decide on engineering I probably wouldn’t be looking at LACs, aside from Mudd and others of that sort.
For economics, among the Claremont colleges, Pomona has a more typical liberal arts and pre PhD focus, whole CMC has a more preprofessional focus, based on course offerings.
For your setting preferences, these Newsweek articles can be helpful to read through: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools” and “The 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools.”
Lafayette in PA has engineering in an LAC setting, as does Trinity U in TX. You would be a middle applicant for both of those schools, so very competitive. Might get merit aid from one or both.
The nice thing about those options would be that you could try some engineering courses and, if you change your mind for any reason, you have a full panoply of other majors/subjects to explore. If you go to an RPI or Rose-Hulman, you are going to have to transfer if you find engineering does not suit you.
@collegeguru2017 that’s definitely on my list under “match.” Although, it’s hard to determine whether it’s a low match or high match when one is first gen, low income, and instate.