I want to apply to 3 safeties , 3 matches, and 3 reaches. Please advise me.
4.0 UW GPA , 4.49 W GPA - 18/418 (top 4.3% of class)
SAT: 2200 (740M - 760CR - 700W - 10essay)
ACT: 33 , 34 Superscore
i. 33: (35E 34R 29M 32S) - 35 Essay
ii. 33: (34E 34R 34M 28S) - 33 Essay
Subject Tests: (will take) Math II , Chem
ECs
- Co-President and Co-Founder of Computer Science Club, helped work on projects in our school district and formed a Dev Team
2)Consistent Chemistry Tutoring
3)UIL Calculator , SkillsUSA Photography
- Attended a Biotechnology camp in the summer (BioForce) at the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (Texas A&M).(2yrs)
- NJHS Vice President , NHS member
- Freelance Tech Support for Friends and Family
- Interned at JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund)
8)Silver Medal in National Latin Exam, Honors in the National Spanish Exam
9)Varsity Tennis Freshman Year
10)Job at local pet care place
- Summer volunteering at Hospital
12)Volunteering at a Hospice
Personal Projects
Coding Blog
built computers , hacked consoles such as Wiis
Leadership
- Co-founded and am Co-president of the Computer Science Club at my school
- President/social media director of the GSA(Gay Straight Alliance at my School)
- NJHS Vice President
State: TX (at public high school)
Year: Junior
Demographics: white, male, lgbt, >200,000 income bracket
Schools: UW-Seattle(nursing/bio) , UT Austin (nursing), Texas A&M (engineering), UT Dallas(engineering), Dartmouth (government), NYU(Stern finance probably), UCLA (nursing)
I’m looking into schools in Northern areas like NY, Mass, etc that would give me SICK financial merit aid so I could go. Again, looking for 3 match, 3 safety, and 3 reach.
Northeastern would be a great match school to add - they have great engineering / business / CS, and they offer good merit aid ranging from 10k to full tuition. It’s also got Boston as it’s backyard. Make sure to check out the co-op program and see if its suits you though.
I would drop UCLA since the UC’s no longer give FA to OOS applicants. They do offer some grants and merit scholarships but your costs will still probably be around $30K/year or more even with the grants/scholarships. Run the Net Price Calculator, but it may not up to date since the UC’s just stopped offering FA this year.
@PengsPhils I have thought about Northeastern, but the school just seems really expensive and I would need to get a full ride or something. Also I’m not sure that I want to major in CS.
Your intended majors are really sort of all over the place. I would work on narrowing down what you want to study, then go look for programs that interest you in that specific area.
@whitespace At schools with Nursing, I’m applying to Nursing. Other schools it is CS/Engineering. NYU is Stern jus because.
Well… Do you want to be a nurse or an engineer? (Or for that matter, go into business or government?)
I generally think I would be happy with any of those options with government being last the other three being in no particular order.
I’m not quite sure how to help, but I would make sure that at those universities it will be easy to change majors or schools if you decide that you like a different field better. For example at some schools nursing is hard to transfer into or may take an extra year, eng schools are usually hard to transfer into, etc.
I really am just trying to gauge where I stand in terms of competitiveness as an applicant…
I feel like I am slightly above my state schools but definitely not at the ivy league level.
@merelyaboveavg
NYU, UCLA, and Dartmouth will both probably be more expensive than NEU will be based on scholarship opportunities - how do you plan to afford those but not look at schools that offer significant merit aid to students with similar stats to yourself?
What’s the maximum amount you/your parents will be able to pay?
Taking a shot or two at your favorite ivy league level schools isn’t a bad idea - you would have just as much of a shot as many others. They are certainly reach schools, but not out of reach. That said, if you must get merit aid, it’s going to be a lot harder.
@PengsPhils I was assuming that I would not receive any financial aid at NEU… do you think that I would based on my stats? Price isn’t really a make/break deal for me but I would like to get any aid I can to help out my parents. Sorry that I wasn’t clear about the finances aspect, my parents have a college fund for me and everything, but any aid would be great. For example at UTD, it’s pretty certain I would get a full ride for a solid engineering education. It’s hard to consider going to NEU for so much money when I could go to UTD. However, the idea of Boston and NEU’s great coop program are really enticing.
NEU offers good merit aid - very different from financial aid. As I mentioned in my post, NEU offers merit money from 5k to full tuition, and with your stats you would be competitive to receive it. I would certainly apply and find out.
I was surprised because the other schools you currently have on your list (NYU, UCLA, and Dartmouth) are just as expensive as NEU if not more, and do not offer merit aid like NEU does.
Temple and Howard, NE safeties with good merit.
Were you a National Merit Semi Finalist?
@nw2this I have not heard of either of those universities… if I didn’t get into a top tier school in the north I would just attend UT Austin or TAMU or UTD, I have auto-admit to all of those. I don’t know if I was a semi-finalist, I am just a junior. I scored a 1360 on the PSAT (98%ile). Since I’m in Texas, it’s really unlikely that I will be a national merit anything.
Have never heard of either of those schools. 1360 PSAT in Texas so probably not.
Most schools that give merit won’'t be top tier. Congrats on your excellent TX choices.
Temple and Rowan would be good safeties/matches.
Temple (Philadelphia, PA) offers automatic merit scholarships. For your stats, they would offer you full tuition + a spending stipend. It is a good school with a rising reputation. From what I hear, its nursing program is decent. Its engineering department doesn’t really have a reputation yet, but it is still growing. The school has almost 40,000 students, but you would probably get into the Honors program, which has under 3,000 students.
If you decide to go into engineering/science, Rowan (in Glassboro, NJ) has a great STEM program, and offers up to full tuition in merit. With a 2200 SAT and 4.0 UW GPA, I was offered $15,000 (3/4 tuition). If you like the east coast, it is worth looking into. It is a new campus–very pretty and clean cut. It does not have the hustle-and-bustle-city-vibe that Temple has–this could be either a pro or con, depending on your personal preferences.