<p>Hola CC! I'm trying to make my college application list, and am having a hard time finding match schools for it. My stats are:</p>
<p>GPA: 98% UW, 100% W
ACT: 35 (35E, 36M, 34R, 35S, 10E)
SATIIs: 800 USH, 760 Math II, 730 Physics
Rank: 1/443 (average public HS w/ maybe 1 Ivy accepted / year )</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<p>Odyssey of the Mind: Team Captain, 2-time World Finalist, 6-time States. (Grades 5-12)
Debate: Varsity Captain, 2-time State Qualifier, numerous local tournament championships (Grades 8-12)
Quiz Bowl: Varsity Captain, no awards b/c we suck (Grades 11-12)
Mock Trial: Head Lawyer, 2-time Monroe County Best Lawyer Award (8-12)
Venturing Crew 1629: Crew Treasurer (10-12)</p>
<p>I volunteer at a Cub Scout camp during summers (1,068 hours accumulated over 6 years)</p>
<p>Essays will be good; I'm trying really hard on them, and I'm a good writer normally</p>
<p>I live in PA, if it matters. And I'm going to need lots of FA (family makes ~40k/year)</p>
<p>Please suggest some good match school options for me, thanks!</p>
<p>What are you looking for in terms of size, social scene, etc.? Do you know hat you want to major in?</p>
<p>Do you have affordable safeties? If not yet, you need to look in <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a> since you live in PA (where the state universities are probably not affordable to students from low income families due to poor in-state financial aid – but you can check their net price calculators anyway).</p>
<p>Unfortunately most match schools for you will also be reaches due to low admission %ages. Penn State or UPitt Honors colleges might be good matches.</p>
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<p>Would Penn State and Pitt large merit scholarships be matches for the OP, who is from a below-median income family?</p>
<p>@gman333 sorry i didn’t include that:</p>
<p>Size - Preferably medium to large (>2,000 students)
Location - Within about 350 miles (I think the farthest school I have on my list is Northeastern)
Major - Mechanical Engineering
Scene - Preferably in/around a large city</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I think Pitt will be affordable to me; from what I’ve researched,I’m a good fit for a full merit scholarship (Average recipient is top 5% w/ 33 ACT)</p>
<p>Do you have affordable safeties?</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I <b>definitely</b> would get full tuition at Temple</p>
<p>At Temple, can you afford the remaining costs after the automatic full tuition scholarship?</p>
<p>Depending on how you are defining “match” I would consider Hopkins a match for your stats. You should have at least a 30% chance (I’d probably predict closer to 50%).</p>
<p>Definitely try Pitt to give you a comparison with Temple. You should get in, of course, the “try” is see how much money you get offered. Penn St would be worth an app too as they are considered better with engineering, but generally they’re more iffy on the finances.</p>
<p>Others with good engineering programs that are worth a try and not too far from home would include Va Tech, RIT, U Rochester (these last two are quite close to each other if you get a chance to visit), Rutgers, or Clarkson. Cornell might even be a match for your stats. If you can find a few you like, it’d be nice to have choices in the spring - and definitely consider finances offered.</p>
<p>@Creekland lol at Cornell being a match, but thank you for the help. I’d seen Rochester before, and the others you suggested are quite good. I think I’ll get good $$$ at Pittbut, as you said, we will see…</p>
<p>OP, Pitt loves class rank, and they will love your resumé. Just dropped my D off there. Great City. Great engineering. Would definitely be an academic safety for you if you show them some interest. The more interest you show the more likely you’d be invited for a campus visit. </p>
<p>I’ve learned from CC and a year of research that in recent years, Pitt’s invited 65-70 students each year for interviews and handed out about a dozen full rides. The rest usually got full tuition. There are add’l full tuition merit awards, too, apparently. A couple of years ago, the avg CR + M of the full tuition students was 1513. This year it was significantly higher, it appears, because of the increased apps from high scorers Pitt has rec’d. Having some research experience or special ECs might help.</p>