Help me find more match schools? Current Junior in STEM

College Search & Selection
1

Hi CC Community,

I am a HS junior ('20) who is currently crafting her college list. I’ve found a lot of schools that I love, but they are almost all reaches. Could you help me find more matches or safeties?

Reaches:
Princeton (Will most likely SCEA here)
UPenn
Brown
Columbia
UChicago
MIT
Dartmouth

Matches:
U of Toronto
U of Rochester
Carnegie Mellon

Safeties:
UMD College Park
Penn State

I am planning to major in a STEM field, most likely engineering. Some things I am looking at in a school are: flexibility with double major/minor, suburban or urban campus in the northeast, and study abroad opportunities.

My Stats are:
UW GPA: 4.00, W GPA: 5.41 on 6.00 scale
Rank: 2/270-ish
SAT: Haven’t taken yet, but aiming for 1550 or greater. I scored a 1500 on PSAT so I think this is attainable.
SAT II: 800 Math II, will be taking Chem and Physics in the spring
AP Exams: US Gov & Pol (5), CS A (5), Calc AB (5), Statistics (5), World History (4), currently taking Chem, Physics 1, Calc BC, and English Lit

I understand that it might be hard to get a full picture of my academic standing without an official SAT or ACT. I will be happy to provide extra information if needed. Any advice is welcomed!

2

Have you talked with your parents about finances/paying for these schools?
Other possibilities that are likely safety to match: Drexel, Temple, Holy Cross, Seton Hall, Manhattan College and Maine (pretty much will match in state tuition regardless).
If you have 2-3 financial/academic safeties then you can apply to these other tough schools and be ok (as long as you are ok with safeties).

3

@JBSeattle I’ve spoken with my parents about finances. I have a college fund so they are able to pay a fair amount, but I will definitely still be applying for financial aid.

4

Worcester Polytech (WPI) - solid STEM choice for women. Excellent merit aid. President Laurie Leshin has literally and figuratively aimed for the stars - https://www.wpi.edu/news/mars-curiosity-rover-approaches-5-years-exploration
https://www.wpi.edu/news/president-leshin-shines-among-women-stem-stars
https://www.wpi.edu/news/closing-gender-gap-conversation-president

5

Smith has a strong engineering program

6

@ChillDad Thank you! I will look into those schools.

7

I like U of Maryland the best on your list, if you don’t want to study constantly but
still want rigor in math and engineering. It offers a full selection of specialties like aerospace, materials science,
computer ,mechanical, EE, etc. Also UMD has the largest gift from the A James Clark Fund, so
high chance of you winning merit! Look up A James Clark Foundation.

https://eng.umd.edu/majorsminors

Other smaller privates in the NE
Lehigh University, . Case Western, Tufts U, Franklin Olin College (very small take a look)

WPI students, on average, have lower math scores than you have, I might skip in favor of Maryland and Ohio State
for safeties, unless you want a small school and to be able to stand out. WPI does a good job with humanities and social sciences, and project work is excellent.

U of Chicago, right caliber, for your stats, but offers no engineering, physics, CS and math program very strong.

Smith College is also a great school, but its not the same DEPTH for engineering, because they
are so tiny, in engineering so no specialties like electrical or mechanical or chemical engineering,
Smith is an LAC, with a few engineering classes, so you will need a masters degree to get a job after
that type of education. Its a very strong education though, and of course all women, if you want that environment.

https://www.smith.edu/engineering/

Other safeties—RIT, especially if you are interested in computer engineering, Stevens Institute of Tech
if the ten minute to New York City would appeal to you, Its in Hoboken NJ.

If you get a high score on the SAT or ACT,
GaTech may be a match and has one of the best study abroad programs for engineers,
and you will pay IN STATE tuition the semester you study abroad. Its easy to fly to Atlanta.
Its going to be more intense like CMU or MIT, but with more sports and school spirit, as its a public university
with division 1 sports. GaTech offers a second campus in France, but many other study abroad options, by major. Quite a few are in English, but not all of the programs are in English.

8

Run the net price calculator on each college’s web site to see if the college’s financial aid will bring the net price to what is affordable to you and your parents.

State of residency?

9

Regarding study abroad opportunities - the WPI plan builds in $5000 global study project scholarship for every student.
https://www.wpi.edu/news/wpi-launches-global-projects-all-initiative-give-every-student-access-campus-project

10

You might want to check out this CC thread - http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2059767-engineering-schools-that-feel-more-cooperative-than-competitive-p3.html