<p>GPA: 3.638/4.25(UW) 4.28 /5.3 W
SAT:2000
SAT II: MATH 2: 760
PHYSICS:620 (haven't had the opportunity to take AP physics)
Intended major: electrical and computer engineering (concentration in robotic systems)
NHS member
Speak Russian fluently
Violin for 13 years,
Tennis for 8 years
Live in new England and hope to go to school in the area. Unfortunately athough I believe I've established my reach and fit schools, i'm very unsure of my safety schools.
Thanks for your help! :)</p>
<p>in your case you will have thousands of safeties, so where do you want to live? do you prefer small, moderate, large? public and private? You have to narrow this down for us because without it no one will respond. Tell us everything you can.</p>
<p>then tell us you’ve run the net price calculator and you know what your EFC is at several kinds of schools. </p>
<p>I want to live in Massachusetts, and I don’t have a preference in size, but if it’s any help my top choice is WPI and that campus size is perfect for me.I also don’t like huge schools. I have no preference in public or private as long as engineering is strong at that school. Thanks for responding so quickly! I appreciate it 
I have not run the net price calculator for any schools</p>
<p>Well, that narrows it down greatly. I won’t ask why. Your flagship is an obvious safety for someone with your scores, but a safety must be a school you would absolutely go to, a school you can absolutely afford, and a school you can absolutely get into if all other choices fail. You haven’t run the net price calculators, but do so for UMass and I or someone else here will provide you with some other Mass school safeties.</p>
<p>UMass Amherst came out to 26,098, but I’m not sure how it works because I didn’t enter anything about myself, just residency and age. Why do you think WPI is a safety for me? Granted, I’d be ecstatic, but I never thought this way. My reaches are possibly out of reach for me, they are Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, and Cornell.
Thanks</p>
<p>WPI calculator said they’d give me 5000 dollars</p>
<p>well, if you don’t put in your family’s financial information, you don’t learn anything from the net price calculators. The calculators estimate what each school is going to expect your family to pay for your education each year. They’ll ask you about income, assets, number of children in college, etc. Talk to your parents, get the info you need from them, and plug it in. This will be easier if you do it with your parents. You’re going to learn maybe some things about your parents that they haven’t talked to you about before, so there may be some discomfort in doing this. It’s something every family goes thru in this process of applying to the right colleges. You need to know your expected family contribution and then you need to tell your parents what it is and see if they think they can pay it for four years. This is where the rubber meets the road.</p>
<p>The WPI one has all the parents info. RPI also did, and they will give me about 20000. Bu about 10000</p>
<p>I didn’t say WPI was a safety for you, but it probably is a match to high match. You’re right to think that CMU, Cornell, and Tufts are outside your reach, but that’s what a high reach is. You can still apply to one or more if you want, but… I assumed above you were a Mass resident, and that’s why I mentioned UMass Amherst, probably their Honors program, as a safety. Any of their campuses would be safeties for you, too.</p>
<p>Oh I’m sorry, by flagship did you mean UMass Amherst? I wasn’t sure if UMass Amherst was a safety for me, but I thought I was likely to get in, thanks for the reply! I’m also considering Drexel and purdue safety schools. Is it safe to assume this or am I mistaken? Also, do you have any suggestions for reach schools that are more realistic? Sorry for so many questions, and thanks so much for the replies, they are a great help! :)</p>
<p>could I have the breakdown on the SAT score? generally, an academic safety (see my third response) would find your SAT scores in the 75% and above category. If you have a 75% chance of admission by your SAT scores, generally that’s a safety. However, some schools pay de-emphasize the SATs over other factors.</p>
<p>My breakdown is:
Cr: 620
M:670
W:710
I’ll be retaking to do better in math. Math and writing was significantly lower than practice :(</p>
<p>UMass Amherst’s middle 50% in math is 560-660, so you’re just above that line; in critical reading the middle 50 is 530-630 and you’re just under the line for that. Hence, you’re right now a safety academically at UMass Amherst. You can check any school this way, but this information will only tell you that it is or is not an academic safety and not tell you if you would go there or can afford it.</p>
<p>By this method, you’re an academic match at WPI.</p>
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<p>Be careful, however, if the school you are checking has different selectivity levels by major or division. If it does, and your major happens to be popular relative to the department’s capacity, the overall campus ranges may not be accurate for your major.</p>
<p>After some research it looks like Amherst engineering is a match. I’ll have to take the SAT again to improve the math score. Thank you for the tip about the 75%!</p>
<p>Have you asked your parents how much they will pay? if not, do so.</p>
<p>ucb is correct in warning us to be careful in using my method for determining safeties. There are cautions about this method that need to be observed, such as the one he mentions. I ignored those exceptions when I saw the Russian fluency and 13 years of violin and 8 of tennis. I think they could get you over this bump in your app to UMass’ eng college. Nonetheless, ucb’s correction is one we should pay attention to in general.</p>