Help me find some more matches....

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a student looking to major in Chemical Engineering. I currently have 8-9 schools on my list. (WashU, SLU, UA, Rice, Rochester, Vanderbilt, Tulane, UM-Rolla, USC)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.67 UW
ACT: 32, 33 superscore</p>

<p>SLU, UM-Rolla, and UA are safeties, financially and academically
Tulane's a match, I've been told Rochester is a high match/low reach.
WashU, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC(Viterbi) are reaches.</p>

<p>I'm considering applying ED to WashU or Rice. I have not visited Rice yet but from what I have read of I think I would be very happy there.</p>

<p>I prefer smaller universities that are diverse gender-wise. I'd prefer to apply to research universities than liberal arts colleges that offer engineering (ie. Trinity, Lafayette) for the sake of more widespread research opportunities and availability of upper-level classes. I've also found engineering departments at LACs are new or small and pale in comparasin to most departments at larger universities. I do not like the idea of greek life so the less of it the better. I like the North-west/mid-west/west coast areas the most. Don't want to apply to many East universities. I think I might want to replace Vanderbilt with another reach, though. </p>

<p>I've exhausted all of the options I've found on the college search tool, but I've found myself short of another good reach or two. I'm tempted to add more reaches but I don't really want to. We can afford roughly 11k/yr. Ran NPC on all schools, and they are all affordable, except for USC which would require loans/work-study etc.</p>

<p>I've been looking at University of Tulsa, but I do not want to live in Oklahoma after graduation, and I have heard Tulsa is only regionally known. I've also considered Case Western, Carnegie Mellon, Rose Hulman, but I am not too sure of their affordability and I don't really like near exclusively-focused STEM universities. Would it be worth to apply to any out-of-state publics where my stats may be good enough to be competitive for a substantial merit scholarship? Syracuse?</p>

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<p>UA would be alabama, arizona, alaska, arkansas?</p>

<p>Well, run the npc on Case because you’d be a match there, if you have the ECs. BTW, what are your ECs. WashU and Vanderbilt, at the least, are going to want some good ECs. The cutoff this year for admission to Vandy seemed to be 33 more often than 32. WashU is going to be extremely tough with your stats.</p>

<p>Just to get out of the bubble, you are aware no doubt, OP, that it really doesn’t matter where you go for engineering, so go where you can be as happy as an engineering major can be and don’t break the bank. Get experience in as many areas of ChemE as you can thru internships and research.</p>

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<p>U of Alabama is the one I’m talking about. </p>

<p>My ECs are decent. I’m in Mu Alpha Theta & Rho Kappa (latter I am a founding member and elected position). Member of an environmental action team that won a few nationwide awards for the stuff we did. Also in the school’s Peer Teaching program, and I did Marching Band for 3 years. I also have a part-time job.</p>

<p>Yeah - I think in the end, I’ll likely be choosing the cheapest option. Some of the elite privates that meet the most need seem to be giving the most generous offers but since my parents are divorced they may not be painting the most accurate picture. I’ll look more into Case. It’s not too far from home compared to these other options.</p>

<p>Would I have any better a shot at Northwestern than Vanderbilt? I also plan on doing an interview at WashU in the next few weeks. Hopefully that would help my chances a little.</p>

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<p>If you want to apply ED, I think it’s better to choose Rice over Wash U (assuming your in Missouri). I heard that it may be harder to get into NW, Wash U, Rice etc from its own state. They all want to have a broad geographic diversity and can be more selective to home state students.</p>

<p>Case may not be a good financial choice in your situation though it should be an academic match for you. Beware of their FA package that may include a lot of loans both for the student and the parent in addition to the smaller grant and seemingly attractive scholarship. Case may be a good choice for those who can pay $20,000 or more. They can give free money to a certain extent, unless you are a highly desirable applicant; the gap is all up to loans. You can apply and see. My advice is that do not be too optimistic for its FA. </p>

<p>Vanderbilt is a no-loan school and also gives $5000 for NM finalists (more than the common college NM scholarship of $2000). I am sure Vandy will offer a better FA than NW in your financial case.</p>

<p>“Having a part-time job” is definitely a plus in your application.</p>

<p>BTW, I know someone graduating from Tulsa and his first job was in Chicago. He remains in the Midwest. I don’t think anyone will be confined to OK with an engineering degree from Tulsa. In our local university (a small regional one), the engineering graduates get jobs in the Midwest, West and the South without problems.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the informative response. Yes, I am in MO. It may be a good idea afterall to apply to Rice. Of course Texas is a little bit away and I’d like to visit the school before I consider applying ED! Interesting insight in Tulsa as well. Can possibly visit there as well, I think a roadtrip from St. Louis to Houston actually goes through Oklahoma. Really don’t want to have to take out many/any extra loans from the federal ones. I know that Rice & WashU are generous with grants.</p>

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<p>I don’t know much about the engineering programs at these schools, but considering your academic stats you could look into:
UCLA/UCBerkeley (Reaches)
UC Davis, UCSB
Texas-Austin
UMich Ann Arbor
Wisconsin-Madison
NYU
BU (Safe)
GW (Safe)
Boston College
Richmond
Wake Forest
Emory
Tufts (Competitive engineering program)</p>

<p>I think your GPA may be low for WashU but if you are interested apply ED. I’ve heard it makes a huge difference and seen results with some of my classmates. </p>

<p>Tulane is an amazing school but I wouldn’t totally rely on getting accepted- You are their prime candidate but they are very particular about who they accept. If you want to go there I would highly recommend that you demonstrate interest. Go to the meeting if they come to your high school or area, email the counselor, and apply ASAP. Its very important. I was accepted to Tulane in November and it was amazing to hear so early. Friends of mine who applied just a few weeks later heard back much later and were all deferred until spring and subsequently wait listed (and these people had similar stats as me). </p>

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<p>i would throw in northwestern(4# materials science program, and good chemE program too) </p>

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<p>U of Richmond does not offer engineering programs.
<a href=“http://www.richmond.edu/academics/majors.html”>http://www.richmond.edu/academics/majors.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Rice has a no loan policy for those with a family income under $80.000.
Wash U is “selectively” generous to those that will meet their institutional needs. It seems to show “Tufts syndrome” and I suspect it is need-aware to some extent. Wash U definitely values showing interest a lot.</p>

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<p>I have heard that as well, regarding WashU. I’m likely to go in for an interview / tour and I’ve requested info from their website, e-mailed a few professors about some questions. Been doing the same with Tulane, as well. Tulane is probably one of my favorite options at this point. </p>

<p>Thank you for the list @shk909. However I hesitate to apply to UC’s or out-of-states in general. UCs are looking for a lot of OOS students to do full pay due to budget limitations, something my family cannot afford. I don’t think Boston College, Emory, Richmond, have engineering though, and I have heard NYU does not give good aid. GW does not have chemical engineering. I am also mostly looking for matches - I think I have enough reaches. However, perhaps I can consider BU.</p>

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<p>Check out the University of Minnesota, I know it does not fit your size since it is very large but it is one of the best in ChemE. It might tough to get in though since that major is its most known engineering major and the engineering schools acceptance rate was 11% this year.</p>