Help me find some safety schools please!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Before High School
Algebra 1 B
French 1/2 B</p>

<p>Freshman Year
Honors Geometry A/A
Honors US B/B
Honors French 3 B/B
Honors English 9 B/A
Gym A/A
Ceramics 1 B/B
Honors Biology B/B</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Honors Chemistry A/A
Honors English 10 A/A
Honors French 4 B/A
Honors Physics B/B
Honors Algebra 2 A/A
AP US Gov A/A (5 on the exam)
Ceramics 2/Honors Health A/A</p>

<p>Junior Year
Honors Precalc A/A
IB History 1 HL C/B
IB English 1 HL B/A
IB French 5 HL B/B
AP Chem A/A (predicting a 5 on the exam)
IB Film (dropped)/AP Microecon B/B (predicting a 4 on the AP Econ exam)</p>

<p>Senior Year
AP Physics
IB English 2 HL
IB History 2 HL
AP BC Calc
IB French 6 HL
AP Statistics
Theatre 1</p>

<p>Summer before Senior Year
Foundations of Technology (A/A)</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.5
W GPA: 4.25</p>

<p>Testing:
SAT (attempt 1): M:750, CR: 580, W: 610 (MC: 58, E:9) 1940
Attempt 2: M: 720, CR: 620, W: 650 (MC: 69, E:7) 1990
Superscore: 2020
I will be retaking the SAT in October and I am taking the ACT in September. I think I will have a 32 on the ACT if the practice tests are accurate. And I hope I can get that SAT to a 2200.
Subject tests: Math 2: 770, Chemistry: 750
AP Scores: Us Gov, 5. Chem, 5. Microecon, 4.</p>

<p>EC's:
Theater:
-Costumes for school plays (9th and 10th grade) 6 shows
-Sarah Play (a professional theater produces a play directed designed and performed by high schoolers)
-9th grade- Sound Board Op
-10th grade- House Manager
-11th grade- Stage Manager
-Acted in:
The Tempest (Nymph)
Music Man (Ensemble)
The Wiz (Munchkin)
Variety of one-acts</p>

<p>Writing:
NaNoWriMo (All of High School)
-Still working on the novels
Neos (a Magazine completely written by students)</p>

<p>Jewish Youth Group:
Regional General Board
New Member Outreach (11th Grade)
Welcoming Committee (12th grade Rep)
I also run a Compliments Facebook page for my youth group (if that counts...)</p>

<p>Member of NHS (12th grade)
-Hoping to run for an officer position
Tutoring (11th + 12th grade)
Mock Trial (Summer before 11th grade, 12th grade)</p>

<p>Avid Baker (all of HS)
-baked 3 wedding cakes for a project
-baked 200 cupcakes for a bat mitzvah
-I bake A LOT</p>

<p>White
Female
Public High School
From MD
Legacy at Brandeis (mom went there)
Projected Major(s): Chemical Engineering/Chemistry & theatre </p>

<p>I have a list of schools I am thinking about applying to, but mainly reach and match schools so I need some help finding safety schools.
Brandeis
CMU
CWRU
UChicago
Dartmouth
Drexel
Kenyon
UMD
MIT
NYU
Northwestern
Tufts
Vanderbilt
WashU</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Don’t understand the list. You can’t major in chemical engineering unless your school actually offers it as a major. Chemistry is not the same thing. </p>

<p>So I would keep
CMU - match - SAT IIs really help your case.
CWRU - likely
Drexel - safety
UMD - safety
MIT - reach
NYU (Poly will be fully intergrated Jan 2014) - safety
Northwestern - reach
Tufts - match
Vanderbilt - reach</p>

<p>I think the ones that you are missing that you might want to consider are Lehigh and Rochester. Lehigh is only a match if you show them that you love them. Otherwise, it’s a reach. Rochester would be nearly a safety if you visited and interviewed. Otherwise it’s a match. These schools care a lot about them being a fit, so they really want to see that you are serious. </p>

<p>Great safety would UM-Baltimore County. They seem pretty decent.</p>

3

<p>I meant that I would major in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry. I haven’t fully decided yet so it is not a make or break for choosing schools. But thank you!</p>

4

<p>Also, for anyone responding, cost is not an issue.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>But perhaps it should be. You don’t necessarily have to decide your major now when you don’t know enough to make that decision. </p>

<p>Go to a school that has both. Apply for chemical engineering, because colleges love female engineers, and if you don’t like it you can switch into chemistry. </p>

<p>If you go to Brandeis, you cannot study chemical engineering because they don’t have it. </p>

<p>Why would choose a school, pay all that money, and then see if they offer what you want. Makes no sense to me.</p>

6

<p>I guess you’re right, but I’m just not sure yet. I know I want to do something with Chem, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be engineering</p>

7

<p>Maybe I’m missing something, but with a 3.5 gpa I think that most of these schools will be a reach - I just don’t see Tufts and CMU as matches. I don’t think they weight Sat II’s that heavily but i could be wrong. Lehigh and U Roc aren’t safeties for 3.5 gpa, but should be included on your list as more realistic options than Northwestern or MIT.</p>

8

<p>I meant match as in roughly a 40-90% chance. </p>

<p>I think a female engineer who is applying to Rochester with a 750M SAT I and these two SAT IIs above 750 will get in if she visits and interviews. </p>

<p>Those 3 stats are really gems. Schools want female engineers. Not that many women apply to engineering, and of those that do, not that many have presented such strong scores. </p>

<p>MIT is an uber reach, but Northwestern is just a reach (~20%). </p>

<p>Personally, I think if you could visit and decide early enough to do ED, you have a very strong chance of getting into some of the more competitive schools (probably not MIT though). </p>

<p>I never said that Lehigh was a safety, but it’s a very realistic option for a match.
Lehigh had an acceptance rate of 60% ED. Overall, the acceptance rate was 30%.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, I know MIT is extremely unlikely, but the campus was amazing when we visited. I am going to keep Wash U though because it was one of my favorites. I am not going to apply ED anywhere though. Too risky, I need choices. I’m applying Early to UMD and I may apply EA somewhere else. I’ve looked into Lehigh though I just can’t see myself there. Would applying RD really hinder my chances that much?</p>

10

<p>I see that you are interested in Chemical Engineering and thinking about schools in the Midwest. While I may have a son going to WUSTL this fall, I would recommend my alma mater, UIUC if you’re serious about Chem E. The major issue, if it even applies to you, is that I don’t know how much merit aid is available.</p>

11

<p>Sorry, I didn’t mean to remove WashU.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>To some schools, ED is a strong signal that it’s your first choice, and so they will often admit you where they wouldn’t have RD. </p>

<p>However, if you don’t have a clear favorite, or if your clear favorite doesn’t have ED, then you shouldn’t apply ED. </p>

<p>For my D1, her first two choices were EA schools.
For my D2 we did the legwork so that she had identified a favorite in time to ED, and it probably helped her chances. </p>

<p>If you don’t think you’ll be ready to decide, or if MIT would be your first choice, then by all means don’t apply ED.</p>

12

<p>If you’re looking for safeties, the University of Delaware’s chemical engineering program is very highly rated, and if you decide engineering is not for you, you’d have plenty of other options. </p>

<p><a href=“http://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-chemical/spp+25[/url]”>http://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-chemical/spp+25&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>UDel is a popular alternative to Penn State for students living in the Philly suburbs. I believe they have some out-of-state merit money available too. (Penn State is also a great school for engineering but very expensive for OOS students.)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.che.udel.edu/[/url]”>http://www.che.udel.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>UDel is just too big. I prefer 10K and under. UMD is the only school over that.</p>

14

<p>Do you know what your rank is? A 3.5 GPA can mean very different things based upon the grading difficulty at your HS. My suggestions would be a lot different if the 3.5 put you in the Top 10% vs the Top 30%.</p>

<p>Your list is too reachy. Your SAT scores are low for most of the schools on your list. Personally, I would get rid of MIT, U Chicago, and Dartmouth as too high of reaches. That still leaves lots of high reaches. You need some safety and low match schools. UDel was a great suggestion - even though it is larger than you may like, it is one of the smaller state flagship schools, and hard to be for ChemE.</p>

<p>Muhlenberg is good for theater, but doesn’t have engineering. </p>

<p>You could look at the Jewish B Students thread on the Parents Forum for some more ideas.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/931514-colleges-jewish-b-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/931514-colleges-jewish-b-student.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>My school doesn’t rank and it is impossible to find out where you are placed in the class. I was thinking about getting rid of Dartmouth. It kinda was a last throw on anyway. I know I don’t have a big chance at MIT, but I loved it too much to not apply so I just say what the heck. I’ve already written part of my UChicago essay and I really liked when I visited so I think I’m going to keep it. I’m looking at UDel, but I’m so sure.</p>

16

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<p>You are much more likely to have a good career in chemical engineering than in chemistry. Think long term, not just for the next four years.</p>

17

<p>Would UDel be a safety/likely or a low match? Also, do you think I would be admitted to their Honor Program?
I think my biggest problem with doing chemical engineering is that I really love chemistry. I also love pure math, but not so much applied math. From what I understand is that in chemical engineering you don’t take as many advanced Chem classes, but rather physics and math classes. I’d rather be working in a lab than designing products. If my understanding is wrong, please correct me.</p>