Help me narrow down my 20 college list!!

College Search & Selection
1

Hi guys! I need some help. I have too many colleges on my mind. I want to shorten my list to a reasonable 12-15 colleges. My college list is centered around biomedical engineering/pre med schools for now and schools my parents want me to apply to.

Stats wise and EC-wise really strong IMO:
35.25 ACT (34E, 36M, 35R, 36S)
Top 10% competitive public school (3.9 UW/4.4W)
~12 APs

My extracurriculars are all revolved around the health field and the love of really giving back to my community. varsity swimming for my all my high school years for my school team is an extremely big commitment. from there, I pursued American Red Cross Lifeguard Certifications and Administering Emergency Oxygen certification and swim instructor. Volunteering wise I served as a camp counselor for camps that worked with disabled or disadvantaged kids in my local community. And the research is in the biology related field.

Schools Definetely applying to because I love:
Duke
JHU
Rice

Safeties:
UT(auto admit)
A&M(auto)

Others for my parents sake:
Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
Tufts
Cal Poly Obisco
WashU in St. Louis
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Northwestern
Cornell
UMich
USC
Univeristy of Washinton

thats way TOO much colleges I really don’t want to write supplement essays for. Which ones do I throw away and why? BME/pre-med Major is important to me.

2

Do you need financial aid?

If you’re auto admit why apply to both UT and A&M? Choose which one you like better.

Also, would you realistically go to the lower ranked options on your list (Cal Poly, GTech, UCSD, U Washington) over your cheaper in state options?

3

Why not start slashing the part of your list that says “my parents want me to apply here”. Is there any rhyme or reason to your parents’ list?

If there is - what is it? If not - there is your answer - take out all the schools that don’t have what you are looking for at Duke, JHU and Rice.

Will you be eligible for financial aid? If not, are your parents willing to pay full cost at all the schools on your/their list, many of which are 60K per year plus travel expenses?

Your parents seem to be enamored with CA schools and prestige schools. And public U’s in other states. Which have you visited?

Slash all the ones on your parents’ list that you have not visited or won’t have an opportunity to visit.

4

Unless your top 10% is really top 8% or better, you are not considered auto-admit to UT Austin. You are smart to keep both UT Austin and A & M on your list.

5

@lots2do. @jackrabbit14 Actually I am within the top 8%. I just have A&M on the list, just in case I don’t get the major I want at UT. I will only submit decile to other colleges.

My parents(originally from California) are really naive. Pretty much just if a schools stops by my town for a seminar they want me to apply there. Also financial aid won’t be necessary, but would I get scholarships from USC for example?

6

You’d certainly be competitive for USC’s 1/2 and full tuition scholarships. No certainty of course.

7

@jackrabbit14 , rgd. Post #1

Gtech is ranked lower than UTA for Biomed Engg … really !!! Where did you see that?

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/biomedical-rankings

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

8

Are you parents willing to shell out $23K per year OOS surcharge to UC schools, with no financial or merit aid possible, on top of similar tuition to Tx schools ? If not, skip those schools (the application is also time consuming and unique). Engineering is also very difficult to get into OOS, limited enrollment and transferring in is difficult and limiting (GPA is only considerations, so no honors classes, no special classes, etc).

Don’t expect any aid from other states flagship universities in the top 50, unless you are well, stunningly special.

That said UCSD is outstanding in biology fields, and so are UCB, UCLA. All 3 locations are well, fantastic.

Always spend a lot of time on each schools webpage in your interest areas and majors. Programs really vary a lot in content and requirements, especially in biomedE. Best programs are associated with medical schools and have tracks related to traditional engineering disciplines EE,ME,CS,materials, etc to avoid excessive breadth with no depth.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical

is the only link above that applies to undergrad.

For biology, there are only grad ratings
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/biological-sciences-rankings

Biology has many different subsets too, from plant science to molecular biology to … etc.

To get a different spin on rankings, also google say biology rankings, there are other more scientific rankings from NSF, etc along with info on graduate school % etc.

9

As @PickOne1: Stated California UC’s will cost you a minimum $23K/year OOS tuition along with your EFC up to $55K/year. Also note, that the UC’s plan to increase OOS tuition costs around 8% over the next few years. If you and your parents can afford these schools, we California residents welcome the influx of money… If not, then I would cross these schools off the list.
You do have excellent Stats, so Regent scholarships may be possible which could offset your costs from $2500-$10,000/year depending upon the UC.