Help on selecting schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey yall! So now that i got your attention, i was wondering it you could help me!</p>

<p>So i have never posted a college search thread because i have really narrowed it down to around 10 schools, with many reaches and a few matches. I wanted some advice on the schools, and some possible safety schools. I would like to major in Chemical Engineering
Background
I got a 28 on my act i took with no studying, but i am predicting a 33 on the one i just took/studied for.
I have a 3.6 unweighted and 3.8/9 weighted with a upward trend. I also will have taken 11 AP classes by the end of senior year (i am a junior)
I have a decent amount of extra curricula's mostly surrounding soccer and National Charity League-i volunteer almost every week 200+ hours
money isnt really an issue, but considering i have 3 younger siblings i do not want my parents to have to pay so much for me. </p>

<p>Schools i consider reaches-according to stats
UPenn
Vanderbilt
WUSTL
Northwestern
MIT-i am a fourth generation legacy</p>

<p>Matches-according to stats
Georgia Tech
Tulane
GW-i would major in chemistry
UC-Boulder-out of state
UT-Austin-in state
Case Western </p>

<p>Schools i am looking for should be near a big-moderate city and have around 6000+ students and a decent greek life and sports life!</p>

<p>So suggestions for safeties, reaches etc. thank you!</p>

2

<p>Are you in the top 7% of your class? If not then UT is a reach. What can your family afford to pay? You must be able to afford the school for it to be a safety. What about Alabama or U Delaware?</p>

3

<p>My parents told me that they can pay for any college(i dont intend to sound stuck up, they have been saving for a long time)</p>

<p>I high doubt that i would attend UT but i am applying for merit. Parents have said no to alabama, but i will check into Delaware! Thank you!</p>

4

<p>“now that I’ve got your attention” ?? I don’t like being manipulated, and assume others feel the same way.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>I think every college in the nation would want to enroll an individual with such amazing powers of ubiquity. </p>

<p>Oh, and I think that your focus on UT should change from applying “for merit” to a more mundane … trying to get in. You said … chemical engineering, right? </p>

<p>Upwards trends and praying for a boost of 5 ACT points is often the realm of wishful thinking.</p>

6

<p>DunninLa i apologize for making you feel manipulated, it wasn’t intended. I saw a funny catch line in another post and i thought i would do it here.</p>

<p>Xiggi- my bad! I have volunteered for 200+ hours over two years. Not every week! I am applying to UT because it is my state school and my parents want me to. I may not get in, but it would be highly unlikely I would attend if i did. Mostly because i would like to go away from home for school. As for the scores, maybe i am just ignorant about the tests but i feel i did well on it, and i studied. Who knows! </p>

<p>Again, apologies for the mistakes i have made.</p>

7

<p>WUSTL isn’t really that great, and Penn is a joke compared to most state flagships in Engineering.</p>

<p>I’d say go for MIT because you’re a legacy. If you aren’t in the top 7%, UT is gonna be tough.</p>

8

<p>Thank you AltoSaxPlayer! I wasn’t aware of that about Penn, i am also a legacy there so my view is distorted.</p>

9

<p>I should have added Tx A&M to my recommended list</p>

10

<p>MIT doesn’t consider legacy. Period.</p>

<p>What’s your class rank?</p>

11

<p>Erin’s Dad- I have always know that A&M has a good program, maybe i will look into it more. Thank you!</p>

<p>Unicameral2013- I didn’t know that, but I actually like that philosophy. It guarantees that all your classmates will be of the same caliber!</p>

12

<p>What’s your class rank? Seriously, that’s really important for people to give you suggestions!</p>

13

<p>Oh i am so sorry, i didn’t see that! My school doesn’t rank below Top 10%, which i am not in.</p>

14

<p>UT-Austin will be a reach with that rank. If you get accepted, you won’t be directly admitted to Cockrell. TAMU should be a safety. Look at :
John Hopkins
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Wisconsin Madison
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign</p>

15

<p>Thank you for your suggestions XtremePower! I will look into those schools!</p>

16

<p>For the record, A&M is not a safety if you are not an automatic admit, ie:
Top 10%
Top 25% and 30 ACT/1300 M+CR SAT</p>

<p>If you are not an auto admit, A&M is a High match (at best) or a reach.</p>

<p>Personally, I’m not sure why you’re looking at out of state publics that you will likely be full pay for, when you have top Engineering/ChemE programs at UT and A&M for a discount price.
High paying Chemical Engineering jobs are clustered around the gulf and southeast Texas, to which UT and A&M are major feeders. </p>

<p>However, if cost is not an issue, look at Purdue, NC State</p>

17

<p>If you like Vanderbilt, you may also like Wake Forest (SAT optional), Colgate, Lehigh, James Madison, and Boston College.</p>

18

<br>

<br>

<p>Auto-admit rules are for general admissions. Engineering is a specific application without auto-admits.</p>

19

<p>I don’t believe that’s exactly true, Xiggi. You can be admitted to the University as an auto-admit, and then the school of Engineering makes a separate admissions decision to determine if you can enroll in that college. </p>

<p>Either way, Engineering at UT is crazy competitive (which is why not every auto-admit qualifies) and is going to be a high reach for the op. </p>

<p>I would strongly recommend applying to Texas Tech. I also think that many of your matches are actually reaches. And don’t rely solely on a school’s average stats–very often, you need better than average stats to get into a school’s engineering program. </p>

<p>You might also want to look at Virginia Tech.</p>

20

<p>Why WUSTL or GW?</p>

<p>UMTC (cited above) and Delaware.</p>

<p>Better ignore: “Penn is a joke compared to most state flagships in Engineering” </p>

<p>Sounds like somebody’s application was a joke at Penn:-)</p>