Help Ranking Colleges for National College Match!

College Search & Selection
1

So I’m doing the National College Match by Questbridge, and though we don’t find out whether we’re finalist or not until Nov. 1, seeing that I’m a College Prep Scholar, and 69% of us become finalist (and I’m above average for the average finalist), then I like my chances. That’s the easy part though; the hard part is actually matching. So with NCM, we rank colleges based off of which one we’re the most interested in, and if any of the colleges we rank accepts us, then we are binded to go there. If my #2 college and #7 college match me, then I must go to my highest ranking one, which is #2. I can only rank 12 schools btw.

Things to consider about me:

Want to major in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering, so that colleges strength in the field makes up like 50% of my decision making. Also, I highly, HIGHLY doubt I’m changing my major (if anything I’ll just change it to Chem. Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry).
I want the best college feel possible, ie which college has the most lively campus. Which student body is more involved?
This ties into the previous question a bit, but which school has the most to offer OUTSIDE of academics.
I want to be near a city, so I won’t be isolated in my school (much how Atlanta is in Ga Tech’s backyard, or Vanderbilt is right next to Nashville). HOWEVER, I do NOT want a campus that is actually INSIDE the city (if that makes sense?)
Student athlete (football), so sports is definitely a biggie (yes, yes, I understand engineering is hard and takes up time, and so does sports, but I’m very disciplined and up for the challenge)
Live in Atlanta

If you have any other questions, just ask.

Anyways, these are their partner schools https://www.questbridge.org/college-partners . Duke and Stanford are my two big ones, I’m leaning more so towards Duke at the moment, but I’m open to reasons why Stanford should go first.
The next batch of schools I decide to rank are Rice, Northwestern, and UPenn. Right now I’m feeling 3. Rice 4. Northwestern & 5. UPenn, but again, I’m open to where I should rank each school.
Those are the only 5 schools that if I match with, I will have absolutely no qualms about attending.
However, I’m still on the fence about a few other schools. Yale, Columbia, and Princeton are world renowned schools and can open a lot of doors, but Yale & Columbia’s BME programs aren’t exactly the strongest (in comparative to the top BME schools. It is still better than 99% of most schools). In fact, Princeton doesn’t even have BME/Bioengineering major, but does have one of the best Chemical Engineering programs. If I get accepted through RD, I won’t at all be mad, but I’m not so sure if I’m willing to take the risk of passing up a shot at Duke & Stanford’s RD for Yale, Columbia, & Princeton.
I’m also even more iffy about MIT, Notre Dame, UC Berkley, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, UVA, & USC.

Right now, I have:

  1. Duke
  2. Stanford
  3. Rice
  4. Northwestern
  5. UPenn

on the fence about

  1. Princeton
  2. Yale
  3. Columbia

iffy on

  1. UC Berkley (only real aversion is that it's a public school, and a rather large one
  2. MIT (I know, I know, it's MIT, but I visited the campus and didn't really like it's feel. And no offense to all my MIT students/Alumn, but it's campus is just really ugly. I've heard that though they do have a top notch program, that they're not as undergraduate focused as other schools [key word, HEARD]. Lastly, they don't seem to focus on athletics [& they're D3], which will be my primary time consumer outside of school. Despite all this, I'm not completely against ranking it. The school just wouldn't be my first choice).
  3. Vanderbilt
  4. Dartmouth
  5. Notre Dame
  6. USC
  7. UVA

Of course, I have to become a finalist first, but any thoughts?

2

Try posting in the QB sub forum in Financial Aid and Scholarships. There is also a FB group called Questbridge Applicants and Family 2016 where a lot of students are supporting and helping each other rank etc. Best wishes!

3

Thanks! ^

4

Guys, ignore UC Berkley. I meant to USC, but I had a brain fart.

5

If I were you I would rank Stanford #1, then Duke and Penn #2 and #3 based on personal preference and then #4. Northwestern and then Rice. I would put Stanford #1 just because of the name strength of the university and also the renowned quality of its overall engineering program and the booming biotech industry in the area. Obviously all have strong bioengineering departments. Also important is for the school to have strong hospitals and med schools because you can get amazing bioengineering research opportunities there. I know at Stanford, Penn, Duke and Northwestern this is the case. Not sure about Rice. In terms of social life, campus and location I think Stanford and Penn prob offer the most. I think Stanford, Penn and Duke are known for having a robust social life which you don’t find often at elite schools. I think Duke loses a bit in terms of location (Durham isn’t exactly a sophisticated vibrant city). Penn probably has the best location out of the three. It is essentially in Philly but has its own distinct campus so you get the best of both worlds. And Philly is a nice city with lots to do but not huge and overwhelming like say NYC. Penn campus location is really great (and the med school hospital is right on campus which is a big plus) but Duke and Stanford I think have more beautiful campuses than Penn.

For Princeton, Columbia, Yale I would rank them in that order (#6, #7, #8 respectively). The BE/CE programs are also good. Princeton does not have a hospital, med school which could limit research opportunities a bit, but the undergraduate quality is unparalleled. It is not near a city but the town is very beautiful and upscale. The reason I personally think Columbia is not ideal for grad is that NYC is too overwhelming for a 18 -19 yo but that depends on personal preference, you will get great opportunities there too. Yale s location is not at all ideal, New Haven is not the nicest place to be around but the campus is beautiful but it lacks vibrancy.

Obviously take everything with multiple grain of salt haha these are just my personal preferences/ observations.

6
  1. Are you saying you want to play college football? Because that will drive a lot of this decision. These school have very different programs. I would think that if you are capable of making the team at Stanford, you would know it. Northwestern, and Duke, have excellent programs too and are very very difficult to make the team. I think Rice is probably one notch lower. Penn is DI, good in the Ivy League and do have a few pro players. Even making the Penn team would be a big accomplishment but easier than the others.
  2. If you are against a campus in a city, Columbia, Penn, MIT, and Yale are out.
  3. BME is a significant focus at Penn, and having a world class research hospital on campus creates many opportunities.
7

OP are you a recruited athlete?

8

Actually, you will learn if you are a QB finalist on Oct 20th. Everything needs to be in to the schools that you ranked by Nov 1st. The deadline to rank by is Oct 13th.

Based on your post and explanation, I would only rank the few schools that you are absolutely certain about. You do not want to end up bound to a school that you are only “iffy” about.

Based on your list, I would rank them as follows… 1. Stanford 2. Duke 3. Rice 4. Northwestern 5. UPenn.

So I think that your order makes sense generally. I would just switch Stanford to first over Duke. To me, it simply wins out on a # of fronts… overall strength of academic programs, reputation, weather/climate, location, access to internships/jobs, athletic programs, college experience vibe, etc.

Stanford is also non-binding, so if you Match on Dec 1st, you can still compare acceptances and financial aid offers garnered through RD and postpone deciding until May 1st. For that matter, Yale, Princeton and MIT are also non-binding. Of course, if you do Match, it will only be to one - the highest you ranked that also agreed to match with you.

Have you actually visited all 5 of these schools? If not… be careful about that binding match commitment. We only visited two schools on your list, Duke and Penn, but our opinion about each was more negative after visiting both schools. My daughter remained interested in Duke, but she had concerns about Durham and its location and split campuses after visiting. My daughter removed Penn from her list altogether after visiting there. She also had lesser opinions regarding Yale and Columbia after visits, while seeing Princeton and Brown each rose them on her list.

If you have not visited and will not be able to, you should at least try to view photo galleries and virtual tours online and review student alumni reviews and survey results at https://colleges.niche.com/rankings/best-colleges/

Good luck…

9

This is an easy decision contingent on you being a recruited football player or not. If not than MIT is your best shot of academics and football. You would have already heard from your list of other schools for football.

10

@Penn95 remarked that it is important for “the school to have strong hospitals and med schools because you can get amazing bioengineering research opportunities there.” He then added that he was unsure whether or not Rice satisfied that criterion.

I can assure you that it does. Rice is located across the street (quite literally) from the Texas Medical Center, which is (again, quite literally) the largest medical complex in the world. It hosts the MD Anderson Cancer Center–a global powerhouse in cancer research and treatment–as well as multiple medical schools, including the highly regarded Baylor College of Medicine (nationally ranked by USNews as #20 in research and #9 in primary care training). Rice students have ample opportunities to engage in research and internships at the various institutions affiliated with the Texas Medical Center.

Rice has a beautiful, self-contained campus located in a very nice Houston neighborhood. It is within walking distance of the student-oriented shops, restaurants, and bars of “Rice Village,” and just short ride via light rail (there is a station at the edge of campus) from the cultural and sports attractions of downtown Houston. It’s worth noting that the 2017 edition of the Princeton Review ranks Rice as #1 both for “Happiest Students” (a category that Rice has dominated in recent years) and for “Lots of Race/Class Interaction.” USNews currently ranks Rice #5 in “Best Undergraduate Teaching,” which is behind Princeton (#1) and Yale (#3), but ahead of all the other universities on your list.

On the downside, Rice football doesn’t generate a whole ton of student support (though players are very well integrated into “regular” student life). It does, however, give players the chance to line up against such D1 juggernauts as Texas, Baylor, and Houston, and against such classic college teams as Army and Navy.

11

Thanks for all the input guys! Finding out Princeton, MIT, & Yale are non-binding just made my decision a whole lot easier, since there’s absolutely no harm in ranking them. That moves MIT above Columbia.
Rice is really starting to grow on me, and I’m planning on taking a tour at some point.

Right now, I have:

  1. Duke/Stanford/Rice
  2. Stanford/Duke/Rice
  3. Rice/Duke/Stanford
  4. Northwestern
  5. UPenn
  6. Princeton
  7. Yale
  8. MIT

on the fence about

  1. Columbia

iffy on

  1. Vanderbilt
  2. Dartmouth
  3. Notre Dame
  4. USC
  5. UVA
12

Another important thing that I should have probably included is that I’m a conservative. Will I have a hard time “fitting in” at any of these schools with that in mind?

13

Still haven’t answered the million dollar question…are you a recruited football athlete? If not then MIT really is your only option. (not that it’s a bad thing btw)

14

@moscott At any of these schools? No, because I had season ending injury for about 11 months now that my body seemed to have ignored, lol. But anyways, it required surgery, which ended my senior season before it even started. HOWEVER, I do have a few offers from mainly D2 and like 1 or 2 FCS schools, mainly from my Junior year and scouting camps. However, I’m not interested in a single one of them academically. I believe that if not for the injury, I would have at least caught the eye of the FCS schools I have ranked and maybe even Duke & Rice (Stanford and similarly highly ranked football programs typically don’t offer seniors, though it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE).

But yeah, if I attend any of these schools I will be walking on. I’m also very aware of the difficulty of playing at a school like Stanford. However, the other institutions are very D1 (save MIT) but aren’t spewing talent (Even with Stanford, it’s more so phenomenal coaching, though they ARE very talented).

15

I understand what you are saying. That said if you are intent on playing football and getting a quality education then D1 is out…especially with your major. FCS isn’t likely either since you aren’t recruited. MIT would offer you a top education and the ability to play. As a walk on for FCS you would get no benefits of choosing classes, workouts etc…If you were a PWO then yes. I would put MIT 1 followed by FCS . I wouldn’t even consider FBS schools unless your willing to give up your football dream.

16

Not to look down on your ability but in all honesty if you were good enough(maybe you were) to play at a school like Duke, Stanford or Rice, you would have been offered after your sophomore or during your junior season. Almost all of their recruits are 3 star minimum ranking. Stanford and Duke top 20 recruiting in the nation.

17

Bump

18

Bump. I forgot to include a crucial detail. I plan on minoring in either physics or business/economics, and I’m leaning more so towards business/economics. Anyways, which one of these schools would provide for the best minor and the most flexible schedule. I see that with Duke, for example, I might have to take certain courses at UNC if I plan on minoring in Physics.

19

If you wanna play football, probably not Columbia since they are regarded as always having the worst football team in the country.

And me being a super Berkeley fan…NO NO NO STANFORD!!! makes me wanna puke…jk Stanford is a great school so don’t let my bias affect your decision! Good luck!

20

Again…you have to decide if you want to PLAY football or not. If so then Duke, Stanford, Columbia etal are out. If you do want to play then MIT is your only option(if accepted).