<p>I'm just entering my Senior year of high school and I need to get going on the apps, some of them very soon. I've never been too sure of where I want to go though. </p>
<p>Here are some of my thoughts on it:
-Definitely want to be in Engineering or some kind of science
-Electrical engineering seems very interesting to me (see below)
-Stay in Michigan or nearby
-Kind of want to stick to the medium and below sized schools, but I'll check out larger too.
-Good financial aid is nice
-Don't really care about the sports</p>
<p>Some things about me:
-ACT 28 (retaking in October)
-GPA 3.5 UW
-Class rank is probably like 30/around 100 (It's a small school in a small town)
-In two AP classes this year, none before that
-Always taken the most challenging classes available
-Always was a year ahead in Math; took calc junior year and nothing was left for senior year
-I've taken drafting, CAD, Adv. CAD, Robotics/engineering design 1 and 2 + recieved some awards for them.
-Hoping to compete in electric car competition this year
-Next to nothing for EC</p>
<p>The EC sucks, but I think it's at least pretty decent. I probably can't spin this, but starting in the 2nd semester of my sophomore to the end of the first quarter of my Junior year, I went unmedicated and became seriously depressed to the point that I couldn't even think straight. The rest of my Junior year was pretty much just recovering from that. I have to guess that my GPA would be like .2 or .3 higher without that happening. It also turns out I've needed glasses for years and never found out until last year. I could always see but I've always had a hard time focusing and doing homework because of it gave me a bit of a headache just to keep my eyes focused. Anyways it sucks but I'd like to get past that and continue on in my life anyways.</p>
<p>In the past summer, I've built PLC panels for an electrical company, built a headphone amp (plan to build more, too), and assembled a computer so I don't know if that kind of activity would be helpful; I think it at least shows that I'm interested in electronics and electricity.</p>
<p>
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That is a PLC panel, in case you are wondering. This one is the most impressive I’ve built. It’s 6ft tall and you need a forklift to move it.</p>
<p>Michigan State or Kettering U?</p>
<p>Rose Hulman? MSU seems too big for you, although I think you should consider it.</p>
<p>Don’t I need safeties, matches, and reaches? I’ve already checked out Kettering, MSU, and Ferris State(class trip). I was thinking of visiting Michigan Tech and I’ll try Rose Hulman. (received a letter from them 3 days ago, actually) Anything else I should check out? I’m told Case Western and Bradley are some other good options.</p>
<p>I think I might even try RIT because apparently our school has a good relationship with them; we even had a student get a full ride there, although he was african american.</p>
<p>Using your criteria, the most likely suspects are Rose-Hulman, Case Western, Illinois Institute of Technology, Kettering, Michigan Tech, Miami U, Calvin College, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Marquette, Dayton, Bradley, Valparaiso, and Western Michigan. All of these would meet the threshhold of being good enough for engineering, so I’d narrow my choices down on other factors, such as school size, urban/suburban/rural, expected cost (some guesswork involved here until you see the actual FA package), M/F ratio, distance from home, breadth of the school - whatever is important to you.</p>
<p>Going further afield opens up more schools, but you’ve got a pretty good selection with the above list. Try to visit some schools nearby (whether on your list or not) to help you identify what you want from a college. Take virtual tours of the others, and find out what they excel at from various sources. Use that information to cull down your list, being sure you have at least one safety school. A safety is a school 1) where you are almost assured of admittance; 2) you can afford; and 3) you’d be happy to attend. Early application to a rolling admissions college can take care of point 1 if it’s a concern. Perhaps Western could be a safety for you. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the safety in place, and it helps to identify it before you fall in love with some place where you may not be admitted.</p>
<p>It’s a long process, but many analytics (i.e., engineers) tend to enjoy it. Good luck with your search!</p>
