<p>My PSAT is so ridiculously borderline that I've given up hope and will just enjoy the pleasant surprise if I get it... I'm commended, though. I got a 206 which, while low, may be high enough for Louisiana.</p>
<p>I'm hopeful.</p>
<p>lol? Rice is "unbelievably" expensive? along with every other top private school?</p>
<p>Cut off stolen from another thread
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '06->'07
. . . '99 .'01 .'04 .'05 .'06 . .2007 . . . change . . . . . post #s .
Commended 201 202 202 . . 203 . . . +1
AL. 211 208 208 210 212 . . 212 . . . no change . . . 231, 263, 286, 336
AK. 214 211 210 211 212
AZ. 212 210 212 211 212 . . 214 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . 321
AR. 202 201 201 202 206 . . 206 . . . no change . . . 319, 326
CA. 215 215 216 216 217 . . 219 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . 347X,376,380,398,419X,421X,425X,432,511,533
CO. 210 211 211 213 214 .<=217 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . 569
CT. 219 218 219 220 220 . . 221 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .491, 561
DE. 216 216 217 220 219 .<=219 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . .632
FL. 213 213 214 214 215 . . 215 . . . .no change . . . .274, 277, 324, 637
GA. 211 213 214 217 218 . . 218 . . . .no change. . . .370X, 497
HI. 215 218 214 216 214 . . 218 . . . .+4 (-2 last yr) .271
ID. 203 206 204 208 207
IL. 213 213 214 216 216 . . .218 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . .309, 312, 445, 522
IN. 210 207 211 212 213
IA. 209 209 207 209 210
KS. 212 211 212 214 215 . . 213 . . . -2 . . . . . . . . . 368, 369, 372, 428
KY. 207 208 210 210 212 . . 212 . . . .no change . . . 438
LA. 207 208 209 209 211 . . 209 . . . -2 . . . . . . . . . 644
ME. 214 213 211 214 212
MD. 220 220 222 222 222 . . 223 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .403, 418, 420, 423, 510
MA. 222 221 222 222 222 . . 224 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . .444
MI. 209 209 209 210 211 . . .211 . . . no change . . . 411X, 473, 475. 476, 480, 482
MN. 214 211 212 215 213 214-15 . . .+1? . . . . . . . . 488
MS. 201 200 200 203 204 . . 204. . . . no change . . .375
MO. 211 210 212 213 213 . . 214 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .234
MN. 206 204 206 207 211
NB. 208 205 205 208 208
NV. 203 204 204 207 205 208-14 . . . +? . . . . . . . . 373, 489
NH. 213 214 213 215 217 .<=216 . . . -1? . . . . . . . .609
NJ. 220 219 221 221 222 . . .223 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . 485, 514, 527
NM. 207 209 208 209 209
NY. 217 217 218 218 218 . . 221 . . . +3 . . . . . . . . .333, 338, 340, 344, 487, 601
NC. 212 212 213 216 216 . . 215 . . . -1 . . . . . . . . .506
ND. 205 204 202 204 208
OH. 211 211 212 214 215 . . 215 . . . no change . . . 247, 252
OK. 207 208 206 208 208 . . 207 . . . -1 . . . . . . . . .591, 592
OR. 211 213 213 214 214 . . 215 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .583
PA. 214 213 215 215 215 . . 217 . . . .+2 . . . . . . . . 452, 477, 478, 509, 524
RI. 213 213 213 211 214
SC. 208 208 211 213 212 .<=214 . . . +2? . . . . . . . .272 says '06 was 215 vs. 212 elsewhere, 584
SD. 204 202 206 205 206
TN. 212 212 213 216 216 . . 217 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .303, 405
TX. 214 214 216 216 217 . . 217 . . . .no change . . . 227, 386, 387, 399, 454, 616
UT. 203 204 200 204 207
VT. 212 213 213 213 218
VA. 218 218 219 219 220 . . 220 . . . .no change . . . 335
WA. 212 213 214 216 216 . . 219 . . . +3 . . . . . . . . .572, 574, 615
WV. 203 202 201 202 206
WI. 210 208 209 211 211 . . 211 . . . .no change . . . 610
WY. 204 201 200 203 204
DC. 222 221 222 222 222
T&C 201 . ? . 200 202 204 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US Terr'ys and Commwlths
out 222 . ? . 222 222 222 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .schools outside the US
NE/MidAtl boarding schools . 225 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . .621
. . . '99 .'01 .'04 .'05 .'06 . .2007 . . . change . . . . . post #s.</p>
<p>Yes, the PSAT National Merit can guarantee quite a few full rides</p>
<p>If you're really interested in engineering, then Rice should be a definite for you. You realize, don't you, that Emory doesn't offer engineering? Tulane does, but only for certain areas such as BME. Tulane got rid of EE and some other engineering programs after Katrina. Vanderbilt is an option, as is Wash U in St Louis. Trinity U in San Antonio offers a general engineering degree and offers generous merit $ and is less selective than Rice or Vandy or Wash U.</p>
<p>I'm on the fence between biology and engineering; i'm more than happy to let my school decide for me... or if it comes to it i'll just not go to x school that doesn't offer my decision.</p>
<p>I know that's not the method you guys would recommend, but I think it'll work for me.</p>
<p>200 was commended this year... i'm highly dubious of me actually getting national merit, but we had as many commended scholars as usual, but everyone's scores were worse than years past, so there is hope.</p>
<p>Yeah, if you qualify for semifinalist, you have to take the SAT. You may want to consider Duke, they give merit aid to a few students.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know I have to take the SAT if i qualify. Any idea when I'd have to take it? (I asked someone from last year who qualified, but she wasn't sure, but thought December-ish.)</p>
<p>So now I have a fairly comprehensive list of about 30 schools... time to start condensing, I suppose.</p>
<p>Any last recommendations?</p>
<p>Trinity U again, I guess I am biased.</p>
<p>haha... biased is totally cool. Something made you pick them, eh? lol</p>
<p>One more school to look into: Syracuse University - good engineering programs and they offer merit aid.</p>
<p>UAB has a medical school and one of the best hospitals in the country, but it is an urban school. It will not have all the collegey stuff that Alabama Tuscaloosa or Auburn will have.</p>
<p>Yes Tsdad, UAB is a world apart from both UA-Tuscaloosa and Auburn, but UAB has recently spent big bucks on student life, primarily a new dormitory, the reportedly excellent brand new recreation center and a campus common (i.e. green). Urban UAB is converting its little corner of Birmingham into a more appealing college campus.</p>
<p>It all depends what engineering field you will be majoring. Overall Georgia Tech is a powerhouse for engineering :</p>
<p>Search</a> - Engineering - Best Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report
College</a> of Engineering at Georgia Tech</p>
<p>Ranking fourth overall. Second for Biomedical Engineering. There also number 1 in industrial engineering in the country. As a alumni of Tech as an Industrial Engineer, I can safely assure you that the education you will get here is the best. Also Coop and internship opportunities are abundant. I had the chance to intern with Intel 3 times while I was at Tech. As far as "Brand Recognition" goes Georgia Tech is an extremly respected name across the US, even in the west. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>you need to look at more competitive schools. youre in the very competitive range, look at the top rankings of enigneering schools and find ones that are the kind of school you want to go to. apply.</p>
<p>Hey I was in the same position as you 2 years ago. Lived in Louisiana and knew I did not want to stay in state esp. go to LSU. </p>
<p>I currently go to Stanford in California and love however I never thought I would get in. So besides that I applied to University of Texas austin. Rice and Georgia Tech. My guidance consuelor also suggested University of Texas at Dallas which is actually a better school than most on here would think and Washington University in St. Louis. </p>
<p>It sounds like you want good school in the southeast. There is this prestigious award at Georgia Tech which I think you would be good for. Also Texas waived out of state fees for me so you probably could get that if not more. In addition Rice has a god bit of money and UT Dallas gives good aid.</p>
<p>I also know Texas A&M gives fantastic aid for smart students like you and Alabama and Florida do very well. Emory and Vandy also come to mind as good schools that fit you.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions feel free to ask.</p>
<p>I've decided that I can't really be picky about geographic region of country. An airport nearby would be nice, though.</p>
<p>I've been thinking about the climate... I need to learn some obscure language like Swahili if I go up north (for the record, I call the top half of Louisiana north hehe), because it's hard to contain my profanities when it's cold, and cold for me is below 40F.</p>
<p>Close to airports with nice weather:
- Emory
- GA Tech
- UT Austin
- U Miami
- USF (Tampa)
- TCU
- SMU
- Rice</p>
<p>I hate to stalk you, but you're pretty much me from a year ago.</p>
<p>You're right on about Tulane. Their sticker price is insane, like 50K. They will give you a nice 24K/year, which is what I got with very similar stats. Well it seems nice until you realize they give it to pretty much everyone with an ACT in 30's and a good GPA. Also they inflate the sticker price so they can give these impressive sounding scholarship figures. It's all marketing.</p>
<p>I didn't even bother to fill in the Dean's scholarship application because it came across as an absolute joke to me. </p>
<p>You probably won't get much merit aid from a school like Rice or Emory. They have plenty of suckers willing to pay full price and unless you have an absolutely flawless resume, they won't be inclined to offer much. Don't expect either to be under 30 K/year. </p>
<p>Public schools in the north are notoriously bad at giving aid. Schools like UIUC won't give you anything, maybe 500 bucks. I wouldn't even bother.</p>
<p>university of maryland would probably give you a full ride, they have a decent engineering program.</p>
<p>rice would be a good fit like everyone else said.</p>
<p>Purdue U has a pretty good engineering school as well.</p>
<p>@ SaveOnUndergrad: your help is greatly appreciated; i don't feel stalked :). I'm gonna do the DHS, regardless of how long a shot it may be. I know someone who got a DHS year before last; I wouldn't be surprised if they reserve </p>
<p>@ ALL
Because it's hard to post spreadsheet style stuff, here's a link to the google document version of my prelim spreadsheet. It's a good way to look at the data. For the record, I know no school has a $100 fee (which is to prevent them from getting 10 points for a $0 fee, as excel reads it) and that a couple schools aren't ranked in those rankings, so I've estimated rankings or placed them last.</p>
<p>I'm thinking my best shot may be to throw myself at Ivies and other deeply-pocketed universities who give out FA. I think my family will still qualify for a bit, and if it's largely in grant form it may be affordable. </p>
<p>Here's the formula I used for computing points, if anyone cares.
=(250-C2)/10+E2+F2+G2+H2+(125-D2)/12+(100-J2)/10</p>
<p>Google</a> Docs - College</p>
<p>If no one feels like looking at that spreadsheet, here's the post of schools and points.</p>
<p>78.58 Olin
77.45 Tulane
77.10 Rice
74.38 Stanford
74.10 LSU
70.75 Harvey Mudd
68.93 MIT
65.50 Caltech
63.97 U Southern California
62.85 UT Austin
59.65 Harvard
59.13 Princeton
58.85 Duke
58.50 UL
57.77 Yale
56.50 Emory
55.00 Georgia Tech.
53.73 U Alabama @ Birmingham
52.55 Johns Hopkins
51.53 U Florida
51.15 Texas A & M
50.70 U Penn
50.58 Carnegie Mellon U
50.42 Cornell
48.18 U Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign</p>
<p>The points are a composite of interest, propinquity, urbanity, and climate. </p>
<p>If you've got experience with any of the schools on the list, feel free to advise me about how to adjust the subjective numbers (mainly climate and urban points).</p>
<p>Thanks All!
(ps. if anyone wants the spreadsheet as a template, feel free to ask via PM)</p>