I get the point but disagree with the analogy - in that Williams is very well known and not considered lesser; RHIT is not known - except by the people that matter - hiring companies - and they pay LARGE!!
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Tsbna44, UIUC was the only school I applied to for my MBA, for one simple reason - it was free. I was mustering out of the Marines in 1992 and the economy was a dumpster fire. Illinois had a veteranâs grant program where four years tuition at a state university was waived for veterans. I had kept my residency in IL for no other reason than the state did not levy income tax on active duty military (I would like to claim amazing foresight, but that was not the case). It was a good program, but not highly ranked. Large companies recruited there to get low/middle management canon fodder (I was recruited by Ford.)
I understand why many are turned off by UIUCâs campus and location. The physical plant is run down, Champaign/Urbana is no garden spot, and it is surrounded by corn fields to the horizon. For in-state applicants seeking STEM degrees, however, it is a great option. For some majors, like CompSci, UIUC is a great option for anyone from anywhere. Their undergrad business school is also very strong, especially in finance and accounting.
The Lovely And Talented, AKA my wife, did her MBA at IU and loved it. She took on debt, and I did not.
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If a college premed who was incredibly driven, studied every available second of the day, and were taking even only four total classes a semester asked if it were a good idea to take both first year Bio and first year Chem in the same year, anyone who has been through these classes would say, âNO!â Frankly, taking AP Bio and AP Chem at the same time is even worse, because your son probably is taking 4 other academic classes, plus gym, plus extracurriculars, whereas in a college year he might be taking as few as four classes, no gym, no extracurriculars.
I understand why your son wants to take them both at the same time. My kidsâ public school pretty much only allows students to move ahead in math, and then only if they can pass an aptitude test in 3rd grade - leaving out many kids who already are way ahead in math. But when the kids get to high school, after the kids have sat bored for years and years, they at least let them skip high school Chem/Bio/Physics and go straight into AP sciences. So they have more chance to do one AP science/year, instead of having to double up on them.
Iâm sorry that your high school doesnât just let the kids take AP classes earlier. But the reality is that lots of kids on here are taking five AP classes in senior year. And Iâve never heard of any who are taking AP Bio and AP Chem simultaneously. There is a huge amount of content memorization in AP Bio.
Honestly, he should talk with his classmates about who are the best teachers for ALL the AP classes, and try for one or more of those, instead of doubling up on AP sciences. Great AP classes in high school can be a chance for a kid who is going to be focusing on STEM to get some excellent humanities education in high school. My kid fought and fought us against taking AP Euro as a senior (along with AP US History, BC Calc, Physics C, and a college English class, and his usual incredibly heavy extracurricular load). But we told him how fantastic that teacher was, and how important it was to learn AP Euro content, if one wanted to be an educated person. He is SO grateful we pushed him into that class! And thereâs no way he would have taken such a class in college.
tsbna, Michigan Tech is a step below MSU in rankings, and it is in the artic tundra of the UP, hours away from any civilization.
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A couple of thoughts. Most schools do not consider AP scores during admissions. Obviously itâs great to do well for placing out of classes but doesnât give an admission bump most places.
As far as the ACT goes, math and English are the most coachable sections on the test. With sufficient practice your son should do very well. The biggest issue on the ACT is time and moving quickly particularly in math. Science on the ACT does not test science aptitude. The science score basically is can you read a graph. All necessary information is contained on the page and we were told by our tutor that the science score often closely aligns with reading. Knowledge of the science tested is helpful in that helps you move faster but not necessary. Doing well on the science section doesnât really demonstrate that youâre good in science.
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I think youâve been a bit conservative in your calculations and youâve come up with a great list. Your son would potentially be eligible for admission to the 4+1 program at Pittâs Swanson School of Engineering based on his SAT score and a likely admit to their honors program. https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/News/2019/EAGr-Accelerated-Masters-Program/. My son will be an undeclared engineering major there in the fall. His college list did not have much overlap with your sonâs. I agree with your plan to keep the total number of applications within reason. We were so uncertain about how the pandemic might affect things, my son applied to 13 schools and it was too many. In retrospect, we should have cut it down before applying. Your son has excellent chances at Purdue, and CMU is a reach for everyone, wouldnât count on it but would apply.
I think your list is solid. I think being full-pay will be a boost to your sonâs applications. After finding 2-3 safeties, definitely throw some apps out there to T20 schools like CMU or Cornell (if itâs a good fit).
That said, I still think applying to more than 10 schools is too many unless you need merit scholarships to attend which you donât. Some will disagree with schools getting more apps this year but I still believe that 10 quality apps are better than âshotgunningâ a bunch of apps. Quality college apps take more time that kids and parents think. Do the research up front and get a feel for what your son is looking for in a college. Look at the degree requirements. Oldest son applied to 13 schools. If he had done more research he couldâve taken 3-4 off the list and saved some time and effort.
I wouldnât put much more effort into testing. His SAT score is competitive. Maybe the ACT will be better or maybe not. Kids usually have a preference. By the time my oldest son hit the end of his junior year he was burnt out. ECâs, AP tests, and the SAT. He signed-up for the June test wanting to add 20 points but was just too burnt out. Better to take a breather and start the essays. Personally, I think theyâre more important than trying to add another 20 points at this point.
Oldest son also, took less APâs his senior year. He wanted time to enjoy his senior year plus college apps can take a lot of time and effort. Youâre typically not just applying to the school. Youâll also have essays and interviews for honors colleges and scholarships. He ended-up at Georgia Tech for ISyE .
It seems like youâre sticking to the midwest but being full-pay Iâd look at some other schools like Rice or Georgia Tech. If youâre considering Pittsburgh maybe look further east to Lehigh or Lafayette if he likes smaller schools. For the best college experience I still think Boston would be tops. Good luck.
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Just a quick note on CMU - I was there in the 80âs, and my son is finishing his junior year there now. Itâs a very, very different place today, in all the right ways.
The kids work hard, for sure, but outside of a small subset of hyper competitive kids (mostly in SCS), the âstress cultureâ seems to be more myth than reality. Itâs no party school, but itâs been a great experience for him. I would say his stats were a notch below what youâve posted for your son. Ultimately he chose between Michigan and CMU.
Keep in mind Dietrich (social sci) and Tepper (business) are a way bigger part of the school (in terms of number of students and culture) than back in the 80âs and of course drama and arts still drive a lot of the campus as well.
(Also: in 2017 or 18, CMU explicitly removed any legacy or demonstrated interest from their application process. The posted about it at the time, IIRC)
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Free is great - I get it. I chose ASU over Indiana and Texas - I actually got paid to go to ASU (with assistantship). I know IUIC is great - and for the thousands that go itâs awesome. Iâm simply saying - one has to be somewhere for four years so they need to ensure the environment is great. Obviously for many it is.
Itâs odd to me - i live 6 hours away (in TN). I know tons go South (Bama)âŠsome North - KY, IN, Purdue. Some East - Carolina schools. And West - Arkansas. Never hear IUIC - not sure why.
I know itâs very well respected. For me (and just me all the haters out thereâŠwell and my kid) - we just couldnât do it 
I really dislike generalizations like this. My son took 2 science classes every year for all 4 years of HS including calc based physics, organic chemistry and biochemistry. And he wasnât just a science/math geek. He took multiple non-science AP classes including Lit, Art History and Mandarin. He played varsity soccer, ski raced competitively and was a very active musician. It is completely student dependent.
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This is very important to grasp. The ACT is a speed reading and concentration test. The SAT tests reason and knowledge base. Although there are concordance tables, there shouldnât be. They are VERY different. Many students will have a much better chance on one versus the other. In order to know that without taking a bunch of time to prep and test, a student can take a timed diagnostic.
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Why? 
Why is it a reach? Or why bother applying?
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âŠbut relatively close to the Paulding Light, which is cool. hehe
CMU is certainly selective, but for most of its schools (CMU admits by school) it is not a reach for everyone. Admissions is relatively predictable for students with the right profile. CMU SCS is much more of a reach, but for the right student profile that it wants, admissions there is also quite predictable.
ETA: Just checked our schoolâs scattergram with nearly 600 datapoints for CMU. Below a certain GPA and SAT threshold, admit rate was nearly zero. Above that, admit rate was above 50%.
Why bother applying? The OP is already fairly confident that his son has options that are better for him and less competitive. Thereâs no reason that students who have the stats to be competitive at âtopâ programs have to apply to them if they donât think theyâd be a good fit. My son didnât and he had higher stats than the OPs son. Heâs very successful now.
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Iâm with you on generalizations- there are so many variables.
The challenge of AP Chem & Bio at the same time is not just the ability to learn the material- a strong student should be well able for that- but that AP classes can be surprisingly variable in the volume of work required. For example, the lab work expectations for AP Chem were much higher at one of the Collegekidâs schools than another. Similarly, the reading load for US Hx at one school was 2x that at another. Thatâs why I asked if about the OPâs sonâs school: if taking both AP Chem & AP Bio at the same time is an established path (at least for stronger students) thatâs a good clue that at that particular school the paired workload is manageable.
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@hebegebe Iâm curious about the stats threshold for CMU on your schoolâs Naviance. Our high school has fewer data points, despite being a large, competitive high school. Could you share the level at which the admit rate hits 50%? PM me if youâd like. Thanks!
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The threshold seems to be 1550 SAT and a 4.4 weighted GPA. GPA Based upon historical grade distributions, I estimate that a 4.4 is a bit less than 10% of the class. Note that this is for all students, including those admitted to more competitive schools like SCS.
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What is the weighting system at the high school, and approximately what unweighted GPA and course rigor does 4.4 weighted GPA correspond to? Such information would be more helpful to those in other high schools where weighting GPA differs.
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