I need some matches/safeties, engineering major

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Having done the bulk of my college search, I've realized that all I have are six reach schools. Can anyone help me pick some other schools to broaden the spectrum?</p>

<p>Here are the details:
-SATs: I - 1590; MathIIc - 800; Biology - 800; Physics - 780; Writing - 740.
-GPA is 4.3+ something, with the hardest curriculum the school has seen in recent years.
-ECs: Tons of music including jazz/concert/pit/punk/some other bands. Regional level trumpet player; I'll be trying out for all-state for the first time this year. I'm also SCouncil VP, Life Scout working on Eagle in BSA, Red Cross volunteer, and some others. 300+ hours of service.
-Post if there are any other relevent stats needed.</p>

<p>-Current Choice of Major: Electrical engineering, although biomedical engineering and engineering physics (the broad based engineering major that usually has different names at different colleges) seem interesting.</p>

<p>The list so far:
-MIT EA
-Stanford
-Columbia
-Cornell
-Duke
-Harvey Mudd</p>

<p>Schools I've considered:
-UCs: the lack of funding as well as the lack of out of state scholarships are scaring me away. UCs are out.
-PennState: I hated the campus with a passion, and the school spirit they kept bringing up in the tour, (which may not be altogether genuine) was cloying. PennState is out.
-Carnagie Mellon: I'm iffy on this. The schools seems very one-dimensional, with only a few good majors. Furthermore, the school seems to be getting harder to get into these days, and I don't need another reach.
-UMarylandCP: I'm iffy on this as well. The gemstone program seems exciting, but I read that they won't give very much out of state scholarship for it. But if the program will shuffle me into a top-notch grad school, it may be worth it. Can anyone give me more details, especially on grad school acceptance rates?</p>

<p>Here are my main priorities when looking at school in order of importance:
1.) Strength in engineering, especially electrical engineering; high acceptance rates into grad schools of choice.
2.) Multi-dimensional; the school has many good majors in the liberal arts as well, or is in the immediate vicinity of strong schools in the liberal arts. (ie. Harvard to MIT, Pomona + other Claremonts to Harvey Mudd; the key is I'd like to associate with students of non-techie majors and be able to take humanities classes with students who aren't just fulfilling a hum requirement)
3.) Will give scholarships to a CT resident
4.) Size isn't gigantic. I can handle decently sized schools, but when the school population starts approaching that of certain cities, especially when it will interfere with the school's ability to give personal attention, it becomes a problem.
5.) Warm weather would be nice.</p>

<p>I don't expect a school to have all of my priorities, but the more the better.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help!</p>

2

<p>I know Rice has a great engineering program, but you'll have to check out the specifics of EE.</p>

<p>You might also look at Georgia Tech. Emory is nearby.</p>

3

<p>Rice is an incredible school. 2800 undergrads. Lots of diversity. Low tuition. Merit scholarships. Residential college system. 70% acceptance to 1st choice grad school. 96% med school acceptance rate. A 5 to 1 student faculty ratio for faculty who actually teach. 3 billion dollar endowment. Superb conservatory. Smallest Division 1A school.</p>

4

<p>But is it a match/safety? I definately don't need another reach.</p>

5

<p>Based soley on the stats you listed I'd say Rice is more of a match than a reach, but it's not easy for anyone.</p>

6

<p>May i know why u prefer Mudd to Caltech</p>

7

<p>Add Purdue to your list.</p>

8

<p>I would think RPI would be a safety.</p>

9

<p>You can apply EA to MIT Georgia Tech is a good safety option, particularly since you like warm weather. GaTech unilaterally gives a non-binding early decision to applicants whose credidentials are substantially above admitted students from the previous year, as yours are. Case Western would be a safety for you, and you would automatically qualify for a Trustees scholarship.</p>

10

<p>Meant to say you can apply to MIT EA and Rice ID.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the responses, I'll have to consider them. But here are my thoughts so far.</p>

<p>-I looked up Rice, but I still don't seem to know much about it. Are there any statistics that show the strength of the engineering program? A % who go to their first choice grad school or average starting salary would be good.
-I prefer Mudd to Caltech because Mudd belongs to the Claremont Consortium, which fills the multidimensional priority. I don't think Caltech has any strong liberal arts schools that are close enough that I'd be able to hang around with the students. Beyond that, the people at Caltech seem too techy for me. Dropping items dipped in liquid nitrogen doesn't seem all that fun.
-I'll have to look into Purdue. I don't know much about it as of now.
-I've heard RPI has a great engineering program, but I don't think I'd be able to associate with anyone who's not a math/science major.
-Same problem with GeorgiaTech. Strong engineering program, but I don't *think (not sure) that I'd be able to hang out with non techies.
-I'll look into Case Western.</p>

<p>As you can tell, that second priority is a big one. I'd like every school to at least cover the first two, and preferably top three. </p>

<p>Any other thoughts?</p>

12

<p>Add Michigan, Illinois and Carnegie Mellon,</p>

<p>Btw, just fyi, you can opt 3/2 for Caltech+Pomona, Pomona as you know, a very strong liberal arts college.</p>

13

<p>If you're interested in a school like Harvey Mudd, also look at Olin College. They aren't in exactly the same situation as Mudd w/Claremont, but students at Olin take classes at Wellesley, Brandeis, and Babson.</p>

14

<p>Check out Lehigh or Lafayette here in PA.</p>

15

<p>University of Rochester, BU, USC, U of Washington, U of Minnesota, U of Wisconsin, UT Austin, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. You might be interested in the optics program at U of R, it is somewhere between EE and engineering physics. If optics interests you, you might also be interested in U of Arizona. EE is also decent. BU is already strong in biomedical engineering, and they seem to be throwing money at the EE departemnt. At Rose-Hulman you can take classes at Indian State University and St-Mary-of-the-Woods College.</p>

16

<p>NC State University has a pretty good engineering program and should be a definite safety for you.</p>

<p>"For the fall of 2004, the average first-year student admitted to the College of Engineering had a high school grade point average between 3.9 and 4.4 and SAT scores in the 1150-1350 range."</p>

<p>But the school itself is way bigger than you want...around 30,000 counting undergrad and grad. The undergrad engineering program is about 4800.</p>

17

<p>Give your incredible credentials, I would say the University of Michigan is a safety for you...even at this late stage of the game (Michigan has a rolling admissions policy, so the later you apply, the harder it is to get in). I realize Michigan is big and not in warm weather, but it is still worth considering.</p>

<p>Even though it is a safety, I woud say it should be one of your top 5 choices. MIT, Stanford, Cal-Berkeley and CalTech should be your top 4 and I would recommend Michigan as your fifth choice.</p>

18

<p>Michigan, UIUC (match/safety) and Purdue (safety) all have great engineering programs. The flip side is that they are huge and expensive for out-of-state (note: with your incredible stats, you should look into merit scholarships from Michigan).</p>

<p>You may wanna look into Johns Hopkins for biomedical engineering. It's in the same category as Rice for selectivity.</p>

19

<p>I think UIUC would be great if you want to major in engineering.</p>