<p>I am a white male from new jersey. I attend a good public school that produces about 5-10 ivy league bound seniors a year.
I am thinking about applying to Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Johns Hopskins, WPI, and Lehigh. (engineering)
Please if anyone has input tell me.
My profile is:</p>
<p>SAT: 2120 (780 Math 680 CR 660 Writing) - retaking in Nov.
SATII: 800 Math IIC, 700's Physics (estimate, took in Oct.)
GPA: unwtd 3.9 wtd 4.6
Solid schedule with all H and AP, only one "college prep" class (history). I'm currently taking multivariable calc, physics AP, engineering design, and digital electronics to name those that relate directly to engineering.
Academic Honors: High honor roll, National Honor Society, Medals in National Latin Exam (3 years), silver medal at state chem olympics in chemical engineering</p>
<p>EC's:
Varsity Ice Hockey - 4 years, hoping to be one of the captains this year
Travel Ice Hockey - 10 years
Marching band - 3 years
Concert band - 3 years
Alter Server - 8 years
A bunch of community service like cooking for homeless, etc.
This year I'm doing community service in the town engineering department (inspections on construction sites)
I have a lot of other stuff like confirmation sponsor for two kids, tutoring, some clubs, and world travel
I'm VP of the ping pong club this year but I don't know if I'm going to put that in my resume because I'm honestly just doing it for fun and it's not serious</p>
<p>Neither of my parents went to universities and I'm from a pretty average middle class family. No siblings in college since I'm the oldest.</p>
<p>That's basically it. This is my first post and I'm just trying to get some opinions so thanks a lot if you reply and good luck to everyone with your college stuff. Sooooo stressful!!</p>
<p>Why aren't you shooting higher on the Ivies list? Cornell is a great school...but probably ranked at bottom of the Ivy heap. Also what about Northwestern, Stanford, U of Chicago...all GREAT. Also, ever consider a smaller school? Wesleyan, Williams?? What about Lafayette?</p>
<p>Illinois is a bit too far away for me to go to school. I've heard good things about Lafayette but I am applying undeclared in engineering and Lafayette didn't appear to have as many engineering options as other schools. Any other good schools? I've never heard of those small ones you mentioned...</p>
<p>You might want to consider this.....Hartwick, in upstate NY is a solid college with a new, top-notch science center. They have a pre-engineering/cooperative program with two great schools: Clarkson and Columbia. I remembered hearing about their program and found this on their website:</p>
<p>Hartwick has cooperative agreements with both Clarkson University and Columbia University. A student in our pre-engineering program spends three years at Hartwick College, taking math and science courses as well as a mixture of social sciences and humanities. In their fourth year, they transfer to either Clarkson or Columbia, where they spend the next two years studying engineering courses. At the end of five years, a student who completes the program earns a B.A. from Hartwick and an engineering degree from the other university. </p>
<p>Sounds like a pretty good deal...only 5 years....and all three schools (especially Columbia) are excellent. Also, with your academic record, they might offer you some solid merit $$.</p>
<p>I think you've put together a really great list of schools and you have really thought about what you wanted out of your education. Your ECs are extremely strong. Although you stats are average, I think that you have a very good chance at all of the schools you applied to. Work hard on your critical reading and writing sections! Writing, believe it or not, is one of the easiest sections to prepare for (CR will be tough). Once you know what errors they are looking for, they are easy and obvious to spot. So good luck!</p>
<p>thanks guys. i appreciate all the input. im working on my sat prep now and still looking for other schools. i looked at hartwick but i didnt see anything about that engineering program.</p>
<p>(if it doesn't load on first click...try again)</p>
<p>Your academic standing and test scores are higher than the general applicants they attract, so you might qualify for some significant merit scholarship money...but of course, their admissions people would know this for sure. It's a small school, but if you are not absolutely certain you want to be an engineer, this might be perfect for you so you can explore more of the sciences. And the cooperative program w/ Columbia and Clarkson is a pretty nice deal....5 years and two degrees? Not bad.</p>
<p>If I am not mistaken, Chicago, Williams, and Wesleyan don't have any engineering program. I'd think transferring from Hartwick to Columbia is hardly automatic. </p>
<p>RPI is another good match/safety for you.</p>
<p>Most of the Big10 schools (Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Purude, Wisconsin, Penn State) have great engineering programs if they are not too far for you.</p>
<p>Well Sam Lee...Hartwick has a cooperative program with Columbia and Clarkson....so while it's not automatic....it's an agreement between the two schools that really would give him a leg up. The emphasis is on the word 'cooperative'. This is a huge advantage. If he is accepted and goes to Hartwick, and does really well, he will have a very high chance of getting accepted directly into Columbia's engineering program. Again, this is what the cooperative program is all about!</p>
<p>I didn't deny the "advantage". I just want to raise his/her awareness so that he/her won't assume anything and may want to ask Hartwick what exactly the success rate to Columbia is; the rate for Clarkson should be pretty high as the two schools have similar admission standard. But based on the list of schools the OP is looking, Clarkson may not be what he/she wants.</p>
<p>"While you are at Hartwick, there is a pre-engineering committee that will follow your progress. During your third year, the committee will meet with you to evaluate your progress and make a recommendation to the engineering college. If Hartwick recommends you, admission to the engineering school is guaranteed."</p>
<p>I agree, Sam Lee...he should definitely ask Hartwick what the success rate is for admission to Columbia.</p>
<p>Hmm..then he/she may want to ask one more question--how many people were recommended? The success rate out of those being recommended may be 100% but it doesn't do you any good if only 1 person was recommended. ;) This sounds pretty much like a backdoor to Columbia; but is it really?</p>
<p>Wesleyan is one of the best known and most inluential small colleges in America; it's alumni span the globe and every field you can think of; it's u/g population is 2,700; located in the small city of Middletown, CT (pop: 45,000.) Anything you want to do after graduation, Wesleyan will help you get there.</p>
<p>I did my master's at Wesleyan...not a friendly campus. Yes, great school...but I found the professors as well as the student body very self absorbed.</p>
<p>Oh, come now, the life of a grad student at what is essentially an LAC, is necessarily going to be a little different from someone admitted as a freshman, to an all frosh dorm, around whom the entire school revolves, with about a 10 to 1 ratio in terms of people his/her own age. Wesleyan made the top 10 Happiest Student Body list on Princeton Review just two years ago. It is famous for the tolerance, diversity and openness of its student body.</p>
<p>Sorry, John Wesley....no offense meant. Just my take on it...everyone seemed so miserable when i was there...perhaps things have changed! You have to admit this though: Middletown is yucky...lol.</p>
<p>How long ago were you there? Also what masters degree program were you in?
In any event, according to the latest USNews poll, Wesleyan has a 95% freshman retention rate, so perhaps things have changed since you got your masters there. :)</p>