<p>Hi,
I'm currently a hs junior who will be applying to schools this fall. I have found it very difficult to narrow down my list of schools, especially all the reaches. The schools I plan on applying to, along with my intended majors, are:
Brown University - ?
Columbia University - ?
Cornell University - ?
Harvey Mudd College - Physics
MIT - Physics
Reed College - Physics
Rice University - ChemE
Stanford University - ChemE
University of Rochester - ChemE
USC - ChemE</p>
<p>I live in the Houston area so my safeties would be UT and A&M (rank 6.4%). If it helps at all, my stats are:
SAT 740 CR 770 M 720 W 12 essay one sitting
SAT II's no scores for Math 2, Chem, or World History yet, think I got 800, 750+, 750+
ACT 35 M 34 S 32 E 32 R 10 essay 33 Composite
3.71 UW GPA (really low, I know)
Decent EC's
The only real hooks I have is I'm a URM and 1st gen.</p>
<p>I don't really mean this as a chance thread, but more as a suggestion thread. Which of these colleges should I apply to, or which other schools in addition? Which major (physics or ChemE) should I pursue at the first three schools? Are there any decent safety (financial safeties as well, since my EFC is approximately $0) schools for the majors I'm interested in? Thanks.</p>
<p>Well, UT and TAMU are theoretically admission safeties based on class rank (but you may want to check whether your rank will get you into your desired major at those schools).</p>
<p>But whether they are actual safeties depends on affordability. Have you run the net price calculators on UT and TAMU to make sure that they are affordable? Note that TAMU does have some scholarships based on National Merit status that can help if you have that. Check the net price calculators on the other schools as well.</p>
<p>As far as major goes, what are you more interested in?</p>
<p>I suggest you categorize your list, first of all. They should ALL be “dream” schools but unfortunately if you have an EFC of 0 maybe 12 isn’t too many. One thought is that you could do early actions (find out if some of your schools offer this) and/or apply Early Action (binding!!) to your favorite one. Make sure though that these schools have reputations for truly meeting 100% need. You have great stats and you are obviously a hard worker.</p>
<p>You should use a net price calculator with the most updated, accurate info on your family income (use most recent taxes) on each and every one.</p>
<p>So, how about…</p>
<p>Category One: School with lowest acceptance rates, e.g., under 10%. Can you narrow down to two or three of these? If you know the acceptance rates are so low, should you really apply to Stanford AND Columbia AND Brown AND MIT?</p>
<p>Category Two: Schools with higher acceptance rates (maybe up to 25%?) where your stats put you in the upper 25th percentile – and which guarantee to meet 100% need. Choose four or five of these.</p>
<p>Category Three: Schools which you know you would love, which would cover your financial need through either need-based aid or merit scholarships, and where your stats put you “over the top.” These are actually the hardest to find! Maybe an honors program at your state school, or at a private university. Look hard for your favorites. A safety is only a safety if you would be happy going there.</p>
<p>Best of luck – you have great scores and a good GPA and you sound like an interesting applicant. I don’t think your major is as important right now as deciding on a good place to start. Knowing that you will do hard sciences is a step in the right direction. I would focus more on your strategies on developing your list…and getting app’s going.</p>
<p>Good luck! </p>
<p>Once you think of them in categories and develop your strategy it gets easier.</p>
<p>With my kids I find that 10 is a lot to keep track of, maybe others have different experience. The FAFSA allows 10 and there are ways to get more but at some point it becomes overkill.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, Unfortunately, my PSAT score didn’t make the National Merit cut, but I did qualify for National Hispanic Scholar. It seems A&M still has a few sources of aid in this regard though, which would help in lowering the in-state tuition.</p>
<p>That’s a tough question since both majors are attractive to me in different ways. With Chemical Engineering, my goal is to go to a school which has ChemE students fresh out of school that are heavily recruited by companies. I would probably try to go for an MBA after finishing ChemE. With physics, I would like to a school with great research opportunities. It seems finding a great Physics program that suits is a lot easier than finding a great ChemE program. I’d lean more towards ChemE in terms of preference, though.</p>
<p>momcinco, Thanks for the helpful response, I’ll try out that system and see what kind of safety schools I can find. EDIT: From what I can remember of running Net Price Calculators a few months back, most schools on my list have me with an EFC of 0 and doing a work-study program to pay whatever is left (Around 2-3k).</p>
<p>Would it be better to wait until RD to apply to my favorite (Rice) in hopes of improving my grades by the end of first semester, or apply early and risk it with a lower gpa (even though EA/ED apps have a higher acceptance rate at most schools)?</p>
<p>With an EFC of 0 you do not want to apply anywhere ED. You need to apply Early Action, Rolling, and RD so that you can compare your aid packages. The differences between those packages will almost certainly be quite shocking. Yes, some places will not give you one cent more than your federal entitlements (Pell Grant and Federal/Stafford Loan) even though your EFC is 0, which will leave a ginormous yawning gap between what you actually can pay and what you would need to pay in order to attend.</p>
<p>He could apply to some of his high reach schools early decision. With an EFC of 0, he’d likely get enormous aid from many of them (assuming he gets in).</p>
<p>Probably, because there are more highly selective schools with physics than chemical engineering.</p>
<p>However, if you need to go to less selective schools for the full ride merit money (see links in #6), ABET accreditation (see [ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) ) will assure you of a decent chemical engineering degree program, but physics is more difficult to assess.</p>
<p>If there is any question about the affordability of UT and TAMU, see if any of the automatic full rides in the link in #6 that has chemical engineering is suitable for you.</p>
<p>No, the OP could apply to one of his high reach schools early decision.</p>
<p>If your EFC is approximately zero, you should construct your list around schools that meet 100% of need. Unfortunately, neither Texas nor Texas A&M are in that category, but check out their net price calculators and see what they say. I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply to them. They’re great schools for what you want to study, and you’re probably a shoo-in for admission. But they tend to “gap” students on FA, and you should be aware of that in applying.</p>
<p>You’re a highly desirable candidate. Your test scores are fabulous, and URM and first gen are strong pluses. Your GPA is very good, but definitely a bit low for the reachiest schools on your list, and your current list is pretty reach-heavy. Brown and Reed strike me as the biggest mismatches on your list given your academic interests which seem to run to physics and ChemE. I’d maybe trade out Brown for Northwestern or Johns Hopkins, both still pretty reachy but stronger in ChemE and physics and with higher admit rates than Brown, with good FA. I think RPI should probably be on your list as more of a “match” school, strong in ChemE, less so in physics, though you should run their net price calculator before making that decision as they don’t meet 100% of need, either.</p>
<p>Another school you might consider is the University of Houston. I know it doesn’t carry the same prestige as UT or TAMU, but its engineering school is actually quite good, especially in ChemE, and COA will be lower than your other in-state options. It doesn’t meet full need but a Pell grant, a subsidized federal Stafford loan, and possibly some additional aid from the school will carry you a long way.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be discouraging. I think there’s a good prospect that you can do quite well here. Lots of colleges and universities covet URMs and first-gens with test scores like yours, and your GPA is more than credible. But you can’t bank on that; you need a mix of reaches, matches, and safeties, and if your EFC actually is close to zero, FA will make all the difference in determining what’s a real possibility, and what’s only a pipe dream. Good luck!</p>
<p>Looks like three of the automatic full ride schools have chemical engineering:
Louisiana Tech, Howard, Prairie View A&M (but Howard has a relatively high college GPA to renew each year)</p>
<p>Even if the school has a policy of meeting the full need, that does not mean it will meet the full need of the OP in the best possible way. Those institutions use the CSS Profile which digs very extensively into the family finances, so what they think the need is can be quite different from the need as determined by the FAFSA. Also, even if the CSS Profile EFCs are the same at two different schools, the structure of the aid package can be very different: loans/no loans, work study/no work study, expected student summer earnings/no expected student summer earnings, outside scholarships stacked on top of institutional aid/outside scholarships replacing institutional aid, etc.</p>
<p>If the OP has a definite first choice and elects to apply ED to that institution, the OP should also apply very early to at least one of the rolling-admission guaranteed-merit institutions as a back-up safety, and should have a whole stack of applications ready to go in case the ED institution’s aid is less favorable than predicted by the Net Price Calculators.</p>
<p>The OP should also take a close look at what each college/university includes in its estimated Cost of Attendance. Do they include figures for the same items? What about transportation and personal expenses? Travel to and from Texas several times each year can add up to a sizable amount of money. So can a heavy-duty winter wardrobe for a Texa student at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, or Rochester.</p>
<p>I agree with BTG. For an applicant like the OP (high but not off-the-charts stats, high need), 12 applications are not too many. He is right to focus on schools that are need-blind and meet full need. However, many of those schools are extremely selective. So it’s not wrong to add a few extra schools to increase the odds (as long as it isn’t spreading you too thin in preparing good application packages.)</p>
<p>I think the need here is to swap, not cut, along the lines bclintonk suggested. For this applicant, I don’t agree that it’s a good strategy to seek big merit scholarships at less selective schools that lack very strong programs in his target majors (Howard etc.)</p>
<p>It’s not my money, but at this point I would not sweat the details of travel, wardrobe, and other costs of getting the “last mile” to where you want to go. Yes, there’s a risk you’ll have to hustle and compromise to cover gaps in those costs. Share a ride to college if you have to, shop thrift stores, whatever. College students can be pretty resourceful. Concentrate on positioning yourself to be able to compare a few good/better/best offers.</p>
<p>Problem is, it does not look like the OP has any safeties so far. UT and TAMU might not meet in-state need with need-based financial aid*, and the schools that have good financial aid are reach-for-everyone schools. So in the absence of an automatic full ride somewhere, the safety would be going to community college if OP gets shut out of the reach-for-everyone schools and does not get enough financial aid or scholarships at UT and TAMU.</p>
<p>*Using [AID</a> for COLLEGE in TEXAS](<a href=“College For All Texans: Page Not Found”>http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/apps/CollegeMoney/) assuming a low income of $25,000 per year, the net price after grant and scholarship aid at UT, TAMU, and UH could be as high as $20,648, $15,981, and $19,538 per year respectively. Merit scholarships could bring it down to $752, $968, or $1,638 respectively, but the biggest merit scholarships (e.g. 40 Acres) are not something one can count on for safety.</p>
<p>“Problem is, it does not look like the OP has any safeties so far”</p>
<p>Reed and Rochester are very low matches.</p>
<p>Physics and Chemical Engineering seem like an odd couple. EE is closer to physics. At many of OP’s schools his choice of major won’t matter. At Columbia physics is CC and chem engineering is SEAS.</p>