Is my list balanced enough? (CA engineering)

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm trying to finalize my application list as it's already very late in the college app "season" for the seniors applying. I wanted to know if my list was balanced or if I should add more "Match" schools.</p>

<p>I'm a second-gen. immigrant to the US from an eastern European country, so I am pretty white with a decently middle-class income.</p>

<p>Here's my objective info:
Weighted GPA: 4.65 - UWGPA: 3.97 - UC GPA: 4.25
Rank: 3/344
School: Unranked public school in California, sends 2-5 kids a year to top universities (top public, Ivies, some private) but mostly mid/low UC, CSU, or community colleges.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2110-- 750 CR - 690 M - 670W - 8 Essay
SAT II: Math II - 760, Physics - 790, US History - 720
ACT: 34-- 35 E - 34 M - 33 R - 34 S - 9 Essay
AP: USH: 5, Language & Composition: 5, Physics B: 5, Eur. History: 5</p>

<p>Short Description and List of EC's:
Eagle Scout: lots of awards in BSA with lots of leadership positions
My church youth organization: member all 4 years, VP for senior year
Church Acolyte service: 5 years, Captain for 2 years
"Bible Bowl:" Senior Division, 2 years
Livin' It (School Religious Youth Group): member 4 years
Swimming: Varsity 4 years, CIF participant for 3 years, League Champions, MVP
Club Swimming: year-round for 2 years (junior and senior year of high shool)
Water Polo: JV 1 year, Varsity 3 years, CIF Participant, Captain
Academic League: JV 2 years, Varsity 2 years, League Champions
RYLA Delegate/Awardee from my high school
Boys State Delegate from my high school</p>

<p>So here is the list I have so far, I plan on applying for Mechanical Engineering:</p>

<p>Reaches:
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Harvey Mudd
Cornell</p>

<p>Match (?):
UCSD
UC Davis
Cal Poly SLO</p>

<p>Safety:
SDSU</p>

<p>Other schools I want to apply to, but I'm not sure if I should:
Case Western Reserve: Possibly as an OOS match and if I can get academic scholarships to make it cheaper
Penn: not sure if I should apply. I don't think I have much of a chance and I don't know if I should waste my time/money, but I really like the school and engineering program.
Carnegie Mellon: same reasoning as Penn, but also I have some family near Pittsburgh.</p>

<p>Including even the ones I'm unsure about, my apps will cost about $830 at this point, so is it worth it in your opinions?</p>

<p>My concern for many of these schools is also what kind of money I can get to these schools. So, should I apply and try my chances at CWRU, CMU, and Penn, and do I stand a chance for engineering at the CA schools? Thanks for checking my stuff out, I appreciate it.</p>

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<p>If you need to keep your list short because of app fees, then you might want to make some face-to-face comparisons of your reaches. For example, do you prefer Cornell or Penn? Same with Berkeley and UCLA.</p>

<p>I think you should avoid Cal Poly SLO, not because there is anything wrong with it, but because it is very much a tech school and your verbal/English scores are actually a little bit better than your math scores. Don’t let that part of your intellect get starved. This, by the way, is a good reason to not got to CWRU or Carnegie-Mellon. Seriously, you are obviously not just a math geek. Make sure to do some reading and writing in college.</p>

<p>With your scores, GPA, and EC’s you “stand a chance” at every school in the country. Just a matter of deciding which ones are worth the app fees. Personally, I wouldn’t skimp there unless absolutely necessary.</p>

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<p>CWRU is very likely a good option and they have good need and merit-based aid packages.
One thing to think about with Cornell - from the west coast it will be extremely difficult (no direct flights) and very expensive to get there. Definitely consider travel in your overall costs for the east coast schools.
CMU is a great engineering school as well - but I have no sense of what type of aid they provide. </p>

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<p>@NROTCgrad thank you for your comprehensive answer, first of all, I appreciate it. As far as I know, aren’t most other candidates for these schools supposed to have at least a certain SAT/ACT score, while I understand I did do well on the subscores, I just think all the other candidates do too. SLO would be a a decent match for me I think, and if I don’t get into the UCs I may consider it, but I do think I’d attend Davis or UCSD above SLO. </p>

<p>I’m not too worried about application cost because I do want a wide spread of schools to have a chance at as I don’t have a “dream school” so to speak. I chose Cornell and Penn because I like them the most of the Ivies and they are most applicable to me. Cornell is known to be slightly less selective and I do like the school, but like @Poohbah29‌ pointed out, it would be very expensive to travel there. As for CMU, it may not be the best fit, and that is why I am still unsure about it. I really liked Penn, but I don’t think I stand much of a chance there. That’s why I wasn’t sure if I should apply.</p>

<p>I really think I just don’t test well with standardized tests. I want to be an engineer still though as I really like physics and test much better in it (AP test and Subject Test.) I hope you don’t feel I’m “starving” my opportunity.</p>

<p>Thanks again :)</p>

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<p>Your ACT score is better than your SAT reasoning score.
<a href=“http://www.act.org/aap/concordance/pdf/reference.pdf”>http://www.act.org/aap/concordance/pdf/reference.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Very important: talk to your parents about what they will contribute to your college, and check net price calculators on the college web sites (particularly for your safety school(s)).</p>

<p>Note that UCs and CSUs need an additional application fee per campus ($70 per UC and $55 for CSU), but do not need additional test score reports for additional campuses, since each system shares reports among all of the campuses you apply to. UCs and CSUs also do not require transcripts at the time of application.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ thank you for the information. I know that’s the “comparable” scores, but I was under the impression that most people score better on the ACT, and I am aware about how the costs work for UCs and CSUs, I have a whole spreadsheet that has all the costs I need to pay for college, that’s why I know the cost for these schools would be $830. Thank you again for reminding me though. :)</p>

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<p>If anyone wants to see the spreadsheet:
<a href=“http://i.imgur.com/BhC8yxw.png”>http://i.imgur.com/BhC8yxw.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>i. imgur . com</p>

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<p>Anyone else have any input?</p>

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<p>What about Tulane? They have a free application, non-binding Early Action (if you hurry up), and you might qualify for decent merit aid.</p>

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<p>I haven’t researched it much, but I’m not sure Tilane’s environment would fit me too well. Thank you for suggestion, I will try to read into it more. :)</p>

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<p>Your stats are exceptional. Your ACT score is in the 99 percentile. It is not the case that test takers generally do “better” on the ACT compared to the SAT. Your AP scores (all 5) show you as a potentially strong college student. And your ECs, especially swimming and Water Polo, enhance your appeal to very selective universities. Add 3-5 reach universities to your list. In the grand scheme the “extra” application costs involved are minor when weighed against the potential gain. So go ahead and add Penn. Consider adding another Ivy, perhaps Princeton or Yale, and perhaps both. Consider adding Stanford. CMU makes sense as a high match/Low reach Consider also Duke and John Hopkins. Your safety SDSU is overly pessimistic. With your stats and class rank you’re guaranteed admissisions to at least one UC. </p>

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<p>If the OP is has ELC (UC admissions GPA in the top 9% historical UC admissions GPA for his/her high school – very likely if current rank is 3/344), then note that this means admission to a UC with space available if shut out of UCs specifically applied to. In practice, this means UC Merced. So if the OP wants to use ELC status as a safety plan, then s/he may want to explicitly apply to all UCs that s/he considers more desirable than UC Merced.</p>

<p>Note that the OP’s stats would have been sufficient to sign up for UC Riverside’s automatic admission program back in June or July.</p>

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<p>@fogcity‌ thank you for your suggestion, I was considering adding Yale just as a shot in the dark I guess. I guess I do sound pessimistic, but after reading CC for a while, I feel like average I guess, I don’t feel like I stand much of a chance, so I just didn’t want to apply.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Yeah, I got the letter regarding this several weeks ago saying that I would automatically be accepted to at least one.</p>