Is this a decent list?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm trying to finalize my college list for applying next fall, and wanted the input of CC.</p>

<p>I live in Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Financial:</p>

<p>-Parents make ~65k combined w/ ~100k savings
-Parents recently told me the maximum they'd be willing to pay is ~20k/yr.</p>

<p>Future:</p>

<p>-I want to major in Mechanical Engineering undergrad
-Get Masters in Mech. or Aerospace E. </p>

<p>Environment:</p>

<p>-Prefer Suburban/Urban schools
-Prefer Mid Atlantic/New England (I want to stay relatively close to home)</p>

<p>My Stats:</p>

<p>UW GPA: 98.4/100 (School ranks on 100% scale, not 4.0)
Rank: 1/443
ACT Breakdown: 35C [36M, 35E, 35S, 34R 10E]
SAT Subject Tests: 800 US History, 760 Math 2, 730 Physics (Retaking physics; I took the SAT2 after an intro. physics course where only kinematics was taught)</p>

<p>ECs, etc.</p>

<p>Speech and Debate (8-12) Varsity Captain, State Finalist 2012, '13, numerous local tournament trophies</p>

<p>Odyssey of the Mind (5-12) Team Captain, 6-time State finalist, 2-time World Finalist</p>

<p>Scholastic Scrimmage AKA Quiz Bowl (11-12) Varsity Captain [no awards b/c we suck lol]</p>

<p>Mock Trial (9-12) Head Lawyer, 2013 Monroe County Best Lawyer Award</p>

<p>Math Tutor (9-12) Help elementary/middle school kids. Just recently, I began tutoring SAT/ACT math [improved one friend from 26 to 33; now he's attending BC]</p>

<p>Venturing Crew 1629 {si no sabes, Venturing is basically just co-ed Boy Scouts} (10-12) Treasurer, Bronze Award recipient</p>

<p>During summers I work/volunteer at a Cub Scout Camp. </p>

<p>Numerous School Awards, nothing fancy [excellence in math, highest AMC score, leadership, blah blah blah]</p>

<p>I'm applying to:
-MIT (EA)
-Princeton
-Cornell
-UPenn
-Carnegie Mellon
-Lehigh University
-Penn State University
-Haverford College (strong LAC near Philadelphia)
-Stevens Institute of Technology
-Syracuse University</p>

<p>So, is this a good list? Am I aiming too high? Care to recommend a college of your own? Thanks for reading CC!</p>

2

<p>I’m a little bit confused, which list are you referring to? I see a list of ECs and stats but no list of colleges</p>

3

<p>The one at the bottom</p>

4

<p>Sorry, I edited the post; I actually forgot the list first time around lmao</p>

5

<p>You can always look into financial aid packages from each school. If these schools offer programs that are best suited for you, reach out to them to see what they can offer you in regards to scholarships, bursaries, etc. </p>

6

<p>when one thinks of MechE, one usually doesn’t think of Penn or Haverford, but, hey, you have a good shot at getting into them and whose to say you won’t major in something else. You might have to convince Haverford, Stevens, Lehigh, and Syracuse of your interest in them. </p>

<p>You should be eligible for some good need-based aid and at Lehigh and Syracuse some serious merit awards. I don’t know about Stevens. I like your chances at Cornell but I don’t know if the money will be there. Maybe someone else does.</p>

<p>(Wait, there are co-ed Boy Scouts? why didn’t someone tell me? gives fire starting merit badge all kinds of potential.)</p>

<p>I’d add URochester to the list. Tuition scholarship possibilities. Also UDelaware (ditto), UPitt (ditto), UMD-CP.</p>

7

<p>@jkeil911 I like Haverford’s relations with leading engineering universities: they have both 3+2 and 4+1 programs, where you major in physics at Haverford then gain a master’s in Mech. E. from a school like Penn or CalTech after 5 years total. It saves money and gives me flexibility. And thanks for the suggestions: I was looking at Rochester for a while, so it’s good to see confirmation of that.</p>

<p>And Venturing exists, and is quite the hoot (if you know what I mean…)</p>

8

<p>Thats a good list, maybe northwestern would be one your interested in. Close to chicago top 15 school both overall and for engineering </p>

9

<p>Your ECs don’t stand out too much for MIT or the ivies, but you are academically competitive.</p>

10

<p>Cornell gives good FA to students with family income like yours. The savings will increase your EFC to some degree.
Rochester has a GEAR program (3-2, B.S./M.S.): <a href=“Special Programs : Academics : Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences : University of Rochester”>http://www.hajim.rochester.edu/options/programs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>@anniebeats I know [sad face]</p>

12

<p>You may consider Northwestern. It got a highly ranked ME program.</p>

13

<p>Apply as soon as the app is online for Pitt and Penn State, so that you have a shot at their best scholarships and at Honors College (for Shreyer in particular really wants you to apply by the “priority deadline”.) Plus, you’ll start the application season with one or two admissions in hand, always a great relief.
If you like Lehigh, why not visit Bucknell/Lafayette when you visit there?
I think Trinity (CT) has engineering and you’d get good merit there. </p>

14

<p>I think you would receive a sizeable amount of merit money from Stevens. I’ve heard that Haverford not only promises to meet 100% of demonstrated need, but actually does it.</p>

15

<p>Penn Engineering generally is probably the second or third best engineering school in the Ivy League behind Cornell. That’s pretty good.</p>

<p>Regarding schools in the Northeast and Ohio that might pony-up some scholarship cash for an aspiring ME major, look at:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Northeastern U
U of Maryland-Baltimore County
Case Western Reserve University
Ohio University</p>

16

<p>URochester has merit money. Case definitely hands out the cash.</p>