<p>Some stats:
SAT: 2230 (680 CR, 800 M, 750 W)
SAT II:
Math 2: 800
Chem: 800
GPA: UW: 3.95
APs: 5's on USH, Calc BC, Physics C M+E&M, Micro, Macro</p>
<p>ECs:
•Theater Tech Crew (Leadership and paid work experience)
•Lacrosse
•Science Olympiad
•Student Tech Team (Help peers with tech issues, help with school's email system)
•Entrepeneurs club founding member
•100+ hours of community service (Math tutoring, tech support)</p>
<p>I'm looking for probably a mid-sized school (3-10k) with a good engineering department, I'm looking into mechanical or electrical engineering. I'd also love a school with a more laid back, collaborative culture rather than a cutthroat one. Preferably in the northeast, but not necessary. Money is not an issue. Also, I know Stanford has the coterminal program which is a huge plus, and I believe WUSTL has a similar 5 year program for B.S./M.S. in engineering, are there any other schools that offer this?</p>
<p>Here's what I have so far:</p>
<p>Reaches:
Stanford (I have double legacy and am planning to apply SCEA, though that doesn't change the fact that it's a high reach)
Brown (Not the most reputable program, I know, but I love the school)</p>
<p>Matches:
CMU
WUSTL
JHU (Still up in the air about this one, felt too preppy/premed)</p>
<p>Safeties:
Lehigh (Any other safety schools like this?)
Rutgers (In-state)
Michigan</p>
<p>I think you would like WPI, and you would probably get some merit aid for your stats. It meets your criteria for more laid-back, collaborative atmosphere and has a 5 year BS/MS program as well.~3800 undergrads.</p>
<p>Your list looks fine. I would maybe add in Cornell. Schools along the lines of Lehigh might be Villanova, URochester and if you are willing to go smaller perhaps Bucknell and Lafayette,</p>
<p>Since you have stats way above its typical student, they may assume you won’t attend even if you are admitted. Indeed, a newspaper article about college admissions using Lehigh as an example noted that the admissions committee rejected an applicant for not showing enough interest by not checking the admissions web site enough.</p>
<p>Rutgers has been reported to give full rides to high stats applicants from New Jersey.</p>
<p>^^I agree that the OP would need to visit Lehigh and do even an alumni interview close to home stressing why Lehigh is a good fit (ex. size of school, quality of engineering program, location etc.) and then he/she should be fine.</p>
<p>Lehigh cares more about your interest than your grades. They really want to educate the students that really want to go there. Most of the admits from our school have been ED. Some top students have been waitlisted. </p>
<p>Michigan isn’t a safety either. </p>
<p>Your math and science stats are terrific. I’m surprised being in the Northeast that MIT and Cornell are not on your list. </p>
<p>Northeastern, RPI, WPI, and Penn State would all be safeties. </p>
<p>University of Rochester is a mellow school that you might like better than JHU. </p>
<p>Michigan and Lehigh are matches, not safeties; Michigan engineering might even be a reach. (Keep in mind that after several years of explosive growth in applications, Michigan’s overall admit rate this year was down to 33%, probably under 25% for OOS applicants, and even lower for engineering which is an extremely selective program). WUSTL and Johns Hopkins are reaches, not matches, based on their extremely low admit rates. Rutgers is a fine safety.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that your 680 SAT CR, while a good score, is a bit on the low side for the most selective schools. Many schools weigh CR and M more heavily than W (and some still don’t consider W at all). That leaves you a bit lopsided at 800 M, 680 CR. That’s not necessarily fatal, and it may not matter much at heavily tech-oriented schools like Carnegie Mellon that tend to accept a lot of lopsided students, but it could ding you a bit at schools like Stanford, Brown, WUSTL, Johns Hopkins, and Michigan.</p>
<p>What about RPI for a mid-sized match in the Northeast? I think you should also look at Case Western and possibly Bucknell, a largish LAC with a pretty strong engineering program. Also unclear why Cornell isn’t on your list; it’s the best engineering school among the Ivies.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus (and others), I have visited Lehigh, as well as emailed an admissions rep I met at the college fair, they also love my school. I plan to show interest in their supplement, and do an alumni interview.</p>
<p>As for Michigan, my college guidance counselor recommends most engineering hopefuls with similar stats to apply there as a safety, looking at naviance, (and seeing how Michigan relies more on grades and scores) I should have a solid chance.</p>
<p>I’m definitely considering MIT. I know is a great engineering school, though in the event that I decide engineering is not for me, I’d like a place that has a little more variety of strong programs to offer (Yes, I know it has other great programs, but let’s face it, 40% of students are engineering majors). It also seemed pretty nerdy… (although I am a science/math guy, I’m fairly normal socially.) Though I loved the programs, campus and setting in Cambridge. Plus I have friends who are attending.</p>
<p>Cornell was beautiful, don’t get me wrong. And I know it’s a fantastic engineering program. But I think it was bigger than what I am looking for. The weather also seemed terrible in the winter (not to mention gloomy/depressing)… And even though Ithica is a great college town, it’s really out in the middle of no where…</p>
<p>WPI I’m also considering as a safety, though like for MIT, I’d like a place with more variety.</p>
<p>RPI… we visited. I didn’t like it. plus it’s like 70% guys…</p>
<p>bclintonk WUSTL and Hopkins would be considered high matches. They love my school and from naviance and my college counselor, I’m in good standings.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you don’t “have a solid chance.” I’m just saying it’s not a safety. A safety is a school where you’re a lock for admission, and plenty of cocky OOS applicants with stats as good or better than yours get waitlisted or rejected for Michigan engineering these days. Every spring you’ll find a series of posts in the Michigan CC forum from bewildered high-stats OOS applicants, asking “How could this have happened? I think they must have made some kind of mistake, Michigan was one of my safeties and I got into Princeton.” </p>
<p>And your GC is misinformed if he thinks Michigan “relies more on grades and scores.” Working in your favor is that Michigan relies most heavily on grades and course rigor. Test scores are of secondary importance. Take a look at the scoring sheet they do for each application, which you can find online. It’s about way more than “grades and scores.”</p>
<p>Rutgers is your safety. They have a 61% admit rate, you’re in-state, and you’re well above their 75th percentile in SAT CR, SAT M, and GPA. Michigan engineering is not a safety; their OOS admit rate is now probably somewhere between 20 and 25%, your SAT CR score is only mid-second quartile for them, and their pattern of admissions is a little too quirky and unpredictable to make it a safety for anyone, at least any OOS student. If I were a betting man, I’d bet you’ll be admitted, but it’s not a sure thing.</p>
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<p>Fine, have it your way. I’m just telling you your SAT CR score is below WUSTL’s 25th percentile, and for a school that has a 16.5% acceptance rate, that’s a red flag. I’m not saying you’ll be rejected; it could go either way. But in my book, any school with an acceptance rate below 20% is a reach for anyone, no matter how good their stats, and for someone who is below that school’s 25th percentile on any key stat, it may be a high reach. Especially at a school like WUSTL which has elevated itself in the US News rankings largely by being extremely attentive to its SAT medians. </p>
<p>You’re in the third quartile for SAT CR at Johns Hopkins, which is better than being in the fourth quartile, but still not exactly match-y territory for a school that had a 17.7% acceptance rate in 2012.</p>