Junior looking around at colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I'm entering junior year in September and of course, I'm supposed to start looking around at colleges and the like. My parents did not attend American colleges and I'm an only child so other than what we've been told by friends, we're rather new to the details of the process. </p>

<p>So I guess I'll start with my stats. I'm an Asian girl.
Unweighted GPA: 3.70
Weighted GPA: 4.26
SAT: 2330, 10th grade; 770 in reading, 800 in writing, 760 in math.
probably not going to take the ACT
SAT Subjects: Biology (800), 9th grade
PSAT: I got a 219 in 10th grade, with really high 70s in reading/writing and a 60ish in math. The cutoff in my state is usually around 221 so with some improvement I should be able to become a semifinalist.
Freshman classes w/ grades: Biology Hns (A), Geometry H&A* (A), Language Arts I Hns (B), French 2 (A), Consumer Economics (A), World History (A)
Sophomore classes w/ grades: Physics Hns (B), Chemistry Hns (B), Precalculus H&A* (B), Language Arts II CP (A), French 3 Hns (A), American History II Hns (A)
Extracurriculars: Science Bowl for four years including both my years in high school; Science Olympiad at the middle school level from 7th through 9th grade; Envirothon sophomore year as unofficial co-captain; Fed Challenge sophomore year; Junior Varsity on the tennis team in both years; violinist in several orchestras that would take forever to elaborate; playing in a couple of quartets; wrote and self-published a novel; Certificate of Achievement for the National French Contest; Biology Olympiad both years (participant only.)
Volunteering: so far just at the local library.
Additional Courses taken for credits w/ grades: Intro to Comp Programming I (B), Intro to Comp Programming II (C), American History II Hns (A). These do not factor into my GPA.</p>

<p>*H&A is basically a program at my district for "exceptional" math students that stops at Precalc and allows you to skip AP calc AB and jump straight to BC, at which the H&A name no longer applies. </p>

<p>Junior year I am taking Advanced Topics in Physics Honors (basically AP physics), AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, honors semester courses in language arts, French 4 Honors, and either AP Statistics or AP Euro or Ceramics depending on scheduling conflicts. I will also be continuing Science Bowl, Fed Challenge, orchestras and quartets, Envirothon, the French Contest, Biology Olympiad, and writing stories (going to submit something to the Scholastic Awards for Art and Writing); and I'm going to go back to doing Science Olympiad, as well as going to try Physics Olympiad and some math competitions for the first time (not expecting too much with those, though >_>). I won't play on the tennis team junior year.</p>

<p>I'm going to take the Literature, Physics, and Math II SAT Subject tests later in 2013 and so far I've been getting 750s or higher when practicing for all of them. I'm aiming for an 800 in Math II and like a 770 in Lit and Physics at the very least, but I'd love to get straight 800s.</p>

<p>If it's relevant, I got 7th place nationally in Water Quality for SO as a freshman at the middle school level; my team got 2nd place in the state for Envirothon; we were in the top 5 for Fed Challenge; I'm usually first violinist for all my orchestras and quartets; and we didn't do so great in Science Bowl.</p>

<p><strong>A couple things about my school that are probably important: my district is extremely competitive. The grading system does not give + or - grades in addition to the letter grade, so an 89.5 is just as much of an A as a 98. As a result, class rankings are NOT released to colleges, and in some cases people from my district can attend prestigious colleges with slightly lower GPAs than the average.</strong></p>

<p>SO NOW FOR ACTUAL COLLEGE TALK:</p>

<p>At the moment I'd really like to go to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and I want to become an engineer (well duh), though I'm not sure of specifics yet. The issue is that I got Bs in all my math and science courses last year and that doesn't look too good compared to As in things like language and history. Hopefully I can rectify that with my grades in junior year in addition to doing better in extracurriculars, but either way I'm worried about my chances at Olin.</p>

<p>I'm going to give Caltech, CMU and MIT a shot just because, but with minimal expectation of admission.</p>

<p>And some more info about myself and college preferences:
-I care most about the education I can get. I'm not that afraid of heavy courseloads because I've heard enough stories about friends with Bs at my school going to Case Western or UPenn and acing classes. So I think I'll be fine.
-Culture is next in line and almost on par with educational value in terms of importance because I'm not really the kind that thrives in places I hate. I'd like to go somewhere where the people are open-minded and genuinely friendly; nerdiness is no problem but I'd shy away from places that emphasize sports and partying.
-Location and safety are next; sorry, but I want to avoid the southern midwest. I'd rather not go to the west coast unless I don't have a choice because I abhor hot weather. It's also kind of far from home, so the northeast is preferred. I don't mind the cold, and whether the college is in a city or a suburb doesn't really matter to me. Also, the fact that I'm a small Chinese girl means safety of campus and surrounding areas if possible are fairly significant.
-Money and prestige follow. They're still important but more like bonuses.
-Beauty, size, dorm quality, etc. of the campus are also bonuses but just of a lot less importance than money and prestige. </p>

<p>MAIN QUESTIONS:
1) Opinions on Olin College of Engineering, Cooper Union, Georgia Tech, UMich, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, UWisconsin-Madison, and Rensselaer on whether they're good colleges and offer a good education, esp. in engineering?
2) Opinions on my chances of making Olin and if possible the other colleges listed above?
3) Any other possible good engineering colleges? Or even any good colleges in general that I might like.
4) Do prestige and reputation of a college have a lot of significance in the tech and engineering industry in general?
5) Optional question because it's sort of BS - my chances on making MIT?
6) Also optional, opinions on my attending Columbia or UChicago, both in terms of admission chances and how much I would gain?
7) Optional as well - Opinions on my attending a liberal arts college? (I have no idea about how those admissions work and very few people from my district apply to them, so you all have permission to make fun of me. :P) It's not like I'd die if I didn't become an engineer and I'm fairly flexible as well as curious. </p>

<p>Apologies for the gargantuan post, and thank you for helping out. I'll check back frequently so if there's anything else you need to know just ask.</p>

2

<p>le bump. [10 chars]</p>

3

<p>Use the Chances forum for chances type questions, if you want chances before your jr year grades. Don’t bump when you are still on the first page… annoying.</p>

<p>You are in luck, there are tons of good engineering colleges. Including the ones in question #1, but you already knew that, so why bother?</p>

<p>If you like Olin, you might like to look for other Engineering schools with liberal arts education components. I just know Harvey-Mudd in So Cal.</p>

<p>Many Liberal Arts schools have 3*2 programs with Engineering schools, if you don’t mind paying another year of college. Admissions works the same way as anywhere else for LAC’s.</p>

<p>Top employers do like schools with strong departments, and good reputations. Overall school prestige isn’t as important.</p>

4

<p>The thread was on the second page, but sorry all the same. Bumps are used far more frequently on another forum I’m on, and though my profile says I joined in July I only really started doing any posting today, so I’m kind of new to the etiquette here.</p>

<p>Thanks a ton for answering, though, and I’ll try the Chances forum.</p>

5

<p>Great stats!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Olin - way overrated, an experiment that in my opinion is a waste of talented students
Cooper Union - what Olin wishes it could be but isn’t. Really great school but very focused. </p>

<p>The rest are great engineering schools and with the exception of Michigan are all safeties now. Michigan you’re likely to get into but it’s not a safety because the practice holistic admissions.</p>

<p>My opinion is that you want to be looking at MIT, Stanford (worth west coast), Cornell, CalTech, Harvey Mudd (unique and worth looking at), Princeton, Northwestern , Carnegie Mellon, Penn, Columbia, Johns Hopkins. </p>

<p>I think Cornell, CMU, Northwestern and Johns Hopkins are match schools now!</p>

<p>You need math and a physical science SAT II, but I’m sure you’ll nail those too. </p>

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</p>

<p>You are competitive for any college. Don’t sell yourself short. </p>

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</p>

<p>see above</p>

<p>

I think they do. It certainly does to me. All of the schools mentioned in this thread with the exception of Olin have great reputations. </p>

<p>

Higher than you think. You are definitely competitive. Apply to the Women’s Technology Program (WTP) for this summer and you further increase your already decent chance. </p>

<p>

Columbia engineering is a whole different animal from Columbia college in terms of the core. </p>

<p>University of Chicago doesn’t have engineering but in my opinion is probably the most intellectual school in the nation. There really isn’t much else like it. </p>

<p>You are competitive for any school, so decide what you want and go for it. </p>

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</p>

<p>It’s a very different kind of school and with the exception of Harvey Mudd, it’s hard to have it both ways.</p>