<p>you should modify your list.</p>
<p>your whole resume is really good, but do you really need to apply to both MIT and Penn? People with better SATs and the same stats as you apply there…and probably get rejected. </p>
<p>i second Bucknell and Lafayette…and maybe Lehigh and Penn State?</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the QUICK responses (sweet jesus). I will definitely look into Bucknell, Lafayette, and Clarkson. Understand that I am quite dumb when it comes to looking at ALL the colleges. Being an Asian, I was somewhat cultured to think “Harvard or Die” every second of my life. Would you guys mind creating a pool of colleges with me so that I can have a foundation to build the final list? Thanks again for the continuing support and kind words.</p>
<p>factors (most important to least important)
• fun social life (i.e. city life)
• respected program(s)
• prestige</p>
<p>too much? safeties (4), low match (4), high match (4), low reach (4), high reach (4), omg uber (4 reasonable)</p>
<p>PS: If I already gave my recommendation letters with a list of colleges for my teachers to use, can I still add/remove colleges or will my teachers be mad at my uncertainty?</p>
<p>EDIT: viva la dana: thanks for the encouraging comment. I gave up on MIT, but my dream college has been UPENN (worth a try).</p>
<p>yeah I think your ECs and everyting else are amazing. Well you’d definitely stick out if you went to my high school haha.</p>
<p>But UPenn is better out of the two in my opinion. MIT makes me shudder. So good choice =) WELL if you want like city environments than i guess bucknell and lafayette aren’t that much for you haha since they’re located in Pennsylvania suburbs I think.</p>
<p>I am with you on MIT. It makes me cry as well. Anyways, the colleges do not strictly need to abide by those 3 factors or in that order as well. I’m sure some colleges in the suburbs are fun in their own way. I just need to have something to do so I can relax and enjoy life. </p>
<p>If it wasn’t for the society’s norm to base one’s life on education, I would take the job that requires reading Dr. Seuss books to unfortunate kids in a heart beat. Hell, I would enjoy hugging everyone that didn’t deserve a crappy life. But, I have to go to a college so I need something fun to speed things up to reach my goal in life (helping others?)</p>
<p>I am in a similar position but I cant even give APs! </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>You may be the type of person who does better on the ACT, but there probably is not enough time left to try. Well, you are still a good candidate. BME is the most competitive at many schools, so it may be better to apply as CHEM. Worchester Polytechnic is another good school that gives great aid. It would be a safety for you. I am worried about your financial aid. You can probably get into places like U Wisc-Madison and UT-Austin, but they probably spend most of their aid on in-state applicants. Of course, Georgia Tech is a great school and you should be getting free tuition there. Look at Wake Forest and Vanderbilt. I still think that you have a chance at name schools like Carnegie Mellon, JHU, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Rice, and Northwestern. But since you need aid and need to apply to a lot of places, maybe you should switch from MIT and Penn to schools where you have a better chance. Cornell would be better than those two. Lehigh and RPI are good choices that I would call a low match to match. If you want to go that far away, look at USC. That is a name school and you will get in. They also give money.</p>
<p>GA Tech is relatively cheap even without any aid.</p>
<p>“I feel like my chances are over at most of these schools, but I can only blame myself”…It’s a standardized test. Some of the dumbest people I know in school did really on the SAT. All of your other stuff is great. Take a look at Penn State (Schreyers Honors College), Bucknell, and Lehigh. They all have great engineering programs.</p>
<p>The engineering education you can get at the “lesser” Big 10 schools is excellent: Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State.</p>
<p>Also, the Southern technically oriented schools are a great mixture of social life and academics: Auburn, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Texas A & M, North Carolina State.</p>
<p>The military is not for everybody, but if you’re not a whiney diva and can take direction without resenting authority, it can be great. I did 10 years as a Navy officer, and most of the best memories of my life occurred during that decade.</p>
<p>As much as I may sound romantic and dumb, I cannot express how much CC and the responses here have helped me not only with college informations but with a wiser outlook on life beyond academics.</p>
<p>I think I will not be applying to MIT (UPENN, just for “what the hell” reason). Here is the pool of colleges I may select to apply:</p>
<p>•University of Pennslyvania
•Georgia Institute of Technology
•Wake Forest University
•Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
•Johns Hopkins University
•Carnegie Mellon University
•Northwestern University
•Rice University
•Cornell University
•Case Western Reserve University
•University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
•University of Texas at Austin
•University of Wisconsin at Madison
•Texas A&M University
•Bucknell University
•Purdue University
•University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
•University of Washington at St. Louis</p>
<p>This is the list that I made after researching student life and the overall school environment. Please feel free and oliged to comment and modify the list below. Thanks again guys (gals)</p>
<p>•University of Pennslyvania
•Georgia Institute of Technology
•Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
•Johns Hopkins University
•Carnegie Mellon University
•Cornell University
•Case Western Reserve University
•University of Texas at Austin
•University of Washington at St. Louis</p>
<p>assuming I want to major in biomedical/chemical engineering, which colleges offer:</p>
<p>•professors who truly care about their students
•a diverse body of students
•city-like feel for students to enjoy
•overall nice atmosphere in the campus</p>
<p>PS: does a recommendation letter from an alumni weigh rather heavier than other types of recommendation letters? Hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving Day (with a lot of turkey) and thank you once again guys (gals).</p>
<p>To the OP: Join the military if you want. Just know that the “part-time” aspect may turn out to be full time if your unit gets activated. You don’t have to believe in the current wars or administration – just make sure you’re there for the guys (and girls) in uniform next to you.</p>
<p>
Ma’am, I don’t know what kind of world you live in but as far as I know, a war in which all operations are conducted 100% flawlessly is impossible. I’m assuming that you are referring to the war in Iraq with your above remark – is that based on your personal experience in-country? Or perhaps it stems from your political leanings combined with what you read on a daily basis in the NYT?
That innocent civilians are mistakenly killed is surely tragic. US Servicemen and women aren’t perfect but they sure as heck are trying. It’s insulting that people like you categorically portray today’s military as an unwieldy, robotic, and unfeeling tool that is incapable of anything but harming civilians. Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Calicartel,</p>
<p>I see nothing in Northstarmom’s post that indicates that she “categorically portray[s] today’s military an unwieldy, robotic, and unfeeling tool that is incapable of anything but harming civilians.” She asked the OP how he would feel about “doing things that result in people’s deaths including those of innocent civilians?” That strikes me as a reasonable question for a young man who is considering a career in the military to ask himself before embarking on that path in life. </p>
<p>I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq. So was my father-in-law, a career Marine who fought in Korea and Vietnam. But as he said to me, “*f you’re a Marine, once your country’s civilian leaders have decided to go to war, you go to war.” And going to war means killing people. </p>
<p>As you have observed, “a war in which all operations are conducted 100% flawlessly is impossible.” That means our nation’s warriors have to be psychologically prepared to deal with the prospect of killing non-combatants. Northstarmom, a psychologist who has served in the military, has had to deal with the psychological fallout.</p>
<p>Have you, Calicartel? </p>
<p>And what kind of an on-line moniker is that, anyway? Why have you chosen to associate yourself with a murderous band of narcoterrorists? Is that amusing to you? It isn’t to me.</p>
<p>I understand where you guys are coming from - Northstarmom, Greybeard, and calicartel. I am betting that calicartel served in the military extensively, and so I feel that he has built an opinion about the war and the importances about war. Maybe what Northstarmom said might have offended the very ideas that calicartel cherished, supported, esteemed. It’s like when a poor mother has a smart son, she will want him to make money. From some person’s point of view, making money is not ALL that. But to the mother, it is because of where she came from and of her situation. There is nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>However, there is a certain boundary where one can criticize the offender because these forums cannot express nothing more than words. What she wrote does not determine her entire opinion about war. There are many facets in all opinions. Northstarmom probably dealt with psychological fallouts, and thus, she has a different approach to war. In the end, no one is right or wrong. Just respect the opinions of others and grow from it.</p>
<p>calicartel: How likely is it for a unit to become active for duty? The recruiters I’ve been talking to have said that it is very rare for me to be sent to Iraq, but then again, those recruiters would do anything to get people to join. </p>
<p>/bump 10 char and happy thanksgivings (turkey was amazing)</p>
<p>U Rochester for Biomed Eng</p>
<p>SeaHwang,
I don’t think that calicartel or a military recruiter are the best person to find out the likelihood of getting sent to Iraq if one is military.</p>
<p>In cali’s case, we don’t know his background. I for one doubt that a career military person would choose a CC name based on a group of drug-dealing thugs.</p>
<p>In recruiters’ cases: They face a lot of pressure to try to attract people to the military when there’s an unpopular war going on and there’s no draft. Consequently, I think that they likely to give you the most optimistic viewpoint possible.</p>
<p>One of my friends, a college prof, sadly talks about how one of her star students --first gen college, engineering major, low income, entered the National Guard to help pay for college, and was called to duty in Iraq during his soph year in college. He was sent to Iraq.</p>
<p>After he finished that tour, after being briefly back home and in school, he was called back to Iraq.</p>
<p>Even if this isn’t likely to happen to you, you probably will have a fulltime commitment to the military after you finish college if you go through college on the military’s dime. I would imagine that depending on what branch of the service you joined, the odds would be good of your having to spend some time in a war zone. Given the quagmire we’re in in the Middle East, I doubt that the wars will be over by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>I suggest that you talk to some people who are in the military and are not recruiters and get their take on the odds of your having to go to war.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Over five years of service as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, I completed two combat tours in Iraq’s Al Anbar province.
While I don’t presume to know all there is to know about war, Iraq, or even Al Anbar, I’m fairly confident that my personal experiences enable me to be at least a credible voice on the issue of what is happening there – which is much more than many whom enjoy pontificating for or against the war can claim.</p>
<p>
That is a reasonable question, sure. But it is an incomplete question. In focusing only on death (with a special nod towards noncombatant death), it appears as if Northstarmom is brazenly neglecting to mention – or even intentionally omitting the rest of what the military does today to include humanitarian, peacekeeping, security, etc. missions. Why not “doing things that make a positive impact on tsunami survivors” or “doing things that facilitate the survivability of ethnic/religious minorities in the face of genocide”? It’s the one-sided portrayal of the military that I objected to.</p>
<p>Your father in law is right. War does mean killing. But even more than the killing of others, war means sacrificing yourself. Even though you may leave the battlefield in one piece, your eyes will be opened and perspectives transformed. You yourself will be changed – your innocence will forever be lost.<br>
Questions asked to military applicants shouldn’t be some couched by some half-truth stemming from one’s political leanings or opposition/support for the war. That’s irresponsible and shameful. Ask the hard questions but ensure the full picture is painted.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think you answered your own question. Your likelihood will be based in part on what your MOS is and which reserve unit you are assigned to. If you become an 0311 (infantryman) and with a unit that has not yet been called up for OIF, chances are pretty good you will go to the sandbox.
Look, if your primary intention is to get money for school, join the Army, AF, or Navy. They offer more money for college and especially in the latter two, you will be less likely to be exposed to combat operations. CENTCOM tours for those services are more support roles in places like Qatar, Kuwait, or on ship somewhere.</p>
<p>No, I hate crap like that. I am not the one that goes to military just for the money. If I am called to Iraq so be it, but joining the military for money is just ■■■■■■■■.</p>
<p>Rice seems like a perfect fit for what you want. Your SATs are on the low side for Rice, but it’s worth a shot. Good bioengineering.</p>
<p>You seem like a good fit stats-wise for GaTech, VaTech and Bucknell. I think you would like Bucknell except for the rural location. Population very into athletics.</p>
<p>Purdue is a good match/safety. I know two kids who go there from California and they love it.</p>
<p>JHU has good bioengineering, I think, and seems like a slight reach as opposed to some of the schools like UPenn and WashU which would be big reaches.</p>
<p>UT-Austin, I don’t know… hard for out-of-state?</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the rest.</p>