Hello!
I am a junior in high school right now and am looking to major in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering (Engineering for sure) with maybe a minor in Economics or Finance. I have a working list of colleges I am applying to this fall but I think too many of these colleges are what are considered “reach” colleges.
This is my list:
UT Austin (this is auto admit for me – I am in top 10% and am not sure as of now if I am in 7% as of last semester)
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UPenn
UC Berkeley (Austin has a good engineering school but I am still considering this school --not sure)
Cal Tech
Carnegie Mellon
Texas A&M College Station (I guess a safety auto admission? Has a decent engineering program-- safety I think)
Rice (Maybe not a reach?)
Stanford
MIT
Harvard
Georgia Tech (Good engineering school – I dont know if this is a safety)
Duke
Northwestern (I visited this school and really liked the campus and their engineering program with a built in interning schedule, but weighing against UT’s cost and UT’s engineering program)
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Duke, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Rice, Carnegie, Cal Tech, UPenn, Northwestern-- Would all of these be considered reach schools? (Based on their common data sets and what information Parchment has given as well as some other sources, my SAT and GPA are well within their ranges [2200+ & 3.8 UW and 4.0+ W] but I am trying to inch my score up a little more anyway.)
I also wanted to see input on if my list of schools is just a dream and if so what are some more good engineering schools that I may be overlooking (I would prefer non state unless noteworthy because of UT Austin).
Don’t you have to be top 7 or 8 % to be auto admit for Texas? It sounds like you don’t know if you are. When would you find out?
Sounds like TAMU may be a safety if your family can afford it.
GT is NOT a safety for you.
Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay each year? Will they pay $53k per year for Berkeley? if not, take it off your list. Will they pay $47k per year for GT? If not, take it off your list.
Have your parents run the NPCs on Rice’s, Northwestern’s, and CMU’s websites.
UT Austin would be auto-admit for the top 7% or 8% or whatever they announce. However, this does not necessarily assure you admission into your desired major.
What kind of cost constraints do you have? Have you run the net price calculator at each school?
Do you definitely want to go to a big school? Olin and Harvey Mudd are both absolutely top-notch for engineering. I’d put them up there with the Cal-Techs and the MITs of the world. Olin also abuts and has a cross-enrollment agreement with Babson College, which has an excellent undergrad business program. Plus, every kid who gets into Olin gets a half-tuition merit scholarship, which makes it an excellent value, particularly if you’re a full-pay or near-full-pay applicant.
I agree that all your reach schools are in fact reach schools, in that nobody is guaranteed admission to any of them, regardless of grades, ECs and test scores - but you do have a chance at all of them, based on your self-reported stats.
As others have pointed out there are a lot of engineering schools that are easier to get into - a couple of my recs are Iowa State, where you qualify for dollars and U of Minn, which you should visit now, in case you don’t have access and/or ability to stay in a local meat locker for a couple of days. Good Luck!
@mom2collegekids@ucbalumnus Sorry, currently as a junior I am in the top 7% but the rankings as of the end of last semester (1st semester of my junior year) have not been given out yet. Also I do not believe the percent 7-8% has been confirmed. With that I think auto admission is confirmed I also understand that my major is not guaranteed with auto admission for UT but I believe with my other stats I can make a strong applicant.
Also in terms of cost and payment, it is not necessarily an issue but more of a value concern. For example, UT will have a significantly lower total cost than UC Berkeley or Northwestern and they are both top engineering schools.
@rayrick Yes, I have heard of those colleges but they both seem like they would be additional reach schools, I could definitely swap them with Duke and Harvard but I still feel my list is lopsided.
@LakeWashington I was under the impression that Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering was a good engineering school and it offers EE and CE. I had removed Harvard on a different excel sheet and that was a discrepancy, my mistake.
True, Olin and Harvey Mudd are both “reach for everyone” schools. RPI, WPI and Rose-Hulman are all fine engineering schools that would be safeties for someone with your stats.
If you get into UT Austin in your major, and you are fine with a big school, it seems like a poor value proposition to attend any other big school that is significantly more expensive.
Consider social aspects of these colleges as well. Carnegie Mellon? Georgia Tech would be my preference.
Focus on a school you can afford in a place that you will be happy. Prestige is not a big deal among engineers. However, football is a major conversation item when I work with large groups of engineers from diverse backgrounds. So chose a good football team .... and I am not joking! My college did not have a team and I felt left out.
Texas has a diverse economy and good state universites. Why leave?
@ucbalumnus Yes, that is the predicament, I visited UT and I could probably get used to it however it would not be among my top picks. I don’t like bigger schools.
@Burgermeister Yes, I have yet to visit many on this list but Northwestern is my top choice for now over UT.
If you can, you might want to visit a small engineering school like Rose-Hulman, for comparison. Much different vibe than UT, and you might love it or hate it. No one can tell that but you!
You will have zero problems with job placement if you perform well at ANY of these schools, including UT. So where are you going to fit in, what makes sense economically, and where will you have the best chance of excelling?
You have a reach-heavy list and note that UT-Austin is not even guaranteed (is it top 7% or 8%? and you are in the borderline, it seems…) Please listen to the other posts here and include some more possibilities - in-state schools like Texas A&M , TTU and others. OOS like UMN, Purdue, Indiana, Univ of Missouri etc. Case Western is also a possibility. Every year, kids I know have a list like HYPMS, Duke , Vandy and Rutgers - and guess where they end up.
If you’re looking for some safeties, there are a number of small private schools in the Midwest that offer engineering and would be very generous to a student with your stats. They’re not schools that get a lot of mention, but a school like Valpariaso has a strong engineering program and great merit aid. Several of them also have no application fee.
Pratt does have higher test scores but it also has a higher acceptance rate.
Also, Pratt is the most improved engineering school in the country (according to US News). Definitely worth considering. The faculty is absolutely stellar.
@mathprof63 UT Austin is auto admission to the school but not program of my choice, I understand that. The specified percentage has not yet been released for my class I believe but I am using 7% as a standard for now so I will be fine if it is 7 or 8%. I already have A&M CS as a safety for in-state and I am adding USC and Purdue as OOS (these I believe I will have a much better chance but am not sure if I can label them as safety) Thanks for the tips
I second WPI/RPI/Rose Hulman and would add Northeastern and BU - both match schools who also have great business programs. I would personally take NEU/BU over the former ones for a variety of reasons, but all would be great additions to your list possibly, depending on what you’re looking for.
Note that Purdue admits to a first year engineering program. Students must earn a 3.2 GPA in order to get automatic admission to the engineering major of their choice (other than biomedical); those with lower GPAs may be admitted if there is space available.