Love for Math & Science (Engineering); Where to Apply?

<p>I have read so many slightly conflicting ideas and pieces of advice I really have no idea where to apply and what to consider as safety and match colleges. I'm a female and I'm interested in studying engineering (biomedical or chemical)
Here's a quick rundown of some stats:
SATs:
Critical Reading: 710
Math: 770
Writing: 730
(Going to retake in the fall)</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
Math II: 700 (yuck - going to retake this as well)
US History: 710
Chem: 800</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW </p>

<p>AP Classes taken thus far: AP Euro, AP US, AP Calc AB, AP Chem - took AP Lang exam this year, too; results yet to come in the mail
AP Classes for next year (senior year): AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Psych</p>

<p>Special EC's/Activities with possible importance:
Summer volunteering at local barn
Piano for 10 years
VA Governor's School for Agriculture
UVA Jefferson Book Club Award (no direct relation to UVA themselves)
School Academic Awards in Maths, Sciences</p>

<p>Schools I'm pretty sure I'll apply to:
Virginia Tech
UVA
U of Mich - Ann Arbor
MIT (yeah... I really don't think I have much of a chance for this one)</p>

<p>I'm also looking into schools like CMU or JHU (doubt I'd get into Biomed Eng there, though!) or Case Western or Northwestern...</p>

<p>Any predictions for admission chances for the listed ones?
Any suggestions for match/safety schools?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your time!</p>

<p>Definitely check out northwestern, cmu, and casewestern(I'd be surprised if you didn't get into case, probably get merit money too since they give a good amount). </p>

<p>Also I suggest checking out Cornell, you would have a pretty good shot.</p>

<p>For some more matches and safeties you could look into georgia tech, university of maryland college park, rpi, wpi, northeastern, boston university. I'd be surprised if you didn't get into all of these, but you never know. </p>

<p>Also if you can I would recommend applying early action to a few schools you are pretty sure you would get into so you can have some yeses by September to relieve some of the stress, or if you are super unlucky, you would still have time to add in a few more schools.</p>

<p>You'll get into Virginia Tech. Make sure to visit campus.</p>

<p>Look into Harvey Mudd College. Your SATt scores and GPA look like if you get admitted you will get 10k$ per year scholarship, though 1/3 or so of the students have this (maybe more). We also are more relaxed towards females in admissions standards so you would have a good chance of admission. Most of our students have 800 IIC, so get that up. Oh and if you havent really heard of us; its because you are from the East Coast. Try visiting and you might just be amazed ^^.</p>

<p>Other schools to look at: UIUC and ill second Prism's list as well. </p>

<p>Regarding your initial list, I would say all of the schools on your list except for MIT are a match or lower; Vtech is a safety. As for MIT, your chances arent great but you actually do make about their median SAT or so, and they too have a tendency of wanting more females, so do not give up hope. Getting that IIC up might help here as well.</p>

<p>I'd say Cornell and Rice. They're pretty science-y.</p>

<p>If you want to study BME, be aware that you can't just have BME as a stand-alone major. It'd be a 5-yr program since you have to finish it with another engineering major of your choice.</p>

<p>I am biased but I definitely recommend Northwestern; it's solid in both (esp. BME). The introductory (freshmen/sophomore) curriculum puts unique emphasis on design with client-based projects; it is similar to Olin and unlike most others that haven't really been changed for the last few decades.</p>

<p>Cornell is not as strong in biomed engineering as it is in other engineering fields but that could be changing due to a large investment in biomedical sciences. It is very strong in sciences and engineering other than biomed.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help! I'll have to look more into Harvey Mudd since I don't know a lot about it.</p>

<p>I'm definitely hoping to get that Math II score up. And hopefully, next time I take the SAT I, I might hit 800 on my math section (I was one question away from getting a perfect score on math the first time).</p>

<p>I'm actually on VT campus right now (for Gov's School) - so that works out well!</p>

<p>Sam Lee - good point - is there a difference (although I think CB would have you believe there is not) between Biochemical Eng and BME? Some of the colleges I've looked into are kind of vague about BME and some of their engineering majors.</p>

<p>I have Northeastern on my potential list and I'll probably end up adding either RPI or WPI. Thanks for your suggestions!</p>

<p>Lastly: anything big that I'm missing? Is there something I can do to get a bit more competitive? (besides retaking SAT I & IIs)</p>

<p>I heard that Johns Hopkins is good for BME, but it's competitive.</p>

<p>ditto,</p>

<p>oops...my comment about BME being a 5-yr program applies to CMU. don't know what the heck i was typing!!!</p>

<p>i am not sure what biochemical engineering is but my guess is it's probably mainly chemical engineering + few courses in biochemisry/biotech/biochemical engineering. At Northwestern, there's a biotech/biochem engg certificate you can add to an engineering major of your choice. Certificate</a> in Biotechnology & Biochemical Engineering - Chemical & Biological Engineering - Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL</p>

<p>engineering is a touch major; stats show that with a few exceptions between 1/2 and 2/3rds of those entering college as engineers switch out before graduating (see for example [url=<a href="http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041%5DEETimes.com%5B/url"&gt;http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041]EETimes.com[/url&lt;/a&gt;] ) I think its a combination of the crushing workload and a realization the job isn't what they thought it would be (while aptitude/enjoyment of science and math are important to get thru college, the actual career use of them is quite different).</p>

<p>I'm not saying this to imply YOU won't make it; I'm saying it so that you spend some time looking before you leap. Since its only July and apps aren't due until the fall you have time to read more about engineering careers, meet with some real-world engineers to find out if the career is right for you, etc (the book "What Color is My Parachute" is great on how to go about this).</p>

<p>definitely add cornell,
it's the only ivy to be ranked within top 10 for engineering.</p>

<p>although biomed specific, JHU is pretty prestigious. but you already know that.</p>

<p>ditto: Biomedical engineering tends to involve designing prosethetics and other devices for use with the human body. It's a combination of mechanical engineering with physiology or anatomy. Biochemical engineering is a different subject - a subset of chemical engineering that includes biological or biochemical technology such as fermentation processes.</p>

<p>Which are you looking into?</p>

<p>Thanks for all the advice and help!</p>

<p>I'm actually starting to look a little into the 3-2 programs, although I don't really know enough about them yet. I know that I want to go into engineering because a.) I'm really interested in the creative, applicable side of science and math and b.) if nothing else, I know it's a strong undergrad - thus, if I survive it, I'll know a little more of what I want to do in life.</p>

<p>dadofsam: I'm not sure what in which component of engineering I would do best/be happiest, so at this point, I can honestly say that I have interest in both biomedical and biochemical eng. My biggest problem is that everything sounds fascinating to me. At first, I was leaning towards BME simply because I'm really interested in disease. Of course then I realized that BME doesn't really relate as much to dealing with diseases as it is more of a mechanical engineering-based major.<br>
The other thing I have to consider is that I'm really interested in chemical engineering because it has so many avenues. While I can't see myself working for a drug company (at least, not for a long time), I can see getting a chemical eng BS and applying it to some more environmental uses regarding chemicals.<br>
So, I guess I would be leaning more towards biochemical eng rather than BME at this point.</p>

<p>Contrary to what Sam Lee said, BME is not a five year program at CMU. All of my friends that decided to do a BME double major along with materials science or ECE were able to finish in four years (so that's about seven or eight people I know of).</p>

<p>Have you thought of looking into Green Chemistry programs? I know CMU has been working on building one of them, and it's focused on finding more efficient and less environmentally-harmful ways of producing various chemicals.</p>