ACT/SAT Scores: 36, 800 English 790 Math, no superscore
Coursework
AP Human Geography (5)
AP World History (5)
APUSH (5)
AP Chemistry (4)
AP Physics 1 (self studied and took C: Mech exam, 4)
AP Calc BC (5)
AP Lang (5)
5-6 more APs senior year
4 years of French
4 years of Band
Awards
Alternate for NaFME All-National Band
3 time All-State band
AP Scholar with Distinction
National Merit (1490 on PSAT, not sure where this lands me)
Lacking any STEM related awards, nervous about this.
Extracurriculars
LEO Club 2 Year member (COVID freshman year)
Math Club Member
NHS Member
Science Club Member
Music Club VP
Marching Band Section Leader (I play 2 instruments, one for marching and one for concert band)
Principal Chair at city’s Youth Symphony
Volunteer at one of the city’s Korean Schools, helped teach basic Korean to 1st-2nd graders
Soccer Referee (2018-Present)
Math Tutor (2021-2022, quit due to the curriculum being flawed and the work being menial.)
Summer Internship Program in my city (around a 5% acceptance rate, worked at 2 different startups not related to STEM)
Essays/LORs/Other
Common App: No clue. Will probably ask around for a second opinion, however around 7/10.
LORs
AP Calc BC: 8/10
AP Physics: 9/10 (Good bond)
AP Lang: 1/10 (will probably need to find my AP HUG teacher from freshman year for an English recommendation.)
Cost Constraints / Budget
20-25k (dad makes around 110k and mother is unemployed). Have ran NPCs with parents.
Schools
Have little to no clue what is even a reasonable goal. Thinking about ED to Northwestern/Cornell but have no idea if these are good targets or if they are simply out of my reach. Smaller, more intimate schools with better student to faculty ratios are on my list… Greek life and etc are not as important to me. Looking for reasonable matches and reaches.
Right now, nuclear engineering is only a backup if materials engineering turns out to be not the right fit for me. Also, the link is faulty, not sure why.
On abet.org , there are 62 US schools with materials engineering bachelor’s degree programs, and 22 with nuclear engineering bachelor’s degree programs.
There are no schools in Kansas that have either materials or nuclear engineering.
First step is to find a safety with assured admission and affordability. This may be difficult when your in-state publics do not have your desired majors, and neither do some of the forum favorites for large merit scholarships.
Nuclear engineering is a less common major than material engineering (neither is that common, however). For whatever reason, the ABET accreditation search only works if you go to the main abet.org web site and then follow the link to the accreditation search.
I think I will stick to my guns and stay with Materials Engineering, seems more interesting. If I do end up changing majors, I’ll be fine with not doing nuclear engineering.
Indeed it is. You can bypass that front page by googling “ABET search.” It’ll take you to the search page. Then click the programs button. Under filters choose BS for degree and USA for contry.
BTW, Alabama Birmingham has materials and has an automatic scholarship that would get your COA to $27K. It’s not guaranteed, but you’d be very competitive for full out of state tuition at Kentucky.
You might want to look at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. It is ABET accredited for Materials Science and Engineering, and it also has a highly respectable nuclear engineering program (ABET accredited as well); and the NSF recently announced an $18 million award to UTK for its new Center for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, or CAMM. See also here: Academic Departments - Tickle College of Engineering
How realistic are my chances to private universities like the one’s I listed above? I assume they are reaches for almost everyone, but I think a reality check about those kinds of schools would be helpful. My EC’s are obviously weighing the rest of my application down, but by how much?
I think you have a shot. I wouldn’t count on either, as they both get far more fully qualified applicants than they can accept. The bigger issue will be affordability. Neither awards aid based on merit, thus both will likely be well outside of your price range. They’re both roughly $90k/year.
Running through an NPC gives me around 20k for Cornell and 28k for Northwestern, both of which are within a reasonable price range. I’m thinking about ED for either one, but again, I don’t have a good idea of my chances. Of course, nobody knows for sure about anything, so thank you for the response.
You might also look at Purdue; my son graduated there last year with a degree in Materials Science Engineering, and he had a really good experience. Any merit money will be very competitive at Purdue, however, and may not get you into the $20-25K range; so you might have to pay the usual OOS rate of around $45K. But it could still be worth a look.
Running an NPC for Purdue gave me the OOS rate of 45k, and taking on 20k in debt with the chance of a scholarship seems risky, but I will take another look at the merit scholarships.
I agree you have a shot at the reach schools, just make sure you apply to schools that aren’t all reaches.
Run the NPCs, along with your parents, of all the schools on your list to get cost estimates. Here’s NU’s Net Price Calculator
Include some schools that will give you big merit and higher acceptance rates. It sounds like you will be a national merit semifinalist, so that opens the door to schools that will fit within your budget like U Alabama and UAH.
U Arizona and ASU may also be affordable. Maybe also Illinois Tech.
ETA: saw you just posted some NPC results. Make sure to increase COA by 4%-5% for 2024-25 for all schools (most aren’t updated yet)
NPCs may not be accurate if your parents are divorced, own a business, or own real estate beyond a primary home…are any of those the case for you?
That’s surprising given that the median award at both according to their CDS would get you nowhere near that.
I’d be careful about worrying too much about prestige at the expense of debt. Earnings will be similar from most schools and based far more on where you end up living than they will be on the school name.
I’m not certain, but I don’t believe any of those offer Materials.
You are right, I wasn’t limiting the search to bachelors degrees
UAB is on the list, and Auburn.
Ill Tech is correctly on the list, as are both Arizonas
ETA: OP will qualify for a full ride or close to it at some schools, so OP might consider expanding the considered majors. Schools offering big $ for NMF include Alabama, UT Dallas, New Mexico, U Mississippi, U Tulsa.