@DadOfJerseyGirl and @Darcy123, I agree wholeheartedly. I just don’t yet have a good handle on where the OP’s family stands. It’s hard to recommend schools without a little better understanding of the situation.
Merit base aid is nice to have. But the family will pay full if there is no merit base scholarship. School is more important than whether there is scholarship. Thanks to @DadOfJerseyGirl and @Darcy123 who understood me correctly.
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Thanks for the template. Since I cannot edit my current original post, I will create a new post with tag “Chance Me”.
You can if you’d like, or continue here.
If you’re interested in mechatronics (robotics is a subset) you’ll want to look at programs that offer plenty of opportunity to apply theory in a tangible way. Can students not design PCBs, but can they stuff them themselves? Can they program microcontrollers not only in higher level languages, but do they get experience with machine language? Etc. Etc.
One of the ways to figure this out is to look at senior projects. Some, even at big name schools are far less impressive than one would hope.
WPI is well known for applying knowledge, and even has an ABET accredited robotics program. You’d get merit there.
Do you have a region you’d like to be in? How seriously do you want to pursue music? What type of music?
To me your ECs look quite good. If you Google “Applying sideways, MIT” and read the blog that it takes you to, it recommends that you participate in the ECs that make sense for you, and whatever you do, do it very well. To me this looks like exactly what you have done.
Also, your stats are excellent.
Putting this together I think that you are competitive at any university. For the top schools (MIT, Stanford level) something like 80% or 85% of applicants are competitive. Far fewer are accepted (closer to 4%). MIT and Stanford, and some other highly ranked schools, have no merit aid at all. MIT only has need based aid. Stanford has need based aid and athletic scholarships (which I am assuming you do not qualify for). This means that either would be full pay. If your parents are able and willing to pay somewhere over $80,000 per year, then these top schools might be worth an application.
However, you can do very well with a degree in ME or EE from any ABET accredited university. You do not need to attend a famous or top ranked university to have a very good career.
I would suggest that as a NY resident you look at the various SUNY’s. Unfortunately I do not know them. Others have suggested RPI and WPI and Rochester. I have heard good things about all three of these schools, but am not familiar with them. Merit aid is possible at these schools, and also at U.Mass Amherst (which while in Massachusetts, is not all that far from some parts of NY state).
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OP has clarified their financial situation in prior posts…
That doesn’t mean an $80k school is the best school.
My son has been lucky to be on two elite teams. There’s no rhyme or reason as to where his coworkers at either company did their undergrad.
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I didn’t say it was. And I work in tech - a non-prestige industry, so I’m well aware.
I was just highlighting OP’s statements about their budget.
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I agree with you 100%, and for all the reasons you mentioned.
I also have come to realize that some families place a personal importance on attending a certain name college and are willing to pay (cash and/or borrow) to attend should they be accepted.
It is what it is.
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Was that FRC? FTC? Vex? If you reach out to the robotics community, you’ll likely find information regarding where the team members go to school and their stats. MIT loves FIRST alumni.
If this tour was NYO last summer, you may want to ask where the class of 2022 and 2023 members are attending college. They would have similar stats to yours. Otherwise, did you make friends at all-state? where are the class of 2023 kids going to school now?
would you consider UT Dallas as safety? their offer to NMF is very good. Their student body consists of many musicians as well as chess players.
It was American Music Abroad tour to Europe this past summer.
It was FIRST International Competition at Dallas, TX.
Thanks for all the information. My school has CNC. I am the one who program and operate the CNC. We design and make parts for our robots.
About the region options, I am open but prefer east coast more.
I love music. I play piano and clarinet, classic music. I like to listen to Jazz sometimes. I prefer a college that has an orchestra that I can join. But music is not my future career. It is just part of my life that I enjoy.
Sorry my weighted GPA was not calculated correctly. It is 4.5, not 4.28.
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Look at Case. They have a great maker space. You can play in the orchestra. If you’re really serious, and have the time, you can take private lessons with CIM faculty.
Demographics
- US citizen
- State/Location of residency: NY
- Type of high school (current college for transfers): A private high school
- Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Asian Male
- Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
Intended Major(s)
Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, etc. but not bioengineering.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
- Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.5
- College GPA (for transfers): 5
- Class Rank: do not know
- ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 1560
Coursework
4 Honor Classes: all 5s
6 AP classes: four 5s and two 4s
College-Level Multivariable Calculus: A+
Taking College-Level Linear Algebra my senior year now
Intended major: EE or ME or CE
Awards
Head of School Honor Roll / Cum Laude
3rd place American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition 2020
Extracurriculars
FIRST International Competition 2022
Summer research at Brookhaven National Laboratory 2023
American Music Abroad tour to Europe 2023
Playing in a band at a local park to public free of charge every Friday, summers 2022 and 2023
Teaching assistant (volunteer) in a non-profit organization to help students who is taking AP foreign language exam since 2020.
Working in a tennis club 2021
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays
Cost Constraints / Budget
My family will pay full.
Schools
Need help to decide how competitive I am and what schools I may apply.
Thank you very much for your comments and information. To me, scholarship is a nice-to-have, not a must. So my application is not restricted with scholarship availability.
I know that application to some tech schools, like MIT and Stanford, are very competitive. I am not sure how much chance to me for such schools.
What should be a strategy for ED and EA? What are advantages to do EA comparing to RA?
EA has the following advantages:
- An EA admission that is affordable is now a safety, which may allow not having to apply to other schools that you would not under any circumstances choose over that school.
- Some schools fill most of their class or their popular majors in EA, so non-EA admission is much more selective. University of Maryland, College Park is known for this – apply EA or don’t bother.
For colleges with rolling admission, applying early is advantageous for the same reasons.
ED with a binding commitment is only appropriate if the college is a clear top choice for you, and you have no regrets about committing to it without seeing other schools’ admission, financial aid, and scholarship results.
Some colleges’ EA want you to agree not to apply to some other colleges’ early admission programs (usually no ED, sometimes no EA to some types of other schools). This may be called restrictive EA or REA.
As a practical matter, people outside of your high school are unlikely to know what your weighted GPA really means. Your 4.0 unweighted GPA is more helpful to others.
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