<p>Here is my list of prospective colleges
Realistic Colleges
Uc Santa Barbara
Carnegie Mellon
UC-Berkeley
Rice</p>
<p>Unrealistic
Cornell
Harvey Mudd
Cooper Union (NYC Free Tuition)
Duke
Columbia
Stanford
Cal-Tech
MIT
Yale
Princeton
Harvard</p>
<p>I am thinking about applying to all of these schools.
(I don't think I will get into the bottom schools, but my mom wants me to apply to all of them to see if I can get in to any of them.)
I am a Texas high school senior at a large public school. I am as of now 31 in a class of 617. I have taken the SAT once so far and got a 2180 (670 reading, 760 math, 750 reading) and the ACT once and got a 32 (34 math/english, 32 reading, 27 science). My GPA is almost a 4.0 but I got an 86 in advanced spanish 3 last year. I don't have many ec's but I had a job between July 2010 and May 2011 at the local grocery store working 20-25 hours a week. I am a 3 year member of the Young Republicans. I reached the regional level in current issues last year. I volunteered at the local children's home once. I helped renovate the schools trees one weekend. I played JV basketball. I have taken 4 AP tests so far (5 on Psych, USHIST and Eng.Lang., 4 on World History) My senior schedule is Calc.BC, Stat, Bio (or Physics B), Physics C, Chemistry, Gov/Macroeconomics, English Lit. All of which are APs. Assuming that my essays and recommendations are good, what are my chances looking like at getting into any of the upper or lower schools? Is my assessment of matches and high reaches accurate?</p>
<p>Note: I am applying for engineering ( most likely chemical or engineering)</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you have a shot at some of the ones youre calling “unrealistic”. Go ahead and apply - it wont hurt you.</p>
<p>Really? Well I suppose I might… Since I’m trying to narrow down the list a little, which schools do you think are completely out of the realm of possibility</p>
<p>If you are planning to study engineering, why aren’t UT, TAMU, TT, etc. on your list?</p>
<p>Of the five Ivy league schools on your “unrealistic” list, Cornell is the strongest in Engineering and is an ED school to boot which may give you an admissions boost. Look at former results threads to better assess your chances but HYPSM is going to be a struggle. I agree with cltdad that this list is “prestige heavy” without much consideration of other often stronger engineering programs.</p>
<p>You need some safeties, and you need to make sure at least one of your safeties is a place you can afford. Another poster has suggested some Texas publics. If you want to escape Texas, look at Case Western Reserve, which has very good merit aid and very strong engineering. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>Well I didn’t include UT and TAMU on my list because they are sure things… In fact I will probably just end up at UT anyways, but I want to see what else is out there… The prestige-heaviness is because my mom really wants me to try for the big-names… I really want to try Cornell ED, but would that make me a competitive applicant?</p>
<p>I agree that Cornell is a reasonable shot, not really “unrealistic.” The other “unrealistic” schools really do seem to be true long shots. Along with Cornell, UC-Berkeley, Rice and Carnegie-Mellon also offer realistic chances. I would say that all four of these are slight reaches. You need a few good matches.</p>
<p>By the way, if you’re interested in engineering, why even bother with Duke, Yale, Harvard and Columbia? You can find better programs at schools that are matches, which would give you some solid choices.</p>
<p>Duke is excellent for biomedical engineering.</p>