My First and Hopefully Last

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok, this is my first and hopefully last chance thread for me:</p>

<p>I go to one of the top schools in the country so no rank, GPA 3.5
They divide us based on GPA into 4 tiers and I'm tier 2
(800 650 690) = 2140 SAT (took only once without ANY practice; retaking October definitely 2250+ most likely around 2300)
math ii -800 physics - 750 chem-november+physics retake</p>

<p>ECs...strong math/science student
Math Team
Sunday School Teacher/Starter
Physics Team
Sci Olympiad
Cross Country
Aids Awareness
Model UN</p>

<p>Schools:
Cornell Engineering ED (LOVE IT, NEED TO GET IN!!!!!)
Olin (no chance i know but i can dream)
UMich Ann Arbor
Columbia FU
Drexel
USC
Harvey Mudd
Rutgers
TCNJ</p>

<p>I would most like to know my chances at cornell, fu, usc, and umich.</p>

<p>Will I get a lot of money if I apply to Penn State?</p>

2

<p>Hm, for the schools I'm familiar with...
Cornell - Reach. A good essay/hook could "tip" you into acceptance, if you know what I mean.
UMich - I would say match, but they have this funny obssession with GPA and they're rather unpredictable
Drexel - Safety
Rutgers and TCNJ - Major safties...but maybe I just have this impression because I live in NJ? Is that where you live?</p>

3

<p>yes, live in NJ
I'm mostly applying to those safeties to see which will give me most aid in case I don't get into Cornell</p>

<p>when you say Reach, is that Reachable Reach? lol or is it high reach?
I was thinking applying ED would help a lot.</p>

4

<p>how exactly do you know you go to "one of the top high schools in the country"?
are you basing this on newsweek's list? or pure opinion?
if you go to exeter or one of those schools i'd say you have fair shots at cornell and columbia
but with that gpa sorry...</p>

5

<p>sorry, i meant top math/science schools,
we have one of the best math teams in the US (based on AMC/AIME ARML Mandelbrot etc)
im (obviously) going into engineering so hopefully that will matter</p>

6

<p>Dont go to Drexel</p>

7

<p>Also, does the fact that I'm first generation (+low income) even matter?</p>

8

<p>Cornell Engineering ED - reach
Olin - reach
UMich Ann Arbor - match, might not get in (they "weight" unweighted GPA heavily)
Drexel - safety
USC - match
Harvey Mudd - match
Rutgers -safety
TCNJ -safety</p>

9

<p>GPA is a tad low for HMC.
Yet that SAT score up 50-100 pts like you have planned.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Cornell Engineering ED - reach
Harvey Mudd - match

[/quote]
</p>

<p>now that's just silly...</p>

11

<p>yeah, hmc is just as much of a reach as cornell ed, if not more.</p>

12

<p>I don't think UM is a match because he is OOS and they weigh GPA heavily, I'd give it more of a slight reach...USC I'd say slight reach/match. Cornell + Columbia reaches for sure</p>

13

<p>Bump</p>

<p>Sat scores are in...
2300 Just as I predicted</p>

<p>Does this make any difference whatsoever?
O yea, and im not applying to Harvey Mudd or Drexel</p>

<p>I really like Cornell, but if I can go to USC, then I would like Merit Money...</p>

14

<p>"O yea, and im not applying to Harvey Mudd or Drexel"
don't like small schools?</p>

15

<p>No, its just cuz I dont like them upon further examination</p>

<p>I mean I absolutely love Olin and thats very small</p>

16

<p>Why do you think you have no chance at Olin? Is it because of your GPA? Your SAT is strong and you seem to have some good ECs including sports, church, and model UN (Olin likes that well-roundedness). I'd say its a reach but I hope you still apply because Olin has a history of taking the person if they're a really good fit even if not all the score's are perfect...</p>