RockyPA
February 21, 2020, 3:10pm
37
monydad:
I rarely give chances opinions, and what do I know, but as a fellow alum I think your D would be golden in ED for Cornell, assuming appropriate essays etc. But #33 is right for RD they may assume she doesn’t really want to go there. Which I guess from what you said is basically true. In which case she might want to “lie” intelligently on her essays.
But maybe she shouldn’t apply then.
None of my kids wanted to apply there, and they didn’t. But later one of them changed her mind and actually attended. That was great for me, because then I had a reason to go up there more. (She liked it too, FWIW).
I’m sure you are on top of this, but if it is merit money that is the key, then she should apply to places that actually give significant merit awards. Used to be RPI, Rochester, Case, free ride to some state U’s like Alabama. Oklahoma; not sure where this stands today . And if merit aid isn’t the “be-all”, I’m not sure why she wouldn’t lob in a “hail mary” to MIT, And give a close look at some other schools with the highest overall reputations, despite “worse” engineering programs, and see whether any of those might work for her. Like some of the other Ivy League schools, eg Columbia SEAS. Or even a prestigious LAC despite teeny engineering, ie Swarthmore. Depending on whether her interests might be met there.
My(unsupported) feeling is a highly qualified woman who wants to do engineering is in an advantaged position, to an extent, at basically all engineering programs.
We visited MIT last spring and she didn’t like the vibe… not sure if she will apply. While she is a STEM kid, her major non academic EC is ballet and she wants to be able to continue dancing in some capacity in college. She did like Harvard though… so that is on her “reach” list, as well as Princeton (both have relatively strong performing arts centers). Swarthmore is also another possibility.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! Glad your daughter liked Cornell! Which school did she attend?