- Cost My parents can pay up to 40 grand for a college. The more prestigous , the more they're willing to pay
- Major Most likely engineering. I say that because engineering has a very high drop out rate.
- GPA: 3.97 unweighted. Taking all college courses since junior year (dual enrollment). I have took classes like Calculus and Engineering physics
- ACT: I did amazing on the ACTs and got a 32 composite (34, 31, 27, 34). Because of my hard work on studying for the ACTs and my GPA I will not settle for a school that isn't highly ranked. I know this sounds pretentious and whatnot but why not since I have put in 4 years of hard work.
" The more prestigous , the more they’re willing to pay"
not a way to choose a school. find the best fit!
Are you a Senior or Junior?
I’m hoping your a junior.
Do you want to be an urban, suburban, or rural area?
What states would you be interested in?
Run your stats thru the SuperMatch tool on this site. And, yes, you do sound “pretentious and whatnot”.
Your parents will pay $40k per year? or $10k per year ($40k total).
an ACT 32 is very good, but it’s not particularly high for “highly ranked schools” which have middle quartiles in the ACT 33-34 range.
What do you consider to be “highly ranked”?
I’m a senior and I just want to add more schools
I’ve already applied to UDub (Instate)
University of Minnesota (Accepted, college of engineering)
Northeastern (Accepted, college of engineering)
Cal Poly SLO
Washington University in St. Louis
Preferably schools with no supplements on the common app, or easy ones
40k a year
Top 50 is highly ranked
Sorry if I sound pretentious. I’m the first person in my family to go to college in the US.
Yeah, 32 is good but I wouldn’t be comfortable about my chances of getting into a school like WashU with a 32. Yes, their 50% is 32-34, but unless you have outstanding other stuff, it would be a nailbiter for me.
Also, most “prestigious” colleges are in the mid-40k tuition as it is without room and board. You ok with taking out loans to cover the rest?
UIUC is ranked somewhere in the 40s in the latest USNWR. OOS tuition is around $30k. Engineering is top-notch - definitely top 10.
Emory (top 25 in USNWR) has a dual degree engineering program with GA Tech and it takes 5 years to do BUT you get a bachelors degree from both Emory and GT. The latter school is a top 10 engineering school. Heck, just apply to GT and get a degree from a top-10 engineering school in 4 years. OOS tuition is $30k. Atlanta is a beautiful city too.
Again, as an OOS with a 32, you aren’t a shoe-in for UIUC or GT. Not to burst your bubble, but see how all of a sudden a 32 isn’t amazing when you’re shooting only for “top 50” with a prestigious name?
And yes, I do agree with the others in that you do sound awfully pretentious - even if you’re the first person in your family to go to college. My initial instinct is that person would be humble because it is a privilege to be able to go on for further education. Some people think it’s a right. It’s not- you need to work hard (which you have and I’m sure you will continue to do so, if anything to make your parents proud) and make sacrifices to go to college.
I believe Vanderbilt doesn’t have a supplement and has a good eng’g program.
@ChicagoSportsFn how does Minnesota’s engineering program compare to Illinois’. Would it be worth an extra 10k a year?
@ChicagoSportsFn how does Minnesota’s engineering program compare to Illinois’? I want to study mechanical engineering. Would it be worth an extra 10 grand a year?
You’re right. I forgot UIUC had an earlier deadline.
I thought it had the 1 or 4 Jan deadline that many schools have.
Pretentious is “having or showing the unpleasant quality of people who want to be regarded as more impressive, successful, or important than they really are.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Frankly, your stats aren’t spectacular- for top 25 schools anyway. If my D had those stats, I’d tell her not to waste her time with top-25. That’s where the pretentious thing is applicable. You think you’re a hot shot with those stats- they’re not. They’re average, at best, for the typical CC student.
Putting in 4 years of hard work doesn’t mean you deserve a top 50 school outright. That’s how you’re coming across. Good thing you don’t want to do any more supplements or else your arrogance will come out in the essays and you’ll get nuked. Schools don’t want to hear how YOUR hard work is reason for them to take you. Schools want to know how YOU will contribute and be value-added to their community.
U-Dub is an amazing school- no doubt. Beautiful location. However, you asked for top-50. Using the USNWR rankings, U-Dub is just outside the top 50. Emory is top 25 and GT is top 50- that’s why I mentioned those 2 schools. You can use any rankings you want. I just decided to use the USNWR.
Again, it shows my point about hard work and sacrifices. You’re using the criteria of no supplements or easy apps as a factor for applying the additional schools. You don’t have the work ethic or willingness to sacrifice to attend potentially better schools. You want the privilege of a top-50 education but aren’t willing to put on additional time or work for it. You’ve already got NEU in the bag so leave it at that. It’s an excellent school.
On another note, Purdue has a top-10 engineering program but overall the school is ranked outside the top-50. It has rolling admissions and deadline is 1 Feb.
Good luck. Yes, I do mean it.
Thank you! @ChicagoSportsFn I understand my stats are probably not good enough for the top 25. I don’t want to do any supplementals because I’m 95% sure I’ll get into UW and I put in a lot of work into their supplementals and UDub is my number 1 choice. Any other schools within the top 50 or higher? Also I’m not arrogant. I just got my ACT scores back and went from a 27 to a 32 (which totally screwed up my college matches and reaches). So now I wanna know if it’s recommended I apply to more schools or is my list okay. Maybe Purdue? What would you say about Minnesota?
You have took classes?
Personally, I’d stick with your list now.
You’re probably going to get into your #1 choice school based on your stats and in-state status. Normally, I hate to say because you got into “x”, then you should get into “y” because the college admissions process seems like it’s random nowadays. However, I’ll go out on a limb and say that since you got into NEU, your stats, and in-state status, UDub is definitely a 99% thing.
Minnesota is a good school with a top engineering program, but if you get into UDub, then I would still go with the latter school based on rankings.
A school ranked higher than UDub and with a superb engineering program is Penn State. It’s got rolling admissions. Again, ranking is really a terrible way of choosing schools. If I had to pick UDub or PSU and I were a Washington state resident, then I would still take UDub even though PSU is ranked higher. PSU has a separate essay too, I think.
Purdue is ranked higher than UDub but not signicantly higher that I would pick being in the middle of cornfield over living for 4 years in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Purdue has a separate essay too.
See what I mean? You’re list is already fine. You’ve got a top 50 school (NEU) accepting you and another just outside (UDub) the top-50 that will probably accept you. Even if you got into PSU or Purdue, I’m not so sure I’d pick any of them over UDub- especially if your criteria includes no additional essays and should be easy supplements.
Stick with your current list and enjoy your Christmas break knowing your applications are done, and now you’re just waiting for the rewards of your hard work.
Again, good luck and hope it works out well for you.
I forgot to mention I already got in to Penn State. What about Penn state vs northeastern?
We probably have different preferences.
Personally, I’d pick PSU. I think they have a better engineering program.
You may like Boston though compared to University Park. You may also prefer a school that isn’t so big into its athletics. NEU may be cheaper based on your merit aid.
All things being equal, I’d go with PSU. I think it has a better alumni network and name brand. I hope there aren’t a lot of NEU people reading this or else I’m going to get bashed. 
Hey, I applied to UMN and Northeastern too
My first thought was Case Western. I believe they have an excellent engineering program, and I believe you’ll get a generous scholarship from them with your stats. And if that’s not convincing enough, they have no application fee!
You have a good list now though. I don’t think you need anymore schools.
Congrats on the ACT score jump. That must make you happy. I don’t see how it screwed up your matches and reaches. The higher score makes you a stronger candidate. That’s a good thing. It doesn’t mean all of a sudden you need to apply to reachier schools.
My daughter’s ACT jumped from 27 to 31 her junior year (she refused to retake for that 32). She kept her list the same which meant many schools went from high match to almost safety. That was fine with her.
Your list is fine. Maybe add Case Western? You have several good options and no bad ones.