Need more match and safety engineering schools!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Should i eliminate any of my reaches as there is no chance of admissions?
Also need more matches and safeties with good financial aid as that is very important to me.</p>

<p>Reaches: Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, John Hopkins, Northwestern, UVA
Matches: Virginia Tech, Lehigh
Safeties: ???</p>

<p>Right now I am a white male senior in a public high school in Fredericksburg, VA.</p>

<p>Income Bracket: <$49,999</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.9 out of 4
Weighted GPA: 4.23</p>

<p>SAT/ACT-
SAT- 1860: 510 V, 740 M, 610 W
SAT II- Math II- 600 Physics- 640
ACT- 32: 30 Eng, 35 Math, 30 Read, 31 Sci </p>

<p>Plan on only sending ACT scores, not SAT. I know SAT II's too low</p>

<p>7th Grade:
Algebra 1- B+</p>

<p>8th Grade:
Honors Geometry- A+
Spanish 1- A+</p>

<p>9th Grade:
Adv English 9- A
World Geography- A+
Adv Algebra 2- A
Adv Earth Science- A
Spanish 2- A<br>
Health/PE9- A
Manufacturing Tech- A
Technical Drawing/Design- A </p>

<p>10th Grade:
Adv English 10- A-
AP World Histroy- B+
Pre-calculus with Trig- A
Adv Biology- A
Spanish 3- A-
Health/PE10-A-
Intro to Marketing- A-
Driver's Ed- B+</p>

<p>11th Grade: (Projected Grades)
Adv English 11- A-
US History- A+
AP Calculus AB- A+
Adv Chemistry- A
Adv Physics- A+
Engineering Drawing/Design- A+
Art 1- A</p>

<p>12th Grade: (Projected Classes)
Adv English 12
Government
AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B
AP Calculus BC</p>

<p>Clubs/EC-
JV Football (9)
JV Basketball (9,10)
Varsity Soccer(10,11,12)
Part-time job at Chick-fil-A (11,12)
Active Math Honor Society member and tutor (11, 12)
Technology Student Association (11)
Calculus Team (Captain)
Physics Team (Captain)
50+ hours volunteering at church
10+ hours tutoring math students
AutoCAD Master Expert Certified in 2013
Most Outstanding Student in Physics 2013
Most Outstanding Student in Chemistry 2013</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16145676-post285.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16145676-post285.html&lt;/a&gt; list automatic full rides at Howard, Louisiana Tech, and Prairie View A&M, so these may be safety candidates.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16224918-post52.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16224918-post52.html&lt;/a&gt; may be worth a look for match and reach candidates.</p>

<p>Run net price calculators on each school that you would want need-based aid from.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, i’m just having a hard time deciding which schools i would get accepted to</p>

4

<p>I think that your list is a great start. None of your reach schools are impossible per se, but some of the schools on that list (Cornell, CMU) want SAT IIs in addition to your ACT. If you’re not going to retake and get into the 700s, I’d eliminate those two schools since your subject tests are not going to help your case. JHU and Northwestern recommend but don’t require subject tests. Duke is fine with just the SAT. </p>

<p>Perhaps, UVa is closer to a match. Lehigh is a little odd in that they really want to admit students who really want to go there, so they need to see a lot of attention from you - otherwise, it’s a reach also. </p>

<p>You’re going to need to apply to more schools that are likely to admit you so that you can compare financial aid packages. I would stick to high quality privates. </p>

<p>I’d add the some of the following very likely admits: </p>

<p>RPI, WPI, University of Rochester, Case Western. </p>

<p>I agree, just send the ACT.</p>

<p>Why are your 11th grade grades projected?</p>

5

<p>Thanks, i’ll probably retake the SAT II’s as well. I copied and pasted from an earlier post, those are my actual grades.</p>

6

<p>ODU and VCU would be safeties for you as long as they are affordable.</p>

7

<p>If you apply to Bama AND submit your FAFSA as early as you can (Jan/Feb), you’re more likely going to get better need-based aid.</p>

<p>You will get accepted, and you will get about $110k in merit (covering tuition and 2500 per year). However, to also get some better need-based aid, you have to submit your FAFSA early. Bama does give “preferential pkgs” to those with higher stats…such as yours.</p>

8

<p>The OP has a 32 on the ACT and a 35 in math. I think he should go to an excellent engineering school like those on his list. </p>

<p>With all due respect, he doesn’t need to waste his time on Alabama. </p>

<p>I understand that some people care more about the money than the quality, but this student also has Virginia Tech instate.</p>

9

<p>Villanova is probably a good match for you. You might also consider Bucknell, Lafayette, and maybe as a safety, Stevens Institute of Technology. Rochester Institute of Technology is another safety and gives generous aid.</p>

10

<p>Have you run the net price calculators for any of these schools???</p>

<p>Even if you were to get into CMU, it’s likely to be unaffordable. The same is true of Case Western, WPI, RPI . . . well, a LOT of the schools that have been suggested here! It’s all well and good to try and figure out where you’re likely to be admitted, but if you don’t narrow your search to schools that are also likely to be affordable, you’re wasting your time.</p>

11

<p>Why wouldn’t this student get financial aid from CMU, Case Western, WPI and RPI?</p>

<p>Case Western will probably give him merit aid also. (beyond his EFC).</p>

12

<p>What’s wrong with Alabama for Engineering? My DS is considering. He’ll also apply to Virginia Tech, GMU and maybe VCU - but Tech has such a competitive engineering admission -especially if you are from No. VA - and don’t have over a 4.0 GPA - even with a 35 ACT.</p>

<p>I’ve heard good stuff about Alabama - and there’s something to be said for a school that just spent $500 million on a new Engineering/CS facility (and is willing to give DS OOS tuition).</p>

13

<p>My son had even higher ACT, and turned down some excellent engineering schools to waste his time at Alabama (for free, I might add). He’s totally loving it, no regrets at all. </p>

<p>With all due respect, this OP, who is a 3-sport athlete with low income, might appreciate the opportunity of a full tuition scholarship to a great sports school with amazing engineering facilities. True, an in-state option like Virginia Tech is great, but an admissions and financial safety like Alabama is no waste of time.</p>

14

<p>Sometimes you get what you pay for. </p>

<p>Alabama is not well respected nationally for engineering. It doesn’t attract the kind of recruiting that other schools get. The professors are not well known, etc. It’s a run of the mill engineering school. </p>

<p>I’m sure your son is having a great time, and I’m sure the engineering facilities are fine too. </p>

<p>The OP will get good financial aid. I don’t think he will need Alabama, and I think he’s better off at an excellent engineering school.</p>

<p>Chardo, we had this conversation when your S was applying. Look back at your old threads.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>Have you heard this from working engineers who do national recruiting?</p>

16

<p>^ Have you ever met or interviewed any Alabama engineering students and found them lacking?</p>

<p>I’m aware of our old conversations, and I appreciated your input. In our case, the cost differential compared to the “excellent” schools was around $120-180K. If OP can get enough aid (not loans) to get those “excellent” schools to an affordable number, than he will in fact be better off.</p>

<p>As for Alabama, their upcoming engineering career fair has, among others, the following national companies:</p>

<p>AT&T
Baxter Healthcare
BMW
Department of Defense
Eastman Chemical
Exxon Mobil
Georgia Pacific
Goodyear
Halliburton
Hewlett Packard
Honda
International Paper
Mercedes Benz
Michelin
Mowhawk Industries
Northrop Grumman
PepsiCo
Schlumberger</p>

<p>Of course they can’t match the recruiting of the engineering powerhouses, but it’s not like Bama students only get recruited by local firms.</p>

17

<p>

</p>

<p>No. I’ve never met or interviewed any Alabama engineering students. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t hesitate to incur loans to get into some of the better schools.</p>

18

<p>I would definitely look at uva. I am also a white male looking with extremely similar stats and situation. I have a 33 ACT and 35 math. I am pretty sure we could both make VT and likely UVA. It will be cheaper instate also</p>

19

<p>The Virginia engineers I know send their kids to Virginia Tech for engineering over UVa.</p>

20

<p>Thanks for all your input guys. I’ve looked into all schools that give generous aid and here is the list I’ve compiled. Let me know if there are any schools on here that are a waste of time as there is no way i’d be accepted. I know some of the reaches are very, very high reaches so let me know, thanks. Also keep in mind that I am looking for a quality education from a prestigious engineering program with a low cost/great aid. My parents have little money to help pay.</p>

<p>Reaches:
Cornell (need to raise SAT II’s)
Northwestern
John Hopkins
Duke
UPenn
Vanderbilt
Brown </p>

<p>Match-Reach:
UVA
Tufts</p>

<p>Matches:
Virginia Tech
Lehigh </p>

<p>Safeties:
Lafayette
University of Alabama
Lousiana Tech (full ride)
Howard (full ride)</p>