Need more matches

College Search & Selection
1

<p>S is junior, has been looking at schools since last summer. As we head into the final few months before app season, it looks like his list is pretty heavy on reaches. I think he may need to consider a few more matches.</p>

<p>About him:
3.9/4.0 unweighted, 4.2 weighted
One of the top high schools in the country (former #1 Newsweek)
School does not rank, but he is near the top of his class of 290
Disappointed with 1950 SAT, taking ACT this week, practice tests around 33
Will have 7 AP's plus 4 years of AP-like engineering (Project Lead the Way*)
National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society
Varsity volleyball, Scholar-Athlete State Champion
Varsity basketball
Student tutor</p>

<ul>
<li>Project Lead the Way is a college level engineering program at various high schools sponsored by one of several national universities. Our program is with RIT. Students take a four year track of engineering classes, taught by dedicated teachers trained in the curriculum at RIT. Each course finishes with an exam, like an AP, where passing scores earn transcripted college credit from RIT. It has been a great experience for him. He got exposure to engineering, loved it, and proved he can excel at it.</li>
</ul>

<p>He will major in engineering, probably electrical. We have been looking at schools, visited some, plan to visit others. List so far:</p>

<p>Reach: MIT, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale
Match: Lehigh, RPI, GaTech
Safety: RIT</p>

<p>After visiting, he did not like Harvard, Cornell, or Penn. At this point in his life, he has no idea what career or postgrad path he may take. That makes the co-op programs at some schools appealing to him, but not required. He seems to prefer small to mid size, will consider any location. Might add Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins to the list, but we need some more matches to consider. I consider RIT a near lock for him, and he really liked the visit, so I don't think we need more safeties. Cost is not an issue for now. EFC will be full pay, and we can afford any school. Whether we want to is a different issue. Net cost after merit aid and relative value of schools is a discussion for a different day. For now, it's all about the list. Any suggestions?</p>

2

<p>Case Western, Rose Hulman</p>

3

<p>I would consider adding Michigan to the list. It has one of the top engineering programs in the country. I would consider your son’s stats a match for Michigan but not a safety. The GPA and course rigor are the primary factors in admissions consideration. The test score is considered by not as much as it may be at other schools. The school is larger than others on the list but the college of engineering is a subset of the larger school that will lead to a smaller environment with opportunities that only larger schools can provide.</p>

4

<p>Bucknell University?</p>

5

<p>Northeastern - great coop program, school on the rise, located right in the heart of Boston.</p>

6

<p>I like Lehigh–especially the 5th year free masters program!</p>

<p>Rice, maybe a UC school, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Colgate?, GW.</p>

<p>Some of the good NE LACs like Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton if he is okay with small schools. What state are you folks in? His chances of the small LACs go up as you move away from New England (and conversely, your chances at midwest/west coast schools go up if you’re from NE).</p>

<p>Depends on what he wants to do with engineering. If he wants to study it, then long term go into business or finance with a strong quant background, all of the above schools will be great. If he wants to be an engineer, maybe get a PE down the road, maybe think more of the schools with stronger programs. He may find he’d rather major in something like statistics/data modeling (hopkins has a great program), math, etc.</p>

7

<p>def check out bucknell-- saw that suggested above.</p>

8

<p>We’re in NY. Most LAC’s don’t have engineering other than 3+2 programs. Chapel Hill, Colgate, and Wake Forest don’t have engineering either. Michigan may be too big, but they have an info session at our school next week. Worth an hour. Drove by Northeastern after MIT/Harvard visits and he didn’t like the campus (same for Tufts). We’ll add Bucknell to the investigate list.</p>

9

<p>check out Trinity College in Hartford- they’ve got an accredited program. And some good merit money these days.</p>