Out-of-State colleges! A good Selection?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello! I am looking at Out-of-State universities at the moment, as I have the opportunity to attend an Out-of-State University. I have quite the variety on my list, and would appreciate any information you can give on my chance of being accepted. I am looking to major in Chemical Engineering and/or Computer Engineering.</p>

<p>University of California-Berkeley
Georgia Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin - Madison</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.24
Unweighted GPA: 3.86
Class Rank: 20/430 (Top 5%)</p>

<p>ACT
COMPOSITE - 32</p>

<p>ENGLISH - 34
Usage/Mechanics: 18
Rhetorical Skills: 16</p>

<p>MATH - 32
Algebra - 18
Coord. Geometry - 16
Trigonometry - 15</p>

<p>READING - 28
Social Studies/Sciences - 14
Arts/Literature - 15</p>

<p>SCIENCE - 32</p>

<p>I am an I.B. Diploma Candidate, and I'm taking the following classes Senior Year:
I.B. History of The Americas HL
I.B. Chemistry HL
I.B. English SL
I.B. German SL
I.B. Math SL
I.B. Psychology
Physics I (AP)
Zero Hour Broadcast Journalism
Zero Hour Theory of Knowledge
Personal Finance (Summer)</p>

<p>ECs:
National Art Honor Society - Freshman
Student Senate - Sophomore
National Honor Society - Junior & Senior (Public Relations Manager)
German National Honor Society - Junior & Senior (Secretary)
German Club - Junior & Senior
EF Educational Tour to Germany (Three Weeks)
Member of the Youth Advisory Council for a Foundation - Freshman & Sophomore
Scholar Bowl - Junior & Senior (Public Relations Manager)
Math Club - Junior & Senior</p>

<p>Awards:
Department Award for English 11th Grade
Department Award for Mathematics 11th Grade
Student of the Month - January of sophomore year
Letters: Academics (4.0 GPA for a semester), Broadcast Journalism, German Club</p>

<p>BROADCAST</p>

<p>Broadcast Journalism Leadership
Web Director - Sophomore, Junior & Senior
Line Editor - Junior
Filmed Graduation and Male Pagent Show (earning money)</p>

<p>Awards in Broadcasting:
Best Photographer (10th & 11th)
Best Human Interest Feature Story (10th & 11th)
Best Technical Guru (10th)
Best News Story (10th)
Best Overall Package (10th)
Go-Getter (10th)
Best Website (National Competition) ($5000 Award)
Many More...</p>

<p>Community Service
100 Hrs of community service at a VA Hospital
40 Hours of Student Mentoring
10 Hours of Community Service at Elementary Day Care
Four Volunteer Projects for NHS
150 Creativity, Action, and Service hours of IB Diploma</p>

2

<p>Have you run the online Net Price Calculators for any of those schools? Can your family afford the costs?
Berkeley and Michigan cost over $50K/y for OOS students. Many state universities do not offer very generous need-based aid to OOS students.</p>

<p>US News ranks undergraduate engineering programs. Many of the top schools in each category are state universities.
<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Your stats would be fine for the regular colleges at most of those universities, but might not be adequate for the ultra-competitive STEM programs you are interested in. Have you already taken Calculus? Taking the SL Math as a senior probably puts you at a disadvantage, since most students accepted to those Engineering schools will have completed a higher level of math. Have you consulted with a college adviser, and seen your school’s Naviance acceptance histories at those schools? Please also note that some of these colleges will not break their admissions statistics down by department, and their Engineering schools are significantly harder to get into than other divisions. Berkeley Engineering and the Engineering/Computer Science programs at Carnegie-Mellon are reaches for almost everyone. If you look at acceptance threads for them here on CC, you’ll see students rejected with 35 Math ACT scores. I don’t think it’s hopeless, but I think you should include a few less-selective schools on your list. </p>

4

<p>I definitely have a multitude of other schools that I am considering that are less selective, I haven’t really considered that the departments that I am looking at would be more selective than the general statistics I have seen. I haven’t really been able to talk to anyone in particular, that is why I came here for information, so I am very thankful for your insight!</p>

5

<p>So someone is going to pay OOS costs for you? $55 for UC, $44 for UW. Isn’t UMN-TC a top program? I think the tuition is a bit less.</p>

6

<p>I am very fortunate in my ability to afford some of these out-of-state tuitions. I are not completely out of my mind, just not what I am considering at the moment - however I am fully aware of how substantial it is.</p>

7

<p>You need to talk to your parents and verify the affordability of the out-of-state public schools before getting too far down the road in applying to them.</p>

<p>University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is well respected for chemical engineering, but has a lower out-of-state price than most public schools.</p>