Please chance me for GT, UMich, UIUC etc? Will be more than happy to chance back!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi All,
I was wondering what my chances were for getting into the following universities for biomedical engineering. I know I haven't got the best of stats, so any advice and opinions will help! Also, because I come from a family with an income of ~$45,000, I will also appreciate any scholarship/ FA info. Will be more than happy to chance back if asked!!
** I recently changed my major from civil to bioengineering, so most of my coursework had been geared towards civil ( took 2 years of physics etc). Will this hurt my chances for admissions?</p>

<p>Schools Interested In:
Georgia Tech, UIUC, UMich-Ann Arbor, Boston U, UC Berkeley, UCSD, UF, Cornell</p>

<p>Stats:
Uprising Senior, Female (Asian/ Latino)
Home State: Florida
GPA: 5.38 w 4.0 uw
Class Rank: 2/ 650 ( may have changed to 1 since the end of junior year)
SAT: 2100 (superscore) 700- R 710-M 690-W
SAT II: Math 2- 730 ( will retake)
ACT: 33 (composite w/ writing) 34-R 33-E 30-M 33-S (Should I retake for higher math score?)</p>

<p>AP:
World History, Computer Science } 4
European History, Psych, US History } 5
IB:
Physics SL- 5; Math SL- 6
Been in the IB Program since 6th grade
5 honors classes, 5 AP classes, 7 IB classes
Will be taking 5 IB classes + AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Macro senior year
Currently enrolled in 2 summer dual enrollment classes at UCF ( Intro to Comm & Chem 1)</p>

<p>EC: ( I know it's a little mediocre...)
IB Student Council (class appointed representative- 2 yrs)
Part of high school research group partnered w/ NASA
Science Olympiad Competition ( 5 yrs)
- Volunteer as assistant coach for nearby elementary and middle school
- Regionals: Placed 3rd and 2nd in 2 events (Top 10 in all 5 of my events)
- States: Placed 2nd
NHS (current VP), Science HS, Spanish HS, Mu Alpha Theta, National Beta Club (past VP and current President)
Sports: Soccer (2 yrs), Cross Country (2 yrs)
Piano (7 yrs- Have gotten straight superiors each year) Won 2 Gold Cups in Hymn and Solo performances
Was one of the first members of a non-profit cultural and community service organization created and led by high school students (Past Treasurer and President Elect, current President)
Part of a local dragon boat team (3 yrs)- won Div C Consolation Final at international race the past year<br>
Mission Trips (2 yrs): teach free daily classes at daycares/community centers for preschool and elementary school children for 8 weeks over summer
Junior Camp Counselor at local science center
Assistant soccer coach for recreational soccer team at local Special Olympics center</p>

<p>Work:
Assistant Teacher at 2 English Schools in Brazil over summer</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The changing majors thing shouldn’t hurt at all cuz colleges know you are young and can change ur mind, people even do that in college! Use the URM (latino), that could help you get a bump in admissions and maybe more scholarships! Scholarships can be regional so not too much help there, try asking your guidance counselors- they usually have a list of them! Submit both SAT/ACT since they both are good (if it is ok with ur family financially)
EC-wise the science olympiad looks good and the Brazil thing, maybe try to do something more (Ec-wise) geared towards ur major!
Georgia Tech-safety/match
UIUC- match
UMich-Ann Arbor- match
Boston U- match
UC Berkeley- match/ low reach
UCSD-match
UF-match
Cornell- reach</p>

<p>Chance back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666543-chance-me-jhu-yale-harvard-brown-case-western-osu-washu-uchicago.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666543-chance-me-jhu-yale-harvard-brown-case-western-osu-washu-uchicago.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>All are matches but UCB and Cornell. UCB is high match/low reach, Cornell is reach but if you apply ED you should get in
chance-<a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1665744-accounting-chances.html#latest”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1665744-accounting-chances.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Your GPA is good but your ACT score is just slightly above average for most of these top engineering schools. For UIUC, UMIch, and UCB, there are little FA for oos students and your credential is not high enough to get you any decent scholarship. They are not likely affordable to you as they do not meet need for oos students. Anyway, these 3 oos top public engineering schools are low reach for you considering the relatively low admission rate for oos students and your credential within the mid 50 (31-34 for UMich CoE and UIUC Engineering while UCB should be similar or slightly higher).
Your chance at Cornell is also low reach, however, they do offer much better need based aid for you and you should definitely apply to it.</p>

<p>It seems many new members are too optimistic in chancing these days.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the advice @VaishS and @RugbySingh!</p>

<p>@billcsho, I know about the low FA for UIUC and UCB, but not UMich, so thank you for the info. In my post, I wrote that I know that I have mediocre stats and I do already have a general idea about which schools are reaches/matches, and your response is actually very close to what I believe my chances to be. I just wanted to get outside opinion/advice. Thank you for taking the time to answer and for all the advice! </p>

6

<p>Cornell: match ed, high match/low reach otherwise.
Berkeley: high match
Umich: high match/match
Georgia tech: match
UIUC: match
UCSD, Boston U: low matches
UF: safety
What’s your state of residence? Since you’re relatively low income, nix all out of state public schools, you have a lot of public schools, berkely, ucsd, UIUC, umichigan, and Georgia tech (not 100% sure this isn’t a private). Nix all the ones out of your state, and even consider carefully for the ones in-state as cost of attendance is usually about 25K still and they don’t generally give as much aid either.
Chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1665423-downwards-trend-poor-class-rank-high-aspirations-will-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1665423-downwards-trend-poor-class-rank-high-aspirations-will-chance-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Wow EC is great,
aside from money …</p>

<p>Georgia Tech-match
UIUC- why bother, you can do so much better
UMich- why bother, you can do so much better
Boston U- match/really match!
UC Berkeley- slight reach but go for it
UCSD-match
UF-match
Cornell- slight reach but still great chance </p>

<p>me- <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666885-need-help-do-i-have-a-chance-hearing-mixed-responses.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666885-need-help-do-i-have-a-chance-hearing-mixed-responses.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Lets talk UF and BME for a bit. </p>

<p>At UF, Biomedical Engineering is a limited access programs. Applications for admission are accepted in the spring of the second year. Students who want to pursue Biomedical Engineering may register as Exploratory Engineering or choose another engineering major. If you don’t get into the BS BME program (it’s taking about 20-25 students a year), then you can look at Biological, Chemical, Electrical, and Materials Science Engineering, all offer combined degree programs leading to a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. These BS/ME (4/1) programs, allow you to get your master’s in 5 years (or less). For example, below is the link to the BS in Chemical Engineering/MS in Biomedical Engineering program:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bme.ufl.edu/academic/combined/che”>http://www.bme.ufl.edu/academic/combined/che&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>BME is a field that really requires a masters degree (or another professional program, like med school, law school, etc.).</p>

<p><a href=“About Biomedical Engineering – J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering”>http://www.bme.ufl.edu/about&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This spring, UF had it’s first graduates of the Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Program:</p>

<p><a href=“First Graduates of UF's Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Program - YouTube”>First Graduates of UF's Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Program - YouTube;

<p>UF isn’t known for giving much in the way of merit scholarships, though they do a good job with need-based aid. Make sure you apply for scholarships, like the Lombardi Scholarship. Some of these scholarships have their own applications, and due dates as early as January.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

9

<p>You have great Ecs! If I were you I would take the SAT once more if I had some spare time. Cornell and UCB are slight reaches but you still have a great chance at all of them</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

10

<p>Georgia Tech-match
UIUC- match
UMich-Ann Arbor- match
Boston U- match
UC Berkeley- reach
UCSD-match
UF-match
Cornell- reach</p>

<p>Good luck!
Chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666949-yet-another-chance-thread-i-ll-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1666949-yet-another-chance-thread-i-ll-chance-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt; </p>

11

<p>Just response to one of your question on OP. You do want to improve your Math scores in ACT/SAT1/SAT2 for engineering. It is currently very weak for at least half of the schools on your list.</p>

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<p>Cornell is a reach, GA Tech is a high match/low reach, and BU is a match. Don’t know about the other schools though. Really rounded courseload/EC’s, just get SAT/ACT up a notch and you should be good to go!</p>

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<p>@theanaconda‌ Thanks for the advice, I will definitely keep it in mind. I’m from Florida, and I will be applying to a couple in state schools (UCF, USF…). I didn’t include them on my list because I believe they are safety schools for me ( maybe I’m wrong? ). Will I have a better chance of getting financial aid from oos private schools? I’m also applying for other separate scholarships as well. </p>

<p>@Gator88NE‌ Thanks for the info!</p>

<h2>@billcsho‌ @RacquetSmasher76‌ Yes I’'m planning to retake ACT and my SAT II this fall along with SAT II Physics. Thanks for the advice!</h2>

<p>I have a few more questions for the general public:
Should I send in both my SAT and ACT scores? Or should I just send in my ACT score as it is a bit higher than my SAT?
I’m debating whether or not I should minor in history or linguistics. I know both subjects have little to do with BME, but they are both passions of mine along with BME, so I would really hate to give them up. As for BME, I want to go into prosthesis/ biomechatronics. Should I minor in one of them or just keep them as hobbies?</p>

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<p>yes you have a (way) better chance at financial aid from oos private schools, many of the top ones (which you’ll have a decent shot at) or even the ones at the level of the oos public schools you’re applying to will grant/meet most if not all of our need (run the calculators for each). oos public schools mainly reserve their funding for their in-state students who pay taxes, expect to get very little in aid from them because they have no guarantee to meet any of your aid. </p>

15

<p>Not so true with OOS aid for public schools and yes for OOS aid for private schools. Though I know many people that got their entire UIUC tuition paid for due to income of their parents. Their online calculator is spot on with what you will get.</p>

16

<p>UMich does not meet need for OOS student, however, they do provide nice aids to OOS students from very low income family. You should try their NPC. I think your family income is above the threshold for the very generous aids though.</p>