PLEASE, Give me some matches/reaches...Engineering/Business

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everybody, I am really needing to figure out some matches/reaches.
I want to major in either mechanical engineering or something in business, haven't figured that out yet. Please help me out.
As of right now, the only schools I know I'm applying to are Cornell and Vanderbilt.</p>

<hr>

<p>Permanent U.S. Resident, Swiss Citizen...Low income (~35K), first generation.
Can get good recommendations, should have a good essay.
Go to a very competitive and highly rated public high school in Florida, with one of the best IB programs in the world.</p>

<p>Academics
[ul]
[<em>]IB Student (Most rigorous course load all four years of HS)
[</em>]4.8 Weighted GPA (3.68 Unweighted) (92/100)
[<em>]2140 SAT (1380) (680 CR, 700 M, 760 W)
[</em>]Taking SAT IIs in November (Math II + Bio/Chem/Physics)
[<em>]IBs - Math Studies 6, Environment 5 (4 more this year)
[</em>]APs - US History 4, English Lang 4 (Also a 1 on Physics, have reasons for this though)
[<em>]98th Percentile (School does not do class ranks)
[/ul]
ECs
[ul]
[li]12 yrs Travel/competitive soccer (Captain)[/li][</em>]3 yrs School soccer (1 yr JV Captain)
[<em>]2 yrs NHS
[</em>]2 yrs Political Science Club
[<em>]2 yrs Recycling Club
[</em>]2 yrs Chess Club
[<em>]175 hrs IB CAS hours community service hours
[</em>]30 NHS community service hours
[<em>]Cashier/Busboy at gourmet food store (9, 10, 11) - About 8 hours a week, sporadic days/hours.
[</em>]Babysitting (9, 10) - Usually once a month.
[/ul]
Honors
[ul]
[<em>]4.0+ GPA Honor Roll (9, 10, 11, 12)
[</em>]Young Playwrights Festival Recognition (9)
[<em>]Florida Studio Playwrighting Award Honorable Mention (9)
[</em>]Artwork displayed in local gallery's "Art in our Schools" show (10)
[<em>]Magna Cum Laude
[</em>]NHS Induction
[li]Various sporting awards/trophies for soccer and golf (9, 10, 11)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Thank you in advance!</p>

2

<p>BUMP10char</p>

3

<p>Bump…Please help.
Oh and I probably should mention, for business I am looking largely at Finance/Accounting/Management (in that order), and for engineering, Mechanical/Electrical/Biomedical (in that order).</p>

4

<p>Your safety is obviously the bright futures scholarship at UF. UPenn has a nice program combining engineering and economics. In general, no matter the school, I recommend applying to the college of engineering and transferring into business later if you don’t like engineering. If you get the degree in engineering you can always get an MBA later. It’s difficult to go the other way (from business to engineering).</p>

5

<p>Check out U. Michigan, excellent engineering and business programs.</p>

6

<p>U Mich isn’t going to work for an out of state low income student. His stats aren’t high enough for big merit from UMich, the OOS cost is $50k, and he won’t get much aid. </p>

<p>Actually, few OOS publics would work unless the student was certain to get at least a full tuition merit scholarship since OOS publics don’t give much need-based aid to OOS students. </p>

<p>Your M+CR score 1380 is probably too low for top schools. The Writing section doesn’t count that much at many schools. Your unweighted GPA might also hurt you a bit.</p>

<p>Cornell Test Scores
Middle 50% of First-Year Students </p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading: … 630 - 730<br>
SAT Math: … 660 - 770<br>
SAT Writing: - -
ACT Composite: … 29 - 33 </p>

<p>The above are score ranges for the middle quartiles at Cornell. As you can see, you’re in the middle - which is not a strong place to be since this is a school that rejects many students with better stats. As you can see, they aren’t reporting the Writing score which suggests that they don’t give much consideration to it.</p>

<p>As someone said, your Florida schools may be your financial safeties. but that’s only if you can get funding for your other costs. </p>

<p>Will BF pay for ALL of UF’s tuition/fees or just for % of tuition? You will also get Pell and a student loan and that may just cover room, board, books.</p>

<p>Which Florida schools are you applying to?</p>

<p>You need some other reasonable choices that will likely accept you and will be affordable.</p>

<p>You’re going to have to be very careful when you select schools to apply to because of your strong, but not super high SAT and your financial situation. Many schools will be unaffordable. But, there are some that will work. :)</p>

7

<p>Thanks a lot for the help. Your PM was also very useful, mom2collegekids.</p>

<p>At this point, I basically have the University of Florida and the University of Alabama as financial safeties, along with being more or less academic matches/safeties.</p>

<p>I was thinking about UMich, but that OOS tuition cost w/ financial aid is not looking good. Is NYU good with financial aid?</p>

<p>I am also a QB applicant, so I can apply to some pretty good schools via that. Problem is, I haven’t taken Subject Tests, which I need for most schools I’m trying to be matched to, I just emailed QB about how that will work.</p>

<p>Anyways, since my SAT might be a bit low for my top two schools, what would you think about taking the ACT as a standby student, on the 23rd? If I really practice, I’m sure I can score a 33+, how would this help my chances/aid at some schools?</p>

8

<p>33 is not a good enough ACT score to get you into the very top schools without a hook of some sort. However, it is probably good enough for Rose Hulman and Case Western.</p>

9

<p>Ok, thanks. I said 33 as a minimum, I’m sure I can score higher though.
Surely somewhere in the 33-36 range would help me a lot more than a 1380/2140 right? I would retake the SATs, but I have to use Nov. to take SAT IIs.</p>

10

<p>Look at some of the mid-level Big Ten schools. Your stats might garner more merit aid than at UM. I’d rule out Illinois because they are very stingy with oos for political reasons–politicians from the Chicago suburbs freaked out a couple of years ago when they planned on increasing oos enrollment. Take a look at Purdue, Ohio State and Penn State. All have excellent business and engineering colleges. I know that a 33 ACT and 98th percentile of your class will garner an honors invite and substantial merit aid from Ohio State.</p>

11

<p>I will look into those, thank you.</p>

<p>So assuming I have a 33/34 ACT instead of my SAT, what sort of schools should I look at then?</p>

12

<p>Gonna bump this before I leave, please help if you can.</p>

13

<p>Lehigh University has an honors program called IBE (Integrated Business & Engineering). It also includes at least one internship and a senior-year project. From what I hear firsthand, it is a great program.</p>

14

<p>Thanks, I’ll check that out. Anyone else?</p>

15

<p>BUMP10char</p>

16

<p>Harvey Mudd - superb engineering program</p>

17

<p>It’s a school I’ve definitely considered, but I don’t know if my stats are good enough.</p>

18

<p>Definitely see if you can get $ out of UF and FSU. You could also see if you can get Merit out of Miami, Northeastern, etc. 25-75 ranked engineering schools. In the end though, UF and FSU may end up providing you with the most $ due to being in-state.</p>

19

<p>And to answer your earlier question, NYU is lousy for FA.</p>

20

<p>Lehigh IBE is an honors program. It’s outstanding, but very difficult just to get in. They only take about 50 new students each year.</p>

<p>RIT has excellent engineering and business programs, including integrated/dual, with reasonable tuition and good merit aid. Most degree programs are 4-5 years including a year of paid co-op work. You will get valuable job experience, often leading to permanent job offers, or at least networking and building your resume. You will also be earning full time salary during co-op semesters, instead of spending on tuition. The net total cost of your education will likely be lower than your state school. Your stats place you above average for RIT, which is key for merit aid from those schools that offer it. Your income should qualify for financial add as well. Combined with your Florida residence (geographic diversity), RIT would be a strong match or even a safety for you.</p>