Reaches (but not super-reaches) for a girl in engineering?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I suck at finding schools for myself. Help?</p>

<p>Gender: F
Location: NJ
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public
High School Type: sends many(ish) grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.71
Class Rank: top 25% (my school is crazy competitive)
Class Size: 231</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 800/740
SAT I Critical Reading: 650/690
SAT I Writing: 720/800
(two sittings; super-score = 2290)</p>

<p>SAT II Literature: 580 lol, don't judge me. I like to pretend it never happened, but whatever
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 780
SAT II Physics: 650 (retaking)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>work/volunteer with autistic kids, internship at scholastic, amnesty intl (lots of involvement), cross country & track (not recruited), arts (love them), engineering (SWE... doing AMC for the first time this year tho. I know, it's sad!)
Athletic Status - list sport and your level: V cross country, JV track
Volunteer/Service Work: lots @ a special school. worked with a support business before (I was a "secretary" lol). lots of in-school stuff, but that kind of goes with extracurrics in my opinion
Honors and Awards: the usual -- NHS, NFHS, national merit commended. nothing special, sorry to say
AP Physics B, AP Calc AB, IB World Lit (2 yr)</p>

<p>Hook: girl in engineering?</p>

<p>I don't think I have a shot @ any ivies. What I'm looking for: respectable engineering school reaches (or high matches). I want something somewhat realistic... but good lol. Already applying to Carnegie Mellon, Olin, Villanova, MIT, and Duke because I like them. Basically, as you can see, I'm pretty bad at deciding what schools are reaches/matches/etc. So I desperately need help finding a reach/high-match engineering school that I think I'd enjoy :P What's a likely school I could get into with stats like mine? Sorry if this sounds stupid..or worse... vague, but I just thought I'd put this thread out there.</p>

<p>Thanks for any responses in advance!</p>

2

<p>try Harvey Mudd College</p>

<p>Are there any preferences into where you want to go to school, size of school, type of school etc… </p>

<p>I can give you some options if you have any preferences since there are millions of engineering schools out there</p>

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<p>I’m pretty good about everything except rural lol. urban or suburban would be fine. most importantly, I’d like northeastern schools (can’t afford plane rides).</p>

<p>and maybe a school where you can do take liberal arts-ish classes or do cross-registration for non-engineering classes, in case those get tiring after a while. :/</p>

<p>thanks a lot for your help. you seem to know what you’re talking about lol</p>

4

<p>Your 800 on the math SATs is huge. Don’t sell yourself short.
Consider Cornell for engineering. I think you have a shot. I think Cornell is the best engineering program in the Ivies and one of the two best for overall undergrad experience in engineering in the country.</p>

5

<p>Rice sounds like a good fit, except it’s not in the Northeast (Houston)</p>

6

<p>Look at Swarthmore. Excellent engineering in a fabulous liberal arts school.</p>

7

<p>Here are some schools that you should look at:</p>

<p>Boston Unversity
Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
Clarkson University
Columbia University
Cooper Union
Cornell University
Drexel University
Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering
Harvard College
Johns Hopkins University
Lehigh University
MIT
New Jersey Institute Of Technology
Northeastern University
Penn State
Princeton
Rochester Institute Of Technology
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Buffalo
Stevens Institute Of Technology
University Of Massachusetts
Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>

8

<p>ok looking back at this, I realized I included some really high reach schools such as Harvard, Columbia, Princeton etc…</p>

<p>Safeties for you would be like RPI, UMass etc…</p>

<p>The rest are good matches</p>

<p>Good Luck! (feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions)</p>

9

<p>I know Tufts has engineering, but don’t know much about their programs in that area. They also have the Ex college, where you can take fun classes.</p>

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<p>Reaches</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays
Carnegie Mellon University Tartans
Rice University Owls
Cornell University Big Red
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets </p>

<p>Matches</p>

<p>Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions
University of Rochester Yellow Jackets
Drexel University Dragons
The Cooper Union
New York University Violets</p>

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<p>Cooper Union is a super-reach, just as hard to get in as Olin</p>

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<p>Is it really? Sorry, I don’t know that much about engineering schools.</p>

13

<p>Smith. An extrordinary program, and the ONLY engineering school in the country that, with a 3.5 GPA guarantees graduate engineering school admissions at Dartmouth, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Princeton, and UMichigan.</p>

<p>[Smith</a> College: Picker Engineering Program](<a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/what.php]Smith”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/what.php)
[Smith</a> College: Picker Engineering Program](<a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who.php]Smith”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who.php)</p>

14

<p>Are you interested in any particular type of engineering?</p>

<p>Cornell would seem like a good reach.</p>

15

<p>Wow you guys are awesome :o Wasn’t expecting this response – and so quickly lol</p>

<p>Cornell engineering? Interesting! That actually sounds like a good one. It would be difficult though, hmm. Do you seriously think I have a shot there? It is an Ivy league school!</p>

<p>I wish Smith were co-ed :(</p>

<p>Visited Tufts; didn’t quite like the atmosphere… seemed a little poor-little-rich-kid-esque :s if that makes any sense whatsoever.</p>

<p>Quickish question: Would I be able to pay for these schools too? Our family income is around 65-70K annually, and I’m working on attaining scholarships now, but with the economy the way it is and such, I’d rather not make my parents spend anymore $ than they have to. :/</p>

<p>Thanks sooo much! A lot of these schools I already looked into, but several I never seriously considered before!</p>

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<p>Smith meets 100% of need. Our income was roughly the same: it was cheaper to send my d. to Smith than to have her live at home and attend the community college.</p>

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<p>I’m not certain if Rice meets 100% of need - I’m fairly certain they do - but their tuition+room+board is much less than average, and is known as more of the “affordable” private school. Their engineering isn’t quite MIT-level (but who is?), but it should give you the balance you’re looking for in terms of not being 100% hardcore math/science 24/7.</p>

18

<p>:D wow what kind of engineering u take</p>

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<p>Cooper Union Teamsters??</p>

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<p>Yes it’s a hook. Girls have over double (maybe triple now?) the acceptance rate as guys at places like MIT.</p>