<p>I am a rising junior planning to major in Chemical Engineering who has narrowed her college choices to:</p>
<p>UC Berkeley
Georgia Tech
MIT
Stanford
UT - Austin
U of Minnesota</p>
<p>Obviously I have found great ChemE programs and don't consider out-of-state schools a limitation.I enjoy spending time in the lab, interning and conducting research. I also consider leisure a big factor in my choices. Student radio stations and community groups are some.</p>
<p>What great things does U of M offer to me?</p>
<p>Advice would be much help to me, so thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Before listing the advantages, hear me out on this: you need to pick a safety school where you are guaranteed admission and sufficient financial aid. You didn’t list your stats, but none of these schools are 100% guarantees (unless you are top x% in a Texas high school).</p>
<p>One good option is to apply as early as possible to Minnesota (rolling admissions). The U will likely notify you early enough to apply elsewhere if something unexpected happens.</p>
<p>Here’s my pitch:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A great CEMS department. The faculty are some of the top researchers in their respective fields. ChemE tends to attract the brightest, most competitive students in CSE.</p></li>
<li><p>Minnesota will probably be a very good financial bargain compared to these other schools, unless you have a low EFC and are admitted to MIT or Stanford.</p></li>
<li><p>As a large school - like UCB or UT - Minnesota will offer you a huge variety of choices in classes, activities, people, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>There are many opportunities for both community involvement and ChemE-related internships in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Do you have any specific questions?</p>
<p>Thank you for the response!</p>
<p>Here’s some of my stats:</p>
<p>Female/Hispanic/1st Generation
Out-of-State
Rising Junior</p>
<p>14 AP’s (a norm for my school’s students)
Georgia Tech Calculus II/III</p>
<p>Interned at Emory University Dept. of Chemistry 6 months
Science fair in school and county level – Chemistry 2 years
State award for computing aspirations
Model UN Delegate awards
Leads afternoon improv group
300+ volunteer hours</p>
<p>Model UN secretary, VP, Pres.
Member of Science Olympiad, Robotics and Google X Prize participant</p>
<p>I will take the SAT and ACT in the fall, so I’d like to know a competitive score for those.
I have a 3.7 GPA as of now. I am at a very rigorous school where rank is not reported. I’m probably 30-60/180. Will I be penalized for taking challenging courses and not having a 4.0, say for the National Scholarship?
Can I do undergrad research/co-ops, and what are some of your notable places for these?</p>
<p>My questions do sound rather broad, but U of M does seem like a competitive school with lots to offer, and I would love to be well-prepared and come out as a great applicant when the time comes.</p>
<p>Here is the [Academic</a> Profile](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/profile.html]Academic”>http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/profile.html) for this year’s admitted freshman class.</p>
<p>Did you take the PSAT? There are some good scholarship opportunities for National Merit Finalists. Your stats look good at this point, hard to say more without test scores.
See the [UROP</a> site](<a href=“http://www.urop.umn.edu/]UROP”>http://www.urop.umn.edu/) to learn about research opportunities. Many high-achieving freshman are granted URS scholarships to help facilitate research.</p>
<p>Also check out page 28 in the [CEMS</a> curriculum guide](<a href=“http://www.cems.umn.edu/downloads/ug/ChEn/ChEn_Curriculum_Guide.pdf]CEMS”>http://www.cems.umn.edu/downloads/ug/ChEn/ChEn_Curriculum_Guide.pdf). I don’t hear a lot about coops, honestly, but internships are very common for CSE students and graduates are in demand.</p>