Recommend some schools for me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey y'all. I'm a junior and I think I have my college list pretty much finalized, but just thought I'd throw out a line and see if I'm missing any gems.</p>

<p>Currently, I'm planning applying to my in-state safety school, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT, for various reasons - mostly the student life and culture and atmosphere, their strong science/engineering programs, and strong reputations.</p>

<p>About me: I'm an Asian (sucks) female (good for engineering :D) and I'm primarily interested in medical research and/or engineering. I did consider Johns Hopkins and Duke for these reasons, but my main concern there was that if a situation did arise where I decided I didn't want to do medical stuff, those two universities don't have much to offer elsewhere (please please PLEASE correct me if I'm mistaken). Thus, I was wondering if any of you knew of any other schools that have strong overall science programs (not just medicine) that you think I should consider?</p>

<p>Also, it would help if you gave me a rough idea of if it was a reach/match/safety for me. :D Here's a brief summary of my stats/ECs:</p>

<p>2400 combined SAT, 34 composite ACT w/ writing, 4 APUSH, 5 AP tests in the next two weeks (shoot me now, but I think I'll get 4s and 5s on all of them - 5s def. on calculus and chemistry), I'm in a mixed bag of average EC's - including debate, orchestra, tennis, science olympiad...</p>

<p>any advice on new colleges to consider is MUCH appreciated.</p>

<p>P.S. should I apply for Stanford just to round out the HYPSM? I'm thinking that I won't like california much, which is why I didn't apply...</p>

2

<p>Unless your instate safety is U Michigan or U VA (I’m assuming it’s not Cal), there’s a lot of room between that and your other choices. It does not sound as if you have that extra something that will hit the ad coms between the eyes. You may have a safety and some reaches, but you need some matches also. Could you explain what makes you tick, what is special about you? And what is your GPA and class rank?</p>

<p>And what about finances?</p>

3

<p>For the purposes of getting recommendations, let’s assume finances aren’t an issue. :)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 - can’t believe I forgot that! (that’s unweighted)
Class rank: my school doesn’t rank but I think a realistic estimate places me in the top 10, if not higher :)</p>

<p>What makes me tick: hmmm, I’m not sure how to put this in words, but I love love LOVE challenges. I’m one of those people that will sit down with an interesting math problem and work on it from different approaches until I solve it, and when I do I’ll be incredibly happy :slight_smile: You might have guessed that I love math - it’s my favorite subject by far and I do it for fun sometimes (not kidding, but not all the time either… not that nerdy :P). I really like working in groups, and I love helping other people and advising others - I tend to advise my sophomore/freshman friends a lot.</p>

<p>Obviously I’m really interested in science - if not medicine-related, definitely still something in that field. theoretical physics also interests me a lot.</p>

<p>What’s special about me… I’m considered one of the top debaters in my state (it’s hard to rank exactly, but I’m capable of beating all others on my state circuit, although we all beat each other at times), and I absolutely love debate. I’m generally an absolute nerd, although I’m not antisocial-read-in-a-corner nerd.</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I’m also doing an engineering internship this summer, which I’m really excited about.</p>

<p>Does that help? Feel free to ask more questions :)</p>

<p>And my safety is U Michigan… please correct me if I should not consider that a safety :3</p>

4

<p>As for Duke, I suspect it has plenty of other things to offer you if premed does not pan out. You may wish to add Rice to the list as well as Vanderbilt. I’m suggesting them because both offer significant merit aid to some students (but it isn’t simply a matter of test scores, and we don’t know all that much about you). Vanderbilt’s BME program is pretty well regarded, and more than a few of the BME students are planning on med school.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt is not really a safety anymore even for someone with high test scores, but its acceptance rate of 19% this year still makes it a safer bet than HYPS.</p>

<p>If you don’t like the idea of CA, why would you apply to Stanford?</p>

5

<p>You into any LAC’s? Look into Pomona, or Harvey Mudd, Pomona has a very strong chemistry dept. and Mudd is known as the king of engineering for the 5 C’s.</p>

6

<p>No, I’m not really “into” any LAC’s… I’ve considered it and I just don’t like the idea as much as being surrounded by science. :wink: Not that I don’t like HASS - I love history.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt and Rice… I don’t want to judge solely on merit scholarships, however. What do you know about their science programs in general? Engineering?</p>

7

<p>I’ll correct you, saying that JHU and Duke wouldn’t have much to offer beyond medical research and engineering means you have not done your homework. Both are much stronger in BME than any of the school’s on your current list unless your safety is UCSD.</p>

<p>I too would strongly consider some schools between HYP and your in state safety unless you love the safety. While HYP turn down many with your stats, the ‘lower’ ivies don’t nor do Duke, JHU, WashU and other schools on that level. Depending on income, these schools can also end up cheaper.</p>

8

<p>i definitely say consider rice :)</p>

<p>your numbers and ECs are about the same as mine. hopefully you write a good essay.</p>

<p>rice, vanderbilt, and harvey mudd should be good matches, maybe cornell. if you want some good solid safeties, look at UIUC and some of the UCs. CA weather is great stuff.</p>