Safeties, Matches, Reaches

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a rising Senior and I was hoping to get some feedback about my list of schools, I'm trying to narrow it done, but its so hard! The paranoia of not being accepted is extreme, but I need to slim things down a bit from my 15 schools!
I am a Florida resident, and Hispanic, and money is likely not going to be an issue for me.
I will also be a first generation college student
Also, I plan on majoring in biomedical engineering!
Well a brief over view of my stats:
UW: 3.75
W: 5.0
SAT: 2190 CR: 740 M: 760 W: 690
PSAT: 209
ACT: 33
Rank: 2/150
Heavy AP Course load (15 by Senior Year)
EC: I'd say a 5 on a scale from 1 to 10 (unless my consistent volunteering brings me up possibly?)
I do a good amount for my school, involved in clubs etc.
600 volunteer hours tutoring children (generally 2nd graders :))
In the running for National Merit
I'm a National Hispanic Recognition Scholar</p>

<p>So my list presently is as follows:
Safeties: FSU, UF
Matches: Carnegie Mellon, John Hopkins, Lehigh, Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Virginia, UCLA, USC
Reaches: Brown, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern (Applying ED), UC Berkeley and U Penn</p>

<p>Additionally, I really do not have much of a preference in terms of rural/suburban/urban.
I really love schools with great gothic architecture, and am dying to live on a stereotypical college campus if that helps. </p>

<p>What I would like to know is, are some of these schools not necessarily in the right category (ie. UCLA should be a reach) </p>

<p>AND I realize that since these are highly selective schools my chances are going to be slim no matter how much my stats "match" but I would like some feedback on what schools are superfluous (possibly due to my paranoia that I'll end up accepted no where and for such a reason need to make sure I have ALOT of options) so I can narrow down my options!</p>

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

2

<p>Just feel it necessary to warn you not to truly believe that all those schools you have denoted as such truly are “matches.” JHU, CMU, UVA, and even Lehigh, USC, and UCLA are all reaches of some degree for you whether it’s because you’re out of state or just because it’s Hopkins or Carnegie Mellon. Find more safeties and true matches.</p>

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<p>Yeah youre probably right, thank you!
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what those “true match” schools could be?</p>

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<p>Very important: what can your family afford? </p>

<p>Have you discussed the financial issue yet?</p>

5

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<p>Hopkins is a reach. Hopkins (especially if you’re set on BME), Duke, and Brown are the hardest schools on your list. Penn SEAS is less selective than the other schools at Penn. CMU, Michigan, UVA, and UCLA might also be reaches. </p>

<p>Maybe Georgia Tech is a true target.</p>

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<p>I would put Pitt on your list. You would likely get substantial scholarship there. You might even get a full ride because you are URM.</p>

<p>You say that money is not an issue. Money is always an issue unless you are being foolish…if you can get a full ride scholarship at a good university think how that $200,000+ could be better spent- trips abroad, travel, car, etc. </p>

<p>I would suggest you apply to HYP as well…you never know!</p>

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<p>“money is likely not going to be an issue for me.”</p>

<p>Sit your parents (or whoever else it is who will help you pay for college) down, and find out just exactly what they can afford. Can they pay $60,000 each year? Can they pay $30,000 each year? You really do need to know this figure.</p>

<p>You have good safety options in Florida. If you’d like more, your stats put you in the range for serious merit-based aid at some other institutions. Read through this, and see what you think: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>3.75 UW GPA (I’m confused how you can be a 3.75 UW and a 5.0 W)
2190 - 33 SAT/ACT
Ranked 2nd in class
Very Rigorous Course Load
Possible NMSF
National Hispanic Recognition Scholar</p>

<p>In my opinion as a URM your profile makes all the schools on your list very attainable. It also makes it difficult to truly “handicap” your chances. My questions:</p>

<p>Why so many OOS schools? I know they’re all good engineering programs, but are they so much better that Florida or FSU to warrant the potential doubling of cost? While you may get some merit money, the UCs and Michigan are somewhat notorious for being cheap with OOS aid. Just because your parents have the money doesn’t mean you should spend it arbitrarily. My gut is to keep Michigan and drop the rest (N.B>, I live in Ann Arbor and may be biased to MIchigan).</p>

<p>Are your really happy with the idea of Florida and FSU being your safeties? In the unlikely event that one of them is your only option will you be happy at either? You might want to consider someplace like Miami.</p>

<p>What about Northwestern makes it so compelling as to make it your ED choice? Do you really love it that much or is ED an admissions game? I suspect you’ll get admitted ED so this will eliminate our other options. </p>

<p>Brown, Cornell, Penn & Duke - Why? Have you visited? They are very different environments, are they on the list for name recognition or is there a specific reason for each? I’d choose two and drop two.</p>

<p>JHU, CMU & Lehigh - strong, smaller schools in cold weather; is that appealing to you?</p>

<p>USC - warm weather, far from home, strong engineering and very generous merit aid for NMSF/F. Also very diverse so your URM status may not have as much pull there as some of your other choices.</p>

<p>Answer those questions and I think you can get you list down to 8-9. If it were me I’d say:</p>

<p>Brown
Michigan
CMU
JHU
Penn
Northwestern
USC
UF
Miami</p>

<p>Given your profile, I see 5-6 yeses on that list.</p>

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<p>JHU and Duke have the two strongest BME programs in the counry. There is a compelling reason to choose them beyond the prestige (which, in my opinion, is a valid reason to go to a school).</p>

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<p>I think you can go for it, in terms of any school you want to give a shot. You are covered with your safeties, and they are both excellent schools. Just make sure you get those apps in early as state schools tend to fill up spots quickly and once they are full, getting a seat is nigh impossible even with sterling stats. You don’t have to worry about cost, you say, and yet you have good strong financial safeties.</p>

<p>So go right on ahead and apply where ever you want and then make your decision based on the results. Good luck. I think you’ll do just fine.</p>

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<p>As for schools like UCLA…you won’t get aid you may need. Ask your parents if they’ll pay the $50k per year to go there. </p>

<p>You say that you think money won’t be an issue, but unless your parents have said that they will pay $50k per year, it may turn out to be an issue. Ask your parents how much they’ll pay. </p>

<p>Being Hispanic will help for some schools, but not for others. Some schools have a high Hispanic enrollment. </p>

<p>The cut-off for Florida for National Merit has been around 210/211, so you won’t likely make NMF. </p>

<p>However, your stats are good enough for many schools. :)</p>

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<p>Very nice stats, SAT and ACT both 99th percentile, and being a URM and first-gen should give you an extra boost. I agree that a lot of the schools on your list are pretty reachy, but on the other hand given your stats and hook/plus factors I think you can be competitive at all of them.</p>

<p>I’d drop Brown. Great school, but not quite as strong in BME as some of the others. Of the schools on your list, Johns Hopkins and Duke are strongest in BME, with Penn not far behind. UC Berkeley, Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, UVA are all solid choices in that field, with Carnegie Mellon, USC, and UCLA just a slight notch back. Not sure about Lehigh.</p>

<p>I agree you should add some matches: Georgia Tech and Pitt are good suggestions. Also consider Case Western, very strong in BME and they’re known for giving good merit aid. You might also consider U Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue, all very strong engineering schools with good BME programs. Minnesota’s OOS tuition is pegged at $4,000 above the in-state rate, making it a great bargain for OOS students.</p>

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<p>Thank you all so much for your feedback!</p>

<p>On the issue of money, I’m sorry if I sound pretentious, I just mean to say that although my immediate family (My mother) does not make a substantially large income to pay for college at a $50000 per year university my grandfather is very wealthy and has agreed to pay for any college funding I cannot get on my own.
That being said of course I would like to get the most I can possibly get and save my family the trouble!</p>

<p>Rocknroll seriously?! I never realized how amazing being an URM is apparently. Is it really a substantial factor to most schools?! And I never even considered applying to HYP, I mean I would love to it just seems like I wouldn’t stand a chance, but I guess there is no harm in trying! </p>

<p>Happymom Thank you so much for that link! I didn’t realize it was so easy to receive scholarship money at some schools. Are there any specifically geared towards people like myself that I should know about (Hispanic, First Generation?)</p>

<p>Vinceh, so many schools are out of state because the only 2 colleges I have ever seen are UF and FSU and I really hate the atmosphere but they are objectively speaking two of Floridas best schools (along with UM). It may just be the always hot weather or the area surrounding Tally (for FSU), or the immensity of UF but for one reason or another is just does not appeal to me. But then I live in Miami and I absolutely HATE it. I’m originally from NY and MUCH prefer the cold weather/northern kind of place.
Honestly, I have never visited any school out of state (sadly) and alot of it was just name recognition although I hear Duke has a beautiful campus and a great engineering program. Duke shall stay :slight_smile: I don’t really have any preference towards the others…
Only reason against Miami, I am NOT staying at home. I don’t even want the opportunity. I’ll go to UF if I must haha.</p>

<p>Al6200 I should have figured such, thank you I will definitely switch it to a “Reach” school on my list (I have a very extensive list haha)</p>

<p>cptofthehouse Thank you so much for the encouragement! I only hope you’re right!! And my applications will be out VERY early. I’m a spazz about such things.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids Yeah I was very disappointed in myself following the PSAT, I could have done better but I felt terrible that day. Oh well! Do you happen to know possibly which schools would likely value my Hispanic-ness more? Probably schools like Northwestern and John Hopkins (which seem to be in not so hispanic-ly diverse areas?)</p>

<p>bclintonk I think you’re probably right on Brown, I think I’ve just been mesmerized by its open curriculum and liberal atmosphere but thats not enough to attend a school. Thank you for those options! I’m definitely going to look into Pitt and Georgia Tech sense theres seems to be consensus that they would work for me.</p>

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<p>Oh and Vinceh to explain my gpa I’ve received this question before and I guess it works differently in some places but in my school weighted gpa is on a 6.0 scale (6.0 being AP or dual enrollment credits passed with an “a”) if that is what you were asking :)</p>

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<p>Oh I just realized I didn’t answer an important question Vinceh!
I’ve really loved Northwestern since I found out about it and will visit in the fall to make sure I feel concretely interested, but I really adore the school. Its got a great engineering program, and it looks beautiful (from what I’ve seen online). I guess this is also mixed with a worry that if I don’t apply ED I won’t get in. It really seems to be a toss up with these top notch schools so I don’t really know what to expect…</p>

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<p>I completely understand your desire to get away, that said, places like Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Chicago can get very cold and snowy. Another “colder” school to think about: Notre Dame.</p>

<p>As for the state schools I still personally have a tough time getting my head around paying double for the same experience you can get at Florida. Regarding “Hispanic-ness”, I believe it will be an advantage at all your schools except for the UCs. I’m think that the California legislature passed a rule banning the consideration of race in any form. (Anyone know about this?)</p>

<p>Finally, remember that ED is binding and that you agree to withdraw all your applications to other schools if you’re accepted. So you need to be absolutely sure that Northwestern is where you want to be and realize that you’ll be giving up your shot at the other schools on your list.</p>

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<p>I read somewhere that being hispanic can give you an admissions advantage equivalent to 185 sat points (on a 1600 point scale). and since you already have stellar SAT scores…I think there is no limit to what you can “reach” for…</p>

<p>I personally know of two URM boys who were offered full ride scholarships to Pitt- unfortunately for their parents finances, each one was also accepted to one of HYP and decided to pay full freight for the more prestigious degree.</p>

<p>I would hesitate to apply somewhere ED when you could have many interesting possibilities to choose from. Your stats are great even without the URM advantage. You seem to be in a great position. Why not take advantage of all your options?</p>

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<p>Well, you’re not just paying for the “experience,” you’re paying for the education. Schools like UC Berkeley and Michigan have some of the very best engineering programs in the nation, and are heavily recruited by all the top employers. Florida and Florida State do not, and are not. That’s worth something. Quite a lot, IMO. Besides, the OP already said he doesn’t like Florida and would like to get out of there. That’s worth something, too. Nor is the campus environment the same. It’s just not. You have your head in the sand if you think it is.</p>

<p>What’s more, the cost for an OOS student is not always double at a public university. Michigan and Berkeley are expensive for OOS, but Wisconsin is cheaper, and Minnesota cheaper still. COA for a Florida resident at Florida State is $19,354. COA for an OOS student at Minnesota is $27,358. Minnesota has a top-25 engineering school and is top 25 for BME, the OP’s intended major. Florida State is not. I’d say that extra $8,004 a year to go to a much better school is easily worth it, especially since the OP’s grandfather has the money and doesn’t mind paying it. (Also, Minnesota does give some merit aid to OOS students, which a URM engineering student with top stats might qualify for). </p>

<p>There are tons of kids who get into $55K/year private schools who think they’re getting a great bargain if they only need to pay half the COA after FA. Minnesota for an OOS applicant costs half as much as a $55K/year private school. I’d say that makes it a great bargain except for the lowest-EFC applicants who would get more FA at one of the handful of elite privates that meet 100% of need. Especially for an engineering major. For liberal arts majors there may be an advantage to being in a private school with fewer students and more small classes and so on. For engineering majors there are enormous advantages to being at a top engineering school, public or private.</p>

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<p>Yeah like bclintonk said, I really do think that the education I’d receive would be worth the money. UF and FSU can’t compare to some of the schools I’m shooting for!
And I know Notre Dame is catholic. I do not know if this is a stupid question, but is it seriously catholic as in fairly conservative, with actual religious classes or is it just an affiliation kind of thing?
Yeah I really have to think about it, I love Northwestern but I would love to go to UC Berkeley, or Duke etc. I’m still debating whether losing the added security of ED at Northwestern is worth the risk of possibly not being accepted and ending up at UF…
(I know its not the worst thing in the world, but I’d rather avoid it!)
I am so glad to be hispanic then! Not that I wasn’t before or anything, but that is an amazing advantage that I never realized I had!
Although this is off topic, do you guys happen to have any other advice/wisdom to share on the admissions process?</p>

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<p>Oh, one more question, which 2, possibly 3 universities would be the best to visit, to get the most bang for my buck.
I will be able to visit 2-3 schools of my choosing this coming fall and I want to make smart decisions, I just don’t know how to go about picking the best ones…</p>