But do remember that % admits is only one and a quite imperfect measure. If it’s 30 percent. 70. Percent are rejected. 7 out of 10. That’s pretty selective. Also. Who are the 10 applying. If only 5 are qualified you are only collecting against that group. The others are not in the picture. This happens at lot of very famous schools where large amounts of solid kids but not competitive apply. If you are in the competitive group your competition is a smaller number. If all 10 are qualified the 30 percent school is in fact harder to get into. There are examples of both but it’s a digression. My only point is many use this as the most important indicator of selectivity. It’s Just one of many.
And even fairly high acceptance rates can be deceiving . Virginia Tech overall acceptance rate is high but there is some self selection with who applies . Engineering admissions are lower and there are still plenty of high stats kids, even instate , that are not admitted to engineering every year. Any school that uses holistic admissions can yield unexpected results. Might be best to treat any selective engineering school as a match, not safety. Strange things can happen in admissions at any fairly selective school.
Yes, I did not say that VT was a safety, only that it would strengthen the better-odds end of OP’s current list.
There are plenty of true safeties, but it’s hard to just suggest which ones are “best” from a pool of many, many schools nationwide. I mean, I could say that I know several students who have been very happy and successful at Portland State (OR), which is about as different an environment from A&M as you can imagine, and has virtually-open admissions and a pretty affordable OOS price. But that’s just one example, and it all depends where the student wants to be and what other attributes they’re looking for in a school. A big-merit-aid STEM school? UA Huntsville. NYC? CCNY. Boston area? UMass Lowell is rising fast in EECS reputation. But OP needs to narrow down what kind of safety would be most desirable.
@isthisboreal, Cal Poly SLO admits competitively by major, with some admitting nearly everyone who applies, while others are hyper selective. This year CP had over 5000 applicants for 100 CS slots. It is a reach for every applicant, in state or out.
Safeties should be schools that are not selective at all. That means acceptance rates WAY north of 50%, no matter how qualified the applicant is. They should also be affordable. In a perfect world, they should also be in the hunt for the top choice. If well vetted, they will be. Every year, students are locked out with zero acceptances. It’s because they overestimated their ability to get into their safety. By using the criteria above, that will never be an issue.
Since the OP is in Texas with a top 4.2% rank, s/he meets the published automatic admission criteria at every Texas public university. So any of these which are affordable and where EE and CS are not more competitive majors can be a safety.
Also, Rose-Hulman would be a good private safety. (Maybe low-low-match if male? Safety for sure if female.)
And echoing the whole range of Colorado publics as good backup choices: CU Boulder, Colorado State, Mines, CU Denver… easy to get to from TX but a complete change of scene.
BUT… OP, you need to clarify in your mind, what your real “safety” plan should look like. You don’t want to end up paying top-choice prices for a school you’re not excited about. Maybe one of the automatic merit schools you could go to for free would be your best backup. Maybe just going to one of your less-preferred in-state choices with a goal of transferring (unless you end up liking it after all) is your best backup. Or maybe there’s a mid-priced OOS less-competitive school that stands out as a place you know you could be happy to go. All of these categories are legitimate choices, but you need at least one in your pocket for prudence and peace of mind.
Would someone be so kind to tell me a bit more about Rose hulman? I have to admit it’s not on my radar and have heard good things on CC
I don’t know much about it in terms of academics except to know it is well regarded in engineering. We drove through it on a driving trip from St. Louis to Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. Nice campus, but on the outskirts of Terre Haute. Definitely not an urban environment if that is important to someone.
It is a small (about 2,202 undergraduates plus a few master’s degree students) private engineering focused school. College Navigator data lists 526 bachelor’s graduates in a recent year, with 449 in engineering majors and another 50 in computing majors. It also suggests that its financial aid is not good, with average net price of over $30,000 for students from the $0 to $30,000 family income range, and only 13% of students are on Pell grants.
If rankings mean anything to you, Rose routinely finishes near the top for engineering programs that do not offer doctoral degrees. It’s location, Terre Haute leaves some nonplussed. They also have a pretty significant imbalance in M:F ratio.
Yes, RHIT is not a good choice for low-income students who need significant need-based aid - they’re not super well-endowed and only meet about 70% of documented need. It’s also not one of the “darling of the 1%” type schools that is exceedingly top-heavy with super-wealthy full-pay students. But 53% are from the top 20% income bracket and median family income is $117K. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/rose-hulman-institute-of-technology A “vast majority” of students receive either merit or need-based aid… so relatively few pay the full $70K-ish sticker price, but many pay a post-merit amount in the $50-60K range.
Is the education on a par with the cost? It has a very good reputation in STEM and is known for having an engaging, hands-on approach. I’m sure if the exact same school and programs were located in an urban locale that is popular with students, it would be far more competitive to get into; but not everybody wants a small, STEM-specialty school in rural Indiana. One way they attract students is by having an excellent pre-college summer program (Operation Catapult) that sells participants on the school.
It’s been very gender-imbalanced in the past but it’s gradually doing a better job of attracting women.
I know a CA kid who did the summer program, attended RHIT, got good internships in Silicon Valley and ended up with a job with one of those internship companies. Others in his family have attended top-20 STEM schools, and even with those points of direct comparison they’ve been very impressed with the education at RHIT. It can be a good choice for students that it makes sense for financially, academically (you have to be sure about STEM and like their educational philosophy and vibe), and socially (a bit gender-imbalance and on the quirky-nerdy side).
Thx. Interesting. Learned something new today which always nice.
OP, if money is not a factor, you don’t need more schools, except that you are missing MIT and you are a legitimate candidate. Otherwise, you have a nice list. Aren’t there other University of Texas schools with a guaranteed transfer to UT-Austin. I recall someone getting into UTSA and having a guarantee transfer. Frankly I’d be surprised if you got shut out of any of the public schools on your list if you apply early. I would have said Purdue is a safety if you apply early.
I don’t think they are worried about acceptance shutout. Per the original post, they aren’t excited about A&M and worried about getting into the desired major after admission at UT.
I’d only add safeties like Alabama, where it is a direct admit into your Engineering major and gives good scholarships.
Some schools I know with direct admit and scholarship:
Alabama
Ohio University
Pitt - varies in merit, but I think it would be good
Ole Miss
Thank you so much for all your help! Cost isn’t that much of a problem, but it would be nice to get a scholarship especially if it is a saftey school. Since some of you are saying I have little to no chance of getting into my desired schools, do you think I should apply to some more reachable schools?
I think that you have a decent chance at all of your schools. You have a terrific record and a well balanced list. You can drive yourself crazy with negativity.
If cost isn’t an issue, you don’t need merit aid and I don’t think you should compromise on the quality of the school.
Honestly, I really can’t imagine you not getting into Purdue. Really. While it may be a safety and not that hard to get in, you can rest assured that it’s hard to get out.
For the public schools, make sure that you apply as early as you can in the fall. Some of them have rolling admissions and it gets harder to get in the longer you wait. But can’t imagine you not getting into Purdue.
I think that you are likely to get into some of the others too, especially public schools. Private schools are a little less predictable, but somebody must get in. Why not you?
OP: No need to retake your SAT 1500 since you have a 35 ACT score.