<p>I'm a rising senior and I need help deciding which colleges to apply to. Reaches and safeties are welcomed. </p>
<p>Some Stats:</p>
<p>Weighted GPA: 4.63ish
Unweighted GPA: 3.97ish
Rank: 8/285ish
(Sorry, my school isn't very good at telling us our stats)</p>
<p>SAT I: 2010 (Math-740, CR-600, W-640) WILL RETAKE
SAT IIs: Math II- 800, Chem - 760, USH - 670 (DK if i should mention this score)
ACT: 30 WILL RETAKE</p>
<p>AP:
Calculus AB 5
Calculus BC 5 (with AB subscore 5)
Chemistry AP 5
English Lang and Comp - 4</p>
<p>Extra Curricular/Clubs/Leadership/other:
- Beta Club (10th-12th)
- Habitat for Humanity Club(9th)
- Mu Alpha Theta (9-12)
- Epidemiology Club (10-12)
- Science Club (10-12)
- Engineering Club (11-12) [new club during 11th grade]
- National Honor Society (12th school only allows 12th graders to join)
- Violin : played since 5th grade till 10th. stopped b/c my 11th grade schedule couldnt fit it
- Epidemiology Club Historian (11th)
- Epidemiology Club Treasurer (12th)
- Volunteered for 60+ hrs at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital (10)</p>
<p>I live in Louisiana and go to one of the top public magnet schools in the state. I try and take all the hardest AP/honors courses I can. I'm Asian-American. I've only gotten 1 B and the rest are As. My EC's are spectacular and my leadership is lacking. </p>
<p>I honestly do not know what I want to major in, but I am looking at chemical engineering. If not, then I will pick some other engineering or science. So any schools with flexibility in switching majors are welcomed.</p>
<p>My considerations so far:
Washington U at St. Louis
Louisiana State U
Tulane U
Rice U
Georgia Tech
MIT
Cornell
UC Berkeley
Emory U
U of Rochester
Standford
UT Austin</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>You have a very similar resume to mine, id suggest you look at my thread and see what some of the people there have said. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/965015-help-picking-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/965015-help-picking-colleges.html</a></p>
<p>Also, here’s a message someone sent me with some ideas:</p>
<p>Cooper Union (NYC/I think their admitted students get free tuition), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Case Western (good with merit money), Rose Hulman (IN), Purdue, Georgia Tech, WUSTL, Rice (good with merit money) Lehigh ¶, Lafayette ¶, Bucknell ¶, Michigan, Illinois, UCB, Notre Dame, University of Rochester (elite school in upstate NY that is very good with merit money) and Union (NY)</p>
<p>Look at Northwestern for ChemE. You have flexibility in changing majors and schools. The first year curriculum is AMAZING and the major is very marketable.</p>
<p>I suspect you already know that your grades are excellent, your SAT/ACT not as much. On a national average basis of course the test scores are very good, but for WUSTL, Northwestern, Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, Emory, and MIT, they would be on the low side. If you get it up to at least 2100 it gives you a better shot at these schools. They are, of course, hard to get into anyway, but a very long shot for you as things stand right now. UT for engineering also very tough. Rice is tough too, but I think they place less emphasis on the SAT/ACT although I am not sure about that. Rochester and GT I think you are OK, and Tulane should be no problem; you will get offered some merit money at Tulane with your current stats, more if you get them up to 2100+. Extremely easy to change majors at Tulane because everything is under Newcomb-Tulane College. The different schools like Science & Engineering, Liberal Arts, etc. “control” the curriculum for the majors under their school, but do not have separate admissions. LSU is, of course, your ultimate safety.</p>
<p>It is a very good list. You could add Michigan as a reach, and Clemson as a match. All the schools you mention except for LSU are urban, so Clemson might be too rural for you. Ann Arbor won’t feel rural at all.</p>
<p>If you apply to Clemson, I think you’ll be able to get a scholarship where you are eligible to pay in-state tuition. (top 10% of your class and a 1350/1600 on SAT I believe) So if you need a financial safety, that’s a good place to look. We have a great engineering program at Clemson (most popular major on campus)</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions about Clemson!</p>
<p>Hey pierre, I thought you would like it that I threw Clemson into the mix!</p>
<p>BTW, technically at this point he is at 1340/1600 on the SAT, but hopefully he will raise it anyway, as was discussed.</p>
<p>And asking my usual question, what can your parents afford?</p>
<p>^we’re all lucky to have Erin’s Dad ask this question every time because we always forget :)</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for all your feedback! I really appreciate it! :)</p>
<p>I am aiming for 2200 on SAT, but hoping for at least 2100 on my next try. Wish me luck! </p>
<p>To Erin’s Dad, my parents make around $65,000. However, they pay a lot of medical expenses b/c of a family member’s condition (I dont want to mention it), so my parents can only afford some, but not a lot.</p>
<p>And one more thing, I made a typo in my first post: My EC’s AREN’T spectacular. (Just decent) Sorry for the error. :(</p>
<p>^most public schools don’t really care about EC’s (except the really good ones). Most large public schools just throw your class rank, GPA and SAT/ACT scores into a formula to see who gets in.</p>
<p>I rather agree with that, pierre, for general admissions. But don’t you think for some competitive scholarships they might make some difference? Not the scholarships that are guaranteed if you have certain stats, of course, but ones where they award X number of them but X+1000 apply.</p>
<p>LSU and Tulane are good choices. LSU should be a safety. Drop UCB and UTx, you won’t get any money. I doubt you’ll get anything from UMich either. Rendanator has a couple of good schools there. For a lower tier safety (though I don’t know how much FA or merit aid you’d get) you can look at WPI.</p>
<p>yes for very competitive scholarships, they will make a difference and you should put EC’s on your application if there’s a space for that. But for the most part, for large public schools, you should focus on your grades and test scores.</p>
<p>U of South Carolina Honors College!</p>
<p>best campus in the nation. The horseshoe is amazing!
you should definitely visit. The honors college is just as good if not better than any of the schools you’ve listed too.</p>
<p>Clemson also has the Calhoun Honors College which is amazing as well!</p>