Time to get serious

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a junior and I just received my SAT results today, so that means I have to start thinking about my college list, even if it isn't narrowed down yet. </p>

<p>Here are some stats:
SAT: 2350 both single-sitting and superscore (750CR, 800M, 800W)
SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry
GPA: 97 UW, 100 W
APs: Chem, Physics B, Econ (both), Calc AB, Calc BC, Bio, Stat, Spanish
ECs: multiple high-up leadership positions, 120+ hours at Special Olympics, NHS, academic teams, 7 years of tennis, and more</p>

<p>I have done 2 research internships, one at a university and one at a hospital/research center.</p>

<p>Major: still deciding between science (chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience, or something similar) and engineering (chemical, nuclear). I'm not completely sure which one to do, so I would like a university that does not have separate science and engineering schools, or where it is easy to transfer between the schools (just in case).</p>

<p>Info for safeties: need-based aid is unlikely, but my parents have been saving up and have told me not to consider cost when looking at colleges. I live in NJ, but my family will be moving out of state right after I graduate high school so I'm not sure if in-state tuition applies to me.</p>

<p>Some colleges that I have been thinking about (please help re-classify if necessary):</p>

<p>Reach-
MIT
Stanford
Caltech
Princeton
Cornell
Duke</p>

<p>Match-
Rice
Wash U (St. Louis)
Northwestern
UC Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
Michigan **double legacy</p>

<p>Safety-
Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
Georgia Tech
Case Western</p>

<p>Note: I would prefer campuses that are more secluded and quiet like Cornell's or Princeton's, but there are certain exceptions.</p>

<p>I tried to be thorough, but if I missed anything please comment below. Thanks for taking a look!</p>

2

<p>Why anyone would pay OOS money cash-strapped UCBerkeley is beyond me. </p>

<p>Reach (<35% chance
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Rice
Duke
WUSTL (who they take is not predictable on stats). </p>

<p>Match (35-95%)
CalTech (stats matter a lot and you have them)
Cornell
Northwestern
UC Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
Michigan **double legacy</p>

<p>Safety (95%+)
Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
Georgia Tech
Case Western</p>

<p>It’s much easier to go from engineering to science than vice versa.</p>

3

<p>I do think that with Michigan on your list as a double legacy, it is probably a better choice than Berkeley these days because of what CRD said about them being cash strapped. I think your list looks pretty good, although Caltech is a reach even for those with great stats – I still think it belongs on the “reach” portion of your list. But I think Duke and Rice are probably high matches.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the help. Any more opinions?</p>

5

<p>I have no idea how CRD has Caltech as a match. They accepted <12% last year and ECs, essay, character and recs are weighted the same as scores. <a href=“http://finance.caltech.edu/documents/178-cds2013_final.pdf[/url]”>http://finance.caltech.edu/documents/178-cds2013_final.pdf&lt;/a&gt; It’s a reach.</p>

6

<p>That’s what they say, but in practice they have been more stats oriented than other top schools. OP has terrific stats and they must be at the upper end of applicants anywhere. </p>

<p>I know I’m going out on a limb, but I think OP has the goods for CalTech. </p>

<p>From our Naviance, my D was a match for a few uber top schools that people here think are “reaches for everyone”. She got into her matches, and didn’t get into her reaches. </p>

<p>Some top schools are not reach schools for everyone.</p>

7

<p>How do I decide between science and engineering? Knowing what I want to do would make this easier.</p>

8

<p>On deciding:</p>

<p>During uour internships, did anything about the experiences stand out as desirable, particularly interesting or undesirable? </p>

<p>If you are near a university, you can probably arrange tours of eng and science depts to learn more about 4year class plans, typical jobs grads end up in, work conditions, etc. </p>

<p>Can you arrange job shadows? Does your family know scientists and engineers you can talk to about career paths? Do you want to go to graduate school? If you stay within a science area, I suspect you’d end up wanting to go to grad school in order to obtain more desirable jobs. As far as I can tell , more job diversity is open to engineers with four year degrees.</p>

9

<p>Choose engineering for now. </p>

<p>At most schools, the first year is almost the same. The engineer might have some extra classes. Should you eventually decide that you prefer science, it’s usually pretty easy to switch. </p>

<p>The prerequisite tree in engineering is usually much deeper. It’s much harder to start in science and then decide to do engineering later because of that deep prerequisite tree.</p>

10

<p>I suspect the OP is male… which reduces the acceptance rate at Caltech a bit further than 12%, I bet.</p>

11

<p>^^ What CRD said. </p>

<p>The one exception might be physics, since it the one pure science field that has similar, but often greater, math requirements. And every engineer needs to take at least two semesters of physics anyway. Just keep an eye on what engineering requires as far as prereqs go, and maintain that pace if you go this route. </p>

<p>The real time to decide comes when things like the other engineering unique courses outside your major start to show up, like statics and dynamics.</p>

12

<p>Carnegie Mellon: You have to apply to the engineering college or college of arts and sciences or college of computer science, etc. You can specify a first and second (at least) choice on the app but transferring may not be easy, esp to a harder to get into college from an easier to get into one. So if that flexibility is important to you, CMU is probably not a good pick.</p>

<p>…and if SCS is on the list, that’s a definite reach for everyone. Not too easy to get into engineering there either.</p>

13

<p>Below are a few Caltech outcomes from the CC Stats Profiles.</p>

<p>800M…790CR…790W…top 5%…4.00…Waitlisted
780M…800CR…800W…top 5%…4.00…Waitlisted
780M…740CR…770W…(N/A)…4.00…Waitlisted</p>

<p>Caltech’s 75th percentile SATs are tied for #1 in the country (according to stateuniversity.com data). Rice and Duke have higher admit rates as well as lower average scores.</p>

<p>(Which is not to say I’d consider Rice or Duke a “match” for anyone, either.)</p>

14

<p>You seem like a very good fit for the University of Rochester. Suggest you look at their website.</p>

15

<p>Being female would also help for an engineering major. I think your matches and reaches should be one list as your matches are just as big a crapshoot as your reaches. My daughter was admitted to Yale and waitlisted at Northwestern, CMU is incredibly difficult to get into, not a match for anyone. I do think you should get into some of your choices but not based on your match and reach list.</p>

<p>Also, I’m pretty sure CMU is not the best place for someone who is not certain of their major. At least when my daughter was touring colleges each department was very separate with no crossover possibilities. That was about 6 years ago, so maybe somethings have changed.</p>

16

<p>^ no, still like that. If you want to switch from, say, chemistry to engineering, you have to apply because they are in different colleges.</p>

17

<p>I’ll try to address some of the questions that have been asked:</p>

<p>My family knows a chemical engineer (by training) so I could probably talk to him about what his experience was like. As for pure chemistry, I can talk to my sophomore year AP Chem teacher because she initially went to industry after getting her PhD.</p>

<p>I do plan to go to graduate school after I complete my bachelors degree.</p>

<p>I am male, which is one of the reasons why I thought that CalTech should stay a reach.</p>

<p>A couple more questions:
-If I decide to major in chemistry, would a double major with economics help me find a job? I have heard that the job market for chemists (even PhDs) is declining, so I am worried about getting a useless degree.</p>

<p>-One strategy to pick a major is to envision what job you would like to have in the future, and then work backwards from there to determine what major would help you achieve that. Do you support this approach?</p>

18

<p>Can anyone help me out with these two questions?</p>

19

<p>I know that others won’t agree, but I do think that future job prospects should be a consideration when choosing a major unless you’re a trust-fund baby who won’t even have to support yourself. </p>

<p>Obviously, a ChemE degree is far more marketable than a Chem degree (PhD or not). Without the PhD, a chem degree won’t get you far. With just a ChemE BS, you can get a highly paid position.</p>

<p>My son graduated with a ChemE degree last May. Yes, it’s a very challenging degree, but also very marketable. I think it was very good for my son because it developed his thinking, problem-solving, and reasoning skills. He’s now in med school, but if he had chosen to enter the private sector, he would have been immediately employed.</p>

20

<p>good stats</p>