<p>My parents did not grow up in America, so I'm having trouble picking out a well-balanced college list. I was hoping some of you could help me figure it out with my "stats". I'll be applying as a civil engineer major.</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.94
Weighted GPA: 4.53</p>
<p>AP Scores
Human Geo: 4
Euro: 4
Bio: 5
English Comp. and Lang. : 5
Chem: 5
Calc B/C: 5 (A/B subset: 5)</p>
<p>IB Diploma Candidate
Chem: 5</p>
<p>ACT
34</p>
<p>SAT 2
Math 2: 760
Chem: 720
Lit: 580 (I know, not so impressive.. I found out that I did not do an entire passage.. -_-)</p>
<p>ECs
Marching Band (2009-2013): Co-section Leader (2011-2013)
Band Council (2012-2013): Co-president
Invisible Children Club (2011-2012): President
Knitting Needles for Needy Peoples (2011-2013): President
Harry Potter Club (2009)
CSF (2011-2013)
Hospice of the Valleys Volunteer Club (2011-2013)</p>
<p>So here's my list :
REACHES (Pretty far reaches, I know..)
Stanford
MIT</p>
<p>MATCHES (I live in California, btw)
UC Berkeley (I thought this would be a reach for me, but my friends argued otherwise, so?)
USC (Same thing as UC Berkeley -_-)
Georgia Tech</p>
<p>SAFETIES
Arizona State University
Cal Poly SLO (I admit, this is probably not a safety for me)</p>
<p>As you can see, I'm unsure about a lot of them in terms of their placement on my list. My mom originally set a goal for me to apply to 6 colleges because of application fees, but I might apply through questbridge, so I'll have fee waivers for three universities of those for sure. Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>What about other UCs? Would you be willing to look at Davis or SD, both of which offer either civil or structural engineering?</p>
<p>Case Western could easily replace ASU. You’re virtually guaranteed admission at SLO since they basically only look at GPA/SAT, both of which you’ve done extremely well on.</p>
<p>If I get a fee waiver, I’d be willing to apply to UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UCLA as those have ABET accredited civil engineering programs. I love UCSD, but I’ve heard a B.S. in structural engineering isn’t the best idea as civil engineering is more broad and is better for job prospects, but that is just second hand information. However, out of the UCs, from what I’ve researched, Berkeley is the only one which offers a minor in architecture, which I really want to do. Thanks for the feedback. :)</p>
<p>barrk123 commented “UCB and USC can’t be considered good matches for anyone”</p>
<p>shanithebird deserves constructive comments. He is looking for guidance. This is not a game to him. Your comment is so steeped in prejudice it is truly irresponsible. I would hope shanithebird has the sense to listen to his friends who he has reason to truest and recognize there can be extreme, self-serving in some odd way bias from a minority of posters.</p>
<p>PAGRok, look at his stats. He got a 34 on the ACT and has a very high GPA. In that case, SLO should be considered a safety. If he had a 26, then maybe not, but he scored near perfect on the ACT. That puts him near the top of the Cal State eligibility index. SLO is competitive but it’s a numbers game, and his numbers are excellent.</p>
<p>Have you checked the net price calculators for the various colleges to see what need-based financial aid they will give and what your net price will be?</p>
<p>Georgia Tech will be expensive unless you get some large scholarship like the President’s.</p>
<p>Arizona State will be expensive for a non-resident, and the WUE discount does not apply to any major on its main (Tempe) campus.</p>
<p>Note with Questbridge: if you apply for National College Match and rank colleges, and one of the colleges gives you a scholarship through that, you have to attend that college.</p>
<p>You can get fee waivers via the schools or ncaac.</p>
<p>Make sure you apply EA to MIT. </p>
<p>You should also look at the net price calculators for each school and go through the financials with your family. Look for colleges that are need blind.</p>
<p>But note that some colleges that are need blind for admissions may not give sufficient financial aid, so that a needy student could get an acceptance that is useless because the college is unaffordable.</p>
<p>Just an idea… maybe pick a couple of these:</p>
<p>You could apply EA to:</p>
<p>MIT
U Chicago
Cal Tech
Notre Dame
Georgetown
Virginia
North Carolina
Boston College
St. Olaf</p>
<p>…all at the same time. They are all excellent schools, by varying degree (of course), and they all claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need.</p>
<p>None of them hold you to attend them upon acceptance, they are all (at least) pretty good schools, and you can make them fight over you with their financial aid offerings.</p>
<p>That is the ultimate EA package for someone who is unsure about where she wants to go and wants some really good financial aid (no loans, basically).</p>
<p>OP-Have you done a net price calculation yet? There are several schools that provide no loans for income under a certain level which is similar to the level of questbridge.</p>