What are good safeties for an Ivy engineering hopeful?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a caucasian female senior interested in engineering. In making my college list, I've established quite a few reaches, a few matches, but only one or two safeties, both of which I would only go to in the very worst case scenario. </p>

<p>I have the scores, grades, ECs, etc. necessary for HYPS, but I acknowledge and accept the fact that Ivy admission is a CRAPSHOOT. If the worst should happen and I am rejected by all of my reaches and matches, I want to have a decent safety to fall back on that I actually would like going to. </p>

<p>Currently, my list is (roughly in order of interest; R=Reach, M=Match, S=Safety):</p>

<p>Princeton -R
Yale -R
Stanford -R
Brown -R
Columbia -R
Duke -R
Dartmouth -R
MIT -R
UPenn -R
Harvard -R
Cornell -M
Johns Hopkins -M
Rice -M
Harvey Mudd -M/S?
Northwestern -M/S?
Bucknell -S
Case Western Reserve -S</p>

<p>I will narrow this down some more before applying, but I would like to replace my safeties. People have suggested Kenyon and Reed as great safeties, and they would be, except for the fact that engineering basically doesn't exist there. </p>

<p>Bucknell is ok, but I am not at all really that enthusiastic about it. Case is just too d*** close to home; my mom actually works across the street from it. </p>

<p>I am quite liberal, so no Rose-Hulman; I am very interested in liberal arts classes outside of my engineering, so no exclusively "techie" school. My ideal school size is 3,500-7,000.</p>

<p>Any ideas? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Carnegie Mellon, RPI, Tufts or even USC (too large?).</p>

3

<p>Just wondering, have you researched all the schools? As I can see you're applying to every Ivy and whenever I see that all I can think is either this person is very easy to please or this person hasn't researched their schools enough. I'm not trying to be judgmental but you have to realize while these 8 schools are all members of the same athletic conference, they are widely different especially in engineering. I think on CC the most highly regarded Ivy engineering programs are Cornell and Columbia. Since you have expressed a desire to pursue a liberal arts education, you might want to consider Brown where aside from your engineering concentration you can study whatever you please allowing you to pursue both engineering and a liberal arts education (also realize I'm biased towards Brown because I go there). I don't know much about the rest except that at Dartmouth it takes 5 years to complete their engineering program. </p>

<p>Other than that, how are you financial aid wise? I noticed you have a lot of expensive private schools on this list and no state colleges. Are you going to need financial aid? If so, try an EFC calculator to get a rough estimate of how much you will be expected to pay.</p>

4

<p>What kind of engineering are you looking for?</p>

<p>If biomed, just know that JHU is probably a reach for you as well.
I second that if you're really interested in engineering, you should really take a closer look at the Ivy schools- they're not known for engineering (sans Col. and Cornell) for a reason.</p>

5

<p>Take a look at Michigan and Boston University.</p>

6

<p>Northwestern is not a Match/Safety for anyone…it would be a Match if you have the stats for HYPS</p>

7

<p>For engineering, you should scratch Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown off your list. They are not strong in engineering. Stanford, Harvey Mudd, and Rice are far from home. I'd scratch them, too.</p>

<p>Safeties? Maybe Ohio State and U Rochester. RPI, Lehigh.</p>

8

<p>What about RPI?</p>

9

<p>js416256:
Yes, extensively. This past spring I visited Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Brown, BU, Wellesley, and Tufts. When I say I want a good school for engineering, I mean I would like a school that has a respectable engineering program; I'm not looking so much for world-renowned top notch engineering departments because, in all honesty, a B.S.E. doesn't do you a whole lot of good. You pretty have to have a Master's in order to do anything worthwhile in engineering. For this reason, as long as I have a decent B.S.E., I will be fine since I will be going for my Master's. However, a LAC won't cut it, and I'm having trouble finding good safeties that are about the size I want and have a decent engineering department. </p>

<p>See, in choosing a college, the social experience and the academics are just about equal in my priorities. This is why I am willing to go to a school that isn't necessarily a powerhouse in engineering if it has the environment I'm looking for.</p>

<p>Also, I will be needing some financial aid, but I am not destitute. I know Princeton and a few others have very, very good need-based grants. Money is an issue, but not a core one. </p>

<p>Johnson181:
I may be going for biomed, but I'm not sure yet. If this turns out to be the case, then yes, JH would become a reach. </p>

<p>collegehelp:
see above, and I am fine with going far from home. I've considered the pros and cons, and I've decided that I can do it. What about kids from overseas? They're pretty far from home...</p>

<p>twinmom:
Those are possibilities. Thanks!</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
in all honesty, a B.S.E. doesn't do you a whole lot of good.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If you're considering biomed, you're probably also considering chem. Generally, while biomed is pretty much useless without a masters, chem. engineers who only have a B.S. tend to do quite well for themselves.</p>

<p>Do you have any objections to a 3-2 program? (I know I did/do). If you don't, however, some LAC's may be worth a look. Especially if you have a lot of AP credit that would cut that right back down to 4 years.
One of the schools I was briefly interested in (Rhodes, I believe) actually offered a 3-2 that was different from the typical 3-2. Instead of only obtaining a B.S., you also get an M.S. (I could be entirely wrong on that being Rhodes though).
^If you're a decent applicant for HYPSM, Rhodes is most likely a good safety for you, and would probably offer a lot of merit aid.</p>

11

<p>FYI...
we had a girl val last year with a 33 ACT get rejected at cornell, JHU, NU, and duke for engineering as well</p>

<p>She had decent ECs (job took up most of her time). Consider that when planning your schools</p>

12

<p>1mx don't say that.
That only gets me worried. And I consider myself rather realistic on college apps.
Hopefully my hook will be good enough to get me in...</p>

13

<p>You are applying to Yale and Brown for engineering?...</p>

<p>Go do some research first.</p>

14

<p>Uhh, if you want a top notch engineering program go to Mudd. LAC environment makes learning amazing. Totally worth the $$$. And it is at least a match if JHU and Cornell are matches.</p>

15

<p>I would strike Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, and Princeton off your list if you are looking at engineering. they are great schools but are certainly not known in those areas unless you are perhaps looking at investment banking (at which pt keep Princeton) Harvard is also on the edge for this one.</p>

<p>Also regarding difficulty, I would rank Harvey Mudd harder to get into than Rice and Cornell, probably around Duke. I may seem like I am peddling my school with that, but I am just saying what it seems like from the admissions patterns I've seen from my high school. NW is probably a match based on ur other rankings. </p>

<p>Regarding additional schools, maybe Carnegie Mellon? Don't Know if it would be a safety though. And possibly Georgia Tech, though it is on the large side of your preference (though on the small side of public schools). And look into RPI i would think.</p>

16

<p>For your own good, do research on engineering programs. It's been said before but I'll say it again; the vast majority of the Ivies aren't strong enough in engineering (the exception being Cornell and to some extent Princeton for electrical). I went through the same prestige battle as you, but the reality is that for "prestige" in the engineering world, the high fliers are entirely different than the typical HYP. You don't want dusty old political aristocratic schools, you want cutting edge technological facilities, for this reason a number of big state schools are great in engineering. Revamp your perception on quality of education.</p>

17

<p>IVY LEAGUE ENGINEERING IN GENERAL SUCKS.</p>

<p>MIT, Stanford, Cooper Union, Olin, Harvey Mudd are all viewed upon as favorably if not more so than the top Ivy engineering programs.</p>

<p>With that said, if you are hellbent on applying to Ivies for engineering, only these THREE are worth applying for:</p>

<ol>
<li>Cornell (best in Ivy engineering)</li>
<li>Columbia Fu Foundation (engineering school)</li>
<li>Princeton (integrated school, but awesome engineering nonetheless)</li>
</ol>

<p>Yale, Brown, Harvard, and to less extents Penn & Dartmouth engineering programs REALLY BLOW.</p>

18

<p>I would move Yale down to safety. Get it? Because their engineering program isn't very good.</p>

19

<p>Believe it or not... I am told that the "Women in Engineering" Program at UNH is one of the best.</p>

20

<p>Based on rankings, Penn is the only Ivy worth it for Bio</p>