I plan on applying to the engineering programs at schools such as Michigan, Purdue, UT Austin, Penn State, Pitt, Ohio State, and (possibly) Northwestern.
GPA- Unweighted: 4.78 (3.8 on a 4.0 scale) Weighted: 5.44
Ranked top 11% (62/582)
7 AP classes ( APUSH, AP Physics C, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Lang, AP Micro)
ACT- 30 composite (31 super scored)
Extracurriculars:
-National Honor Society & Spanish National Honor Society
-Poms team and Competitive dance team at my school (Varsity all 4 years and captain sophomore year)
-Part of a volunteering organization
-Math Tutor
I’m starting to worry a little since I don’t have too many extracurriculars but dance at my school is considered a sport and takes up almost all of my time during the school year (10-20 hours a week, July-March). I’m hoping that the difficulty of my coursework will help me since I’ve been in all honors classes and enrolled in math classes that are considered two grade levels above my actual grade level. My recommendation letters are being written by my physics and calc teachers. Also, I’m a girl (not sure if that makes a difference). I hope I included enough information to help evaluate my chances.
Home state? Budget and financial aid eligibility?
Are your ACT subscores skewed toward STEM, or no?
Do you hope to be on a dance team in college? If so, you in the recruitment process for this?
Any particular kind of engineering?
UT Austin a lot of people who are accepted are already in Texas. If you’re not from Texas, your chances of getting in aren’t great since Texans get a lot of the spots. Also, with TX, anyone with a top 6% GPA gets auto-admit. That means all the top students in TX who don’t get into their dream schools often end up at UT.
I think being a girl will help, but idk if your academics are strong enough to get into these schools. Probably low reaches. Try focusing and making your EC’s around math/engineering to give your resume a theme.
Hi! I am also a student interested in engineering, and many of our schools overlap. One suggestion that I have for you would be to take either the SAT Math 1 or 2 subject tests. Although these are by no means required for the above schools, a good score would be extremely helpful for your application. I think that you have an extremely good chance of getting into Purdue, and I believe that since these are public schools (excluding Northwestern), they abide by non-binding early action. Applying early would be an easy way to let these colleges know that you are interested in their programs, and i would strongly suggest that you apply to Northwestern early decision if you are comfortable making the financial and academic commitment. I wish you the best of luck!
I agree with @bluemoon657 Take both the SAT Math 2 and the SAT Physics subject exams. Your ACT score is low for U of Michigan by the way, but you should be able to get into Ohio State and Purdue, probably as long as your math score is higher than your composite score of 30. Your math scores matter the most. You have the right curriculum for the engineering programs you are applying. I also agree that unless you are from Texas, cross off UT Austin, probably, as its just such a low probability, and not significantly better than your other choices, unless you
are getting in state tuition there, then leave it on your list.
If you are not from Texas,
Instead of UT Austin, perhaps add U of Minnesota or U of Wisconsin which are wide open for out of state applicants.
Purdue is a wonderful choice you do have a great shot at it, but apply early to Purdue. Its one of the best engineering colleges in the USA and for whatever reason, its not as hard for admissions, as they do accept a huge class size there. But they do a lot of hand holding and offer some top programs. You will have to work your way into say mechanical engineering at Purdue though, so look that up, its not an automatic admit to an exact engineering program, everyone at Purdue takes a general first year curriculum in engineering and then decides on a specialty. Some majors at Purdue require higher GPAs than others.