My GPA currently is 4.35 weighted (although I stupidly got some Bs in 9th grade, and I know some schools don’t count 9th grade, could this change my GPA in their eyes?) I have not taken an SAT yet (my first is in march) but my one and only PSAT (without studying) was a 1450, so I think with studying it is conceivable I get a 1500+ on the SAT. My desired major is computer hardware engineering, and the schools I am looking at so far (tiered based on how much I want to get in and how hard of a time I think I’d have getting in):
Dreams (not sure if these are possible for me):
Stanford
Caltech
Columbia
MiT
Reaches (These are the ones I’d love to go to and think I have a chance of getting into):
Berkeley (OOS)
Cornell
Swarthmore
Carnegie Mellon
Safer Schools
University of Michigan
Northeastern
Absolute safe school (basically guaranteed admittance afaik with my grades)
Rochester Institute of Technology
So, knowing that, what do you think? Are my dream schools not conceivably attainable? Are my reaches too reachy? Fair game? Are my safe-ish schools even safe-ish schools? Am I shooting too low with my “absolute safe” based on my grades? Thanks!
What grade are you in? Northeastern and UMich (especially if you are OOS) have such low acceptance rates that they can’t be considered safety schools (even though they are “lower” in comparison to more selective institutions). I would say focus on your grades now (regardless of whether you are in 10th or 11th grade) and find more match (schools where your stats are average & have a 40+ % acceptance rate) and actual safety schools (schools with at least 50+ % acceptance rates and where you fall above the 75th %ile). In complete honesty, your list has a lot of selective institutions which are difficult for even the best students to get into but I wouldn’t discourage you from applying to some so long as you keep your grades up and get good test scores. Focus on keeping your UW GPA up as it tends to hold more weight at selective institutions than your W GPA.
I am in 11th grade. Thanks for responding, my school doesn’t report any unweighted GPA as far as I know, so do you know how I’d go about figuring that out? Also, do you know where I’d find colleges GPA percentiles for unweighted GPAs and weighted GPAs? According to prepscholar I am in decent shape for the colleges I listed based on my GPA and projected SAT scores, but I don’t know if that’s reliable at all. Also, once again, thanks!
What is your home state? How much can your family afford? A safety is a school you’d be happy to attend and you can Definitely Afford. UCB will be full cost for you ($60K/year).
You can calculate your UW GPA if your school doesn’t report it (google will come in handy if you are unsure as to how to compute it). The projections are accurate but you have to keep the likeliness of acceptance in mind w/ selective schools (like I mentioned earlier). Also, schools have to recalculate their target test scores to match the new SAT as currently there are only rough calculations. Aside from academics, you should factor in cost as well as Erin’s Dad has said.
Alright, let’s say you get a 1500+ on the SAT. I’d say in that case, it’s entirely conceivable for you to ‘reach for the stars’ i.e. apply to the best colleges in the country as you plan to. While your stats are looking good, bear some more thought into your college tiering. For example, Northeastern has an acceptance rate in the 20s and UMich’s OOS rate may be approaching a low 20s, high 10s range. Bottom line, these colleges can barely ever be considered safeties. (UMich was one of my Match colleges and getting in was a great feeling as a result!)
With that said, your college list looks fine to me. Keep RIT as a safety, maybe add a couple other safeties. Calculate your UW GPA and make sure that your average remains strong. If you’re prepared to spend the money, apply to all of your reaches and dreams. It’s worth it! If not, try to slim down your college list and focus more on colleges that you are truly interested in and could see yourself spending four years at. Most of all, have fun. No better feeling than working tirelessly and receiving that acceptance packet in the mail. Makes everything worth it. Good luck!
Hey, I’d like to thank you guys. @Erin’s Dad, I am looking at common data sets right now and they are really eye opening (by far the most eye opening of the ones I’ve looked at so far is MiT, considering the fact that they report character / personal qualities over literally everything, even academics), thanks so much for that advice! I am from new york and my parents are pretty well off, but anywhere I go that doesn’t offer a big scholarship is going to require loans because of the fact that I have siblings who will be going through college as well for at least a portion of my college life each.
@bry463 Thanks for the advice, it would seem my unweighted GPA is ~3.80-3.88 ish, which seems good enough for my dream schools based on the Common Sets recommended by Erin’s dad (although I ofc know there is much more to it than just GPA haha)
@rajandhisjourney thanks for this advice as well, I have definitely been told my safer schools really aren’t all that safe, which is a bit jarring but understandable. The reason I chose those schools in particular is because students I know from previous years in my highschool who had comparable grades to mine got into those schools and even the more prestigious schools I listed, including stanford, etc. Overall though I really appreciate the advice and look forward to getting one such packet in the mail some day
The amount you can safely pay back over 10 years is the amount allowed by the federal loans, IE., 5.5k for freshman year, for a total of 27k over 4 years of college.
Suny buffalo and rit would be decent safeties for you, so run the NPC on them. Then run the NPC on Stanford, Cornell, UMichigan, Swarthmore, UCB, RPI, WPI, UMaryland, and Northeastern, estimating a 1500 SAT when asked. Print the NPC results for each (they’ll be very different) and bring them to your parents during an evening when both are available (this is serious stuff, you don’t it to be rushed, during their favorite game/TV show, or whatever ). Then start talking budget.
Once you have a budget, you’ll know which universities can remain on your list and which need to be cut due to costs.
I’ve visited and researched dozens and dozens of schools over the last 6-8 years. My biggest takeaway? There are lots and lots of terrific schools in the U.S. Hundreds have beautiful campuses, bright students, and terrific professors. Right now, you seem focused solely on highly ranked schools. Prestige is a real thing but can I suggest focusing on what you like? It is very true that HOW you go to college is far more important than WHERE you go to school.
The schools on your list–all great–are very different places. Swarthmore is very small and suburban. Michigan and Cal are enormous. Do you see yourself on a small campus with 2000 students? Do you see yourself on a sprawling campus with 40,000 undergrads and big time sports and all-day tailgating? Columbia is in NYC; Cornell is in Ithaca. Would you love to take the subway to see a Broadway show, or would you prefer to hike in the gorges in and around Ithaca. If the latter, what are some other schools that offer hiking opportunities. The weather is brutally cold at many of the schools. Is that great for you because you like winter and skiing, or does California sunshine sound better?
Say you really love MIT and Caltech because you love what students there are doing. You would probably be happier at CMU, Case Western, Ga. Tech, RIT, RPI, WPI, or a similar science/engineering school than at Swarthmore. If you love the idea of Swarthmore, you might be happier at one of the many great LACs in your part of the country.
We have friends who’ve attended Ivy League schools and done very well. Four of the most successful (financially and otherwise) people I know attended lower-tier public universities in KY (not University of KY), TN (not UT), PA, and VA (not UVA or William and Mary).
Just trying to offer something to think about. Good luck in your college search. Please feel fortunate that you will have many wonderful choices.
Glad to know I’ve been helpful. I wish you the best on your college search/application journey. You’re currently an excellent candidate and the rest will work itself out.
no problem! by all means, I hope my advice didn’t discourage you from applying to top colleges. Your GPA is phenomenal and, coupled with solid SAT/ACT scores, could make you a competitive applicant for several great colleges all over the country. As long as you have 2-3 safeties (adjust the number as needed) that are around the level of RIT that you can easily make it into, you should be entirely fine. I anticipate great things in your future!
@Postmodern Swarthmore engineering is tiny (look at their course list). If you’re good enough to get accepted to Swarthmore then you’ll probably get accepted to Cornell, Rice or CMU, or even Cal or Michigan. Unless what you want is an LAC plus some Engineering - which is also great, except that none of the OP’s other choices reflect an LAC leaning - that’s why I thought it stuck out as an odd choice in the list.
