My D is rising senior. Here are her quick stats:
GPA - 4.0 (UW)
APs - 6 APs so far, taking another 5 in senior year
SAT - 2400 (old version)
SAT II - Math 800; awaiting Physics results
Taking Multi-Var Calculus at a CC
ECs - President of FBLA, Girls who code; DECA; Runs coding programs for girls at 3 local schools; Actively involved in community; Hosts a weekly radio show on teen topics
Job/Internship - Paid internship in software engineering department of a leading big data products company this summer (She got into m&tsi @Upenn, but didn’t go)
- Summer immersion program after Sophomore year
- Intern at CA assemblymember after freshman year
Her list so far (I know many of them are ultra reaches)
Stanford
MIT
UCB EECS
Caltech
USC
Harvey Mudd
UPenn
Harvard
Cornell
SJSU
Yale
CMU
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Princeton
Washington U
We have been saving and planning for her college, so finances will not be an issue; Would love for her to get some merit scholorships though. Unlikely to qualify for any need based aid.
Thank you so much for the read and inputs.
Case Western? (Have to show mucho interest though – they’ll assume she’ll get accepted somewhere more selective if she doesn’t seem like she actually wants to go there)
Where is she in-state?
She sounds like a great fit for Mudd!
The concept of “match” is tough for a student with really high stats. I’d suggest she put a few couple more UCs on her list as safeties and matches. It is nice to have choices that you know are affordable even if the economy tanks or something like a job loss happens between now and May 1.
USC is probably her most likely shot for merit on that list, although she may get some at Mudd.
I’d say Cornell & Wash U are high matches (Wash U cares a lot about showing interest, though – they know perfectly well that a kid like her will probably have other great choices).
If you are serious about merit, you will need to add to some schools that give merit (most of these don’t).
USC is a low match, and SJSU seems like a safety.
The rest are reaches, mostly due to the low admissions rates. But she seems well positioned.
Boston College? Would probably be a safety school for her, but they have a Presidential Scholarship. It’s awarded to the top 15 or so applicants each year. Make sure she shows interest though. I think she would have a good shot at this scholarship. It’s a full ride for all 4 years there. Past scholars have had similar stats. Gives the richest academic experience available, trips, projects and thesis, etc.
@intparent Thanks for the inputs. She will be also applying to UCLA, UCSD and UCD.
While many of reaches are just those, due to low admit rates, any ideas on what she can do in next 6 months to better her chances (she will be working on her essays during summer)
If you are keen on merit aid, look into private universities, particularly the smaller [url="<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org"]AITU[/url] schools which all have strong engineering programs.
@hopefultransferstudnt7996 How is the CS/Ensingeering program @ Boston College?
The CS is strong as far as I know (not my area expertise) and they do not have an engineering school. I have a friend who is in the Carroll School of Management at BC. She is majoring in Information Systems and does a lot with software, app design, and entrepreneurship.
Have you visited some or all of the colleges on her list? If not, I’d do that if possible.
We have visited none. With D’s school and ECs, it never seems like a good time. Are there schools that care about the visits?
You should Google the Common Data Set for each college. There is a section that shows if student interest matters. I think it is easier to put together an app that will appeal to a given college if you have visited, especially supplemental essays. Plus, how will she decide? You have one month between admissions and making a final decision. It is spring of senior year when ECs are in full swing, AP exams are coming up, and parents have work & kids still have classes. It is high pressure to wait until them to visit. If you have saved enough to pay full freight for schools, I’d assume you can afford some visits before then. She might take some schools right off her list – not every school appeals to every kid. Example: Brown and Duke are very different in vibe – lots of kids would prefer one over the other. You are looking at spending over a quarter of a million dollars on her undergrad education. I’d want to kick the tires ahead of time,
I agree with intparent on two accounts: 1) Mudd seems like a good fit. 2) Make time for visits.
In addition, you might consider having your D apply for Mudd’s Fall FAST.
https://www.hmc.edu/admission/fast/
She is well suited to get UCs’ Regents scholarship which pays up to a full tuition (if you can’t afford).
Is CS/Engineering her intended course of study? That would make a difference on where you should look for merit aid. Most of these schools listed essentially offer zero merit. They don’t need to, quite frankly.
The trade off is that if she is content to look at the next “tier” of schools, the world is her oyster with those grades and scores. These range for multiple options for full rides to substantial merit aid.
I think that is the fundamental decision that needs to be made. And you should certainly do some visits to determine size, class size and location preferences-geographic and urban/suburban/rural.
Good luck!