Where should I apply as a safety?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Here are the schools that I am planning on appyling too after doing extensive research:
Am definitely applying too:
Virginia Tech (in-state)
Rice
University of Washington in Seattle</p>

<p>On the "bubble"(will probably add around half of these depending on what you guys think)
Colorado School of Mines(was given a "golden admission ticket" which means I don't have to write any essays or pay a fee to apply
University of Colorado-Boulder
RPI
University of Rochester
UVA
Purdue
Notre Dame
Cornell</p>

<p>SAT Score
Math:730
Critical reading: 640
Writing: 650</p>

<p>High School Courses and Grades:
9th Grade:
All A's: History HN, Algebra 2 HN, Biology HN, Latin 2, Gym, English HN, Basic Tech Drawing</p>

<p>10th Grade:
As in: Chemistry HN, English HN, Precalculus HN, Gym, AP Computer Science A
A- in : Latin 3, AP world History</p>

<p>11th Grade:
As in : AP Latin, BC Calc, History HN, Physics HN, Engineering Drawing
A- in: AP Chemistry
B+ in: AP Lang</p>

<p>4.4 W, 3.9 UW</p>

<p>12th grade schedule: Advanced Engineering/Architectural Drawing, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calculus/matrix Algebra, AP Government, AP Literature, Personal Finance and Economics(required for graduation)</p>

<p>I'm also and All state track athlete(I could probably run for Rice but don't plan on competing in College on a varsity level)
All state in science Olympiad, 2nd at states and 4 top 6 performances at the Regional level.
Event captain of science Olympiad event(leadership position)
several volunteer hours for youth track team and local library and tutoring students in maths/sciences</p>

<p>I Live in Northern Virginia (Fairfax county) which is a highly competitive academic but I am in the top 5% or so in my class(school doesn't have official ranks)</p>

<p>So here is my question. What would you guys think would be a safety for my stats/are any on the list currently a safety?</p>

2

<p>I presume Engineering.
For the price, it would be hard to pass up VTech.
You really need to look at what merit money or other money you can get from those schools before applying. It could cost you $100+k more than VTech over 4 years.<br>
Rice is a bubble school for you.
Check out college data dot com for admission stats and money on every school.</p>

3

<p>Ya mechanical or aerospace engineering </p>

4

<p>and would Virginia Tech be a safety or a match for me? I know the engineering school is harder to get in to compared to normal SAT stats but my school does get a reasonable number of kids in every year</p>

5

<p>University of Delaware? </p>

6

<p>runner22,
go to college data dot com and look them all up. C’mon man!</p>

7

<p>for a school to be a safety, you would have to know for sure that all costs are covered.</p>

<p>how much will your parents pay?</p>

<p>colorado mines isnt great with merit. neither are Uwash or U colorado.</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>You need to ask your parents how much will they pay per year for a top choice and for a safety.</p>

<p>UWash will likely be a wasted app.</p>

8

<p>Gotta agree with mom2collegekids,
to be a safety, you need to know that you can afford it.</p>

<p>Having said that, VT is close to a safety but the engineering school is probably a match.
Purdue is your only definite academic safety. Rochester is a match. So is Colorado Mines.
Everything else is something of a reach.</p>

<p>I would predict that only Rochester will give you much merit aid. Not that I have any authority, actually.</p>

9

<p>Be careful with Purdue. Prospective engineering majors are put in the First Year Engineering program, during which they must reach a high enough GPA to get into the desired engineering major (3.2 is automatic admission to all but biomedical, though lower GPAs may be admitted).</p>

<p>Washington may admit students directly to the major or as undeclared students. All engineering majors at Washington have competitive admissions to declare.</p>

<p>If you like Colorado Mines, take a look at the lower cost South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Mines. These also are probably admission safeties, given their automatic admission criteria (but note that South Dakota Mines requires you to have a high school art course).</p>

10

<p>Obviously your baseline is VT with in-state tuition, assuming you get in. Every other school is going to have to beat it. Here are some options for the aspiring engineer:</p>

<p>Ohio State - You already qualify for $15K in scholarship per year with your test scores, a little higher and you’ll be at $18k. The $15k makes OSU in-state for you.
Case Western - Hands out tons of merit, has an essay-less CA, no app fee, EA school, you’ll know your status by Dec. 15. Get a $25k merit award and it’ll be competitive.
Alabama - As an engineering major with your M+CR score, you’d get a full tuition ride plus $2500 per year.</p>

11

<p>I’m with MrMom. If money is the issue, and it almost always is no matter what schools your friends plan to apply to, any other school would have to beat VT’s cost to you. Your GPA is very attractive. If you could raise your SAT score by 100 points, you would be in merit range at many more schools, such as the ones MrMom mentions. Ignore prestige because it won’t matter to an engineering graduate. Try to graduate with little debt to you. That shiny new car or plush apartment will be that much closer.</p>

12

<p>Will applying ed t virginia tech help.my chances?</p>

13

<p>VT is a match or safety for you, given your grades and in-state status. Don’t spend an ED on VT. Usually students spend an ED on a school they really really want to attend and/or which is a reach for them. If you apply to a school ED you’re basically saying you will go there no matter how much aid they give you; that is, you’re guaranteeing your attendance. You might not want to do that for any school because you might need a great deal of merit or financial aid and you’re less likely to get it from an ED acceptance. Run the net price calculators for each school and make sure your family will cover the EFC, esp. to the ED school. By applying you’re saying you’re going unless the money is far off from what your family can afford. Not knowing anything about your family’s ability to pay, I would say Cornell is otherwise an ED kind of school for you but you would have to raise your SAT by 100 points to make it so. </p>

<p>You’ll be in a much better position for most of these schools (except VT, RPI, and Boulder) if your SAT is 100 points higher. Those three schools are your safeties if you can afford them and would absolutely go to each if you only got into that one school. RPI will give you good money. Boulder will give you nothing probably.</p>

14

<p>jkeil0911, It’s not uncommon for Virginia kids to apply ED to either VT (my kid did) or William & Mary. When UVa still had ED , my older son applied ED there as did 6 other of his classmates( . UVa was a safety for him stats wise but he just wanted to apply ED and be done with it.</p>

<p>OP, VT is a match for you. You have a very good chance of getting in. If you decide you like it and your parents are willing to fund an instate education (and they aren’t pressuring you to find merit elsewhere like at Alabama), I really don’t see any harm in applying ED. </p>

15

<p>I can guarantee that my parents can afford Virginia Tech, and because it has everyting that I could want I think I will apply early decision there. I don’t really care about having a university just because of the name and everything about VT seems to be a perfect match for me. </p>

16

<p>My VT son had very similar SAT’s to you, was in engineering and graduated last year. He had a great 4 years there, graduated on time and has a very good job in the DC area. Virginia Tech has a great Engineering Expo that attracts lots of employers. If you do decide to apply ED, good luck!</p>

17

<p>Purdue and I believe Colorado-Boulder are rolling admissions schools. I believe that you will get into these. These are the best kind of safeties IMHO. My daughter used University of Wisconsin as her safety. She applied in September and was admitted by October - huge load off of her mind. With rolling admissions, if you you apply early, you may have your safety in the bag before even the Nov 1 early action deadline. </p>

<p>If you want an absolute sure thing, Iowa State has an automatic numerical admissions criteria which you meet. They promise to notify you within 7 weeks of your completed application. </p>

18

<p>But Purdue and Colorado are not safeties if the parents don’t want to pay for it. Not sure if they would or not? I would not have been willing to pay for an OOS public (if there was no merit to bring down the cost) when we have VT and UVa engineering instate but of course, others would have been willing. </p>

19

<p>sevmom, thanks for reminding me. probably not so strange, something like that occurs in PA with PSU, or did in the seventies when I lived there. maybe in a lot of states with good to great flagships or flagships with great D1 football. </p>