Which colleges should I be looking at?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>current female hispanic junior at a private catholic high school in northern virginia
just took the october SATs for the first time, 2140 (760 CR 670 M 710 W)
5 on AP Statistics last year
currently in AP Calculus AB, AP Physics B, AP Language, APUSH
senior year: AP Calclulus BC, AP Environmental Science, AP English Lit, AP Government, AP Spanish, AP Computer Science A
freshman GPA: 4.11
soph GPA: 4.38
current GPA: 4.61
extracurriculars: varsity cheerleading 9-10 , student ambassadors 9-current , math league 9 - current, northrop grumman cyberpatriot computer program 11 , editor in chief literary magazine 10- current , national spanish honor society , national honor society
summer engineering program for girls at cornell university</p>

<p>i want to do engineering, so should i retake the SATs to bring up my math score? (not even sure what happened, i got a 730 on the PSAT math section)
i'm thinking UVA, Penn State, USC, UCLA, Cornell, UNCCH, Duke</p>

2

<p>UVa and VT are obvious in-state choices. Are they within your budget?</p>

<p>If you cannot afford list price (up to $60,000 per year) at out of state or private schools, check each school’s web site for a “financial aid estimator” or “net cost calculator”.</p>

<p>UNC Chapel Hill does not have engineering (although it does have CS). Its neighbor, North Carolina State, has many engineering degree programs.</p>

<p>Minnesota and Cal Poly have relatively low out of state list prices, though they may not have much aid to further reduce the costs.</p>

<p>Which engineering major?</p>

3

<p>I’m jealous of people who live in Virginia. They get discounts on such great schools.</p>

<p>UVA, Virginia Tech, William and Mary (they have a joint program with Columbia), George Mason all have well-respected engineering programs.</p>

4

<p>Currently you have 7 schools that you are thinking about applying to. VT is a safety and UVA and W&M are probably high matches. VT would probably be the best option for Engineering. What about adding a couple/few more schools to your list, such as Rice and Northwestern, that have really good Engineering departments? The fact that you have URM status AND you are a female interested in majoring in Engineering are two nice things to have going for you and I would cast a “wider net” if I were you and apply to a few more schools. If you want to apply to a UC, I would choose UCBerkeley over UCLA for Engineering.</p>

<p>I would try to raise your math score on your SAT. It will increase your chances at the more selective schools on your list like Duke and Cornell, for example. I would also apply early to the school you most want to attend that allows ED, to increase your chances, IF one of these is a front-runner for you.</p>