ILstudent

I am a male Indian. Moved from India in 2nd grade.

ACT: 36
SAT: 2250
SAT IIs: Math II 800 Physics 780
GPA: 3.8/4.0 (unweighted) 4.1/5.0 (weighted - best is about 4.8 I think)
I had a very low GPA freshman year(3.4, both weighted and unweighted) and was in all regular courses. I have moved up to almost all AP/honors courses for senior year. Also, each year my weighted GPA has increased.
Rank: none, but around top 15-20%
School: public, competitive in chicagoland area
AP: Human Geo 4, Computer Science 5, Physics B 5, US History 5, Env. Science 5

EC:
- Debate Team (9-12)
- FBLA (9-12)
- Finance Club (10-12)
- Science Club (10-12)
- NHS (11-12)

Awards:
- Debate: some minor awards at local debate tournaments, nothing at the state/national level
- FBLA:
4th in Business Calculations at State (Sophomore)
1st in Technology Concepts at State (Junior)
Will be at nationals next week, hope to place in top 10 at least.
- Science Club:
2nd in Engineering Category at Science Fair (Junior)
- Community Service:
Won volunteer of the year 2 times at my library (100+ hrs)

Leadership:
- Debate: Treasurer (Senior)
- FBLA:
Chapter Treasurer (Junior)
Chapter President (Senior)
Regional VP (Senior)
State Treasurer (Senior)
- Finance Club:
Founder & President (Sophomore-Senior)
- Science Club:
VP (Senior)
Regional VP (Senior)

Senior Yr Courses:
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics B
AP English Lit
AP Stats
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
Computer Techniques Honors
Chinese 3 AC

Colleges:
MIT
CalTech
Cornell
Michigan
UVa
UIUC
Indiana

I don't really think I stand a chance at the first 3, but am gonna apply there just to please my parents. Also, I plan on majoring in Computer Engineering at the first 5 universities and plan on applying for General Engineering at UIUC. I think Indiana will be my safety and I will apply for their finance program. I hope to go into investment banking one day. What other schools do you guys suggest?

world changer

You look like a very strong applicant. Congratulations, I think you have a reasonable shot at all the schools on your list.

MIT, Caltech, Cornell, UVA, and Michigan are probably all in either the reach or high-match range, as they're so competitive, but I'd say that you have as good of a shot as any.

However, my big suggestion would be to have a couple more low matches and safties. You want to have plenty of options in case your reaches don't come through. Cal Poly has a pretty good reputation in engineering, and would be worth looking into. The University of Arizona is quite good as well. Georgia Tech, perhaps? There aren't many safeties that are known for having ties with investment banking, so I'm mostly suggesting good engineering schools.

Also, it's not a safety, but Carnegie Mellon would be another to look it. It would probably be a match. Or, if you want another reach, USC? USC and CM have good engineering, but also strong business programs, so that could be good.

ILstudent

My greatest fear is that not being in top 10% will end up ruining the whole thing for me and the fact that I only took one AP class(Computer Science) junior year when my school offered 25+ APs. Other than CS, my only honors level course was Pre Calc. The rest were all accelerated. My counselor wouldn't let me take AP Physics B without taking Accelerated level science yet.

aristotle1990

Wow, a 36 on the ACT. This is my first time seeing that. Congratulations. You should definitely submit that over your SAT score.

I agree with the other posters in that you're quite a strong applicant. If you're worried about your freshman year, however, apply to schools which don't consider it, such as Stanford, which has a much stronger engineering reputation than do the Northeastern Ivies.

sarahhhh

idk why you dont think you have a chance at mit caltech. they are competittive but your a competitive applicant.
cornell and umich are matches/slight reach. uva out of state is unpredictable.

i would definetly look at uc berkely (reach for out of state), cmu(match), USC (match), northwestern (slight reach), olin and maybe princeton.