ArpMom2009

Thanks Antiquark: Caltech was on her radar before everyone started telling how not getting 800 on SATs may affect her chances.
She has done AP Calc BC in 10th and is taking AP Statistics in 11th. She will be doing multivariate Calc and differential calc in 12th.
She is still confused between computer science and computer engineering. Olin seems like a good school for some one focused on doing just Engineering.

redirect

Caltech has definitely taken people without 800s on SAT1s before (myself included). However it is much more difficult to get in without an 800 on the SAT2, so I would retake that (considering an 800 is only the 88th percentile). Otherwise, she would not have a bad chance of admission.

You should also keep in mind that Caltech EE/CS is very theoretical, and EE is considered one of the harder majors (mainly because of two ridiculously time-consuming classes that can take up to 30-40 hours a week in the lab).

Also, a published paper will help a lot. Research is very important and she will have many, many opportunities to do research here.

Alexandre

ArpMom, is there a reason Michigan is not on her list. Given her Stats, it would be a good "safe match" and the department is generally ranked among the top 5 in the nation.

ArpMom2009

Alexandre: She will prefer to be at UC than at Michigan if she has to choose a state school that is the only reason for Michigan or Illinois not on her list. It really doesn't make much sense to be that away from home and spend that much more money when she has so many good UCs to choose from.

ArpMom2009

redirect : She is not score obsessive and is not willing to retake any exam. We are trying hard to convince her to retake SAT1 to increase her CR. There is no way she is gona retake SAT2 Math IIc to increase her score by 30 points.
Her teachers have indicated at many times that she is more interested in learning things than getting good grades.
We have told her that it might be a problem at the time of admissions but that has not made any dent in her personality.
So we are going to live with this.

Alexandre

ArpMom, Cal is the only UC school that competes with Michigan and UIUC in EECS and all three of those programs are at least as good as all private universities save MIT and Stanford. the reason why she should consider Michigan is because she may not get into Cal and Ann Arbor is actually significantly nicer, safer and more fun than most college towns.

ArpMom2009

Alexandre: If Michigan is as good as UC Berkeley and if my D doesn't get as instate at UCB then what chances she will have to get into Michigan.
It seems very contradictory.
If she has any chances to get into Michigan or UIUC as an out of state then she should get into UCB otherwise Michigan or UIUC is not as good as UCB and in that case UCLA and UCSD should be good enough.

beefs

ArpMom, don't be so defensive. The fact is that Michigan is as good at Berkeley in eecs and in the off chance that she gets into one and not the other, she'll have the option there to make.

UCBChemEGrad

If this is the case, I would definitely not consider these schools as safeties, like some posters have.

Michigan and Wisconsin are some of the higher tier public universities that are easier for OOS students to be accepted. They accomodate more OOS students than the UCs. However, Michigan's OOS cost is substantial. When looking OOS, I recommend privates because they are usually more generous with financial aid.

UCBChemEGrad

Cal has a much better program in EECS than UMich and UIUC. Cal's proximity to the Silicon Valley cannot be denied.

The Big 3 universities for EECS are Stanford, MIT and Berkeley.

mrego

Only schools you are missing are UCI and RPI

ArpMom2009

beefs: I was not being defensive but very practical as there doesn’t seem any sense in adding public schools that will be equally tough as UCB EECS and cost same as private schools.
Won't it make more sense to apply to Rice, Duke, JHU, Northwestern if we have to spend more on tuition?
I'll say the big 4 in EECS are Stanford, MIT, Berkeley and CMU.
And if she has to consider $50K/year college then she might be better off applying to good private colleges than to apply as out of state to public universities.
We really believe in UCs.

UCBChemEGrad

^ Rice is a good option and gives great financial aid. Duke EECS is meh.

USNWR 2008 Undergrad EECS Rankings:
Electrical / Electronic / Communications
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
1 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2 University of California–Berkeley *
3 Stanford University (CA)
4 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
5 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
6 Georgia Institute of Technology *
7 California Institute of Technology
8 Cornell University (NY)
9 University of Texas–Austin *
10 Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
11 Princeton University (NJ)
12 Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)*
13 Northwestern University (IL)
14 Univ. of California–San Diego *
15 Univ. of California–Los Angeles *
15 Univ. of Southern California
17 Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
17 University of Washington *
17 Virginia Tech *
20 Columbia University (NY)
20 Pennsylvania State U.–University Park *
20 Univ. of California–Santa Barbara *
23 Johns Hopkins University (MD)

(At schools whose highest degree is a bachelor's or master's)
1 Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. (IN)
2 Cooper Union (NY)
3 Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo *
3 Harvey Mudd College (CA)
5 United States Naval Academy (MD)*
6 Bucknell University (PA)
7 United States Military Academy (NY)*
8 Rowan University (NJ)*
8 United States Air Force Acad. (CO)*
10 San Jose State University (CA)*
11 Bradley University (IL)
11 Union College (NY)
11 Valparaiso University (IN)
14 Gonzaga University (WA)
14 Lafayette College (PA)
14 Manhattan College (NY)

UCBChemEGrad

^ Lots of UCs on that list for your daughter to choose from...

ArpMom2009

Thanks UCBChemEGrad: I also think UCs are good enough if she doesn't get into one of the top EECS program.

So will this be good enough list:

Reaches:
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Columbia Fu

Matches:
UCB
Cornell
CMU
UCLA
Northwestern

Safeties:
UCSD
USC

Shall we add UCI, UCD or UCSB as another safety.