lukelev07

Okay so we all know application season is coming quick and I would like all of your opinions on which colleges I can get accepted into. I havent set in stone where I am applynig yet but I have made a rough list of possibilities.

Northwestern (i would be legacy since my grandfather attended :P)
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Cornell perhaps....
U Chicago
Purdue (just applied today)
Oregon State
Portland State
RPI
Case western
Stevens institute of technology
Carnegie Mellon
Suggest more for me please ( I want to go into comp. engineering )
Possibly others?

So I will ist my stats below and I would greatly appreciate if you could rank these schools (reach, match, safety) and narrow my choices down a bit ( and also save my hands from all of these essays ).

Basic STATS:

Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: My school does not do this?

SAT: 1930 (650 W, 680 M, 600 R :/ ) --> I get my new scores Monday, hoping for a 2000 or better.

Class Rank: 1/400-ish

AP Classes: AP US History (4), AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Literature, AP European History.

Of which im taking this (Senior) year:
AP Chemistry
AP Calc BC
AP Literature
AP European History
Also taking College Writing which is rigorous and satisfies some college credit


EC's:

- National Honors Society


-Freshman Baseball Grade 9, JV Baseball Grades 10-11, Varsity Baseball Spring 2012
-Swimming Grade 10
-German Club Grades 9-11
-Engineering Club Grades 9-11
- Science Club (chemistry) president 11-12
-Clare Bridge Memory Care Senior Living 2009-Present (over 120 hours)
-Dayspring Fellowship Youth Program Grades 7-11
-St. Edwards Youth Grades 9-10

-VEX Robotics Competition Grade 11, 12

-GAPP, I spent a month in germany immersed in the culture, schools, etc.

Work Experience:

-Wine Bottling for Brooks Wines Grades 10-12 (over 60 hours)
-K.Y.S.A Baseball Umpire Grades 10-12 (over 70 hours)

My recs should be amazing, I am really close with my German teacher, and he has been known to write great recs... My english teacher will write my other one, and we share common insights, and he is the teacher I have the most respect for

My essays are going to be PHENOMENAL... I am literally going to sit down and write for a weekend about anything and revise until I have the " Great American Draft "

So please give me your thoughts and I will love you forever! Just kidding, that would be weird...

Also does having a grandpa that attended northwestern help my chances there? I have heard it does...

ccuser95

You have really low shots at the top schools because of your SAT score....

CollegiateDreams

These are my rough estimates. If your SAT goes up 100 points or so, I think that would make you a lot more competitive for the "Low Reaches" and "Reaches" below. I think I am also being a bit generous with my chances, since I am assuming your essays & LORs are stellar.

Also, you are not a legacy at Northwestern. A legacy is a student whose parent(s) went to the school, not a sibling/grandparent/uncle/aunt/etc.

Reaches:
Northwestern - High Reach
Stanford - High Reach
Cornell - High Reach
U Chicago- High Reach
UC Berkeley - Reach
Carnegie Mellon - Reach
Case Western - Low Reach
Stevens Institute of Technology - Low Reach
RPI - Low Reach

Matches/Safeties:
Purdue - Low Match
Oregon State - Low Match
Portland State - Safety

lukelev07

bump it up ....I signed up for the december 8 ACT. Do students tend to perform better on this than the SAT?

intparent

Not all schools look at legacies that way, CollegiateDreams. Michigan, for example, consider you a legacy if your grandparent attended. Not sure about Northwestern -- the Common App supplement may give you a clue if they ask about relations that attended (if they don't ask, then they are just going off the parent info you put in the Common App family section, and other relations probably don't count in their process).

You might get better suggestions if you provide the following info:
- What do you want to major in?
- What state do you live in?
- Is cost a factor in your decision?

Agree with other posters that your SAT scores are quite low for several of the schools on your list. Even a 2000 is too low for some of them (U of Chicago, Stanford, Cornell, Berkley) unless you have a hook of some kind. Low for Northwestern, too... a lot of times a student like you will get a "courtesty waitlist" because of the legacy situation, but the school really has no intention of ever letting you off it. Hard to say about the ACT. Some students do better on one that the other. Try to at least take a practice ACT prior to the Dec. 8 test date, the format is somewhat different than the SAT.

And not gonna lie... most students can't just "crank out" a great essay over a weekend, or even two. So there is no way to estimate the quality of your essays just from what you said here. Plus, some of these schools have extensive additional essays (U of Chicago and Stanford for sure).

lukelev07

Thank for the tips. I am filling out northwesterns supplement and there is an option for grandparents that attended...my essays are done for them too.

lukelev07

I wouldn't say I am only spending one weekend on the essays, but I am a fairly "gifted" writer. Doesn't really matter If my scores are not up to par... Hoping my sat will be around 2100 and my act and subject tests are coming up, I'm studying for those as well.

Where else do you recommend I apply?

intparent

Still don't know your intended major, where you live now, or whether cost is an issue. Hard to make recommendations without that information.

lukelev07

Oh sorry. I live in Oregon. My dad was recently laid off so our financial situation is not the greatest... But since the last tax year is what counts, our family income is around 80k... My intended major is computer engineering, but I am still considering computer science...

intparent

Sorry, I see your comp engineering note now in your initial post. Be sure you take a careful look at the schools on your list to make sure they offer comp engineering. For example, University of Chicago does not offer a major in computer engineering. They do have computer science.

So are you also saying you are counting on financial aid? Have you run the net price calculators for the colleges on your list? If your family has saved a lot, you might be okay. But a full cost price tag for the next four years at U of Chicago, for example, with travel, fees, etc. would be over $240,000. You need to understand what the colleges will expect your family to pay and what your family actually can pay. It is super disappointing to get into a good school, but find that you can't actually pay for it. Better to spend some time on that now. You might want to look at each website and figure out:
- Total cost of attendance (assume it will go up 4% every year, and you have to pay for travel if it is far away)
- What the net price calculator says you will need to pay and take out in loans.
- If they offer merit scholarships, how many, how much, whether your statistics are in the top 25% for the school (improving your chances of getting merit scholarships).

You might consider Michigan Tech. Has comp engineering, and they offer some merit scholarships.

lukelev07

Hanks for the help... I realize some of these colleges are super selective... However, better to try and apply than not and wonder "what if?" Some offer more aid then Oregon state for example

lukelev07

Bump please