Chance a rising senior for mechanical engineering (4.0 UW, 36 ACT, mid ECs) [OH resident, NMSF]

Chance Me / Match Me
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First post here. Hope i did ok.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: domestic
  • State/Location of residency: OH
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): public school
  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.) I have a special needs sibling who can’t be left alone in the house. it honestly js makes transportation harder

Cost Constraints / Budget

No cost constraints.

Intended Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.34 (4.5 for honors classes, 5 for AP/IB)
  • Class Rank: School doesn’t do rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 36 ACT (35M, 36S, 36R, 36E)

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

7 AP courses, 4 honors courses, taking 2 APs + 1 IB + 2 DE courses senior yr

  • English: AP Lang, DE english first semester of senior year
  • Math: Honors Algebra II, Honors Precalc, AP Calc BC, DE Calc III (senior yr), AP Stats (senior yr)
  • Science: Honors Bio, Honors Chem, AP Physics C Mechanics
  • History and social studies: AP Macro, AP Micro, AP World (senior yr)
  • Other academic courses: 4 years of PLTW courses (not weighted), APCSP(5), APCSA, IB CS HL senior yr

Awards

PSAT school recognition award 10th

Will be national merit semifinalist (1520 PSAT 11th)

Presidential service award x2

NHS and school computer science honor society

ACSL finalist

FRC team awards (rising all star, winner in regional, 2nd place in (unofficial) state champs)

Extracurriculars

there are WAY more computer science EC opportunities at my school than engineering and I also was torn btwn CS and Mech Eng until I decided on the latter late sophomore yr. that’s why I look like a CS applicant lmao.

FRC team 9th-12th - mostly on mechanical and design/CAD team. this takes up the most of my time, 20hrs/wk in build season Jan-Late march. Was a subteam lead in 11th, will be team captain starting in fall

Computer science club 9th-12th (president 11th and 12th)

Volunteered at school tech help desk during lunch 10th-12th, 200 hrs total so far

Personal project: lead a project with a few other students to make a website to let you pre-order lunch for a made-to-order station in our cafeteria. We released it to the whole school in May and got a few hundred orders in with no problems before the school year ended :smiley:

Science olympiad 11th-12th (only did invitationals b/c robotics conflicted w/ regionals :broken_heart:)

ACSL 10th-11th (qualified for finals in 10th)

Summer tech internship at my school (ongoing), 20 hrs/wk for 8 wks

Robotics summer camp: help lead a summer camp run by my FRC team for middle schoolers last year and this year. Runs once a week all summer

Industry credentials (CompTIA ITF+, Java oracle foundations, fusion 360 user certification, MAYBE compTIA A+ core 1 by the end of the summer)

Essays/LORs/Other
going to ask my robotics coach and comp sci teacher for LOR, they’ve known me since freshman year so they should be decent.

I have NOT written my personal essay yet besides a really crappy draft I gave up on. I am fried. have some ideas and i’m usually a pretty good writer but i havent been able to make an essay that doesn’t sound stupid yet.

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): ASU
  • Extremely Likely:
  • Likely: Purdue?
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability: UIUC
  • Low Probability: GA Tech (dream school), CMU, UC Berkeley
  • just give up bro :wilted_flower: (basically just applying for the love of the game, zero expectation of getting in): MIT, Caltech
  • Unsure: UT Austin, Texas A&M, WPI, UMich, Rice, other UCs

I’m looking for more schools on the purdue/UIUC level to apply to, mayyybe 1 or 2 more on the GA tech and ASU level. I prefer larger schools in or near big urban areas (like REALLY big cities, a big part of why I’m applying to ASU is it’s near phoenix) (caltech is an exception b/c it’s engineering program is exceptional). Would prefer warmer weather but honestly will go anywhere as long as it is NOT in state. Places with lots of job opportunities like silicon valley are a plus.

I really prefer schools that lean really heavy on tech and engineering/STEM is the most popular field of study there.

I’m honestly really scared. Love my safety school but it won’t make all the rejections suck any less.

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Case Western?

the Ohio State University?

RIT?

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You have a very strong profile. I would be shocked if you weren’t accepted to Purdue and UIUC.

TAMU would be a good match school based on your preferences. NC State might be another to consider.

Iowa State is a great safety for an engineer if you want another safety.

Have you taken foreign language and an art class (you will need that for the UCs)?

My Purdue engineering loved RPI but definitely not warm.

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Thank you for the recommendations! I’m going to look more into RPI as another likely/very likely and TAMU as well. I took 3 years of spanish including spanish 1 in 8th and did choir 9th and 10th.

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RPI, 100% highly recommend, alum & parent.

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I would strongly prefer to go out of state so probably not case western and OSU. But RIT seems like it meets a lot of my criteria, I’ll look more into it thx : D

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If you like CMU and Pittsburgh, you can also apply to Pitt as a likely school that has rolling admissions… if you apply in August, you will probably be admitted before most EA applications are even due, and it’s nice to have that in your pocket. It is just next door to CMU and you can take classes there. My son says that Pitt has a top notch Formula SAE team, if that is something that interests you.

I am not sure if it is a good idea to have your two primary LORs written by your robotics coach and CS teacher. You could include one (or both) of them in your LORs especially for schools that accept several, but typically, the more selective schools want to see LORs written by core teachers such as math, physics, English, etc., and some want to see one LOR written by a STEM teacher and one written by a humanities / social sciences teacher. Do you have core subject teachers who know you well?

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I am going to make a separate post to comment a bit on CA public schools :slight_smile:

First of all UC Berkeley is a great school, but MechE at Berkeley is a relatively theoretical program (some students complain about this). Is that what you are looking for? For example my son is on the electric car team and although their car is pretty cool, he told me that it won’t be actually functioning at competition this year. :rofl:

The UC application is a bit of a pain if you are only applying to one UC campus, because it is a whole different application from Common App with a different essay style, different activities section, etc. Are you also interested in the other UC campuses? If you are excited about other campuses (like UCSD, etc) then it would be more worth it to do this application. Note also that the UCs are expensive from out of state.

If you are interested in a more hands-on mechanical engineering program which is also top notch, I will suggest that you might also look into Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It isn’t in a city… it’s in a small college town. But it is in a beautiful place with warm weather. The MechE program is great, and Cal Poly has superb connections with companies in CA, if that is where you want to get a job after college (I’m getting that sense from your post). Cal Poly grads are highly respected and very employable.

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I do not see the Ohio State University on your list. It is very good for mechanical engineering, and of course is ABET accredited. While ASU is also very good, I do not understand why you would prefer it over OSU. Even if you live 10 minutes from OSU, if you live on campus it will feel almost like being in a different world compared to living at home. There is no harm in applying to both and just see what happens.

Do not be scared.

Let’s suppose that you add OSU to your list. I very much expect that you will get accepted to both ASU and OSU. This gives you two excellent acceptances to two very good ABET accredited universities with strong ME programs. I would expect you to also get accepted to Purdue, which is also excellent overall and for ME.

Let’s suppose that you don’t get into MIT, but do get into all of ASU, OSU, and Purdue, and attend one of them (any one of them). You will get an excellent education. You graduate and get a job. It is entirely possible that you might find yourself working with graduates from MIT or Caltech or U.Michigan or GA Tech, and no one will care where each of you got your degree.

Your stats are excellent. Someone does get into these schools. I think that they are possible, but are of course reaches for everyone.

One nit regarding MIT, which probably relates to a few other schools on your list also: MIT does not admit by major. If you get accepted and choose to go there, they use your intended major to help select a freshman year advisor. Then at the end of freshman year you pick any major that you want. Your ECs do not need to match your major anywhere, but this might be more obviously true at a school such as MIT that does not consider your major when deciding whether to accept you. Robotics also does seem to me like a major that has some connection to ME (it is important that your robot does not fall apart). Also, at least IMHO engineering students would be best off to know something about computer science.

So, what is there to be scared of? You are doing very well. Mechanical Engineering is a sensible and employable major. You look to be almost assured to get accepted to multiple universities that are very good for ME. Given your list you are likely to get some rejections, but you can only attend one university at a time, and only need one acceptance (which I expect you to exceed by quite a bit).

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Caltech likes to see Humanities LORs in combination with Math and Sciences. They like to see strengths in English, Math, and Social sciences.
Our son attended Caltech and had a strong academic background along with a busy sports schedule, and Eagle Scout project.

He majored in CS. Yes it’s a techie school, but it’s a Research Institution first. You won’t have a typical college experience there and they seem to like “all-around” applicants.

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The University of Cincinnati might also merit a look.

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With a 36, you would get a full ride to OSU if you apply on time: President's Ohio Scholarship Program | Honors and Scholars Center

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Reasons you do not want to attend college in Ohio? Whatever the reasons are, be sure that they do not apply to the states or local areas of colleges in other states that you are looking at.

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Read up on secondary admission to major (ETAM) at Texas A&M. Mechanical engineering is likely one of the more competitive majors in secondary admission (computer science and computer engineering appear even more competitive).

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GT does seem like it checks all the boxes for you… and I think your chances there are decent. (Plus, you can apply EA, and then at least you’ll hear back by the end of January.) I agree with the Pitt suggestion also - great urban area, strong engineering, and if you apply in August, you’ll most likely have an acceptance in your pocket in September. That could save you the trouble of applying anywhere you like less than Pitt.

If an urban environment is important to you, I can’t imagine you loving College Station. UT-Austin fits the bill, though, and Rice would definitely be worth a closer look too - check out their MechE “Design Kitchen” Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen

Have you looked at UW-Seattle? It has a First Year Engineering structure, like Purdue’s. Strong STEM, great west coast city, and not quite as exorbitant an OOS price as the UC’s. Not “warmer weather” per se but not the tundra either… just gray and damp a lot of the year… but when the sun and the cherry blossoms emerge in the spring, it’s gorgeous. The tech job market there is pretty strong too (insofar as any job market is strong right now)… and SeaTac is a major hub, so it’s not too hard to get direct flights.

Good luck!

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The competitiveness and unpredictable holistic quality of the UW major assignment process can be an issue for students very focused on a single major like MechE, but it’s great if students are not put off by the idea of possibly ending up in a different major than they originally planned.

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At Washington, this also means secondary admission to major.

Placement data | UW College of Engineering indicates that ME has historically been a somewhat competitive major in secondary admission. However, there does not seem to be public information on GPA thresholds or ranges for secondary admission (unlike at Purdue where 3.2 technical and overall college GPA assures admission to first choice of major in secondary admission).

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I think they don’t publish this because it’s a holistic selection process, so GPA range might not be as relevant as it is at some schools.

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Congrats on a great record. Engineering is not “prestige” based in most cases. Here’s some examples.

At Ga Tech, for example, in 2025, whenever the last run was taken, only 71% of MechEs who wanted a job found a job at $82K. They only have data on 1/3 of kids - so not a lot of loyalty. U Alabama had a 96% positive rate, with knowledge of 91% of kids - with salaries a big lower at just under $76K - but a much higher % finding jobs.

You will find kids like mine - who declined Purdue for Bama - working alongside Michigan and other top school kids but also W Michigan and Akron, etc. Btw - with your 4.0 and 36, you’ll get free tuition, a year of housing free and a yearly $1500 scholarship. If you are NMF, you get 5 years free, four years housing, and an annual stipend. I point this out for you because it’s not always the most expensive is best, especially when you can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. And most don’t care where you went.

But to answer your other questions and I think you’ll be fine without adding although I don’t see foreign language listed - but I’ll assume you have three years:

Purdue / UIUC add ons - Wisconsin, UMD, UF., Va Tech. Well, you want warm so not UW. But maybe Washington, which will have more moderate weather than Wisconsin.

Ga Tech sub - you have Purdue and I think you’ll get in. A safety - Pitt for city but moreso a Colorado School of MInes or UAH - both safe - with Mines having a stronger national rep but UAH a homerun if you’re interested in aero companies and will be warmer.

ASU level - obviously easier admits for you- U of Arizona, Penn State, UTK.

There are lots of job opportunities in many places but here’s the thing - where you go to school doesn’t mean you’ll end up there. My kid had job offers all over - everywhere but the South and is in Irvine, CA. His friends are all over - from NY to Seattle and more - so don’t pick a school based on where you think you’ll end up. Pick a school that’s right for you. And if your family could use an extra few hundred thousand, pick a school that will save them big $$ thanks to your academic prowess. And don’t assume - higher perceived name = better outcomes - 1/7 UCB MechE grads are still looking for work according to the most recent survey. Many “lesser” perceived schools get a higher % of their grads employed.

Best of luck.

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