Chance a scared ChemE Senior in a small rural town (3.76 UW GPA, 1350 SAT) [CO resident, high FA need]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • Currently in a small, remote town in Colorado (Moved 22 times in total)
  • Noncompetitive small public high school (I’ve also been to 2 others in different locations)

Cost Constraints / Budget
I will NEED scholarships and financial aid as my family is on the lower end of wages, also I’m currently working at a job for college funds as my family wont be able to provide much, so my budget mainly depends on how much I’m able to earn by the time I enroll

Intended Major(s) ChemE, Aerospace Engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.76
  • Weighted HS GPA: 3.91
  • SAT Score: 1350

List your HS coursework

As I’ve been to multiple High schools, their coursework, and AP/honors Availability is varied

  • English: Honors English 1 Regular English 2,3 (H not offered) AP Seminar
  • Math: Geometry honors, Algebra 2 honors (Also took CLEP test to test out of PreCalc), AP Calc AB/BC (5s for both), Calc 3, & Diff Eq (Took at local college)
  • Science: Highschool Biology (Middle school), Engineering 1,2,3, Capstone Engineering, Chemistry, AP Chem (Taking this year), AP Physics 1 (3), AP Physics 2 (4)
  • History and social studies: US Government, Geography, US History, Economics, World History, AP Psychology (Taking this year)
  • Language other than English: Spanish 1, Spanish 2
  • Visual or performing arts: Photography, Music Lab, Woodworking
  • Other academic courses: College & Career Prep, TA for Algebra 2

Awards

AP Scholar, 1st & 3rd place in state Science Olympiad competitions

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Science Olympiad, National Honors Society, Knowledge Bowl Team Leader, Robotics, Aerospace Club, Summer Orchestra (Piano), Local Astronomical Society, Worked for a local Resturant/Hotel at a small town of 200 for a summer, Tutored Peers at my School, had a brief business where I worked in fixing antiques, play Piano and Electric Guitar

Essays/LORs/Other
Essays were said to be some of the best my teachers had ever seen and were used as examples for other students writing their essays, LORs are very good and from teachers who know me on a very personal level.

Schools

  • School of Mines EA - Accepted with Scholarship
  • Oregon State EA - Accepted with Scholarship
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities EA - Accepted
  • CU Boulder EA - Awaiting Decision
  • UW Seattle RD - Awaiting Decision
  • University of Michigan EA - Awaiting Decision
  • Georgia Tech EA 2 - Awaiting Decision
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Are the net prices after scholarships affordable? Meaning requiring no more than the federal direct loan ($5,500) and a few thousand dollars of your work earnings per year in addition to whatever your parents can contribute?

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Oregon State I’d say so considering the amount I got from WUE and on-decision scholarships, School of Mines is a maybe as I didn’t get much in scholarships from them directly on-decision, and UMNTC I didn’t get anything on-decision so as of now that’s a no. However, I am still working on applying to more scholarships from all of them so that figure might change

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It only takes one affordable admissions, and Oregon State is a very good university. In reading your original post I was wondering if you would get WUE pricing, and I am very pleased (but not surprised) that you did. Congratulations!

Good luck with regard to your application to CU Boulder. It of course is also a very good choice if you get in with sufficient financial aid.

I would be surprised if any of U.Washington, U.Michigan, or GT come back as being affordable.

I do wonder whether or not there is still time to send in one more application to Colorado State University.

Regardless, with an affordable acceptance to Oregon State you are in great shape.

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If your screenname is your real name, it’s best to change it.

Hopefully the the two scholarships you have will be affordable for you. Remember too, that if you travel far from home for school , you have to factor in the cost of travel which these days can be substantial.

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So I think, first off congrats on your achievements.

Secondly, I think you need a budget. Your I got into OSU on WUE but I’m on the lower end of wages doesn’t sound convincing to me.

Tuition for WUE last year was $19K. Plus $17K to live - that’s $36K. Plus getting there, etc.

Mines is $42K before merit.

Why would you apply to UMN, UW, UM, Ga Tech - how would you afford any of these? Did you UMN admit you to engineering? I don’t understand those apps.

CU will admit you but maybe to exploratory. UW, Ga Tech and U Mich won’t but no matter - due to cost. I don’t understand the apps in that sense.

Given you applied to GA, I’m assuming there’s not a political state issue. Why didn’t you apply to CSU at $32K or so?

As for low cost, why not cheaper Idaho at $25K or so, UNM, UNR, Utah or Ultra cheap - like under $25K all in Wyoming?

How will you afford OSU if your income is that low? Don’t say loans.

If you can afford OSU, then you have nothing to be scared of because you have an affordable in.

If you need cheaper, UAH is outstanding, especially for aero (surrounded by defense companies). COA is $39576 this year and you get $16K auto merit - so you’d be under $25K. It’s easier to get to than Corvalis. So it’s a lower cost option than OSU - by far. There may be a couple more.

One last thing - I’m not sure Mines would be the right school. I say this because it’s a very STEM focused school and 50% of engineering majors end up in another - so I think a school with more majors to fall back into might be a better option.

Give your low cost desires, I”m not sure why you applied to some on your list - and it’s engineering, ranking is of lesser importance. I think you need to redo your list if you want more options, or need lower cost than OSU.

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