Chance a senior for a variety of schools (engineering) [OR resident, 4.0 UW, 32 ACT, divorced parents]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Pls chance a girl for engineering (who didn’t decide she wanted to do engineering until junior year)

Demographics

  • US citizen, PNW/Oregon
  • Decently competitive public high school
    *Woman in engineering, LGBTQ

Cost Constraints / Budget
parents are divorced, combined income is 140-150k, custodial parent is 80k

Intended Major(s)

Electrical engineering or chemical engineering with a minor in music.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

UW: 4.0, W: 4.3~

school doesn’t rank but def top 10% of 550

ACT: 32 composite, no SS (submitted to all but Cornell & NYU cause math score wasn’t as high as I wanted)

HS coursework

IB school, so normal coursework until junior year. I didn’t do full diploma because I would’ve failed IB spanish.

  • English:
    Lit 9 honors, Lit 10, IB HL Lang/Lit 1 &2 (predicted 7)

  • Math:
    AGS2, AAGS3, IB SL AA 1&2 (predicted 6)

  • Science:
    STEM Physics, STEM Chemistry, HL Chem 1, HL Physics 1, HL Bio 1

  • History and social studies:
    World History honors, US History honors, IB SL Global politics (score of 7) , IB SL Psychology (score of 6)

  • Language other than English:
    Spanish 1, Spanish 2, Spanish AB Initio 1, French 1

  • Visual or performing arts:
    Theater design (basically tech theater class), IB SL Theater, Choir

  • Other academic courses:
    Robotics, Web Design, Electrical Engineering, Intro to Law

Awards

  1. most valued crew member all 4 years of high school
  2. student of the month

Extracurriculars

  1. Stage manager for 3 years, youngest ever awarded position and committed 25+ hours a week
  2. Junior trustee for a national trust, helped write grants and fund +do outreach for local nonprofits of my choice
  3. Math tutoring
  4. Waitressing
  5. Troupe leader (for theater, worked in outreach + increasing school involvement with a couple other seniors)
  6. Playing piano for 11 years
  7. Key club for 4 years
  8. Lighting technician/carpenter for theater (my freshman year)
  9. humane society volunteering
  10. previous job as a hostess junior/sophomore year

Essays/LORs/Other
Common app essay is very strong, my HL lit teacher reviewed it and said it was one of the best he’d ever read, so 9/10?

LOR1: HL chem teacher, she loved me but hated writing so maybe 7/10
LOR2: SL global politics teacher, he thought I was a genius but hated that I was going into stem… 8/10?
LOR3: outside recommendation from my theater director, def 10/10
LOR4: counselor rec, idk cause I only met her once

Schools
EA: Oregon State honors (accepted + scholarship), Gonzaga University (accepted + scholarship), Purdue, Stevens Institute of Technology

RD: University of Washington, Boston University, NYU, Cornell

Will require financial aid, likely need based and merit based. I’ll most likely attend OSU because it’s the most affordable for me (in-state) which is why most of my other schools are reaches.

THANK YOU IF YOU READ THIS FAR!!

2

Purdue 50/50

UW 50/50

BU/NYU/Cornell not likely but not impossible. Did you run the NPCs. If you need aid, it’s unlikely given your income.

When I think Engineerimg I don’t think BU or NYU. You know NYU is not main campus.

But already good acceptances.

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thanks! my mom wanted me to apply to BU because she couldn’t get in when she applied in the 90s, and I applied to NYU despite knowing it’s unlikely because I love the city and Brooklyn.

4

I hope you ran NPCs. An unaffordable admission is a rejection but maybe you’ll get lucky !!

Best of luck.

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Since it sounds like you would be happy attending OSU and the school is affordable then it is fine to apply anywhere else you like. Congrats!

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Oregon State and Gonzaga were the first schools that came to mind as I read your post. Great to see that you were accepted with scholarships at both!

Engineering is pretty egalitarian and the prestige of your college doesn’t matter much. Companies hire a lot of local people, even from schools that aren’t considered prestigious.

Priority #1 is attend a school that is affordable and offers engineering. Priority #2 is to attend a school you’re excited about.

If Oregon State meets both those criteria, anything else is gravy. Congrats on your accomplishments and your application success!

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I think you have a pretty good chance at Stevens (and it’s a great school). Will it be affordable?

I think you are competitive for Purdue as well, and that’s a very reasonably priced school.

Sorry, neither of these is a hook for admissions (if that’s what you intended to convey). But you already have some very good acceptances, and will likely get more. So you are in good shape!

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Note that Boston University, New York University, and Cornell University require both divorced parents’ finances, so be sure to include both of their finances when using their net price calculators.

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Only 22% of college engineering students are female. Almost all colleges are trying to increase their female enrollment in engineering. I think that enhances your chances almost everywhere.

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Oregon State with a nice scholarship is a great opportunity for engineering, and Gonzaga is an interesting alternative, so really you can’t lose at this point.

I agree there might be an affordability concern with some of your other applications, but it doesn’t necessarily matter if you understand you might have to turn them down even if you are admitted.

We could name some other colleges that might be more competitive on cost, but . . . would they actually beat your existing offers on benefit:cost ratio? Probably not, unless maybe you really put a premium on getting out of the PNW.

So let us know if you want to hear suggestions, but otherwise I think you are in good shape.

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Osu is a great choice for engineering and you happen to live instate. Also Purdue is very pro female engineering plus you have good GPA /Sats… I think your chances are improved there.

You already have acceptances so at least the pressure is off. Enjoy your senior year. No reason to stress. So many others will be doing so right up to May. Great accomplishment. Good luck.

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