Chance a URM for Engineering Schools

Chance Me / Match Me
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Objective: Hello everyone. I plan on studying engineering although I am unsure at the moment. I am most likely leaning towards Computer Engineering or maybe CS.

ACT: C: 29 E: 29 M:32 R: 27: S:28 with an 11/12 on essay (E/W: 30) - I will be taking the ACT in September, however, standardized testing is my weakest link so I don’t see me scoring higher than a 31.
SAT II: Biology: 640 E, USH: 690 - I will be taking Math II in October and hopefully scoring over a 700.
GPA: 4.59 Weighted. My school does not do unweighted but the highest GPA you can get is a 4.5 with no honors/AP courses. I have taken ALL honors math/science courses possible.
Rank: School does not rank, but I am in the Top 10% of my class of around 400.
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Euro (5), AP USH (5), AP Psychology (4), AP Statistics (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Computer Science, AP Economics, APES, Regular English, Engineering Honors, AP Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No major awards. The awards that I have gotten are Honor Society Awards, Student of the Month, Venture Scholar, AP Scholar, and taking National Exams.
Did a dual-enrollment program at a local college where I got an A in.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Tutoring [5 Years]
Robotics Club [1 Year]
Key Club [3 Years] Over 30 hours of Community Service
Game Club [4 years]
Gym Club [2 Years]
All Honor Societies [~2 Years][Treasure in one of these]
Volunteer/Community service:
Around 100+ hours of volunteering at a local place and Elderly care.
Summer Activities:
Volunteering
Essay: Haven’t written it yet, but it will be unique and well written.
Recommendations:
Should be really good.
Counselor Rec: Should be good since I talk to her a lot.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes I will
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Live in NY
Country (if international applicant):US
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Less than $40K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation, born outside of US, have siblings that will be attending College, really poor.

General Comments:
I know that I do not have that many leadership positions, and my extracurricular activities were generic, but I had to figure out what to do all on my own and because I don’t have any connections, I had trouble finding internships or summer programs.

Also, I will not attend any Southern schools, but I may apply to some. Also, I will most likely not attend any colleges on the West coast, although I will apply to some because I have heard that it helps when applying to the same colleges for Grad school.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really appreciate it.

I am looking top 50 engineering schools from US News, which would include: University of Michigan, Cornell, UW Madison, Hopkins, Penn State, UMD, Ohio State, USC, UVA, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, NYU, Rochester, and Stony Brook.

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What colleges are you looking at?

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@michelle426 Edited my post to include a list. Let me know if I should look at schools not on the list! Thanks!

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@distractify Are you sure you want to apply to UMich and UMD? Being public institutions, it costs about the same as a private college if you are OOS. Also, publics are stingy with FA. Have you considered CMU or the Olin COE?

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@michelle426 I originally considered CMU but they require a Physics/Chem SAT II which I will not being taking. I also don’t think I could get in. I may consider Olin as I have heard good things from them. I know publics are stingy, but I don’t really think there is any other options as most private engineering schools I don’t think I have a chance at.

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@distractify I see. Well, figure out your finances first before you apply to OOS publics then. I think if you go into Engineering, it will be good to take the Physics SAT 2 regardless of whether or not the school requires it.

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@michelle426 My parents do have some money saved for College, although I am unsure of the exact amount because there answers vary. They told me they suggest going to a SUNY, and saving the money for grad school. However, I worked so hard that it makes me sad that I could have worked 1/3 as hard to get into a SUNY. Do you think that’s a good idea or do you think I can get into a better school with good financial aid. Also, they only recommend people in our school who took AP Physics to take the SAT 2 and I really want to focus on Math 2.

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@distractify Looking at your stats, I think you deserve something much more than a SUNY. It’s such a shame to see that money may prevent a hardworking student from getting into college these days… I think you should apply to SUNYs (as I am applying to the UCs) but aim for private universities or really good publics (again, run out the NPC with your parents. sit them down and have a serious talk about financials). SUNYs are your fallback. I don’t know a lot about them, but I don’t think you would be particularly upset going to one of them.

Also, I have to debunk the whole “you need to take an AP to take a subject test” myth. When I took the SAT 2 Chem, I only took Honors Chem and got 2 Bs in the class. I ended up with a 770 on the test. It’s not my cup of tea now, but it was a big deal back then. Pre-Calc H provides a solid foundation for Math 2 (seriously, if you paid attention here, you can get at least a 720), and on the test you just need to be extra careful. I scored a 770 on the Math 2 due to careless mistakes (I wanted an 800) and I got a B and an A in the class. If you do want to focus on the Math 2, let me provide some prep books for you: Barron’s and Dr. Chung’s. But as you can see, I did not take an AP class for Chem and still did “great” on the test. The whole AP thing just patches up some loose and frayed ends. You do NOT need an AP class to take any subject test. This is just a suggestion for testing though (to give an “umph” to your app) so you don’t need to take it.

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University of Michigan, Cornell, UW Madison, Hopkins, UVA, Vandy, and NYU are all strong reaches. The rest are matches, except Ohio State, Penn State, and USC are low reaches.

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@michelle426 Thank you for this information. I am in a tight dilemma though. So in addition to doing all of my summer assignment’s for APs and writing the essays, I need to study for the ACT which, like I said, I am taking in September 12th. I did take Calculus Honors for 11th grade, but I plan on studying for only around 3 weeks for the Math SAT 2. I am not taking AP Biology again, so it would be difficult to memorize everything all over while I’m studying for the SAT 2. I did take Chemistry Honors, but for some reason, no one suggested me to take the SAT 2, even though my course ran concurrently with the SAT. Now for Physics, I wasn’t the best at it even though I pulled an A for the year. Do you think I could study for the Physics SAT 2 for October, or should I take it in November? If I don’t plan on EDing anywhere, it is okay to take the November SAT 2 since the deadline for most schools is in January.

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@tigerrocks13 Thanks for the feedback. I definitely know that Hopkins, UVA, Vandy, and Cornell are strong reaches, but based on past acceptances from my school, people with worse stats than me have gotten into Michigan, Madison, and NYU. Are these schools also not looking to increase in diversity?

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@distractify I am taking the ACT in September too. I think you can take the Physics test with your Math (you can take up to 3 tests in a day) in October or November (I personally prefer October, because November is too close to finals). I say take a test to see where you are now, so you can know if you should do one test or two in a sitting.

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You really need to find out how much they will contribute (if anything), and run the net price calculator on each college under consideration. Prepare to be disappointed at the results from all of the out-of-state publics (except UVA) and NYU.

If a college is not affordable on need-based aid, then you need to see if you can earn a large enough merit scholarship to make it affordable. Of course, then your reach/match/safety assessment must be based on the scholarship, not just admission.

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Schools like NYU and UMich are among the most diverse schools in the country, Yes, that adds a good bit, but it’s not the boost that I can tell you’re expecting.

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@michelle426 how are his stats too good for a SUNY? Binghampton’s act range is a 27-31, which puts him right in the middle. You’re inflating his expectations. While a 28 is a good score and his other stats are strong as well, they are still too low for the top tier privates on his list. As the out of state publics will offer little fa, the SUNY’s are probably his best bet.

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@throckmorten I never meant to say his stats were too good for ALL SUNYs. For the one he listed, his ACT score is basically close to the 75th percentile. And also, he got a 29 on the ACT.

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Your list is so very wrong. What good does it do to get in a college you will not be able to afford. I feel sorry for you that you think you are too good for some schools. You must realize that many schools that do not have overall big ‘names’ are good at what they do in your dept especially. You need to take schools off the list where you will be near full pay. Add some more colleges that may give you merit and need aid.

Applying for undergrad somewhere does nothing, absolute nothing to help your grad school apps, whether you get in or not. I know as I have been through the CS grad school process with my daughter.

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@michelle426 Okay I will consider taking the Physics SAT in October as well, although here in NY we typically don’t have finals in November so I might do that.

@ucbalumnus Yeah, that’s why I have been looking everywhere for Colleges that provide the best financial aid - that’s why I was looking at Vanderbilt and UVA as reaches as well as Cornell. I was also considering a LAC because they lack diversity and most of them are willing to give a lot of scholarships. However, most LAC except the best ones like Harvey Mudd have strong engineering programs.

@throckmorten Thanks for your opinion.

@BrownParent You are absolutely 100% correct. That is why I am trying to find good engineering schools that provide a decent financial aid. I may sound that I am too good for some schools, and I am sorry, because it makes me upset that my high school career where I have taken all honors/AP courses and have gotten A’s in the courses, is being crippled by a 1 test I took on a Saturday morning. Also thank you for answering that misconception.

I spoke with my parents and they told me that they have around a decent amount saved for college. Hypothetically speaking, if they have around $100K, who should I consider. Also they will continue to work of course and save more by the time I actually apply. They told me that I can do whatever I want related to school with the money, but it would be better to spend that money on Graduate school.

I was also wondering if one of you guys could draft a list for me that you think would suffice. Thank you so much and I appreciate everything you guys say.

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I’m not trying to be rude here, but I can tell you’re counting on admittance to UVA, Vandy, and comparable schools. I would not get my hopes up at all, as these are both strong strong reaches for you. Look at a school that gives great aid but accepts many students with your stats. Check the common data sets for certain schools to find this info.

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SUNY Stony Brooks’s Computer Science Department is outstanding. Engineering and Computer Science at Binghamton and Buffalo are pretty good, too, and I know very good students who don’t get into Bing. I think they should be on your list.