Chance/Match Kentucky Senior applying to T20 [4.0 GPA, 36 ACT, advanced college math, math and/or ME major]

First, kudos on garnering such an impressive academic record. You would be a competitive applicant at just about any school in the US. The problem is that top schools like MIT or Stanford turn away 8-10 extremely well qualified applicants for every one they accept. It really gets down to what they are looking for to build the incoming class in terms of background. Being from rural KY may help you here; every top student in CA wants to attend Stanford and the AO there may give the nod to a student from your hometown over yet another kid with similar stats from Palo Alto. Being a woman helps too as some schools have official goals of 50/50 male/female classes in STEM fields (Carnegie Mellon), and those that do not have a public parity policy likely give preferential treatment to women in admissions.

I think you should do some soul searching and homework. First, what is the profile of your perfect school - public v private, large v small, nerdy v social, etc., etc. What, if any schools, have you visited, and what were your impressions? Second, do some homework on career paths for math, ME, and AeroE majors. Are there jobs in private industry for math majors? Do you need an advanced degree to really do anything with math? If you decide you really want AeroE that narrows the list of schools down a good bit (I agree with others here who recommend Purdue).

After you go through these exercises revise your list and visit as many as you can. If you cannot visit the schools try to talk to alumni or current students. My son visited every school on his list before applying, and then revisited the top contenders after being accepted. Surprisingly, the school he ultimately selected was not high on his list early in the process. If they meet your criteria, do not hesitate to apply to the top schools. You are competitive, and if MIT, for example, does not accept you it was not because you were not an amazing applicant; it was because they had too many math gods who speak Russian already, or the AO had their car breakdown in Louisville.

Good luck!

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