Chance/Math Me for EE or CE - AZ resident, 3.91 UW GPA, 34 ACT

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hey yall, I have already posted on this website but this is the final one to get a sense where I’m at the end of junior year. Also, Please feel free to suggest other colleges which I may have forgotten about. Thank You.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident)
  • State/Location of residency: AZ
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): A Catholic High School

Cost Constraints / Budget
NO Cost Restraint

Intended Major(s)

Digital logic design which is weird since its sometimes covered under EE or CE.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.91
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.6/5
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 ACT, 1440 SAT; will be retaking the ACT since submitting ACT

List your HS coursework

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

  • English: AP Lang, AP Lit senior year
  • Math: AP Calc BC, Linear Algebra + Multivar calc Senior year without credit
  • Science: AP Phys 1, AP physics C E&M and Mechanics (Senior year)
  • History and social studies: APUSH(5), AP GOV, AP comp(senior)
  • Language other than English: AP Spanish Lang, none senior year
  • Visual or performing arts: Honors Jazz band and some other music
  • Other academic courses: Some Tech classes, AP csa(Senior year) AP business(senior)

Awards: FLL Coach of the Tournament; some random College board ones; 2025 FTC Think Award in regional tourney, 2024 FTC Innovate Award in regional tourney;

Extracurriculars

FTC co-Team Lead: Led a 10-student team to State; used CAD to design parts, helped build and taught CNC/3D-printing tools.

Personal IOT projects: Built custom PCBs and a 5-DOF robotic arm utilizing automated Inverse Kinematics. I am working on quite a complicated pcb over the summer and then fully coding it and it will go on github for documentation.

FLL Founder & Coach: created an elementary team at Title 1 school, secured funding, and placed 7th at a regional after 2-4x of coaching a week.

Grief Center Facilitator: Guided coping and confidence-building activities for young children experiencing family loss.

Varsity Chess and club President: Led 20+ members and ranked top 20 (team) and top 20 (individual) in the state.

Varsity Tennis Athlete: Competed 4x weekly, placing 2nd in state as a team and top 10 in state doubles in 9th grade though and in a different school. havent played much tennis afterward tho

Congressional candidate internship: kinda small since only doing like 10hrs a week but still smth i guess

NHS, Rocketry, immersion trip;

LORs; One strong but for other IDK yet. I have an idea for who, but I’ll have to ask next year. Most schools on my list don’t require that many

Schools
Want to not be in the south or very humid places.

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): ASU( good for Chip Design)
  • Extremely Likely: Ohio State
  • Likely: NC state
  • Toss-up: Purdue(EE), UCSD, UW Seattle(School of Engineering)
  • Lower Probability: UMich(EE), UIUC (ECE)
  • Low Probability: UC Berkeley(EECS), UCLA, Cornell(ED)
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You may want to consider the ECE major instead of the EECS major, given your interests. While the UCB EECS department has seen huge enrollment in upper level CS courses, enrollment is much less in upper level EE courses, which is probably why they started an ECE major.

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Just my opinion, but I think you should have a few more likely schools on your list, especially since you seem to want to leave Arizona. Michigan and UIUC belong in the low probability category for you. I think you’ve also overestimated your chances at Purdue and UW.

Since your list skews towards larger public schools, I think you should check out schools like Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa State. Would you be open to smaller schools or LACs?

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Yeah, but since larger schools have better semiconductor facilities my list skews towards those. Minnesota looks good tho.

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Maryland might also be a good one to look at. And since you are coming from a Catholic high school, Notre Dame might be a more attainable “reach” than a ED application to Cornell.

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6

Some of the mentioned schools have EA. Be sure to apply EA because they can be much more selective later.

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7

I’m a bit worried that you said no south and not humid and you’re only likely is NC State. What about Virginia Tech? Iowa State would give you an early yes as they’re rolling and there’s some comfort in knowing you have that a guaranteed option.

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Pay attention to secondary admission to major at some of the schools on your list.

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I think I was aiming high because my parents think that unless I get into a very good school I should probably just go to ASU, which makes sense.

10

Since ASU is assured admission for your stats, the rest of your list need only include schools which you prefer over ASU.

What does the “south” that you want to avoid include? Based on your list, it looks like AZ and NC are not in your definition of “south”.

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I want to avoid places like georgia, florida or texas but NC is kinda edging the line. ASU is assured but Barret honors college is what I’d want to go to. Also, Where do yall think Maryland and Virginia tech would go on the probability?

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Are you interested in work in the semiconductor industry? If so, ASU and the Phoenix metro area are hotbeds for semi, which you should already know. ASU’s Fulton School of Engineering is a “premier national hub for microelectronics, chip manufacturing, and advanced packaging, largely due to Arizona’s booming semiconductor ecosystem.” AZ is home to some of the most prominent semiconductor companies, including Intel, ON Semi, NXP, Microchip Technology and, most impressively, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) whose 1,100 acre campus in north Phoenix is touted to be the most advanced semiconductor facility on U.S. soil.

I don’t see anything in your posts that would argue leaving home for the type of study and work you appear to be interested in, especially if you are admitted to the Barrett Honors College, one of the top honors colleges in the U.S. You have it all in your own back yard at a price that can’t be beat.

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I agree with this. The reason I’d rather leave is that I don’t like AZ that much because I transfered here in sophomore year so I’m used to a more cool climate.

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If climate (in terms of weather) is your main concern about location, you may want to web search “[location] seasonal weather” for each college that you might be interested in. Weather may vary considerably within a state and over the seasons through the academic year.

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I wouldn’t call either of them a likely, but you have a decent shot at both as long as you apply early action.

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Climate should be the least of your concerns especially as the bulk of the school year coincides with AZ’s coolest/best temps, the one’s tourists flock here for. Purchase appropriate clothing and work toward your goal. If you really do want to work in the semiconductor industry, leaving AZ will be a step down.

Our son grew up in AZ and endured the frozen tundra of the northeast for college because it met his goals. He dressed warmly and didn’t complain.

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I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. There are several schools on OP’s list that are big hitters in the semiconductor industry.

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Ok then:

“If you really do want to work in the semiconductor industry and already live in AZ with 100% guarantee of affordable admission to ASU, you’ve hit the jackpot with no reason to look elsewhere.”

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I think you’re not getting my point. OP has expressed a desire to move out of Arizona. I’m just saying that there are many places in the industry outside of Arizona and many schools beyond ASU that will get you there. A “why would you leave?” approach doesn’t seem to fit here. I’m just trying to be supportive of the OP’s desires.

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Simply for a cooler climate, and I addressed that upthread. I totally agree that the OP can get a great education that will prepare them for a fine career from any of the schools on the list (GO BLUE!) but, based on the OP’s stated objectives, I don’t see a better value package than ASU.

@cgro27, best of luck to you.