Chance Me - CA senior, 4.0 UW, 4.21 UC capped, ACT 35, prefer <$60k; electrical and computer engineering

Chance Me / Match Me
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MOD NOTE: OP will update, scroll to bottom.

Appreciate any feedback to Chance the school listed for my son who is currently a senior in high school. Also appreciate any other schools that you may think it’s a good fit.

Demographics
US Citizen
State/Location of residency: CA
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): mid/upper income public HS
Other special factors: Legacy-Georgia Tech

Cost Constraints / Budget
Prefer < $60k / yr
Constraint to $80k / yr
Can stress to pay more but the education will have to be worth it.

Intended Major(s)
Engineering (Electrical / Computer), Computer Science is a possibility
Plan to double major in Business or Finance once in college

**GPA, Rank, and Test Scores (after JR year completion) **
Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
Weighted HS GPA: 20 out of 38 semesters are Honors or APs
Weighted GPA (CA): 4.53
Weighted and Capped GPA (CA): 4.21

  • Class Rank: Probably #1, should be top 3, school does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: ACT 35

List your HS coursework

  • Completed 9 AP Classes: Biology, Chemistry, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, English Lang, US History, World History, Computer Science A, Computer Science Principles.
  • Currently taking (as Senior) 5 AP Classes: Physics C, Statistics, Gov/Pol, Chinese, English Lit.
  • All other are basic HS classes but as advance as possible with electives in athletics (Wrestling) and more Computer Science classes.

Awards

  • Likely national merit finalist
  • 5 HS Teacher Certificates (One student chosen in each class per teacher in school)
  • 3 HS Teacher Medals (One student chosen for all classes per teacher in school)
  • California State Legislature Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in STEM
  • California State Senate Certificate of Recognition for Boeing Internship
  • Congressional Award Bronze Medal
  • 2X Master Qualifier in individual boys varsity wrestling
  • 2X California CIF Regional Medalist in individual boys varsity wrestling
  • 1X California CIF Final (Runner-up) in boys varsity wrestling team
  • 2X League Champion (back to back) in boys varsity wrestling team
  • Scholar Athlete

Extracurriculars
High school boys varsity wrestling (132/138 lbs weight class)
CyberPatriot: Team lead, ranked #1 in district, competed in platinum tier
Selective Internship with a private big corporation (2023 Summer)
Paid research employment at a Cal State university in a STEM field (2024 Summer)
Young Engineer in Action: Computer Science Director
High School CPU Club: Vice President
Piano: CM Level 10, ABRSM Level 8
English Camp: Online English tutoring for foreign students and cultural exchange

Essays/LORs/Other
Strong Counselor LOR
Decent Teacher LORs Expected but can’t guarantee
Expect at least 8/10 on Essays

Schools

  • UC (UCB, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UCI) - UCB/UCLA - Reach, UCSB/UCSD/UCI - Target
  • USC (EA - >= Half merit scholarship with NMSF) - Hard Target
  • Rice - Reach
  • UPenn (ED special program, Engineering major for RD)- Reach
  • Stanford - Reach
  • Cornell - Reach
  • Univ of Michigan - Hard Target
  • Univ of Washington - Safety
  • Univ Arizona (Merit scholarship) - Safety
  • Georgia Tech - Target
  • Cal State Poly SLO - Safety
  • Cal State Pomona - Safety
  • Johns Hopkins - Reach
  • MIT - Reach
  • Carnegie Mellon - Hard Target
  • Santa Clara (Merit scholarship) - Safety
  • Purdue - Safety
  • UT Austin - Target
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CPP seems likely rather than safety, based on prior thresholds listed at Freshman Student Profile

CPSLO should not be counted on as a safety. Be sure to include high school level math and foreign language taken in middle school on the CSU application.

Washington engineering and Texas engineering tend to be reachy.

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You seem a bit light on the safeties other than Cal Poly Pomona and maybe Purdue. Arizona will be less affordable than in prior years (though still less than $60K) and are you sure the Santa Clara merit will be sufficient? If you want value for money in your safeties then take a look at some of the WUE schools that are going to be more affordable, particularly Utah and Oregon State.

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Some of these schools are over $80K. One should never stress - especially in engineering - but that’s your call. But kids from all schools get similar jobs.

In my son’s cohort - you have everyone from W Michigan to Michigan - and 20 schoosl in between - from Akron and Alabama to Case Western, Ohio State, CPSLO, UCI, etc. They all make the same.

If you are NMF, you know you can go for free or close to it - but certainly many schools under $60K. I won’t rate you in state (other than to know your SAT won’t matter) - but your list is fine.

I’d call Washington a high reach though - with a 2% OOS acceptance rate for CE (they don’t give an ECE #).

But Arizona and Santa Clara are safeties - and Purdue a match - and as they overenrolled, it will be tougher.

Michigan, Ga Tech, CMU and UT Austin are all reaches…as is Washington noted above.

With NMF, you might look at Tulsa, Bama, UTD and more.

The question to ask is - would saving - at your budget, $240K - be worth it? How long would it take you to make it back - if you spent $60K.

My kid turned down Purdue with merit and chose Bama. I thought it was a bad idea - he told me I was wrong, magazines are wrong - and he turned out to be right. He makes the same as the kids from Purdue or Michigan.

So it’s a risk / reward that only you can decide.

Stanford is showing $86.5K - this is before books and extra - so is this one you’re willing to stretch for? If not, then there’s some schools you can take off.

Have you looked at RPI - and it’s RPI medal? Seems you’d be a good fit.

You have a great profile - and I’m sure you have acceptances - certainly U Arizona, Santa Clara, and CPP but likely at least a few more (not including UCs and CPSLO).

Best of luck.

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Not sure about Santa Clara but have found cases online where students were getting some significant scholarships at least half and was mentioned by our advisor to consider it. But yeah, I don’t know if those cases were rare or not. I guess college now days are pretty competitive even for students who have done as well as they possibly could. The thinking is that if he can’t actually get into some of these reach/target schools, we will consider the community college / transfer route. Thanks for the WUE suggestion, we will look into it.

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Thanks. We plan to take advantage of the NMF. Of all the schools, he seems to like USC which at least cover half-tuition. We will look into Utah/Oregon State / Tulsa / Alabama.
When you said “(not including UCs and CPSLO)”, did you mean that the UCs/CPSLO aren’t safeties? UCB/UCLA are reaches for everyone but would you consider UCSB/UCI/UCSD/CPSLO targets or reach?

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I’m saying that because UCs/CSUs have a different system, other posters will be better to advise you.

If you’re looking to take an NMF deal - there’s even more than Tulsa, UTD, Alabama. There’s U Houston, LA Tech, some of the Florida Schools.

Tulsa is free. Bama is 5 years free tuition (think grad school), 4 years housing and then more money.

Not sure what Utah and Oregon State offer NMF or did you mean for WUE.

What you have to decide is - is USC at 1/2 off 71K + $20K for room and board - so still $55/56K x 4 is better than free - or let’s say $5K a year at Bama. Is that worth $200K?

Only you and yoru family can decide.

If it’s not, then you don’t need a huge list like you do - you simply determine head to head, which would you choose - an NMF school or JHU or Michigan, etc.

Vs michigan, an NMF school is worth $300K+ more and Michigan charges more the last two years.

Again, only you and your family can decide.

Here’s a list - 3rd party - there’s more schools than this but to maybe give you more ideas - but for example, you Houston isn’t on there.

Good luck.

Selective Colleges Offering National Merit Scholarships (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■)

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For the AP Tests: 5s on all except 4s on the 2XHistory & Biology

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Are you looking for cheap or does “fit” mean something different to you? What are your students priorities in where they want to spend the next four years, day after day?

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I agree, and will add that Purdue is not a safety for engineering. Nor is UWash.

@jlin63, would your son be happy at CalPoly in a worst-case scenario, or would you like additional safety and target suggestions that might be a good fit for his interests?

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Congratulations on your S’s strong record of achievements.

Is your S recruitable for wrestling, and interested?

Ga Tech, UTAustin, Washington (CS…Washington Engineering would be a target Freshmen by the numbers – Office of Admissions), and Michigan are reaches for OOS students as others have noted, and UT and Michigan likely won’t make your budget requirement.

Purdue is at best a target, not close to a safety.

Many of the UCs and a few of the other schools don’t have a business/finance major. Also, at some schools a double major might not be feasible if not admitted to the biz school initially (although a minor may be possible)…Michigan, CMU, Cornell, CPSLO, JHU, UT Austin, Washington, USC all likely in this group.

Make sure to apply in the unrestricted EA round to all the schools that have that option. That will be a lot of apps to get done in a short period of time.

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As noted by several posters, Cal Poly SLO is not a Safety but a Reach school for Engineering/CS. I would also put UCSD in the Reach category due to all the Engineering majors being selective majors.

Below are some admit rates for the UC’s and Cal states for your intended majors. Please note that admit rates alone do not take into account the competitiveness of the applicant pool for each major but you are very qualified applicant and should have some good options.

Campus Computer Engineering/CSE Electrical Eng CS
UC Berkeley EECS 7% 2024 7.6% EECS 1.9%/ EECS- 7.6%
UC Davis <20% Selective Major Estimated <40% Estimated <20% Selective Major
UC Irvine 28% CE/CSE 24% 25.2% 16.8%Impacted Major
UCLA Comp Eng 3.7% CSE 3.2% 9.9% 3.1% Impacted Major
UC Merced 91% 89% 91%
UC Riverside 42% 71.4% 32% Impacted major
UC San Diego Estimated <10% Top 5 most popular declared major Estimated <25% Selective Major Estimated 5% Selective Major
UC Santa Barbara 19% Estimated 21% 5% Impacted Major
UC Santa Cruz 57% 61.7% 60% Impacted Major
Cal Poly SLO 21% 49% 9% Impacted Major
Cal State Long Beach 36% 44% 31% Impacted Major
San Diego State 43% 45% 28% Impacted Major.
San Jose State Impaction threshold 4680 Impaction threshold 4440 31% Impacted Major. A CSU of 4.3 needed to meet 2024 Impaction threshold
Cal Poly Pomona 4410 CPP Threshold 4437 CPP Threshold 4676 CPP Threshold
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You already have a long list, but it might be worth adding UCSC, UCR, or UCM. I would guess that your son will get into at least one of the UCs you listed as targets - but not necessarily his favorite, and sometimes surprising things happen. I don’t think he needs to add all of those, but if one appeals to him, it might be a good addition - especially if he decides to apply to CS. That said, he should be ELC (top 9%), so he will get into UCM (or possibly UCR) if he doesn’t get into another UC, so maybe you count that as an extra safety?

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Is he interested in staying in state or going out of state? If the UCs are a priority for him, I would make sure that his PIQ and Activities & Awards are 10/10. The A&A can provide a lot of insight without having to write an essay. Make sure he takes advantage of the character limit to provide details about what he did.

UCSB Admissions has come good You Tube videos to give him an idea of what detail to go into. The counselor videos are much longer, but provide additional insight into what admissions looks for on the UC application.

Be careful that he doesn’t try to modify Common App answers to fit a UC prompt.

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USC Viterbi has a “why us” essay. Make sure he is well informed before writing that supplemental.

If you are local, I would arrange to take an in-person tour and add Viterbi afterwards. Encourage him to register and attend Viterbi webinars and info sessions. Follow Viterbi Admissions on social media. Make sure he opens emails from USC and/or Viterbi. If they ask for him to sign up for more information, encourage him to click through and sign up.

The Viterbi Expo is a big event/showcase for prospective students. If you are local, you might look at attending it. It is on October 20 this year.

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Congratulations to your son on all of his accomplishments in high school! He has made himself a strong candidate for any school. With that said, however, most of the schools on your list are extremely selective, particularly in regards to his chosen interests. Since these schools receive far more applications from strong candidates than they can accept, he should realize that the odds are against him (though by no means impossible).

With respect to the schools on your current list, these are my guesses as to what your son’s chances for admittance might be. I excluded the California publics, but @gumbymom has already provided some great data for reference.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

Likely (60-79%)

  • Santa Clara

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Purdue

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Carnegie Mellon

  • Cornell

  • Georgia Tech

  • Johns Hopkins

  • MIT

  • Rice

  • Stanford

  • U. of Michigan

  • UPenn

  • USC

  • UT-Austin

  • U. of Washington

Some other schools he may want to consider that would be likelier admits include:

  • Ohio State

  • Rensselaer Polytechnic (RPI)

  • Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

  • Stevens Institute of Technology

  • U. of Texas – Dallas (which also has a great deal for NMF students)

  • U. of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Worcester Polytechnic (WPI)

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Rice seems like an odd school in the list, is it because they offer merit?. Public schools dominate the ECE research field, maybe you can add schools like virginia tech, maryland or wisconsin. These additions are only necessary if you get shut out of UCSD/UCD which is unlikely but possible.

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Kudos to you for building such a strong academic record.

The schools on your list vary greatly in location, size, public/private, rural/urban, culture, etc. How did you select them? How many have you visited? What is the profile of your ideal school?

Some thoughts about specific schools…

UofM: The school is expensive for OOS students, and even for in-state students (as a MI applicant, Purdue was less expensive OOS than UofM was in-state). If accepted, your total cost with tuition, fees, room & board, etc. would be close to your $80k upper limit. Based on students from my son’s HS (a top feeder school) accepted by UofM for engineering the AOs definitely give preferential treatment to “under represented” groups.

CMU: For CompSci CMU is a reach for even the most qualified students. For engineering, you have a good chance of admission. CMU is stingy with need based aid and gives no (or almost no) merit aid.

Purdue: You are a likely admit. Note that students are accepted for general engineering then must apply for their desired major at the end of freshman year. Students with uncompetitive GPAs may not get into popular majors like AeroE or MechE. For an OOS student, it is a relative bargain.

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If the OP is adding engineering/CS schools, he may want to also look at UIUC, which is strong in both and likely an easier admit. It also has a respectable undergraduate B school.

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I would note with UW - if the student wants to do CE or CS - both mentioned as possibilities, the OOS acceptance is only 2%.

OP also noted this: We plan to take advantage of the NMF

Not sure what it means as most the list isn’t built around it.