Chance Me Chem E U Mich and more [PA or DE resident, 4.0 GPA, 1560 SAT]

I think that your categorization of the schools on your list is pretty correct. You’re very fortunate that you’re in-state for UDel, as it’s extremely well-known for Chem E.

The big question, as has already been mentioned, is your budget. Is your family willing and able to spend $90k+ (Northwestern, CMU, Notre Dame)? If not, has your family run the Net Price Calculator at those schools to get a sense of affordability? Additionally, Michigan is likely to cost full price, so you’re looking at $75-80k/year. If a school is not affordable and if it does not offer sufficient merit aid (and some, like Northwestern and CMU offer none), then you should eliminate the school from your list.

ND may have been the outlier for @momofboiler1, but CMU and Drexel were the outliers for me when I was looking at your list (the others seem to have pretty big sports spirit, particularly around football). Does the spirit around athletics matter to you at all, or did I misread your list?

If athletic spirit is important for you, have you considered some of your other “in-state” possibilities, namely Penn State or Pitt? I’d second the rec of U. of Minnesota, and you may also want to consider Ohio State. If you like co-ops AND athletic spirit, you may also want to consider U. of Cincinnati. I suspect that all of these schools would be likely admits for you. If you’re looking to add a reach, I’d consider Cornell which is not quite as sporty as the others, but far moreso than CMU.

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