Type of high school: large public HS, might be considered feeder to UMich
Male
Other special factors: none
Rising senior
Intended Major(s)
Chemical engineering, maybe environmental or bioengineering if offered
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.89
Weighted HS GPA: N/A
Class Rank: School does not rank, probably fifth quintile
SAT Scores: 1560 superscore, 800 EBRW, 760 Math
List your HS coursework
English: Standard non-AP track, taking honors combined english/social studies/art class next year
Math: AP Precalc, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats next year
Science: AP Bio, AP Physics C: Mech, AP Chem and APES next year
History and social studies: APUSH, AP US Gov, both AP Econs
Language other than English: AP Chinese, AP French
Visual or performing arts: completed graduation requirements
Other academic courses: N/A
Awards
AP Scholar with Distinction
Presidential Volunteer Service Award, Bronze
“Varsity Letters” for theatre and robotics if that counts
Admittedly kind of weak compared to some other kids I’ve seen but I don’t know how important these are for schools outside the top tier
Extracurriculars
Strongest is definitely tech theatre
Done it since 9th grade, part of 11/12 of the shows we’ve done
Tapped for stage manager in 9th grade
3x stage manager, 1x lighting crew chief
Was responsible for around 100 people/thousands of dollars of lighting gear
Had to juggle many difficult tasks, communicate with many different types of people, make decisions under pressure during shows, etc
I understand it’s not really “engineering” but I can definitely make an argument on how the soft skills I’ve developed are still valuable for engineering/stem
Founder and president of quiz bowl club
Ran match strategy, recruiting, fundraising
Qualified for and attended nationals twice in a row
~450 hours of volunteering across multiple orgs, mostly SAT tutoring and summer camp counseling (same place every year but not an engineering camp though)
Not super high impact stuff but enough that I could still talk about it/pitch it
I was on robotics but not a technical subteam, did mostly scouting/strategy stuff
Attended a few mildly selective summer programs at UMich, nothing like RSI or anything though
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: I’m a fairly good writer so these should be decent, maybe 7-8/10 if I had to guess
LOR 1 from 11th grade English teacher, really liked me, hung out at lunch sometimes, joked around in class, strong letter for sure
LOR 2 from Calc teacher, also likes me a lot, had him for two years so should have some good material, strong letter also
I could probably get another letter from the adult staff of the theatre program if necessary but I don’t think any of my schools would care or even accept
Schools
I have a general idea of competitiveness but would gladly welcome feedback on this sorting
Also included reasons for each to help with suggestions on schools to drop/add if necessary, I am also fortunate enough that finances are not an issue
Extremely Likely:
Michigan State University (EA, cheap, close to home, engineering is good)
Likely:
University of Minnesota Twin Cities (EA, good ChemE program)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (EA, tour was nice but not spectacular, good educational quality at least)
University of Iowa (EA, bio/biomed engineering is pretty strong, have family there, and someone I know got recruited so I guess my HS isn’t completely unknown?)
Toss-up:
University of Michigan (might ED, otherwise EA, self explanatory, AOs seem to like my school/district + in-state advantage)
Case Western Reserve University (EA, strong bio/biomed programs, heard they give good merit too)
Marginal Toss-up:
University of Wisconsin-Madison (EA, strong ChemE/BioE programs)
Purdue University (EA, toured and really liked it, obviously strong engineering programs)
Low Probability:
Northwestern University (not sold on ED, I like the interdisciplinary philosophy that they teach)
This is a great, well balanced list and you are a strong applicant so should see many, many acceptances!
My only question to you is if you want any suggestions for smaller schools since most of the list are big state flagships but you have Rose in there and NU is much smaller than the rest.
Also, are these schools all affordable for your family?
I am fortunate enough that all of these schools are financially reasonable for my family (maybe not CWRU or Northwestern full price but otherwise no problem)
Thank you for the encouragement
I toured Purdue and RHIT recently and I preferred the state school vibe
Rose was kind of a compromise school with my parents to be honest and yes I’m fortunate to say that all of these are affordable
Let me know if you have any Purdue specific questions. My D graduated in '23 from the college of engineering. Chemical engineer major with a concentration in polymer and material science engineering.
Yes, it’ll be more than the state schools but won’t significantly impact family financials
Don’t know about how much merit Case Western might give me if at all
My parents have a very favorable view of Northwestern and would be willing to pay the premium if I am accepted
This is a good list if you like them all and they’re affordable – and you’ve said that they’re all affordable.
Michigan State is a solid safety and the rest are matches, low reaches, and reaches. (well, I see one true reach. You seem to have a decent handle on admissions difficulty.)
I don’t see a need for additional options, but if you’d like ideas, holler.
I think you’re pretty accurate in your evaluation:
Michigan State is an admissions safety
Iowa and Rose are likely low matches.
Minnesota OOS is likely also a low match, but maybe slightly lower chances than Iowa and Rose. To be safe, you could call it a match.
Case is a match or high match, but they do love the kids who love them… so if you are genuinely interested, demonstrate interest.
Michigan in-state is a match for you, I think. Check requirements and competitiveness for entering your desired major, though. OOS, they would be a reach probably.
Purdue OOS is probably a match for general admissions, but maybe think of it as a high match because you are not guaranteed a spot in your desired Engineering major.
UW-Madison has become much more difficult for OOS kids to get into – I’d call it a match or a high match for admissions – high match to be safe. And, same as UM and Purdue, check requirements for entering your desired major. It may be competitive.
Case tends to be relatively generous with merit. If you are interested, be sure to show interest!! Also be aware that they seem to have a pattern of deferring strong students in EA, trying to get you to switch to ED2, and then admitting in RD.
UMN estimates merit for OOS students in their NPC. You can go to their web site and do that: Net Price Calculator | Office of Admissions Also, UMN admission is rolling so you can apply right away at the beginning of the season and you may be admitted quickly.
My kids felt that way too.
Are you looking for more suggestions? And just to clarify, are you only interested in schools in the Midwest? You have a great list as is, though
Thank you for your time
I’m happy to hear some more suggestions, I would prefer midwest but northeast is ok too (pennsylvania up to maine, say)
not interested in UCs or south (i was in atlanta a few months ago and was already about to melt lol)
oh forgot to mention that I previously considered UIUC but took it off the list due to their admit by major system, I would prefer to have the first year or so to explore
also my parents have (jokingly) said that they refuse to pay for ohio state so uhh no bueno there too i suppose
Unless you were in love with OSU or UIUC or they had specific academic advantages, in my opinion you’d just be piling on apps unnecessarily – you already have six excellent Big Ten schools on your list, including your in-state flagships, which will offer similar student experiences.
Ok, I agree with @prezbucky that your list alread covers the “excellent Big Ten state school” angle. Here are a few slightly more out of the box suggestions to see if any interest you:
Engineering schools that have a very strong bias towards hands-on project-based instruction, since it’s possible that is one reason that you really liked Purdue:
WPI, maybe a bit small for your taste but it’s a very interesting school, and very flexible curriculum so I thought of it when you mentioned “interdisciplinary” as a pro for Northwestern. Merit is more unpredictable than Case but my D26 got a lot, it would have been cheaper than Case for her.
Cal Poly SLO, I know you don’t want UCs, but I don’t know how you feel about Cal Poly… it’s more reasonably priced OOS than the UCs. Curriculum not as flexible, but it offers small class sizes in a big school (unusual combination) and a very appealing hands on style, happy students, and the coastal location is not too hot.
If you find yourself interested in Canada (since you clearly aren’t afraid of cold weather):
U Toronto, academically strong, engineering is reported to be a bit grindy in flavor. It is costly for international students, but my S23 applied there for materials science and was surprised to get a very good merit scholarship!
There are more universities in Canada that people can suggest if you are interested. Canada has plenty of cold weather and big public universities
Will definitely look into WPI and Cal Poly, thank you
funnily enough I have canadian citizenship so going up there is a fairly cost-competitive option, although because I want to stay in the US long term my folks and I decided it probably wasn’t worth dealing with another application system
The application process for most Canadian schools is extremely straightforward compared to the US, so if dealing with the application system is the issue, I would not be too concerned about that part. You might want to take a second look at Canada… if you have the citizenship, it is a really good education for the price. Just ask if you want people to make more specific suggestions.
Edited to add: have you looked at UBC? I would have suggested it initially, except that a lot of people don’t like the general first year in engineering… but I just noticed that you said you prefer that system! My D26 also wants to explore in the first year, and she will be going to UBC in the fall as an international student. Happy to share more info.
