Chance Me/ Match Me: NC HighSchooler w/ IB Diploma + Associates Degree 4.6GPA [3.87 unweighted GPA, 31 ACT; chemical engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics
NC Resident
Wake County (competitive)
IB Magnet High School- 120 IB Students in my grade

Intended Major(s)
Chemical Engineering/ Chemistry + math minor
possibly pre-med or pre-dental

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Note: I got all As in the 13 classes that I took junior year. However, I am currently taking 4 summer classes at community college that started during the time I was taking IB/AP Exams and finals and got burnout which I will explain in the additional info section. My GPA/ class rank will likely drop quite a bit once these classes are over and I am predicting that I’m going to get a B in most of them.

Current High School: 4.6 WGPA, 3.97 UW GPA, class rank 11/600
Current Associates: 4.0 GPA

Predicted HS GPA after Summer classes: 4.54W, 3.87UW
Predicted Associates after summer classes: 3.55 GPA

ACT: 31, havent taken since sophmore year but planning to take in september (my test centers keep getting closed).

List your HS coursework
Full Associates in Science Degree- either recieving S1 of senior year of S2 if I withold some AP exam scores so I can take more math/science classes.

IB Diploma (4HL, 3SL)

total: 33 AP/IB/DE
11IB, 14DE, 8AP (5 self study, 3/4 on all AP exams)

  • Math: * AP Calc BC (10), DE Stats + Linear Algebra (summer), IB Math AI HL + Calc 3 + Diffrential Equations (12)
  • Science: * DE Gen Chem I+II (11, summer), IB Computer Science SL-HL not offered (11), APCSA (11-selfstudy), APES (10)
  • Language:* IB english HL (11,12), IB French SL (12), DE Writing(summer)
    Humanities: IB HOA HL (11,12), IB TOK (11,12), AP Macroeconomics+ Microeconomics + US Gov (10-self study)
    Art: IB Art HL (11,12), DE Art (11), DE Music (11)

Awards- listing like I would on common app

  1. Art Social Media with 75000 likes, 9500 followers, 80 posts
  2. Certificate for first year of Associates in Science + honors college
  3. National Honor Society (NHS) +
    Science National Honor Society (SNHS) +
    National Achievers Society (NAS)
  4. AP Scholar
  5. Varsity Gymnastics State Championship Team x2, Conference Championship Team x3

Extracurriculars

  1. Orthopedic Surgery Job shadowing-50 hours(11) + hospital volunteering (12)
  2. Research in Economics- IB Extended Essay + virtual Summer Program (11,12)
  3. National Art Honor Society- Copresident (11,12), member (10)
  4. Math Honor Society- President (12), treasurer (11), member (10)
  5. Varsity Gymnastics(9,10,11,12)
  6. Kumon Learning Assistant (10,11,12)
  7. Culture Club- Historian (10,11), Social Media (12)
  8. Varsity Stunt (9,10- injured 11)
  9. Competitive Gymnastics (9)
  10. Student Council (10,11,12), IB Equity Team (11,12), Principles Advisory Council (11,12)

Schools
Planning to pay at most in state tuition (~15k/year), not recieving financial aid.
Looking for schools OOS that give good merit aid comparable to In State tuition or less.

Given my situation with my summer classes (explained above), I was wondering if it would be better to apply RD instead of EA to UNC and possibly NCSU so my most recent grades aren’t mostly Bs. I will likely Apply EA if offered to all the other schools since theyre mostly safeties and I feel like I can still get in with Bs on my transcript and EA is often required for scholarships.

Safety: UNC Charolette(applying levine scholars + albert engineering), UNC Wilmington, University of South Carolina, University of Alabama

Target: NC State (parks scholarship), UNC Chapel Hill(morehead caine), UVM

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UNC Charlotte and Wilmington do not have chemical engineering. The only NC publics listed on the ABET web site for chemical engineering are NC A&T and NCSU.

Those full ride scholarships are highly competitive, so should be considered reaches. Also, UNC CH does not have chemical engineering.

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You have a nice set of things for your applications. I will say…these scholarships are very competitive…so if they are a must have to attend these colleges, I would say they are reach schools.

Have you considered all of the University of Alabama campuses? @tsbna44 can give you the costs after your guaranteed scholarships…these could be affordable.

@Mwfan1921 @AustenNut

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You took 13 classes your junior year? How?

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Sorry for the confusion, I meant the schools themselves are targets not the scholarships. I was planning to do a chemistry major + a math minor for schools that dont offer chemical engineering, I’m also still pretty undecided. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I did 7 high school classes (one over the summer) and then 6 dual enrollment.

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Why?

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And while its water under the dam…why then four more summer courses?

Anyway what’s done is done.

Honestly, I would suggest you apply EA to any college on your list that offers it.

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My point…if you must get these scholarships to attend these colleges…then they are reaches, not targets.

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I was trying to get my associates degree done so I would have more college credits and less classes to take in college so I added the dual enrollment classes. I probably should have chosen to do either IB or dual enrollment though instead of both.

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Thank you for your advice! I now realize the extra classes might not have been the best idea haha

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Pretty tough to get a Chem E degree from a competitive engineering school for $15k per year. Very few schools give room and board to oos students, and that alone is $10-15k per year.

NCSU should be a target, but I don’t believe a 31 is competitive for Parks Scholarship. NC A&T is a great safety school.

U of Alabama and U of Alabama Huntsville will give significant aid, but most flagship oos schools are not in range of $15k per year budget. My recommendation is to target oos schools that are not the flagship school in the state, often referred to as directional schools.

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If you are planning to pay only for tuition…are you hoping to commute to some college? Or are you hoping for a full tuition award and the $15,000 will go towards your other expenses…like room and board?

Any chance your PSAT score put you in NMSF category?

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I meant around 15k for tution not including room and board, since most public schools in state for me are around there or a bit lower. The last ACT I took was sophomore year and I haven’t been able to retake it since because my testing centers keep closing last minute. I’m guessing itll go up a little since its been quite a bit since then but realistically it isn’t going to change drastically. I appreciate your reccomendations :slightly_smiling_face:

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I wasnt a NMSF. My family was planning to pay around 15k just for tuition and then pay an additional 10-15k for room and board.

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How will you pay your living expenses? Nevermind…I see your response. So really, your family is planning to pay $25,000 a year…not $15,000. Is that correct?

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Will they pay $25000 to $30,000 for you to attend say…University of Alabama? Or maybe University of New Mexico? I think your coats at both would be in budget with the automatic scholarships you would receive. @WayOutWestMom can give the UNM details.

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I saw University of Alabama gave 28k for presedential scholarships for a 32+ ACT, and 24k for 30+ ACT which is why it was on my list. I haven’t looked into UNM yet but I’ll be sure to take a look

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I know you live in North Carolina, so this may be too far away, but if my son had the same budget you have, then I would encourage him to go to Iowa State. Low oos tuition, good auto merit, and reasonable room and board. I am not sure which colleges on the I-95 corridor would fit your needs, but Alabama and Mississippi are not too far away and give lots of aid, but none of those schools are anywhere as good as NC State.

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So when you want the $$ = your best bets are Bama, UAH, and Mississippi State. There’s likely a few more. I’m using this year’s figures below.

Bama is $49,188 - and with your ACT (assuming it’s not super scored), you get $24K off. Additionally, your ACT score (30+) gets engineers $2500 more - so you are $26.5K off - that’s all in - and when you move off campus is can go down (all in for tuition, room, and board). If your ACT got to a 32, you’d get $4K more ($30.5K off). They do not superscore.

You can also apply for their competitive scholarship - easy app - my daughter got raised from $24K to $28K - but again, engineers with a 30+ACT get another $2500. And in the Honors College you’ll get your own dorm room and share a bathroom with just one.

So that’s a win for you - and it’s a fine school. My son was MechE but his highest paying offer ($90K base + bonus) was at a chemical company.

UAH is another good one. Smaller. Tuition, room and board is $38,836. You’ll get $18,230 off so you’re $21K ish.

Mississippi State is in between - fine school - SEC but not the firepower of Bama but not as small as Huntsville. Tuition, room and board is $40,539. I think you get $23K off if I’m reading their chart right - so under $18K.

Others you might try - not sure if will hit cost (all are ABET accredited) - Louisville, UT Chattanooga, and Tennessee Tech. And Iowa State as mentioned above - if you have $30K-ish - for tuition, room and board - these may or may not hit. The first three will - assuming your 31 in single sitting.

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