Chance me!

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Haven’t quite narrowed down the list yet, but right now I’m looking at:
Amherst College
Brown University
Claremont Mckenna
Dartmouth
Lafayette College
Pomona
Princeton
Stanford
CU Boulder
University of Michigan
USC
UC Berkeley
Wash U
Williams
Yale

I’m looking to majoring in some sort of engineering, perhaps aerospace/astronautical engineering, but I’m hesitant to apply to a dedicated engineering school because I don’t have any real engineering background or extra curriculars that could make me stand out to those kinds of colleges. However, my intended major changes on a whim and I’m far from decided at this point.

GPA (UW/W): 4.0/5.09
ACT: 35 (35/35/35/35), 11 on writing
SAT II: 800 on Math II, will be taking Bio M in october
APs: APUSH (5), AP Gov (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Lang (5)
Class Rank: School does not rank
Senior Year course load: Not confirmed yet, but hopefully AP Physics C, AP French, AP CS, AP Micro, Multivariable Calculus, World Lit, and Chorus.

ECs: Track and XC, captain for Junior and Senior year, state finalist/medalist.
French Honors Society, member for the second half of soph year and all of junior year, will be treasurer senior year.
Jewish Student Connection, member all four years, will be co-president senior year.
Camp counselor this summer, extended backpacking trips over previous summers.
Will sing in advanced chorus this year.

I’m mostly worried about weak extra-curriculars and not many academic awards or awards in general.

What do you think? I think a lot of these schools are high reaches and I might need to be brought back down to earth, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

2

bump

3

If you are a state medalist in track, it can make a difference for you. Of course, a state medalist in California is very different than a state medalist in North Dakota, but still. Have you contacted the track coaches at any of these schools. especially the DIII schools like Amherst, Williams, Pomona and Wash U? It won’t help you at Michigan, Stanford, USC or Berkeley, of course. Those schools are a step beyond with athletics.

Also, your list has many great liberal arts schools on it - but you want your undergraduate major to be in aerospace engineering. There is no such major at liberal arts colleges. Have you thought this out? Many people become engineers after a liberal arts education, but they do so by going to grad school.

Your grades and scores are extremely impressive and that alone will put you in the running for every school in the country. It doesn’t mean you will get in everywhere, but you surely will get into many of the schools on your list. For some of them like Boulder and Lafayette, you are a virtual lock. For others, you have as good a shot as anyone else, but when a school rejects 9 out of 10 applicants, there are no guarantees.