Chance my friend? (Mechanical Engineering)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi guys. I have one more chance thread for one more friend.

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2000 Superscore (700 CR, 620 Math, 680 Writing, 10 Essay) (2 Sittings); He will be retaking the SAT in October (aiming for and will likely get 2100+ (he had a couple fluke math sections where he didn’t finish))
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II - 720 (again if he can get this in a harder math, then he can definitely improve easier math section on the sat)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~2.8 UW (out of 4) and ~3.6 W (out of 5)
AP (place score in parenthesis): None yet (Will be taking AP Physics C Mechanics and AP Calculus AB senior year)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Calculus AB, Senior English, Ethics in the Modern World, Senior French, Honors Symphonic Band, and Honors Select Wind Ensemble
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not sure, he may have some minor clarinet awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Clarinet (~9 years) (9. 10. 11. 12) - This is by far his most important extracurricular; he has spent thousands of hours practicing (he practices nearly two hours a day) and he is a member of the highest level orchestra in the state and has performed numerous recitals; Deeper Discussion Club (11, 12) - Founding member; One Bounce Club (11, 12); Other hobbies (photography, yo-yo-ing)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Not a lot, but he did spend summer before freshman year volunteering at the local food pantry and performed a solo concert for seniors battling Alzheimers (he will submitting this as an additional music supplement)
Summer Activities: Volunteering (11), Traveling to visit family in London (9, 10, 11, 12), Self-published photography album (11), Music Camp (9, 10, 11, 12)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Probably above average but not stellar
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): See Below

Teacher Rec #1: French teacher 7/10 (he had her for two years and she liked him)
Teacher Rec #2: AP Physics teacher 8/10
Counselor Rec: 8/10 (Counselor talked with him about what his goals were for college and what he hopes to achieve)
Additional Rec: Director and Conductor of Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (he also works at Harvard) - 8.5/10 (he has been his conductor for a few years)
Interview: N/A yet

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Larger Public (approximately 450 kids in grade) (very competitive/nationally ranked school)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None (perhaps if the music supplement goes well which it should???)

Reflection

Strengths: Test Scores (for some schools); One really passionate EC
Weaknesses: GPA, Course load, Awards, EC’s (everything else and lack of ec in intended major), no job/work experience, minimal volunteering experience, essays (probably, he is not that great of a writer, but he will be writing about music)

General Comments: He has been on an upward trend throughout high school in both rigor of course load and academic success. He is projected if all goes well to finish with ~3 UW and ~3.7/3.8 W GPA.

Schools he is applying to (please be mindful he will be applying to engineering schools if applicable and he wants to major specifically in mechanical engineering if possible):

ED2 Boston University (this is his top choice; he decided that it would be best if he applied ED2 so he could have a chance to improve his grades before applying (do you think this was a good choice?))

RD New York University

Rolling Pennsylvania State University (University Park)

EA/RD University of Colorado Boulder (Should he do EA or RD?)

EA/RD Tulane University (Same question)

EA/RD University of Massachusetts Lowell (Same question)

RD Syracuse University

RD University of Connecticut

Rolling Purdue (This is probably not happening I imagine)

Is his list solid? Do you think he can get into BU? He would also really like Penn State as well, but would be okay attending any of these.

Thanks.

2

Penn State has rolling admissions. There is no EA or RD. He should get his app in as soon as possible if he wants to have a decision in hand.

3

@bodangles Thanks for letting me know! I’m sure he knew that and that was just my bad.

4

Oh yeah. Also on his list is EA/RD University of Massahusetts Amherst. Thanks!

5

Bump.

6

Bump again.

7

Bump for a third time.

8

Bump.

9

That GPA is really going to hold him down, and so is the SAT I math. He’s clearly smart, so maybe he should think about transferring after a year or two at an easier college. Consider Massachusetts state colleges, and if BU is his top choice then he should apply

10

@dennis052798 Thanks for responding! I know hypotheticals are generally unhelpful, but he did get a 720 on a harder Math test (Math II). I believe it would be a correct assumption to say that he will at least improve his SAT I section 100 points (after all, it is an easier test), Let’s say he brings it up to around a 3.0 UW and a 3.7 W, does he improve his odds?

11

No problem. If he was able to improve the regular math to a 720, and his weighted is around a 3.7, I think he could get into some, but he will still be fighting uphill for BU and the higher ones, because GPA is basically the first “check-off” in admissions. If he has good upward trend, and if his class rank is decent, then I would say he at least has a shot at all of them. None of them are totally unrealistic. Keep in mind that state public colleges are usually harder for OOS students

12

@dennis052798 Well, he has a bit of an upward trend going, and thank god our school does not rank. He definitely would not have a good class rank because our school is so competitive. He has an opportunity to really improve his SAT though. Grades, well, there isn’t much he can do to erase what happened in the last few years. I’ll let him know.

13

Bump.

14

Bump.

15

Bump.

16

Anything else guys?

17

Bump.

18

Bump. Anyone?

19

I’m posting results for a friend in case anyone wants to use this in the future. Everything about the earlier profile is the same except he got a 2120 on his SAT, his unweighted GPA ended up around a 3.14/4 and his weighted GPA was around a 3.9/5, and he applied to a different set of schools than originally listed.

Results:

ED2 Boston University (School of Engineering) - Rejected

Rolling Purdue University (School of Engineering) - Rejected

RD University of Massachusetts Amherst - Waitlisted (did not accept spot on waitlist)

RD Temple University (School of Engineering) - Accepted

RD University of Colorado Boulder (School of Engineering) - Accepted

RD University of Vermont (School of Engineering) - Accepted

RD University of Miami (School of Engineering) - Waitlisted (did not accept spot on waitlist)

RD Syracuse University (School of Engineering) - Accepted

RD Northeastern University (School of Engineering) - Rejected

RD The Ohio State University (School of Engineering) - Accepted

RD University of Maryland College Park (School of Engineering) - Rejected

Final Decision: Will be attending The Ohio State University

Hope this helps people in the future! Thanks to everyone who responded!