Chances

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Rising Senior applying to Harvard (EA), Princeton, Cornell, Northeastern, Brandeis, Tufts, and URI

Low-income; white; male; Rhode Island
Interested in majoring in Engineering or Economics

Tests/GPA

2 large public school (W 5.21/UW 3.85)

SAT 1470 (720 read/750 math, likely will send ACT)
ACT 34 (35 math/34 all)
SAT II: Chem 780; US History 800; Math I and II + World History (waiting for July 21st)
APs: 5 Language; 4 Chemistry; 4 US History
Senior Schedule: AP Calculus AB, AP Euro, AP Physics, AP Lit; gym+ceramics (needed an art to graduate), Spanish 5 (AP), and VHS AP Economics-I have all APs offered at my school besides AP Bio, Computer Science, and French

ECs
Varsity XC/Indoor Track/Outdoor Track Captain (Junior and next year)
3 Class C State Team Titles; All-Class individual performances; XC school record; Advocated & recruited XC program
Mock Trial Lawyer
First year of making the state play-offs
Student Council Representative
Help & manage all school functions
NHS Member
Tons (50+) of volunteer hours in local community and at the school
2 Science Internships @ Walgreens & the Navy
School Year Employment: Private Tutor
Summer Employment: Yacht Steward

Chances? I’m interested in hearing about other schools to visit/apply to!

2

I am by no means an expert, but here are my opinions (sorted in order of “easiest” to “hardest”):

URI - Safety
Brandeis - Safety/Low match
Northeastern - Match
Tufts - Match
Cornell - Low Reach
Harvard (EA) - Reach
Princeton - Reach

3

Thanks! Best of luck in your endeavors @SquadraAzzurri

4

Of course! And you as well.

5

URI - Safety
Brandeis - Safety
Northeastern - Match
Tufts - Match
Cornell - Reach
Harvard (EA) - It’s Harvard…
Princeton - Reach

To be honest, there are a lot of schools with superior engineering programs than Harvard, for how hard it is to get into. (Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc.)

6

I agree with the above comment. If you want to go to a school for engineering/economics, there are much better schools in that field than Harvard. IMO it kinda sounds like you’re applying to Harvard EA because it’s Harvard and not because it offers a great engineering program (correct me if I’m wrong). With your scores, you should be able to get into a much better engineering program than Harvard’s (for example: UCB).
Check this link out for best engineering programs (Harvard is #24, while schools like MIT, Stanford, CalTech, UCB, and CMU are the top 5).

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings

To put it in perspective, UCSB outranks Harvard for engineering. It’s also significantly easier to get in there than Harvard (you would also be able to make the honors program).

Harvard also ranks #27 according to this link for undergraduate economics (it has a very good grad program for Econ, though).

http://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-bachelors-degree-programs-in-economics/

So, although it is Harvard, it’s not the best school for everything. Good luck on your endeavors!

7

@ap012199 @DurejaVu I appreciate looking out for me, but I’d want to pursue economics at Harvard as that’s what I’m really interested in. While I’d like to do that anywhere and get my MBA, I feel that there are too many business majors for not too many jobs and that engineering is a much more marketable career choice for most of my options. I also really did enjoy my time there.

8

A few points:

  1. Brandeis is “not” a safety. Although the applicant is clearly “qualified” for Brandeis (or pretty much anywhere else), Brandeis has been known for rejecting or WL-ing highly qualified applicants who don’t apply ED.
  2. Brandeis does not have an engineering program.
  3. I think there a bunch of other schools this applicant should consider: MIT, Stanford, Michigan, CMU
9

Thanks for the feedback @soze

  1. Duly noted. Most selective schools are iffy. I do enjoy URI so I'm perfectly fine attending there if it my only acceptance!
  2. Knew that, the admissions officer on my visit said that they had a program for engineering with Columbia. I have a pamphlet for that lying around here somewhere.
  3. Didn't like MIT or Stanford. I'll look into Michigan & CMU!

Thanks again!

10

URI - Safety
Tufts - High Match
Brandeis - Match
Northeastern - Low Match/Safety
Cornell - Reach
Princeton - High Reach
Harvard (EA) - High Reach

Obviously H&P are high reaches for anyone. You have a good list, and its certainly well spread. IMO, if you have the money/time to apply to a few more schools that you really like, you could definitely add a few to your list. Just my 2¢. Have a nice day!