College Admissions for C/O 2022

Chance Me / Match Me
1

So y’all, i’m a senior from Pensacola Florida literally the most “rinky dink” town in all of Florida (excuse my southern Euphemisms as they will be very prevalent throughout this discussion) I just wanted to make this thread to have an open discussion about those of us who come from crap high schools, as opposed to these 600+ graduating classes I have been reading about all over CC

My high school has a graduating class of about 340 people and about 50 of those 340 are too dumb to actually graduate so its most likely going to be much less. Reading CC is extremely stressful, but yet somehow it impossible too stop. I read about people who go too amazing high schools with amazing test scores great GPA’s etc. I realize that I need to make the most out of my high school, but its still rather scary. I plan on majoring in engineering, and have applied to Uchicago, Dartmouth, Duke, Rice, Swarthmore, Tulane, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and FSU. I have already been rejected from Columbia( which was expected) and Tulane (which was shocking) and I was deffered from Uchicago EA. Readinghcollege confidential has me really second guessing whether or not I can actually make it into these schools. Many students going into these top Tier schools have amazing test scores, around 33-35 ACT and 1500-1600 SAT with nearly perfect SAT II’s. I fear that what is considered rigorous at my high school does not compare to what I’ve observed to be the norm for people who apply to top tier schools. For example, based on what I have observed most people seem to be taking Calc BC as seniors and take AB as sophomores. At first I figured this was more of a nuance from application to application but eventually I began to plot a trend. At my school it is abnormal to even make it to calc AB. The traditional order is Algebra 1 as freshman, then geometry as a sophomore, algebra 2 as a junior, then Precal or dual enrollment prob and stats as a senior. The academic students such as myself take this same path except with geometry taken freshman year as algebra 1 is completed in middle school, and also AP calc AB or AP stats as a senior. I always felt advanced but im beginning tofeel that I am actually behind. Anyways that’s perdy much all I wanted to talk about feel free to discuss yer anxieties frustrations with the application process for C/O 2022 I seriously want to hear that my issues are not unique in this process.

So I’m a number and stats guy, so I will post my stats here so you guys might understand and compare yer stats. If you feel comfortable post your stats as well.

SAT 1: didn’t take
ACT: 29 (30M, 26E, 33R, 28S) Don’t laugh i’m a bad test taker ironically
SAT II: didn’t take
AP: Human Geo(3), World History(3), APUSH(3), AP Physics 1(2), AP lang(3)
Senior year course load: Band 6 honors, Engineering architecture, engineering design and development, Jazz band 4 honors, AP lit and comp, Marine science honors, Latin 2, AP calc AB, AP macroecon, AP gov
GPA: uw: 3.7414 w:4.765
Class rank: 6/334
EC’s: Band 4 years(section leader), NHS( parliamentarian), SNHS(VP), Rho Kappa(treasurer), Mu Alpha Theta, Art Club, Tri-M( treasurer), Beta.
Awards: 4 years all county principle player junior and senior year, National indoor percussion placement, solo and ensemble superior at state 2 years, AP scholar, some others I don’t feel like listing

That’s the gist of it good like everyone everybody!

2

UChicago doesn’t offer engineering. The molecular engineering is the closest thing we have, but that’s not ABET accredited. If engineering is your path, then don’t feel too bad about getting deffered. You shouldn’t have gone anyways.

As whether you are competitive for those schools you mentioned, your ACT and AP scores are a bit lower than the average admit. It’s hard to say whether you will get in or not unless we had your entire application, but just make sure you have target and safety schools you applied to also.

3

If your a numbers guy as you say, I hope you switched to EDII if you really wanted to attend UChicago.

Why didn’t you apply to Case and Rose if plan on engineering? Tough schools but EA could have helped.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

4

ABET accrediting is not important for cutting edge programs. You just have to look at Stanford and MIT to see how many of their programs are not ABET accredited. ABET is much more important for civil/structural/power distribution( IOW, things that deal with infrastructure and the government regulations). The government loves accreditation’s.

5

Yeah the schools listed are the ones I applied too, FSU is my safety school, my target school is probably Dartmouth
I really do like Uchicago though but i’m having doubts because I here the suicide rate their is high and its really stressful there( which is expected).

6

My son is in a rural Florida high school as well. Rigor is not what it is in other states. He pretty much taught himself chemistry and physics because he is interested in them. He too was deferred Chicago EA and will most likely be attending FSU on full scholarship, and hopes to attend U Chicago for graduate school.

If engineering is what you want to study in State, then UF should be your school.

7

…so yes UChicago does have an engineering program, Molecular, with emphasis in chemistry, biology, or quantum physics.

8

Well my second backup is probably UCF they have a great architecture program UF I refuse to apply to the “party” atmosphere is just not something I really wanna experience, and yes I realize that just about any college I go to I will experience the atmosphere at varying levels of concentration, however I’m just not insterested in UF

9

You’ll find FSU and UCF can be as much of a “party” atmosphere as UF. :slight_smile:

However, engineering isn’t really the “party” major at any school.

UCF engineering is as good as FSU, so give it some consideration. Actually, UCF’s engineering program is stronger, but FSU is the better overall school, so I can’t tell you which school to pick, it’s really up to you.

10

Lol finally someone on CC I could relate to. I applied to 2 Ivies and UofC knowing that I will definitely not be accepted. I go to a really bad school in metro Detroit area, and I only came to the US my freshman year of high school as an international student. My English was not great, actually very basic and the ESL program in my school was useless so I had to teach myself English. I borrowed English books from my friend who goes to a local university I learned the grammar they taught in college and the academic words that I should be familiar with. Then I navigated my way through high school with 0 guidance from any of the staff there. I did above average compared to other kids and ESLs in general, and my interviews went very well but I do not know if I can compete with the students who went to better schools or had more years of education in the US. I already got accepted in most of my safety schools but UofC is my dream school. But honestly, I’m not expecting much !!

11

Thats an awesome story bud, i’m glad to hear that you kept persevering though, just an update, I was rejected from UChicago ED2 but its whateva, at this point I don’t even really have a top choice anymore, I’d be grateful and blessed to get into any one of these schools or even wait listed.

12

Every school has a party element. I go to UC Berkeley, which has one of the largest Greek systems in the country despite being reputed as the nation’s top public school. Nearly any school you go to will have a party vibe. That being said, your ACT and AP scores are low for the top schools. Florida State may be the only school that you get into considering the selectivity of the other schools you applied to. The courses you took will not be held against you, as you are primarily weighted against those in your school/district, so as long as you didn’t pass up any courses that were offered to you, it won’t necessarily hurt you. Good luck.

13

You have a decent shot at tulane, emory and rice, I would classify them as low reaches, as they are reaches for everyone. Stats are a bit low but if you explain well why they are, shouldn’t be a problem.

Would appreciate an honest chance back

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2063830-chances-for-top-colleges-rice-harvard-princeton-etc.html#latest