Help a 3.67 GPA and 34 ACT interested in Mechanical Engineering build a college list and decide which schools to visit [international in MA]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

Canadian Citizen

  • State/Location of residency: MA
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Mid-Size
  • Other special factors: None

Intended Major(s)
First choice Mechanical Engineering, would like a minor in either Aeronautical Engineering or Automotive Engineering, but it is not required
Possibly chemical engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.67 GPA as of now, predicting 3.72 end of Junior Year
  • Class Rank: Not Given
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 ACT nonsuperscore, took the test twice (31 first time)

List your HS coursework
In order of the order in which I took the classes, will include senior year classes, but I am currently a Junior
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: English 9, English 10, Honors English 11, Honors English 12
  • Math: Accelerated Algebra 1, Accelerated Geometry (Hated it), Accelerated Algebra 2. AP CALC AB, AP STATS (AP CALC and STATS both senior year)
  • Science: Honors Intro to Physics and Honors Intro to Chem (Both 1 semester freshman classes), AP BIO (5), AP CHEM, AP PHYSICS
  • History and social studies: Honors Modern World History, Honors US History 1, Honors US History 2(Not taking any history senior year)
  • Language other than English: French 2, French 3, Honors French 4, AP French (No Honors French offered for Freshman and Sophomore, taking the seal of biliteracy test in senior year)
  • Visual or performing arts: Architecture and Honors Art History (Both Freshman Year)
  • Other academic courses: Engineering Sophomore year, AP CSP junior year, Aeronautical Engineering Senior Year
    Planning to take a CAD course at a local CC senior year

Awards
NHS member(Never placed under probation)

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Cross country Freshman and Sopmore Year
Volunteered at a hospital summer before Junior year
Interning at a lab this upcoming summer
Sunday School Teacher
Very niche sport (Dont wan’t to identify) (2020 - Present) - Qualified for Nationals Freshman and Sophmore Year
Coached Said Sport Freshman and Sophmore year
Taking online motorsport engineering courses
Community Service Club event planner junior and hopefully senior year

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
AP CHEM teacher( Think will be good)

Schools

**Not really sure how to chance them, these schools I’m most likely going to apply to, but still would like some more options. **
Could you also chance the schools I have listed
Wentworth Institute Of Technology
UMASS Amherst
WPI
Northeastern University Possibly ED

Schools I am considering applying to
UMASS Lowell/Boston
RPI
RIT
Boston University
Purdure (Far but has a motorsport engineering degree)

What I am looking for in schools/other information
My dream job is to be a motorsport engineer, so I would really like a school with a Formula SAE team. Would prefer to be close to home, ~ within a 8 hour drive. I am not intrested in greek life. Would like a medium or big size school(3,000 undergrad minimum). Not intrested in study abroad.

I got a injury beginning Junior year and it was looking like I needed surgery so my grades dropped quite a bit. Dropped cross country to focus on sport but was to late to register for cross country after I got injured. Also dropped my morale a bunch, some other things also happened which really bummed me out and I lost all motivation. Doing better second semester though.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them, appreciate all the advice given before hand. Sorry If I messed up anything in my post. If I need to mention the sport I can but don’t want to if it’s not necessary.

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Do you have US permanent residency or citizenship? If not, you will likely be considered an international student for US universities (although Massachusetts public universities may allow those on some visas to be considered in-state residents for tuition purposes: https://www.mass.edu/bhe/lib/documents/2008-11-12ResidencyStatuswithFormandDocuments.pdf ).

Do you have any cost constraints?

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I am currently on a visa and not considered a permanent resident. No cost constraints, thankfully, but will obviously play a factor in my choice. Emailed my counselor a few days back asking about in-state tuition for my specific case.

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No universities in Canada on your list?

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I would prefer to stay in the U.S, but am open to schools in Canada if they aren’t too far.

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It’s not really the location you want, but Michigan Tech would be a match for your areas of interest.

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Location is a preference, it is a bit far my parents and my liking but I will still look into it, thanks for the suggestion.

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I think that you have a good list in your original post, but I think that you should also apply to a few universities in Canada as well. At least some parts of Canada are not all that far from Massachusetts, although of course Canada is a very large country.

Both daughters were born in the US but with dual citizenship, and grew up in the US. Both applied to some universities in Canada. Applying to universities in Canada is really very simple and straightforward (even applying from the US).

Assuming that you want to attend a university that teaches in English, the closest schools in terms of driving distance are Bishop’s, Concordia, and McGill, all in the province of Quebec. Bishop’s is small and does not appear to have engineering at all. Concordia and McGill are both very good, and are located quite close to each other in Montreal. I see that you speak some French which is probably not needed to study at either school, but will make living in Montreal for 4 years more interesting. McGill is sort of obvious, but I think that Concordia is also worth considering. Both would probably be about a 5 hour drive, depending a bit on where in Massachusetts you live.

Otherwise I would be tempted to either consider universities in Ontario (Queen’s, McMaster, Toronto, …), or Dalhousie in Nova Scotia. Dal is a bit of a hike by car, but there is a short flight from Boston to Halifax. Queen’s might be about a 6 1/2 hour drive, the other schools in Ontario might be more like 8 hours (all depending a bit on where you are coming from and whether you avoid rush hour).

You would pay tuition as a Canadian citizen at universities in Canada (unless you are considered in-province at a university that has even lower cost tuition for in-province students). There is a small chance that some school might miss this and send you information on how to apply for a visa along with your acceptance. A quick phone call and a fax or text of a picture of a Canadian passport or birth certificate can get this fixed quickly and easily.

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Below are my guesses as to what your chances for admission might be:

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • RIT
  • UMass-Boston
  • UMass-Lowell
  • Wentworth

Likely (60-79%)

  • RPI
  • UMass-Amherst

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Northeastern ED
  • WPI

Lower Probability (20-39%)

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Boston U.
  • Northeastern (RD, and if you want a fall start in Boston)
  • Purdue

Would you be happy to attend any one of these schools? If there’s a school on the list that you wouldn’t be happy to send your enrollment deposit to and attend for four years, then it shouldn’t be on your list.

Overall, I think you have a very nice list. One option you may want to consider is U. at Buffalo (NY). It has strong engineering and an SAE team. If you’re interested in Northeastern because of its co-op programs, then I’d also suggest checking out Drexel in Philadelphia.

Since you’re at least open to investigating Michigan Tech, I’d also urge you to look at U. of North Carolina - Charlotte. It’s definitely beyond the 8 hour drive mark, but Charlotte is an airline hub and you can probably get a direct flight to your nearest MA airport. And it’s one of the premier schools for people interested in motorsports: https://motorsports.charlotte.edu/

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@DadTwoGirls, Thank you very much for your detailed response. I did some preliminary research on some of the schools that you suggested, and I found the University of Toronto, Concordia University, and McMaster (Liked how the first year was exploratory before choosing your specialization) very interesting. I don’t think McGill would be feasible, as I don’t meet the cutoff requirements. The cost is extremely low compared to U.S schools, which is a big benefit, and being a citizen, I won’t have to worry about getting paid for co-ops/internships/jobs as I would have to in the U.S. I didn’t really look into Candian Schools beforehand but I think it makes a lot of sense. The acceptance rates for the school that I looked at were a lot higher than the ones in the U.S, is there a reason for that? Will definitely plan to do some visits over the summer. Thank you again for your response

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@AustenNut, Thanks for chancing me at the schools I have listed. I will look into the schools that you listed and get back to you. As for schools that I would not be happy to attend I think UMASS-Boston/Lowell and WPI fit into those categories. The reason for WPI is that I know 2 people who go there and they both tell me it’s similar to High School as in they attend classes there and maybe a club or 2 but still spend most of their time at home and they don’t have the best of times. That’s not the college experience I want as I want to stay on-campus/near campus. As for UMASS-Boston/Lowell, I would much rather attend the flagship campus. Another thing that I forgot to mention in my post is that I would prefer a school with good sports which is one of the reason’s that I included Purdure.

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IF applying for engineering, I’d’ switch placement of WPI and UMass-Amherst on this list.

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UMass Lowell’s specialty is it’s strong engineering program, comparable (and according to some, superior) to that of Amherst. If you find both mechanical and chemical engineering interesting, you should know that UMass Lowell has one of the nation’s only plastics engineering programs. Motorsports no doubt uses many high-performance plastics, but I suggest you research the scope for being in a more “hands-on” role vs developing plastics for a supplier before committing if you’re certain you need to be the former rather than the latter.

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Do they commute from home? That might play a role in their experience. UMass Amherst is in a more isolated area, so there’s much more of a cohesive “college experience”.

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@tghmr it’s Purdue, not Purdure.

And since you have that school on your list…Michigan Tech really isn’t a lot further away.

I agree with the poster above. Remove any college on your proposed list that you would not want to attend. I’m sure there are plenty of options that you could consider that you would be happy to attend.

I agree that Buffalo is well worth considering. @aunt_bea can give more info.

What visa are you currently here on…that might help folks.

When you say “no cost constraints” does that mean your parents can pay $90,000 a year or more which is the cost to attend some of these colleges?

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Then why apply? If you do live on campus though, you would have a different experience than the students who are living at home. Both do fall a bit short on sports though.

Getting paid isn’t the only issue. In AE especially many US firms require interns/employees to be US citizens because of national security issues. Just something to think about.

I second SUNY Buffalo, Michigan Tech, and UNC Charlotte. You might also look at UNH, U Cincinnati, Western Michigan, Michigan State, and U Maine. If you can be within an 8 hour drive, seems like you could be within the same timeframe for more schools if you consider flying.

Do you have any C’s in core courses? If so, you might ask your HS counselor to address the surgery/grade drop in their LoR.

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A bit of an aside, but my S22 and I visited Montreal last summer and stayed at Concordia (in the Grey Nuns Residence–a former nunnery converted into a dorm!) We loved, loved, loved the neighborhood where Concordia is located. Great subway access, within walking distance of McGill and hiking in Mont Real.

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UDel?

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If you’re applying to Purdue, apply to their motorsport engineering program

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Both of them do commute. WPI doesn’t guarantee or require housing and I would most likely commute if I ended up going there and a regular college experience is important to me which is why it is not high up on my list.