@RafizXD: Note that U.S. News does not rank undergraduate chemistry or biochemistry programs.
Relying on graduate department rankings for the evaluation of undergraduate programs can represent a counterproductive approach. For example, compare the student profile of Penn State (a school with an excellent graduate program in chemistry) to that of Swarthmore (a school with an excellent undergraduate program in chemistry), then draw your own conclusions:
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Pennsylvania+State&s=all&id=214777#admsns
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Swarthmore&s=all&id=216287#admsns
So I checked the rankings and wisonsin s still ranked decently-18th in chem and 39 in molecular bio.
BTW does anyone know if UWisc had additional scholarship requirements barring the usual financial aid info and the academic and ECA stuff? If so please let me know.
You DO need to put your father’s financial income on your QB application before submitting it. Also, do you have a step father or step mother? If so, their income will need to be included on your application as well. OP, can you cite where it says ONLY your mother’s income (custodial parent) will be considered initially to determine finalist status? I skimmed the QB website and didn’t see where it said that.
FWIW, I am familiar with QB, my kid was a Match recipient. There is only one parent, myself so I didn’t have to fill out the non custodial section, but that being said I have never heard what you said about only your mom’s income being considered initially. I only raise this question as it would be a waste of time to apply through QB if your father’s income would be considered along with any step parents.
Here is what QB says from their FAQs:
Don’t think I can link to it because the mods always think the faq site is a blog. Anyway, I agree with cottontales…you do need to add in your dad’s income and assets, and any step-parents too.
yes I saw that. Thanks anyway guys!
Guys, so I have this list right now but I feel it’s too big(14). Could you suggest 2/3 colleges to exclude and why so? Check first page for stats.
Reaches-harvard(EA),princeton,yale,dartmouth,columbia,cornell,mit,stanford,rice
Matches and safeties-UT Austin,BU,Uni of Rochester, Uni of Wisconsin Madison,Uni of Houston
PS-Dont remove rice or Uni Houston cause dad wants me to apply to at least 2 houston unis.
Also, I ditched questbridge.
OP, is your budget still $10,000 or under?
Have you run the NPCs on all of these schools? If so, please let us know those results. Because your parents are divorced it can complicate things, but for all of these schools just enter all the requested financial information for both parents (and any step-parents).
So let’s start with a financial safety…is U Houston affordable? They don’t meet full need, and we aren’t sure if you qualify for in-state tuition? Have you figured that out? Would you live with your dad and commute?
You might find another safety or two.
I would take U Wisc off, that will be unaffordable as they offer limited FA for OOS students. OOS COA $55K/year
U Austin is a reach, because you are not an auto-admit Texas resident.
After that, culling the list is up to you. Do you like Columbia’s core? MIT’s vibe? Cornell’s vibe? Etc.
@Mwfan1921 thank you for those points. I guess i should take wisc off my list.As for houston, yes living with dad’s an option.
Among the others,one college giving me some uncertainty is MIT.I wonder how I’ll do among hardcore STEM enthusiasts even if i get in.I am not so much of a hardcore STEM guy,so yeah.
Oh BTW I used college boards college search tool. Apparently yale and dartmouth are good fits for me.
I’d ditch Dartmouth and Yale. Not STEMy enough compared to the others and you have too many reach schools.
@momofsenior1 what about UWisc?
The thinking on the MIT curriculum and vibe is what you should be doing for all the schools on your list. I hope that you have been doing virtual admissions sessions for all these schools to help you in your decision making, not to mention to help you write the ‘why us’ essays that many of these schools have. If you haven’t done the various virtual offerings, there is still time to participate in them.
CB is a good search tool, and it might say Yale and Dartmouth are good fits for you, but they are reaches for all unhooked applicants.
It is paramount that you demonstrate to these schools why you see the school as a fit, and what you will bring to the community. From there it is out of your control as to whether the admissions team offers you admission.
I agree with Mwfan and don’t think you are going to get UW Madison to come down to your budget.
Then I’d consider it a match, but i don’t believe it’s a safety.
You have all the Ivies except UPenn & Brown, so clearly you have done some thinking about which ones you want. I am wondering why you chose the ones you did. Other posters have asked whether you are excited about the Columbia core- how much have you investigated that? If you are excited by urban and a core-focus, why isn’t UChic on your list?
And if you are excited by urban, why are you even thinking about Cornell & Dartmouth, both of which are closer to rural/small town/country- not even suburban.
If urban v country really isn’t an important factor for you, what about temperament- would you be happier in a nest of fratboys or mathboys?
(btw, you are correct that MIT has a very strong campus culture, but luckily they are very good at recognizing their own, so if your app reflects you reasonably accurately the AdComm will likely make the right call on the fit).
So, there’s getting in, there’s paying for it, and then there’s living with your choice for 4 years (especially when the need for finaid makes transferring very problematic). The time you put into thinking hard about the kinds of environments in which you shine, and using that info to think hard about where you can best find that is well spent.
More importantly, I agree with the others who have noted that your energy is mostly focused on the upper end of your list (aka prestige goggles), not the lower end- which is the harder part to get right. IRL your chances of being rejected by all your ‘top’ choices are very, very high (that’s a stat fact, not a judgement on you as a human).
If your only affordable choice is U of Houston, will you be happy? If so, no worries.
But if not, you need to put your back into broadening your focus. Have you run the npc’s for schools like Swarthmore, Pomona, Reed? How do they look? Have you looked at unis that offer competitive scholarships that would make it affordable (eg, the Cornelius Vanderbilt at Vandy, Stamps at any number of schools, Woodruff at Emory, etc.)? If you are a credible candidate for HYP you are a credible candidate for those (note that some take extra essays, others consider you automatically when you apply).
@collegemom3717 thank you so much for the clever insight!
One thing tho, i don’t really get what you mean when referring to the “core” of Columbia and UChicago. Could u explain that?
But how competitive is the scholarship?
https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/core
https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core-curriculum
Apologizing in advance for the “I told you so” tone (but doing it anyway): this is why you need to research the schools - to see which ones are a good fit for you. Students tend to either be thrilled by the Core- or really, really not.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2083835-faq-divorced-parents-financial-aid-and-net-price-calculators.html is a summary of divorced parent complications regarding financial aid and net price calculators.
Those colleges (and MIT, among others) have a high volume of specific general education requirements.
https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/core
https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core-curriculum
http://catalog.mit.edu/mit/undergraduate-education/general-institute-requirements/