SAT - 2050 (not sending)
ACT - 34
SAT II - Chem-730, Math II-770
UW GPA: 3.83 (I had to recalculate cumulatively)
W GPA: Unsure
-State Finalist for Mock Trial
-State Finalist for academic team
-State Finalist for Business Competition
-Academic Team qualified for nationals, didn’t have the funding to go
-Quiz bowl captain/president
-NHS VP
-Varsity soccer 3 years - Captain this year
-Men’s Roller Hockey League
-About 100 hours community service, probably up to 175 by end of 2015
—Habitat for Humanity
-Self-teaching piano and German
-I really want to apply to:
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Notre Dame
Duke
Penn
HYPSM (2-3 of them)
PSU
Georgia Tech
@mommdc I’m not saying “not good enough”. But guess what: 2400s and 4.0s get rejected or wait listed from Ivies/top 20s regularly, so there’s no guarantee. I have a 2350 and I’d be ridiculously grateful and awed if I got into a school of that caliber.
Cornell- your stats are good but ivys are very variable! you’ll most likely get it.
Carnegie Mellon- probably
Notre Dame- maybe
Duke- maybe
Penn- eh its an ivy, probably
HYPSM (2-3 of them)- reach for everybody.
PSU- i think you’ll get this.
Georgia Tech- most definitely accepted.
Make sure you add at least one true admissions and financial safety, in case your parents don’t like the idea of paying $50k plus a year for four years.
U Alabama has been attracting high stats out of state kids with their full tuition Presidential scholarship, for engineering you would get another $2,500 a year. http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html
It’s ok to include a few reaches, but college admission, especially in engineering is very competitive and I’m not sure if the prestige warrants spending $200 K or more for a 4 year college education.
Did you only work hard in high school to maybe get into HYPSM and similar schools? Or would you like to to be rewarded for your hard work with a substantial merit scholarship?
Visit these schools and compare the programs and offerings, opportunities for internships and research, flexibility in case you want to change your major or engineering concentration.
Also depends on what school you’re applying for at Cornell - one of the contract colleges? (ILR, CALS, etc.) or Engineering or CAS? Some easier than others to get in. What is your home state? If NY can be an advantage for contract colleges. HYPSM are difficult for anyone - every year there are plenty of near-perfect stat kids who don’t get in. But pick the one or two that best match your goals / skills and give it a shot. I think what you really need to do is come up with an ED / EA strategy. If either Penn or Duke were your top choice, you’d have a much better shot ED (when they fill half their class). Of course, you then can’t compare offers and if you need FA it may not be best approach. Good luck.
I think you’re a shoe-in anywhere except HYPSM and Penn. you should maybe consider picking up your subject test scores. Also make sure your essays and Recs are fire and reflect your involvement in ECs.
I’m confident that you’ll get into Notre Dame, PSU, and Georgia Tech. Cornell, Penn, and Duke are not too distant as well. Your unweighted GPA is one the low side for HYPSM. Your ACT score is great, so I’d say you have about an average chance at HYPSM (assuming you’re un-hooked).
As for Carnegie Mellon, which department are you applying to? If you are applying to SCS, that falls under the HYPSM category in terms of selectivity. CIT and Tepper are reasonable matches/low reaches for you. Good luck!
@supercilious Part of the reason for this is that some of the 2400 / 36 / 4.00 students have very poor ECs.
You’ll most likely get into PSU and Georgia Tech, but for the top schools your academics are just a little too low and your ECs too discrete and commonplace. Essays and recommendations will need to help you out.
"@supercilious Part of the reason for this is that some of the 2400 / 36 / 4.00 students have very poor ECs.
You’ll most likely get into PSU and Georgia Tech, but for the top schools your academics are just a little too low and your ECs too discrete and commonplace. Essays and recommendations will need to help you out. "
Sigh. Just last month 1golfer1 was debating whether leaving his SATII exam blank would be a good strategy. There is a problem with taking advice from other students. He knows as little as you. Your EC’s are fine. You’ll get into a few on your list but make sure you have a safety. I can’t tell if you are in state for the publics on your list so there is no guarantee you’ll get into either. In state you are okay. HYPSM are a crap shoot for everyone so take the gamble.
The point I was trying to make is that it’s not necessary to go to HYPSM, Cornell, Penn, Georgia Tech and be full pay for chemical engineering when there are lots of excellent schools out there that might offer merit for OP’s stats.
U Rochester, Case Western, Lehigh to name a few, are highly ranked for chemical engineering and there might be chance for merit.
Cornell - low reach
Carnegie Mellon - high match/low reach. depends on which school you apply to. SCS would be high reach.
Notre Dame - match
Duke - reach
Penn - reach
HYPSM (2-3 of them) - high reach
PSU - safety
Georgia Tech - safety
If i had to say now which schools you would get into from this list, it would be: Penn State, Georgia Tech, and two of the three: Notre Dame, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon. Duke, Penn are possibilities but it would be a long shot. You would be very lucky to get into HYPSM unless you’re a URM. Nothing really stands out for those top schools to want you as an applicant
Not sure why these people are calling Cornell a reach… I have many inside sources there, and from my knowledge of the admissions, you’re into Cornell almost definitely.