Match an Indecisive Engineering girlie from CA who's ready to make the most killer college list ever! [CA Resident, 4.0, $40k, Engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Please please find two affordable colleges that you like where you would be happy to attend. Do that first!!

Your mom’s list and some of the colleges mentioned here are reaches for all. You should apply…but you need a sure thing too. Not just reach schools.

I’m going to link a thread here. Please read the whole thing. The student was a class val, NMF, great ECs, great LOR, an overall strong student. No one expected he would be denied admission everywhere he applied. But that is what happened. He took a gap year an landed well…but the end of his senior year in HS was horrible. You dont want this to be you!

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This definitely eases my concern about the original budget. When your mom does have a discussion with your Tio & Tia, I would also discuss whether contributions would continue to occur if unforeseen negative financial events occur (like loss of a job, whether due to the economy, poor health, etc). Additionally, although it sounds morbid, it would probably be good to have something in writing from them that their intention is to pay $X/year for 4 years for your higher education or something. That way, if there was a terrible accident or something, there would be some evidence of their wishes. But this is more coming into play once you have your college acceptances in hand and are deciding on a school, though it can still influence how you build your application list (like making sure you have at least one sure thing that your family could afford without the financial assistance of your relatives).

I think it’s great to be open to rejection…many of life’s greatest things happen because we were willing to risk it! That being said, however, I would also think about your own mental makeup. For some people, rejections are like fuel, making them want to prove all the naysayers wrong. These individuals can have a very reach-heavy list and be totally fine. My sense is that most people can handle a good bit of rejection, but do best when they have more acceptances than rejections. Then there are some people who are really negatively affected by even a single rejection.

There is obviously a continuum, but I would give a lot of reflection to figure out what kind of a person you are when developing your list of schools to apply to. Like some others, I’m already fond of what you’ve shared and I am hopeful that you’ll get an admission to a highly rejective college, so please don’t misunderstand me as saying to minimize the reach part of your list. But reading through the parent threads and kids get 3 acceptances and 17 denials/waitlists (with most of the latter coming all in a row) and it can be hard. So I would think about the take-off (how difficult it is to do all the apps), but then also having a soft landing and not feeling like you’re being burned to death, unless you’re the kind that the 17 rejections are going to fire you up and show everyone what a star you are.

Also, I totally agree with others’ about giving more thought as to whether you go TO, and for someone in your situation, there are definitely many benefits to highly selective/rejective colleges even if there are stronger engineering programs elsewhere.

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Starting this year, Humboldt has MechE too, and also Energy Systems Engineering (“This new field of engineering incorporates elements commonly included in Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering disciplines.”)

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You might really like Oregon State.
https://research.engr.oregonstate.edu/protodevlab/prototype-development-laboratory

https://catalog.oregonstate.edu/college-departments/engineering/school-mechanical-industrial-manufacturing-engineering/mechanical-engineering-bs-hbs/product-design-manufacturing-option/

It would be an admissions safety, but probably more like a match to get the WUE scholarship, which is offered to only about 30% of geographically-eligible OOS admits.

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Just a note to OP that some schools requiring the CSS forms ask about others contributing to college costs.

OP should also run some different scenarios of parental contributions and salaries with the colleges’ net price calculators to look at how changes in parental income could impact need based aid.

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I would suggest writing down the current year’s supplemental requirements for each college as you build your list, even if it hasn’t been updated yet for the next fall admission season. This will give you a sense of what each college typically requires. Some have more than others.

Don’t forget to include any additional essays required for things like honors programs, specific majors / colleges (for example, engineering might require an extra essay that the main college doesn’t), merit scholarships, or other scholarships.

We found that private schools were more likely to have a lot of essays in the main application itself, while public universities were more likely to have additional essays for honors, scholarships etc. But it will depend on which schools you are targeting.

Then update the specific prompts as the schools update them. The timeline for this update can vary. Some may also use the same prompts from year to year, while others will make changes.

My son put this in a spreadsheet along with other important information like deadlines.

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Thank you!! Means the world to me :))

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Alright, got it!! I’ll try to get on that soon!

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Yeah, I totally agree with what you’re saying and I completely understand it!! Tbh I’m just excited to go to college, though I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few that have a little extra edge.

In all honesty, a reason why I’m not suuuper worried about having a reach heavy list (though I do want to establish more safeties/matches) is the fact that as a DE kid, I’m very familiar with my local community college and the resources it has, and I’d be more than happy to go there for two years and transfer to a UC or CSU through TAG. Bc of all the classes I’ve taken, I’d only have to be at a community college for a year (assuming I take a summer class) before being able to receive my associates. A lot of people in my life have been advising me that the community college route may be the best decision, but I want to apply to other colleges rather than just a community college because a part of me does find a traditional 4-year college experience slightly more favorable, in letting me explore career fields anyways.

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Maybe @MITChris can comment on what level of SAT (or ACT) score (and section scores) is worth sending to MIT by an applicant from a high school where most do not take them, and few of those who do rarely score over about 1200.

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Well you could be my daughter’s twin!!!
Our eldest went to SUNY Buffalo on a scholarship for a medical school program.
She was also a strong tennis player, and went to CIF, as well as her brother and sister. She got into the top 10s, but campus visits killed that.

While at SUNY Buffalo, in her premed program, she had to take a biotech engineering class and really enjoyed the engineering side, so she switched to CS and electric engineering. She was recruited to be a tutor in engineering. She loved her studies, and has not looked back.

One big difference between you and she is that she was exceptionally strong in anything math-related especially calculus. She can do problem sets in her head.

If you’re going to study engineering, and/or pre med, your math/physics skills should be exceptionally strong. A lot of these scholarships require that you maintain a specific grade point average at the University. Her GPA had to stay at 3.75 to retain her scholarship, which is hard to do in engineering.

I saw you listed Caltech. Our son attended Caltech and what you need to understand about that very small school is that it is a research institution. Let me repeat that: it is a research institution.
The professors conduct their research and publish. They will teach the courses but your homework, your grades, and your assignments will come from graduate assistants who often have had limited experience in teaching and/or developing test questions.

The issue there is that you need to hit the ground running and you should be comfortable spending your time there independently. The averages for their SAT scores were above 1500. I believe my son missed one question on the SAT. He only took the test once.

Our middle daughter was recruited for tennis, but she didn’t want to play college tennis. Her doubles partner was a year ahead of her and was at Berkeley. Her partner was extremely stressed and our daughter didn’t want that kind of pressure. She wanted to enjoy college.

She got into a number of really good schools, and chose Davis. She had heard about their collaborative study environment and the bikes.

She didn’t know she was going to do premed and ended up doing that anyway so she wanted a school that would provide that kind of ambiance.

She had a rough time the first semester, but she ended up meeting her “tribe” by volunteering, and those are still her best friends. She lived with seven girls (in her major-NPB), in a shared 4 bedroom townhouse, during the last two years there.

I don’t think a $40,000 a year of budget is realistic for someone whose parent is making $85,000 a year and living in California.
Those flights add up. Your expenses add up.

Middle daughter was able to procure a job in an on-campus lab (at great pay!) because she was one of the few people that had high school experience in a lab and knew how to autoclave instruments, had universal precaution’s experience, and also had experience with biotech lab equipment.

When you are interested in a specific school, run the net price calculator from that school’s website, and figure out how much you may be paying per year. You may qualify for the “blue and gold scholarship” in California. You’ll probably qualify for Cal Grants for California schools so, the first thing right now is look at budget, and shoot your shot for the HYPS schools.

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I saw a reference to WPI somewhere, but I’m just back to echo that. It is a high pricetag, but they typically give strong merit, and often stronger merit aid to women then men. It’s very project focused, which it sounds like you’d enjoy based on the project that got you excited about engineering. But the real reason I bring it up is because you mention study abroad - Junior year all students at WPI are expected to do a term (7 week) long project, and the vast majority of those projects are abroad. The school gives a one-time $5k scholarship to everyone to cover (or defray, for expensive locations) those costs.

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I’m here to second RPI in new york. Definitely meets your family’s criteria. It is a research institution and a top engineering school. It is male dominant, so females are treated like royalty scholarship wise. I’m not sure if they meet need, but with your stats I think it could definitely be affordable.

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Thanks everyone for all the replies!! I’ve been reading all of them carefully, even if I don’t respond just know I appreciate you!! Exploring a lot more match/safety options.

Also (small?) update: I WAS ACCEPTED TO UC DAVIS YSP!!! I got a damn near full ride too!! So excited!! I just hope MITES results will come out before the deadline to register for UC Davis YSP on the 15th of April…but hey! Still!! Super pumped!! My essays must’ve carried :muscle:

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Congratulations!!! :tada:

If you go to YSP… be sure and come back to post on how it goes for you. My D26 is eyeing it for her list of things to apply to next year :wink:

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Hey there y’all! I have a long weekend and wanted to start digging into the colleges mentioned earlier on this list since I don’t have too much homework this week. I’ve seen a couple mentions online about creating a spreadsheet for colleges and keep track of things! I was wondering if any of you had any advice on what specific information to include? So far I’m thinking, cost, major availability, location and acceptance rate. Is there anything else I should include? I also wanted to make one for the required materials for each of the colleges I plan on applying to, in order to get a better idea of the work it would require and determine if (and to what number) I should cap my college list to.

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Probably at least the following:

  • Cost
    • Expected from net price calculators or list price or automatic merit scholarship
    • Actual if you have the financial aid and scholarship offer, or
  • Majors of interest offered
    • Accessibility (i.e. how difficult to change into them, or if there is secondary admission)
  • Admission (including to major) and affordability likelihood estimate
    • After admission and financial aid and scholarship decisions
      • Admitted and affordable → becomes safety
      • Denied or admitted and unaffordable → becomes out of reach
      • Admitted with financial aid and scholarships pending → change to chance of affordability
      • Waitlisted → becomes high reach
  • Anything else you consider important

In terms of number of colleges, if you have an affordable safety that you like, you can eliminate applying to any college that you like less than your safety (i.e. you will not choose that college over your safety under any circumstances).

In terms of application materials, there will be some shared applications (e.g. UC, CSU, The Common Application, etc.). But sometimes (particularly with The Common Application), a college will have its own unique supplements to do. So your spreadsheet may want to include a line for each type of shared application, then indicate how much work each additional college will be if you already do the work for the shared application.

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My spreadsheets always have a column showing the size of the undergraduate population, as I think that has such a big impact on the feel of the school.

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Made some changes to the suggested table at Match an Indecisive Engineering girlie from CA who's ready to make the most killer college list ever! [CA Resident, 4.0, $40k, Engineering] - #57 by ucbalumnus to account for how to change it as admission and financial aid and scholarship results appear.

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It can be as detailed as you want - in addition to size, we had public/private, auto merit or expected merit, acceptance rate, Jewish population, major or majors of interest, distance from nearest major airport, average temp in January - honestly it can be as simple(basic info) or detailed as you want.

We started, for my daughter with 109, and then whittled it down over time.

Once you have a list, I suggest setting up a college only email - something decent sounding - and using that for anything college and nothing else.

When a college makes your list of inquiry (how we have 109), most schools have a form for - more information.

You fill it out, and you’ll get emails and even mailers - and it’s a lot - but some of it might be helpful to you.

Then as you eliminate schools, the next email you get from them, you can unsubscribe.

But this way you have everything college in one place. You’ll find, once schools have info about your interests, they’ll send you some targeted programs - and some will even send an app fee waiver.

So this would be a good start - and it doesn’t hurt to add schools for info purposes - you can cull later.

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