Match TX Rising Senior 3.8 GPA, Top 15%, 1340 SAT for ChemE & FoodSci [need full ride]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen, TX
  • Male, Asian
  • Public High School
  • FG (in terms of non-U.S bachelors), LI
  • Single parent; dad passed in 2025

Cost Constraints / Budget
Absolutely nothing, SAI of -1500, plan to do QB NCM

Intended Major(s)

Chemical Engineering &/or Food Science, wanting to do R&D

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.82/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 5.1/6.0
  • Class Rank: 121/800
  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    • 1300 first time [630 RW, 670 M]
    • 1340 second time [710 RW, 640 M]
    • I plan to retake, with at least a 1450+

List your HS coursework

  • English:
    • 9th & 10th: Humanities I & II (Advanced/Honors at GT level)
    • 11th: AP Lang
    • 12th (expected): AP Lit
  • Math:
    • 8th: Advanced Algebra I
    • 9th: Advanced Geometry
    • 10th: Advanced Algebra II
    • 11th: AP Precalculus
    • 12th (expected): AP Calc BC
  • Science:
    • 9th: Advanced Biology
    • 10th: Advanced Chemistry
    • 11th: AP Physics 1, Regular Sociology
    • 12th (expected): AP Chem
  • History and social studies:
    • 10th: AP World History (4)
    • 11th: DE U.S History
    • 12th (summer class): DE Government, DE Economics
  • Language other than English:
    • 9th: Advanced Spanish I
    • 10th: Advanced Spanish II
  • Visual or performing arts:
    • 9th: Digital Media, Marching Band
    • 11th: Graphic Design I
    • 12th (expected): Graphic Design II
  • Other academic courses:
    • Culinary Pathway in School: Principles of Hospitality & Tourism, Intro to Culinary Arts, Practicum in Culinary Arts

Awards

  • QB College Prep Scholar
  • DECA State Qualifier
  • SkillsUSA 2nd in District, 3rd in State
  • Member of the Month for Student Council
  • Consistent All A’s Honor Roll
  • (I don’t know if this counts) 2x Adobe Photoshop Certified
  • (I don’t know if this counts either) ServSafe Food Handler Certification, Food Manager Certification

Extracurriculars

  • Visual Arts related:
    • Future officer for school’s DECA, SkillsUSA, & cultural club for graphic design and social media management
      • Already doing graphic design posts for cultural club
    • Own an editing account with ~500 followers
    • Doing graphic design on the side as a hobby
    • Currently apart of a city political campaign for social media management
    • Designed a magazine cover for a STEM newspaper, approx ~500 followers on social media
    • Filmed and edited videos for middle school’s monthly videos with team
  • Volunteering:
    • Consistent volunteer for school’s student council, working on decor for school events & football games, notably holding leadership during homecoming season for food and drink management
    • Volunteer for whatever I can do at my small church, mostly tech-related stuff (approx ~11 weekly members including me :sob:)
    • NHS membership and blood donations
    • Occasional volunteer for family friend’s matcha pop-ups, working the stand to serve customers and make their drinks
    • Volunteer worker for school’s restaurant through culinary program, serving customers and making food for the community surrounding school
    • Volunteered for another cultural organization’s annual festival
  • Misc.
    • Science Honor Society membership and receiving a cord for presenting a study done with friends over the effects of sugar

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Essays: I personally think I’ll be okay with them, as I perform pretty well in my english class and my writing was good for my CPS application
  • LORs: English teacher of 3 years, knows me personally (I don’t know for my 2nd LOR, I might ask from my sophomore year teachers)
  • Previously homeless due to dad passing
  • Also suffered from mental health

Schools
I honestly do not have a solid list aside from Texas A&M and UT Austin on my radar but i’ve been looking at IFT and ABET certified schools and for IFT they’re mainly state schools which kinda sucks for aid

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Full rides for your stats at schools with chemical engineering and food science majors:

Scholarships | Tuskegee University (look under “Freshman Scholarships”)

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Universityof Massachusetts/Amherst is excellent for your interests. They want out-of-state students and are very good with financial aid in my experience. Iowa State also has chem engineering and agriculture/food systems. It is less competitive than some others and is very good for financial aid. Have you checked out the Aggie Assurance program for financial aid at Texas A&M? Texas Tech has chemical engineering and 2 different food science majors. They are good for financial aid.

Others to look at would include Illinois Tech, Wisconsin, University of Maine, and Purdue.

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I am sorry for the loss of your dad. Experiencing homeslessness may allow you to qualify as an independent student for FAFSA purposes. Talk with your HS counselor about qualifying under the McKinney-Vento ACT, because the verification process runs through them. See details here: Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness | Texas Education Agency

Financially, there may not be much benefit to qualifying as an independent student, although some colleges may fund extra scholarships for these students. Independent students also qualify for an extra $4K per year in federal student loans (although I’m not necessarily saying you should take that.)

You will qualify for the full Federal Pell grant of $7,495 assuming your SAI is -1500 as you report. You can also take out federal student loans for the first year of $5.5K. So, that makes your budget about $13K. (This does not include the extra $4K in student loans you could access if you are deemed an independent student, but again, you might not want to take out that much in loans, even if you qualify.) You may also qualify for some Texas state scholarships…talk with you HS counselor about those as well.

It looks like you may qualify for full tuition at Texas publics, but you have to research and verify that…here is the link for the various schools’ Promise programs: Promise+ | The University of Texas System

You will need to apply to more than just UT Austin and TAMU within your state system. You might also consider attending community college for two years, if that is an option near where you live.

That is fine, just note the application is involved and due at the end of September, so you must work on it this summer. I would advise you to prioritize schools that don’t require test scores, something to think about as you make your ranking list.

Although I like both UMass Amherst and Iowa State as well, they are highly unlikely to be within OP’s budget.

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Yes, for the most part, out-of-state publics aren’t going to work financially. There are a few that have the programs you’re looking for and that offer some competitive full-ride scholarships - Ohio State is one example - but getting enough funding will be a long shot.

You cannot count on becoming a Questbridge finalist, but it’s definitely worth a try. The “brass ring” school on that list would be Cornell - because it’s both a private university and a land-grant university, it has the full array of agriculture/food science majors in addition to engineering. It’s a very high reach though, even if you do succeed in bumping up your test score - 84% of admitted students are in the top 10% of their graduating class. Applying to Food Science would be more advisable than applying to ChemE, and even then, you’d have to beat the odds to get in. However, you’ve done well under very difficult circumstances, and a close read of your application might be persuasive to the AO’s if your essays are compelling. Applying through QB would help, if you do become a finalist, and if not, you’d have nothing to lose by applying Early Decision if the Net Price Calculator result is favorable.

You definitely need to expand your list within Texas. Texas Tech seems like an obvious one to add, as they have both Food Science and ChemE and are well-regarded generally for STEM, but may have more scholarship potential than TAMU or UT. Hopefully there are other members here who are well-versed in the need-based aid and merit scholarship landscape at the TX publics, for low-income in-state students, and who can chime in with more specific advice on that front.

Is your housing stable now? Do you live within commuting distance of any four-year schools? Do your nearest community colleges have pathways that articulate with your desired majors?

Another alternative would be to apply to Berea College, which serves only low-income students and is tuition-free, with non-tuition expenses covered by its on-campus work program. They do not, unfortunately, have your desired majors… but they do have an Engineering Physics program. You could complete this as a four-year degree, or follow their 3:2 pathway - this is formally set up with U of Kentucky but transferring to a TX public instead, with in-state need-based aid, could be an option.

Make sure your college counselor knows your story well, and can advocate for you in their recommendation.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a rough road, that past few years; I hope you’ll keep posting, as we’ll all be rooting for you!

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TTU would be assured admission for the OP’s stats: First Time in College | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | Texas Tech . However, affordability is the main issue.

TTU list price is about $29k for Texas residents, more for engineering majors: Cost to Attend | Financial Aid Home | Texas Tech

Incoming Freshmen Scholarships | Scholarships | Texas Tech lists $4,500 for the OP’s stats at Texas Tech.

The TTU NPC suggests a net price of around $15k for a lowest income Texas resident student: Net Price Calculator - THECB Applications . However, it uses the very basic NPC template and may not be as accurate as NPCs based on templates with more questions.

If PVAMU scholarships are the same as last year, it is a better bet for a full ride than TTU.

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Lots of good advice here. Sorry too, for the loss of your dad. One thing that is confusing- first generation? If a parent or parents got an advanced degree in the US, unless things have changed, you wouldn’t be considered first generation.

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Hi everyone, thank you for all the replies! I recently just got back home. Sorry for the messy replies, I’m just trying to reply to everything at once.

My family has talked about this; they (my older siblings and my mom) think it’s better for me to be a dependent under my mom rather than being independent. But I’ll still take that into consideration.

I was considering that option as a failsafe if everything else didn’t work out well.

I have checked for the NPC for my community college, and it’s in the negatives? I think that means free for me but I’m not entirely sure.

Yes, housing is stable now. I don’t know how else to describe the colleges that I live around without doxxing myself, but I do live around the DFW area. The community college around me does have an engineering pathway to TAMU, but I haven’t paid much attention to how it works.

No, my parents have not gotten any form of degree inside the U.S. Their only form of degree is a bachelors from the Philippines.

I just now have, and I would qualify for the program. The only thing is the cost of living at TAMU, which I would need assistance for. Similarly for the UT system promise program, I would qualify for it as well, meaning just the cost of living to be paid for. (Which I think could be paid off with a job during college?)

For TTU, my only concern for it is that their food science program is not IFT certified, while their chemical engineering program is ABET certified. I have also checked with their NPC as well, and my COA would be around 18k, which is still a lot for me.

I do have a question though, would it be worth to apply to any private schools? I was thinking about USC or Rice, since they offer free tuition and housing for families that make less than 100k. But those two are partners with QB, so I don’t know if I should apply through RD or put them on the NCM list.

Thank you guys so much!

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If they have a 4 year degree, even if from another country, that wouldn’t then qualify as first generation.

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Rice would be a long shot. 90% of their entering freshman class graduated in the top 10% of their high school class and 75% had an SAT over 1500. Take the SAT number with a grain of salt because 30% didn’t submit any test scores at all. If you can get your SAT over 1450 as planned, I think you’d be within range. It’s class rank that’s the problem. It’s definitely worth applying because you have special circumstances. As a QB scholar, they may well view your achievements as exceptional in light of your circumstances.

You have a better chance at USC. Your grades are within range at USC. Almost 60% of their freshman class didn’t even submit test scores, so if you get your SAT over 1400, that should be a plus. Definitely worth an application. The problem at both USC and Rice is that they accept fewer than 10% of their applicants, so regardless of your qualifications, both have to be considered a reach.

While these two universities have made it a point to gain publicity by advertising their financial aid policies, their are other private universities where you might also qualify for for full cost of attendance through a combination of scholarships and financial aid. To increase your chances to cover full cost, I would investigate the following colleges which all offer majors in Chemical Enginerring. While they don’t offer majors in Food Science, thy do offer related course work so that you can plan a program which could meet your needs:

Rose-Hulman Institute
Milwaukee College of Engineering
University of Dayton
University of Rochester
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytech
Worcester Polytech

Illinois Institute of Technology - has majors in both chem engineering & food science

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Don’t forget you will receive the full Pell grant of $7,495. If you combine that with the $5.5K first year federal student loan, that will pay for much of your room and board each year. Note: You can take $27K in total loans during undergrad, $5.5K the first year, then $6.5K/$7.5K/$7.5K. You don’t have to take these loans. With that said, if taking them could be the difference between completing your degree or not, that is a reasonable amount of loans to earn a bachelor’s degree.

You may also be offered a work study job as part of your financial aid package at some schools. You can either pursue work that way, or depending on the school/location you may be able to make more money off campus. I would encourage you to limit your work hours to 10-12 per week, at least initially. Maybe even don’t work at all your first semester, so you can fully acclimate to college courses/life by giving it all your attention.

Run the NPCs at all the schools in TX/on your list. Generally, for a student with a -1500 SAI, OOS public colleges and schools that don’t meet full need will not be within your budget of $13K per year…most won’t get close (again if you look at a budget of pell grant plus first year $5.5K federal loan.)

As you get further into the QB application and list building, feel free to PM me.

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If you are able to do a QB NCM application, it is likely more favorable to include them in your QB NCM list than to apply RD only.

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Most colleges consider “first generation to college” as parents with no bachelor’s degree or higher from anywhere, but definitions do vary across colleges.

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Give Illinois Institute of Technology a look. My oldest daughter is for BS in Chem E and Masters in Pharmaceutical Engineering. She loved the program and has had three great interneships.

Illinois Tech’s Food Science program is impressive. Initially a graduate program only, they expanded it to a bachelors in 2020. It is a unique program from what I have seen (my is a Culinary Food Science major. He really like the program but wanted a greater focus in Culinary Food Science). They are not a IFT school that I remember but work closely with the FDA and many of the labs that students work in are joint FDA-Illinois Tech labs.

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Your main issue is going to be able to afford college. You need to include commutable colleges as well as a broad variety of TX public universities. To get the best scholarships you’ll often need to apply to the Honors College if that’s not through automatic consideration. Make a spreadsheet to get the easiest apps done first (ApplyTx opens early, doesn’t it?)

However, your best bet cost-wise is QB. So you should rank ALL colleges from that list that have Engineering (or Food science) - Case, even BU or Tufts. It may sound tough because some may be smaller than you’d like, or not in a location you like, etc, but really if you have a chance at a full ride+ at a top college with the major you want or st accredited major-adjacent, it’s a chance you can’t turn down.

I agree Cornell/Food science is your best shot there though a long shot. Definitely include Rice and USC, too. If that doesn’t work, convert your application to ED1, ED2, RD.

Another challenge will be bringing your SAT Math score to 700. Have you been using Khan Academy to practice? Are you able to identify the type of questions that are a problem?

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Yes, and some posters aren’t keeping this in mind. This student has a budget of ~$13K (if they take the federal student loan; $7.5K budget with no loan)

100%! I expect there are at least 15 QB partner schools to rank that can meet one of the major requirements. As some of the QB partner schools are test required, the SAT score will be an important factor when choosing to rank said schools. OP should also be taking the SAT bluebook practice tests.

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OP- you sound terrific.

Can you talk to one of your math teachers, explain that you need to improve your SAT score, and see if one of them will sit down with you and figure out where the gaps are in your math prep? I’m not a huge fan of drill drill drill with practice tests if there’s a skill deficit somewhere along the line- better to learn- or relearn- the actual math which will improve your score vs. just trying through repetition to learn to guess better.

Good luck!

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However, net price calculators will usually include the $7.5k Pell grant in the grants and scholarships deducted from list price to calculate the net price. So, if going by net price calculator results which already account for the Pell grant, the budget is more like around $5k with direct loan or part-time and summer student work, or $8-10k with direct loan and part-time and summer student work.

Budget is why I mentioned the full rides for the OP’s stats at PVAMU and Tuskegee above, both of which have chemical engineering and food science majors.

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Yes, OP will have to look at the details of each NPC result to see what it includes. I generally don’t include work study or summer earnings in a student’s budget, because those things have a high degree of uncertainty and variability.

Yep, these could be options if OP is interested in HBCUs. Both have Asian populations around the 1%-2% range. Up to OP whether to further research these schools.

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Among other colleges posters have suggested above, Texas Tech is 3% Asian, and University of Maine is 2% Asian, but both of them are probably reaches for affordability.

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