Demographics: US citizen (1st Gen ), lower class, small rural public high school, CO 2025
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
Academics:
SAT: Not reporting ED, taking November SAT for RD. Columbia (ED) does allow for late self-reported scores by November 27th, and since the November SAT scores release by the 15th, I should be able to directly report my scores through my applicant portal. Just want to perfect this score as much as I can, to maximize my chances.
PSAT/NMSQT: 1330/1600
UW GPA: 3.79/4
W GPA: 4.79/5
Class Rank: 23/330.
Coursework: 9 APs, 10 Honors and had 3 CP courses due to prerequisites at my school.
AP Scores: For the 4 I took Junior year, I passed 3 with a 5, 4 and a 3.
Top 5 Awards:
All Conference Doubles in Tennis
All Conference Varsity in Soccer
Superintendents Award of Academic Excellence (Absolute Fluke)
Main Extracurricular Activities:
Varsity Soccer Starter
Varsity Tennis (Doubles)
STEM Club President
Math Club President
Spanish Honor Society Advisor
Peer Tutoring in Math and Physics
Working as an Accountant under my dad’s contracting business
Rachels Challenge Advisor (Club that organizes Mental Health seminars and Blood Drives)
Other:
LoRs: Physics Teacher(Really good, me and him play videogames together), Calculus Teacher(Amazing, I have had her for 3 years now and I adore her), and US History Teacher(Great, she helped me a lot as she had my uncle before and she had helped him out with his college applications).
Essay: Got reviewed by my uncle (An Immigrant Columbia Alumni) and AP Lang teacher who both said that its great. Might do some tweaks to make it a bit more concise. Solid 8-9/10
Low GPA: I transferred from a technical school during my freshman year, and it really messed up my weighted GPA. I was getting bullied at that school and I had gotten diagnosed with a really bad case of epilepsy, which still affects me today so yeah. Kind of a double whammy LOL. I also struggle with ADHD and mental health issues, which I am on medication for so yeah I’m absolutely cooked
Family Situation: My parents cant speak English, and I have to do a lot of work with them for federal and tax related stuff. My dads business is also very small, so its kind of hard for us right now. We live in a pretty low-income area, and currently my mom is unemployed, leaving my dad as the main breadwinner.
College List:
Boston University: RD
Caltech: RD
Carnegie Mellon: RD
Cornell University: RD
Columbia University: ED
Johns Hopkins: RD
Rice University: RD
Stanford: RD
UPenn: RD
Virginia Tech: RD
Georgia Tech: RD
Stevens: RD
Rutgers: RD
Temple: RD
Rowan: RD
Virginia Tech: RD
Now, Columbia isn’t usually an engineers top pick for a school, but I just am absolutely enamored by the school, and I love the mix that the Fu Foundation Engineering school offers with the humanities as well. If you have other school recommendations, I would gladly take them.
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your feedback!
Do you need a low net price after financial aid or scholarships?
Note that you can only borrow up to $5.5k first year, and a reasonable estimate for part time and summer work earnings tends to be in the $3-5k range. So if your parents can contribute nothing, $8-10k is the most you can realistically self-fund under most conditions.
Public universities usually have little or no need based financial aid for out of state students.
Since you do your parents taxes, fill this out below for Columbia.
What # do you get ?
You likely can’t self fund.
How much does it say you’d pay ?
It’s likely OOS publics will be well outside your budget. Depending on your SAT you might get to $20k in the South but you can fortunately only borrow $27k over four years (for your protection) so schools like VA Tech are highly unlikely.
For most your schools, run the net price calculator to see if it works. If your family is not contributing, anything over 10k a year is not realistic.
But then Rown come through. Ga Tech - you’d need to win Stamps. Unlikely but you never know.
Congratulations on a strong record Top colleges really want lower income, top students with rigorous academics to apply so your application will be scrutinized but with benevolence and interest.
Perhaps look into Harvey Mudd if you like Fu’s mix of strong Engineering and liberal arts.
What about Lehigh and Lafayette -both meet need (should be cheaper for a very low income students than Rutgers, because they take transportation and personal expenses into account when calculating financial aid) and are a bit easier to get into than Columbia and others on your list.
Are you recruitable for athletics at the D3 level?
As of now, I don’t think I can be recruited— it really depends on how my condition develops as I get older. I hadn’t considered Harvey Mudd or Lehigh and Lafayette either. I’ll definitely do more research on them. Thank you for your expertise!
If you are a high school senior now…it’s a little to late to think about your condition when you get older…as it relates to athletic recruiting, I think.
You do have a nice academic record, so go from there.
I’m guessing Rowan is your sure thing? Is it affordable?
I agree…Lafayette and Lehigh would be worthy of consideration.
You’d know if you could be recruited - it may help with D3 colleges but it’s not necessary.
Don’t forget to apply to Honors at Rowan (and even Rutgers) and any university that offers Honors college or program, because it may lead to extra scholarships and definitely offers better study conditions (personal adviser, smaller classes, unique opportunities…)
You should apply in early action so you can be considered for the honors college. Acceptance into the honors college comes with a merit scholarship (the amount varies).
Omg good catch - at public universities, applying EA is capital.
Many apply as soon as the app goes live, in July or August, and the later rounds are ten times more competitive than the EA round.
Btw @iinertiia
ED doesn’t mean you can’t apply EA - it only means that if your FA package makes the school affordable you promise to attend the ED school and drop all other applications.
Lafayette has ED2 so if you’re not admitted to Fu it’s a solid pivot to prepare for.
More colleges to consider for their potentially topnotch FA package:
Union
Bucknell
Trinity CT
All tend to have relatively to quite well-off students so look into what support they offer first gen students (find the office on their website and reach out).
These colleges may be smaller (including Lehigh and Lafayette) but it means no falling through the cracks, professors who know you, a very tight knit community and alumni network.
Yes, it used to be mostly stats (maybe still is) but now they require an HC essay so there is definitely a holistic component to it. As for stats, OP will be judged in the context of his school and demographics, so I think he’s competitive although not a shoo-in of course.
Couldn’t this student be among the top rural HS/first gen/Hispanic applicants to Rutgers, and as such qualify for Honors?
All applications are reviewed in context and this applicant wouldn’t be compared to a kid from Bergen for whom family support, tutors, and a favorable environnement are assumed. OP would be compared to other first gen kids from NJ, some of whom are considered top1% if they reach 1100 on the SAT because it’s so uncommon in their low performing schools. In that context,having 9APs and potentially 1350-1400 would make OP a highly sought after candidate.
IMHO, while Honors College at Rutgers is always a gamble, OP should apply (EA).
It’s a must-do for Rowan.
Btw @iinertiia since you qualify for National Recognition, did you register? Many universities extend NMSF benefits to National Recognition winners so that could open more scholarship and admission opportunities for you.
Hey, outside of your excellent stats (congrats! They’re great ), I just wanted to let you know that the PSAT is out of 1520, not 1600.
I’m a learning disabled student and hey- these stats you’ve provided are excellent for someone in your position! (My stats are nowhere near where you are- my W GPA is an 86.9, as my school doesn’t scale, and my SAT score is a 1310) Plus I’m sorry about the circumstances…but you’re clearly academically motivated!
Can I ask why you put ‘absolute fluke’? That’s a great award, no doubt.
Lastly, do you have accommodations for the SAT?
Overall, congrats on your strong academic profile…and good luck on the November SAT! (:
Top colleges really want lower income, top students with rigorous academics to apply so your application will be scrutinized but with benevolence and interest.
), I just wanted to let you know that the PSAT is out of 1520, not 1600.