Hi! I am looking for suggestions about what schools to apply to. I’m mainly trying to make sure I don’t look over any schools that may be similar to schools I like, but I do not know about.
I am a current highschool senior and have been working on my applications. I intend to study mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or engineering physics. I also intend to minor in Humanitarian Engineering if available (or at least take part in Humanitarian Engineering groups).
This thread is not about what schools can I get into, but what should I consider adding or taking away from my list. I do not need anyone telling me “you will not get into XYZ school”. I already know they are reaches Regardless, my stats are as follows
-White Male
-From Utah
-31 act (aiming to improve still)
-3.97 unweighted GPA
-1/73 class rank
-5 AP classes (out of 7 offered at my school)
-9 credits of college classes (aerospace, English, and geology)
-and all the extracurricular stuff I don’t want to list at the moment.
I am applying for an AFROTC scholarship as well and that will likely be the only way I can afford top schools. Therefore, the existence of AFROTC at the schools I apply to is very important.
The current list
MIT
Cornell
Yale
Stanford
Carnegie Mellon
Colorado School of Mines
Purdue
University of Utah
Utah State
Air Force Academy
Coast Guard Academy
I am debating about adding Northeastern and NYU, however, I feel like my list is getting excessive.
what is it about NYU and Northeastern that makes you want to add them to your list?
I take it that Utah State is your safety. Can you apply EA so you have it locked down as an admission (or is it auto-admit?). And, is this school honestly a true safety for you - one you can afford and can see yourself happily attending. If not, you need to add a true safety to your list.
@melvin123
Utah State and University of Utah are my safety schools. I am confident I would be happy at either and can afford both. I already qualify for a decent merit scholarship at Utah State and with a slight bump in my act, could go there full ride. And they are both near ski resorts I love so that’s a bonus 
I like the co-op program that Northeastern offers and honestly, I can’t say why for NYU except that my counselor recommend I put in an application there.
Thank you!!!
MIT, Cornell, Yale, Stanford, and CMU are all reaches; I would have perhaps 2 of these on your list. Skip NYU; look at Virginia Tech.
@Kbat11700 good for you, being happy with your safeties. I think that does give you the freedom to apply to multiple reach-for-everyone schools. A lot of people recommend that your list not be too reach heavy because it’s really tough in the Spring if you get a lot of rejections, and would recommend more match schools. So clearly, if you’re going to add schools they need to be in the match category.
It would be interesting to find out why your counselor is recommending NYU. It’s a great school, and their internship opportunities are fantastic. But I think neither NYU nor Northeastern are a typical college experience socially. NYU prides itself on being a part of NYC, and it can be hard to create a sense of college community. Northeastern’s program is also terrific but socially it can be different because kids are rotating out for their co-ops. For the right kid, these schools are stellar and are clearly the best choice for them, but I think some kids could be very unhappy there. So for these two schools in particular you really need to think about fit. Since your counselor knows you, perhaps he/she thinks you’d thrive in these environments. I’m just mentioning this as food for thought.
University of Washington could be an additional pick for you - with Boeing and all it’d be strong for aeronautical. I agree NYU and Northeastern feel like outliers unless you know you want the big city, urban experience. NYU in particular doesn’t really have a campus in any traditional sense (quads, green space, etc.)
If you like Purdue, you should also check out:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Michigan
Virginia Tech (mentioned)
Georgia Tech
NC State
If you like Carnegie Mellon you should investigate Case Western.
With any of these you’ll be pay a lot more than your good in-state options so make sure it’s really feasible for your and your family and that the extra $$ is worth it.
Finally, to clear I’m not suggesting you apply to all of these. I like your two safeties (Go Utes, especially!) But it is a numbers game with highly selective colleges so if you have time for the essays and can swing the fees then don’t limit yourself to 2 or 3 reaches but pick your top 7 to 9. If you’re crunched on time and $$ for app fees, pick 4 or 5 reaches and do a really bang up job on those supplemental essays.
You will be a geographic diversity pick at some of these schools which will help. If you could get your ACT up to 32 or 33 you’ll be in even better shape.
Congrats on your hard work and success in high school and good luck!
Looking at your choices and the fact that you ski, I’d suggest UColorado, Boulder. They have a good program for aerospace.
The only similarity that I see in your list is that you have some very selective high STEM schools… MIT, Carnegie Mellon, CoSoMines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Stanford, Cornell
Yale, Utah, Utah State, Purdue aren’t high stem schools.
If you are looking for Top 10 Mechanical & Top 10 Aerospace Eng high STEM schools with AFROTC, you are missing 2 schools…
Caltech, Georgia Tech
(Caltech has joint AFROTC with USC.)
Other top schools for these 2 eng programs Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Berkeley. Like Purdue these schools are large but have excellent engineering.
Thank you for the quick responses!
@gandalf78 I’m aware they are all reaches, that’s why there are other schools I like on the list 
@melvin123 thank you! I will talk to my counselor more about it. Although I likely won’t have opurtuinies to visit these schools before I apply, I will likely visit both (assuming I apply to them) in the spring.
@AlmostThere2018 I like the idea of University of Washington, love the location. Will look into it more. Essays are a real time killer I’ve found. Once my sports season ends at the beginning of October, I should have plenty of time to crank out whatever I haven’t done already. I am registered for the ACT on Sept 8th and intend to register for the next one as well . thank you!
@greymeer I’m a little confused about why you think Purdue is not a “high” stem school. They are consistentky ranked (for whatever rankings are worth) as a top 25 school for engineering. And I also like the idea of a more broad “liberal arts” type education which is why I have Yale on there.
Thank you to everyone!
There are not enough “other schools” on your list, that’s my point. Quite frankly, with your current test scores you aren’t really competitive for MIT, Cornell, Yale, Stanford, and CMU unless you have some amazing admission “hooks” that you haven’t told us about; so there is no real point in keeping all of these 5 schools on your list, and failing to consider other schools that are more in line with your test scores and GPA.
I second the suggestion that you consider University of Colorado at Boulder; it has a very good engineering college.
@Kbat11700 high stem/engineering universities have a high percentage of stem students. Your list indicates you are leaning that way.
MIT is 72% stem, Mines 90%, CMU 55%, Coast Guard 77%… I suggested - GT 78%, Caltech 80%
This means that most of the students are in the sciences. Your roomate will be stem. When you sit down for lunch the people at the table will be stem.
Purdue is 38%, a lot of colleges are in this range. ex: Minnesota, Penn State. NC State, Maryland have a higher stem %.
Yale 21%, Utah 33%, UState 17%
Here is 3rd party list:
https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-type/bachelors/engineering-schools
There are lots of good schools with good engineering programs. I’m just trying to show you the marketing.
FWIW, Georgia Tech and Caltech are both crazy hard to get into for out of staters so I wouldn’t put them into the match category.
I have visited Cal tech and am not a fan of the LA area (to crowded). I also have lived in the south previously and am not a fan of the area. So I shouldn’t have to worry about adding those two schools as reaches. I think for now I will perhaps add University of Washington and just work on my essays. Thank you!
And that clarifies that for me, thank you! @Greymeer