Thank you so much for everyone’s feedback - I’m really touched by all the super helpful and insightful comments. I’m just going to make a large response that covers most of the remaining questions everyone has.
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The budget chat:
I know I might have come off as naive and entitled when I said I didn’t have a budget, but there are a couple of reasons why. First, my parents told me that they have been saving for college for a while and that they want me to go to the college that best fits me, regardless of the price. They can say this confidently since both of them are doctors - yes I don’t want to become a doctor so please just don’t comment on this. Also, since there’s three kids including me, they knew they would have to save up a lot (both had a lot of student debt so they really didn’t want us to rack it up also). However, my brother just got into Emory this year as a graduating senior and he got a 50% off scholarship which takes away a lot of the financial burden. That being said, I know I’m extremely fortunate that my parents can support me, but that doesn’t mean I should just disregard price completely. At the end of the day, Georgia colleges will always be a top choice, but I think it’s also good to shoot for the stars since it can’t really hurt you. -
Why isn’t Georgia Tech on the list:
I forgot. Sorry. Yes I will definitely put it on the list because it is a fantastic college choice. -
Just don’t do Geoengineering cuz it’s such a controversial/theoretical field:
Well, I want to pursue this field for the Carbon Dioxide Removal part and not the controversial Solar Radiation Management part. Since CDR is a rapidly growing field with large investment it will be crucial in order to reach climate change goals with a tighter budget. In fact, Carbon Capture and Storage which is part of CDR is expected to lower the costs of climate change efforts by 50-200% in order to reach 2100 climate goals. Geophysics, environmental sciences, etc. are all related majors but my first choice is Geoengineering which is why I included some of those unreachable schools since the professors there are huge in that field. I even reached out to one of them although he stopped responding to me
That also brings up a great point. I have reached out to a few professors now, almost all of which have responded to me. However, they stop responding to me after the first email and I don’t know why. I just send the first one asking them questions about research and the feasibility of pursuing XYZ in their field and follow up stuff after they respond. But they don’t respond the second time. If anyone has thoughts on how to improve my cold outreach I would really really appreciate it.
Again, thanks so much everyone!