What are my chances at top engineering schools like MIT, Cornell, or Princeton?

[th0ge24]

Hello! I am a high school senior planning on majoring in Electrical Engineering, I know that it is hard to give full context to approximate my chances but I am just wondering what a ballpark estimate for these schools would look like.

Stats: 4.0/4.589 UW/W GPA
SAT: 1570 (800 Math)
ACT: 35
Class rank: 2/215
8 APs with several PLTW engineering classes as well/

ECs:
Cofounded a Python Coding club that will likely host a county-wide competition later this year.
Marching band (4 yrs) Section Leader/Brass Captain
NHS Secretary
Science Olympiad Co-president (Have 2 medals in engineering events, supposed to go to states this year)
Varsity Swim for 4 years
Principal Trombone in school’s pit orchestra as well as jazz band
Participated in selective quantum computing camp/participating in year-long quantum computing course
Volunteered a lot in my church youth group over the past 4 years (mission trips, building ramps, etc.)

Honors:
Went to NC Governor’s School West
Received a spot in ASBDA National Honor Band
Participated in several state-wide band clinics
AP Scholar with Distinction
Louis Armstrong Award for my HS

Demographics:
White middle class male living in suburban/rural area. Both parents went to university

I’m worried that my awards are too music-oriented for a STEM major and that I only have two medals for Science Olympiad. Any feedback would be nice for applying to these colleges as well.

[booroot]

MIT and Princeton will be very difficult whitout some wins at National level wins even then it is a reach school ,Cornell should be quite possible My son had 1580 and 4.875/5 (highest GPA of students from NCSSM Straight A in high school) had placed in top 10 in scince bowl in the nationals among other things . Among top 10 he got into Johns Hopkins. Yale was a waitlist even with a perfect interview, Competition is too much these days…Berkeley and Georgia tech I think will be possible.

[DadTwoGirls]

I think that they are well worth an application, but all are reaches.

[chmcnm]

What’s your budget? Is NC your home state? If so, NC State is a great, affordable safety school I would think. After that shoot for the moon. Add CMU, GT, Michigan, UIUC, etc. You’re a swimmer. What about the Naval Academy?

[SJ2727]

Agree with both of posts 2 and 3. Get a safety you’d be happy to go to, then aim for the reaches. Your stats and ECs are such that I’d wager you’d get into at least one.

[collegemom3717]

Music + STEM is a very happy combo- that’s not the challenge. The challenge is just too many super-qualified applicants chasing all the same seats.

As @chmcnm pointed out you have a brilliant safety in NC State. I know, high-flying students want the big name, not the one they could have ‘gotten into anyway’. But it is a great program, and you should use it as your benchmark, especially when it comes to $$.

So, then it becomes: how much more is X college worth. NC State is $25K instate. Figure out your costs for each college, then see what the differences are- and how much of that difference would be covered by loans.

[ChezCurie]

Your stats make you competitive for any and all schools: 4.0/1560+/top 1%/6+APs. You have worked hard to make all of that happen. Congratulations!

No one can tell you where you will get in, but the great news is that you’re solidly in the game! You have a shot! Your challenge will be to distinguish yourself from all the other high stats kids through your essays.

One thing that you didn’t explicitly mention is your course rigor. Which of your 8 APs were STEM related and how many 5s? Especially for MIT, I think having Calc AB is a minimum, but BC and MV are common. Also, Physics C or Chem would be very helpful to prove that you can handle their tough curriculum.