I am a senior at Amity High School in CT. Amity was named the #1 high school in Connecticut for the '14-'15 school year by Newsweek and was also one of 48 high schools in the nation to be named a National Blue Ribbon School. At Amity, Level 1 is “advanced” and AP’s and Honors are not available until sophomore/junior year because of the true course rigor.
For academics, I have a 3.5 unweighted through three years and a 4.3 weighted. I have never taken a course lower than a Level 1. I didn’t do that well freshman and sophomore year, but in my junior year I earned all A’s and a B+ in APUSH which was an 89.3%. I also received an A in Physics over the summer. I have taken AP US History and am currently taking Honors English, AP Calc, AP Physics, and AP Psych.
For testing, I earned a 33 on the ACT, an 800 on Math 2, and a 730 on US History subject tests.
For EC’s I am an Eagle Scout and a member of Student Government, National Honors Society, and Yale Pathways to Science. Along with those involvements I am the Student Body Representative to the PTO, I have work experience as a Lifeguard and boating instructor, and I have over 500 service hours in total. As far as athletics, I am a three year member of the Amity Baseball Team and we’ve won three consecutive State Championships, 2013-2015.
For my admission plan, I am going to apply E.D. to WashU and am not planning on applying for financial aid. I have visited the campus, requested information, spoken with reps, and my mother is an alum. Just a side note, four students from the grade above me were accepted to WashU last year.
Let me know what you guys think of my chances. Thanks!
It’s going to be a reach because of your GPA (GPA median is 3.85). Hopefully your legacy status and good performance will overcome it. You didn’t list a ranking, but if you are in the top 10%, that will just be an adjustment based on HS averages that will mitigate it somewhat. It sounds like you are in one of the ‘bump’ schools where admissions relaxes standards a bit due to high rigor. Engineering is very math and science focused, hopefully you have all A’s in those subjects. Everything else is excellent.
You should also be in touch with the admissions office, take a tour, meet someone on a road show. They also consider demonstrated interest. You should definitely apply ED, the admit rate is much higher. My son’s school (similar in rigor) has an admit rate of 57% for ED, 26% for RD.
Improving your ACT will also help. You are at the 50% percentile, try to get in the 34-36 range.
Have you considered other, better rated engineering schools like Purdue that are cheaper, easier to be admitted to and higher rated? Engineering has a completely separate ranking system WUSTL is ranked in the 50s.
Everything but your GPA is pretty solid. Legacy is going to help. If you have any strings to pull, now would be the time
Thanks a lot for your input. My school does not rank the class and we do not have a Valedictorian or any of those type of awards. Something about fairness, I’m not positive.
And yes, I’ve gotten straight A’s in math and science and have participated in STEM labs/events at Yale. I have also already taken a tour of WUSTL and talked with one of the assistant deans of the school of engineering while there.
As far as other schools, I’m planning on applying EA to Michigan and applying to WPI, RPI, Bucknell, the US Naval Academy and Lehigh. I haven’t considered Purdue, but I’ll definately look into it! Also, hopefully getting my ACt score tomorrow from the September test.
Hey, any specific “strings” you had in mind?
I am also interested in WashU specifically because of its strong overall reputation. What I mean is that I feel that schools like Purdue and the Tech schools are limited, while WashU has strong schools in all fields. I am very interested in possibly earning an MBA too with their 5-year program.
Only Michigan on your list has a top B and Engin School, but the GPA is low for there too, similar to WUSTL. If you are admitted you could apply for Ross in Sophomore year. Most MBA programs require a few years of experience (with good reason) and I don’t see much of an advantage of doing an MBA during undergrad.
Michigan is very GPA focused, less so on standardized test so it would also be a reach. I would look at where engineering recruiters go - RPI is also high on the list. If you are fortunate enough to be admitted to the Naval Academy and serve your 4+ years , you will have plenty of leadership experienced and would be an excellent candidate for B-Schools later. As a vet you would also receive lower tuition (in- state) if you attend on the GI bill for whatever school you attend past that.
I’d also look at IU and Keller, that might be a good compromise, reasonably good at both and cheaper than WUSTL.