Where should I apply? Am I actually good?

College Search & Lists
1

High School senior in Oregon
Currently either looking to be an engineer or to major in economics

IB diploma candidate
IB classes: 2 sophomore, 7 junior, 7 senior
Math SL 7
Anthropology SL 6

unweighted GPA: 3.9
weighted GPA: 4.24
weighted sophomore-junior GPA: 4.54

one sitting on all tests
ACT: 35 composite
SAT (new): 1520
SAT II Math II: 800
SAT II Spanish: 750
SAT II Physics: 740

Varsity rower; practice 18 hours/week 44 weeks/year for the last three years

  • fall 2016 varsity eight; placed 7/85 at Head of the Charles; won San Diego Fall Classic
    full time summer research internship in civil engineering last summer at a local University
  • published my own official report for the department of civil and environmental engineering
    other than that, my ECs are weak (a few clubs, no real leadership)
    ~100 hours of service time
  • teaching kids in Spanish immersion, dismantling computers for recycling, outreach programs for my rowing club, ivy pulls/the usual cleaning up parks

I would like to go to an elite school, but I worry that my ECs / Service are not up to par

Suggestions?

2

Have you run the SuperMatch tool on the left panel of this page? Or spoken with the counselors at your elite school? It’s their job to guide you – i bet probably MUCH better than any of us can. Congrats on your accomplishments to date.

What does your crew coach say? Have you plied this angle w/schools that value rowing?

3

Your qualifications are fine. Admission to “elite” schools (like the USNWR top ~20 universities) tends to be a crap shoot, so don’t get too fixated on them, but apply anywhere you like (and can afford). Just be sure to build a balanced reach-match-safety list (with attention to net cost as well as admission).

An in-state flagship often is a good starting point, especially for engineering in many states.
Although many of the best engineering programs are at state universities, public universities generally don’t give very good need-based aid to out-of-state students. You may however find good net costs at WUE member institutions, which offer tuition discounts to students from member states (including Oregon).

Selective private schools with strong engineering include not only research universities such as Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Carnegie Mellon, but also a few smaller schools such as Harvey Mudd College, Olin College of Engineering, and Cooper Union.

If you wanted to start just with west coast schools, then check out the following (listed roughly from more to less selective):
Stanford (super reach)
Harvey Mudd
University of Southern California
University of Oregon
Washington State (a WUE member)

If you take engineering off the table, then you have many other good options.

4

Merged two identical threads

5

If you are concerned about your ECs, Cornell’s excellent (and certainly elite) COE may be somewhat more stats oriented (and yours appear excellent) than that of their other academic colleges. Their program may only accommodate a minor in economics, however (at CAS). (Internal transfers can be made though.)

That said, your current concentrated ECs may nonetheless be compelling to a range of admission committees.

6

Time is running out. Pick a few reaches, matches and safeties. Are you looking all over the US or in one area?

7

How much will your parents pay each year?

You’re OOS for the UCs, but it sounds like you applied to some of them.

Will your parents happily pay $55k per year for a UC??? Why would they pay that much for a UC over Oregon?

8

In light of your stats, why do you ask if you are good? “Other than that” which happens to be many hours of rowing…Why do you ask if your ECs are sub-par? Sorry, but this very much comes across as humble-bragging. Surely your school GC has said you are an excellent candidiate for many colleges. Have you met with your GC to discuss your options? You need to do so right away. Have you asked for letters of Rec from teachers yet? I find it very odd if you haven’t yet done that. Have you written your common app essay? You have less than a month to apply to colleges, for the most part. Many colleges want supplemental essays.

You say you want to go to an elite school, you have great stats and ECs, yet with only a short time to go until apps are due, you are asking for suggestions. Suggestions for what? Colleges you can get into? Or if your ECs are good enough for unnamed elite schools? This sure seems like you are fishing for compliments, but if you arent, use the Supermatch tool. The world is your oyster, but you need to hurry.

9

I was just wondering about other people’s opinion on this. I already have a list of schools, but I do not really know if I should bother applying to them.

GCs at my school each handle about 80+ students, and mine is pretty much never available during or before school (I have practice after) because of writing recommendations and helping with counseling. He is one of few African-Americans who work at my school, and the African-American students gravitate towards him. (sadly, my school is not diverse at all)

Rec Letters:
IB Physics teacher: scored 100% on multiple unit exams (others were struggling to pass), participated in class, engaged outside of class with talk of my internship pursuit
IB Anthropology teacher: taught me for two years, I always present my ideas clearly, and we have had deep conversations outside of class (TOK)
PSU professor: mentored me for my internship, happy with my work and published my paper as adviser/editor

Essays:
Common App - coming back from failure in rowing - learned work ethic, self-motivation etc.
Most Supplements - done, not yet refined

The only two viable schools in Oregon are Oregon State and University of Oregon
Those would be great if I wanted to study forestry or sports marketing, but not much else

I am only concerned because my ECs look limited compared to others’
I always felt I had no time to pursue much outside of sports, but I see others doing this (granted they tend to have less intense sports schedules), and I have no leadership positions

Schools I have applied to or am considering:

EA - Princeton (legacy)

RD:
Stanford
UChicago
Northwestern
Dartmouth
Rice
Columbia
Penn

Northeastern
UMich
UCB/UCLA/UCSD
OSU (lol)

Considering (but probably shouldn’t bother even applying):
Harvard
Yale
probably Stanford

10

If you have a possibly strong interest in engineering, why Chicago?

11

If you’re concerned about the ECs (and yes, they can matter,) think again about how you present them. By now, you should know what your targets look for. It’s not all stats. Nor is it about titles.

12

MIT has NCAA Div I rowing. Your scores and GPA look okay for a shot at MIT, and you might try contacting their rowing coach to see if they are interested in you. Worth a shot.

13

Uh, Oregon State has been ABET accredited for a very long time. Mech E goes back to 1936.

http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=412&ProgramIDs=

14

Tektronix and Nike are both headquartered in Oregon and gives a lot of money to the Oregon schools, and I’m pretty certain hire their engineering graduates.

15

I’m looking to move away from Oregon and see something pretty different. As a result, I’m not very willing to go to school in Oregon or Washington, but I would definitely have considered my state schools if they were exceptional (like UC).

I think I am a decent candidate for elite schools except for the leadership and service aspects. I thought I had done okay until I compared myself to others, but I was unwilling to drop my sport / course load to pursue other ECs and service.

Engineering is not a must, but I will most likely pursue it and I think I would enjoy it. Honestly, the choice for engineering is a result of not being sure what else to pursue.

16

You’ve got to know what they want to see, not just go on your own view or how you stand in your own hs. Any math-sci ECs besides the internship? You need to be able to create a full picture. The competition will be fierce, including other solid kids from OR. That’s why we’re saying be open to your safeties.

17

Your list is reach-heavy.
If cost is an issue, you may not have any true admission and financial safeties.

18

IMHO you want to get an UG education at a place where you will have a lot of opportunities - and with very strong stats like yours OP, you can obtain merit/scholarships to make out of pocket costs relatively low.

That said, what are your parents willing to pay?

You may like a large campus in a large city, a smaller school, etc, etc. How many different types of campuses have you visited?

I would definitely apply to some financial safeties - and acceptances may have you doing some traveling to make a decision close to the end of this senior year of HS.

19

Some people don’t seem to realize that the really elite schools (roughly USNews top 20) are not an obvious choice for everyone with high grades & test scores. For some people (e.g., not filthy rich , but not going to qualify for much need aid) it’s finances that make them a bad fit because they might qualify for serious merit aid at a less elite school, public or private. For others it has to do with their major; for certain subjects & careers (e.g.,pre-med, accounting, nursing, engineering) the payoff for attending an elite school rather than a merely “good” or “solid” school doesn’t seem to be as great as it would be if they were studying something like econ or international relations. So if you are indeed going to study engineering, don’t think that because you have Ivy-level stats, you HAVE to go to an elite school. You might be challenged & have a prosperous career even if you “settle” for places like Texas A&M, Michigan State, Pitt, or Santa Clara.

20

Well I’m not set on engineering per se. I am applying as a financial engineer wherever it is offered, and I am applying to Wharton at Penn and as an Economics major at UChicago and Dartmouth. One of my future interests would be a career in finance.

Cost is not really an issue. I am unlikely to get any financial aid until my younger brother goes to college (class of 2023). My parents are willing to pay for schools they see as markedly stronger than Oregon’s state schools, but not for something which is expensive but does not really offer much that is special (think Pepperdine).

I am fortunate enough to only be worrying about college acceptance-wise.