Hi! I am a rising senior who is applying to an engineering major (still deciding between chemical and material science). Here are my stats: 1530 SAT, 3.83 unweighted GPA, 4.11 Weighted GPA, about 17% in my class, First Generation Asian Female, TX Resident, 14 APs, 120 working hours, 150+ volunteering hours. Won some state awards for musicianship. Hold several club executive positions. I’m going to take the ACT and SAT II tests this fall, so that will be done later.
The reach schools that I am interested in are UPenn, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, Columbia, Cornell, Harvey Mudd College, CMU. Some of those schools don’t have a super strong/well-known engineering program, such as UPenn and Columbia, but I love their whole vibe and a wide range of opportunities. I am very conflicted here; I want to use this ED chance to get into a top college with strength in other areas as well, such as UPenn’s Warton, but I am not sure if it’s worth it since Georgia Tech and UT Austin all offer amazing engineering programs, and Georgia Tech only has EA. To be honest, I am not a big school name kind of person, I just want to grow and learn practical stuff to prepare for my career. Which school would you recommend me to apply ED or EA with the consideration of my admission chances and the practicality of the school?
Thank you so much!!
The usual answer to “what college should I apply ED to?” question is that if you have to ask this question, you probably are not sure what college is a clear no-regrets top choice and therefore should not apply ED to any college. (However, you can apply non-binding EA where offered, although some college have restricted EA where you agree not to apply to some other colleges EA or any college ED.)
More important is to ensure that your list includes safeties, which probably means getting the financial limitations from your parents.
Starting from your frosh HS year you seem to have Ivy schools in your eyes (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1952215-will-bs-on-my-finals-ruin-my-chances-of-getting-into-an-ivy-league.html) so your protests that " I am not a big school name kind of person" ring a bit hollow.
My advice is follow what seem to be your long-held dreams and apply ED to an Ivy. As for the chance to “learn practical stuff to prepare for my career” you do that with internships (primarily) and also by taking part in student engineering clubs and activities. And should your interests in engineering change then the name-brand recognition of an Ivy will serve you better than many of your other options.
This is like an Aha moment for me; you are right. Although I try to convince myself that brand name doesn’t matter, I have always wanted to go to an ivy. My concern is that although my dream school is UPenn, it doesn’t have a really strong stem program, and my low GPA hurts my chances in some of the top stem schools like Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Cornell, etc. So now I have 3 options: 1) Apply ED to UPenn Engineering, which is a wonderful school and if I’m accepted, be part of their engineering program, even if it’s not among the top 20 in the nation I could still have a good education and Ivy League diploma; 2)Apply ED to an almost impossible school like Stanford, since you only live once, why not try the impossible; and leave no regrets; or 3) don’t ED any school, just EA Georgia Tech, and EA or Regular other ivies, so I could choose to go to a very professional STEM school with a relatively okay chance of admission if I am luckily accepted. I am so sorry that I made this so complicated and long, which one do you think would be the best choice?
You may have some things confused, you can’t EA any ivy, you can only SCEA HYP (or Stanford) or ED the other ivies (or CMU or Harvey Mudd). And you can EA Georgia Tech regardless of whatever option you choose so you don’t really need that third option. Texas and Berkeley don’t have any early programs so just apply RD. If you really like Penn, apply there ED, it’s STEM programs are very good, not sure where you get the impression it’s not. For an Asian female STEM from TX, Stanford will be the toughest school, that’s a very very competitive demographic, it will be lottery-esque in terms of chances. I’m not sure I’d “waste” SCEA there. So to sum, ED Penn, EA to GT, apply RD elsewhere. Good luck!
i think you can do better than Penn. I would do ED for CMU or Mudd, if they’re at the top of your list.
Apparently the OP has professed in other posts that her dream is to be at an ivy, hence my Penn recommendation.
