<p>My top choice school is and always has been Carnegie Mellon. Other schools I intend to apply to include Rice, Ga Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, and UF. I have already applied to and been accepted to Stetson and UNF. Those were both safety schools.</p>
<p>Florida Resident, first in family to go to college
White male
Will graduate with IB Diploma, and a year early because I skipped a grade in middle school.
UW GPA should be about 3.7, weighted GPA should be about 4.7.</p>
<p>ACT: 34
SAT: a sad 1980, but I feel that I did much better on math and chem subject tests, but I don’t have those scores yet.</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<p>3 years varsity swim
Carpentry class in school and displaying/selling things I’ve made at county fairs, etc.
Boy Scouts, though I stopped before obtaining Eagle Scout
Working as a camp counselor for boy scouts
2 years in Key Club, Treasurer Sophomore year
Tons of community service, but nothing really interested and all required by IB
A few minor programming awards from competitions</p>
<p>Interesting fact is dealing with mentally ill father, which required me to move in with grandparents and then help care for grandfather with vascular dementia.</p>
<p>Intended program of study is computer science.</p>
<p>How horrible are my extra curriculars? Will my ACT and GPA help make up for it at all? Do I have any shot at the schools on my list?</p>
<p>I wanted to apply ED to Carnegie but was not allowed because of my age (I am 16, you must be 17).</p>
<p>Money is somewhat of an issue. I will need some help. Rice told me there is no early deadline for merit aid, and I cannot apply to Carnegie until I get my subject test results. A friend told me GA Tech was February for aid, but I have not confirmed this.</p>
<p>For cornell and cmu it will really depends on how good your essays are. </p>
<p>“Interesting fact is dealing with mentally ill father, which required me to move in with grandparents and then help care for grandfather with vascular dementia.”</p>
<p>If you wrote a great essay about this I could see you getting in. </p>
<p>I did write my essay about that topic for Stetson (accepted) and GA Tech (haven’t heard yet). I plan to write about that topic, if possible, when applying to the other schools on my list, too. </p>
<p>Your EC’s are fine. It’s a little low in leadership items (for some of these schools), but overall they are OK. You should mention that you have to help with family, as that would help put your EC’s into context. </p>
<p>If you’re looking at Rice, you also may want to take a look at Vanderbilt. They will meet 100% of need (as they define need) with a package that doesn’t include any loans. It’s worth taking a look at. </p>
<p>The University of Alabama may be a solid safety school. You would qualify for the 100% OOS tuition scholarship, (Presidential Scholar) and the College of engineering scholarship ($2,500 a year). Based on the scholarship (+ Bright Futures) from UNF, UA may be around the same cost (or lower). If you do have to choose a safety, you may want an OOS option. </p>
<p>Hmm…you may want to think about NCF (New College of Florida). It’s one of the few public liberal arts and sciences honors colleges in the United States.</p>
<p>Looks like with your ACT score and GPA, you would qualify for at least the Gold Scholar award ($3K a year, $12K over 4 years).</p>
<p>If you’re looking at GT, then Auburn and Clemson may also be options. At Auburn you would qualify for the Presidential Scholarship ($16,000 a year for 4 years, and a $1,000 technology stipend the first semester). At Clemson you would qualify for a $7,500 to $15,000 a year merit scholarship. Both schools have solid computer sciences programs and very good reputations in the southeast. Even with the scholarships, both schools will be more expensive that UF, UNF or NCF, but may still be OOS options.</p>