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I live in NC and would consider myself the type of student, who would have a real good chance of getting into UNC, but getting into a school like Duke may be a toss up. Right now my college list is full of schools that seem like small to big reaches for me (Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Northwestern, etc..Does anyone know of any schools with a pretty good engineering program that would be "fairly" safe for me to apply and get accepted? Really sort of stumped right now. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

By Lucifersam (Lucifersam) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 08:52 pm: Edit

List your stats and maybe someone will be able to help you. Besides for community colleges, there's no way of telling you what schools would be "safe schools" for you just by your saying you think that you would have a good chance of getting into UNC but not Duke. If you have a 4.0 and made a perfect score on the ACT or SAT, you probably have a lot more safe schools.

By Dukeda1 (Dukeda1) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 10:24 pm: Edit

Oh ok, here is my resume'...

4.79 GPA
4.00 unweighted
1 0f 280 class rank
1270 SAT (590 V 680 M, i know that HAS to come up,retaking in Oct., shooting for a 1400
3 years Varsity Basketball and cross country (captain) (all-conference)
AP Stats 4
Ap Chemistry 4
Ap US history 5
Student Body Treasurer
NHS VP
"Best Latin Student" Award for 2003-2004 school
year
Latin Club
Latin Honor Society
Latin Program Leadership Council
Key Club
Student Government
National Honor Society
Interact Club
Science Club
Dream Team
Senior Mentor
Students Against Drunk Driving (S.A.D.D.)
History Club
Prom Committee

OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL
part time employee at loyal engineering firm(30 hours a week)
Boys' State
Jr. Red Cross Club (involved only early in HS)
Toast Masters
Piedmont Swing Society
National Association of Rocketry
Freedom's Answer Coordinator
50+ hours of community service (Odyssey of the
Mind, Loaves & Fishes, Special Olympics, etc.)
A few citizenship/character awards/scholarships and fictional writing awards

Thanks again.

By Dukeda1 (Dukeda1) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:14 am: Edit

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By Lucifersam (Lucifersam) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:39 am: Edit

Great ECs, if you've actually stuck with them for many years and are still doing them this year, class rank is really good, but that SAT score frankly doesn't agree with your class rank, and it really probably should. (I mean since you're ranked #1, although an SAT score is 1260 isn't HORRIBLE, it's not great. I actually made a 1240, but on my ACT I made a 30, which is equivalent to a 1360, so who knows. It was my only SAT, and my third ACT, since I also took the ACT once in 7th grade, actually for Duke's Talent Identification program. But anyway . . .) Otherwise you have stats that might even actually make you a competitive applicant for an Ivy, so I think you should fare well applying to Duke as well as almost any other southern school. So pretty much any university in, south of, or east of Kentucky I'd say you'd have a good chance at. I'm not sure how selective schools in other parts of the country are though besides for Ivies.

Hope that helps some. Bring that SAT up! (Or, take the ACT and see if you do better equivalently. The ACT covers Math, English, Reading, and Science Reasoning, so some colleges are able to judge you more comprehensively and even grant you credit for science classes and such.)

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:56 am: Edit

NC State, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are all good lower matches/upper safeties for your stats. I'd agree with Lucifersam on his 'anything X and Y is a match' as long as you take Duke, Rice, and maybe Emory out of the equation. Get the 1400 and I'd probably put them back in.

I like your stats--is that weighted GPA on the 6-point scale?--but I just hope you've been pretty strongly involved in at least a couple of those EC, instead of just jumping from club to club. If you've done a bit of both, more power to you.

Out of curiosity, where in the state are you from?

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 10:04 am: Edit

Have you considered Wake Forest?

By Dukeda1 (Dukeda1) on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:46 pm: Edit

As you can see, I am a member in most of the clubs at school and some outside of school. With all those clubs it is very difficult to stay extremely active in all of them so I sort of picked a few and concentrated my time on those. However, basketball and running require a great deal of my time along with my job.

To answer Aspirer42, I live in Elon, NC, which is between Greensboro and Raleigh (near Burlington).

Alan5, I did consider Wake Forest and love the campus over there, but I am currently leaning toward engineering, so Wake Forest probably wouldn't suit my interests.

Thanks for everyone's advice! It has been extremely helpful. Are there any other schools that you feel would be relatively safe for me, not necessarily in my region (southeast)? THANKS A LOT!!!

By Dukeda1 (Dukeda1) on Monday, August 02, 2004 - 11:59 pm: Edit

Does anybody know of any other good matches or "safety" schools outside my region (again, live in NC)? Thanks again!

By Blaineko (Blaineko) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 04:48 am: Edit

Trinity College (CT)
UWisconsin-Madison
Goucher
DePauw
Denison
Skidmore
UIowa
Indiana U
Ohio State
Guilford
Rhodes
Trinity U (TX)
Lewis & Clark (OR)
UOregon
Centre
UGeorgia

By Rogracer (Rogracer) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 03:01 pm: Edit

NC State's engineering program is regarded as superior to that of UNC, and IMO, Duke as well. I'm not sure why you wouldn't strongly consider that since you are an in-state student.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 03:19 pm: Edit

I have been told that UNC is more formulaic in its admissions than Duke which makes sense as it is a state system. Also, the only one that looks like it may be an issue for you is Chapel Hill. I do not know what their in-state stats are. You may want to talk to admissions there for those numbers or to your guidance counselor. I have found that counselors at public highschool, even the ones who are not so knowledgeable about college admissions, are the best source for cracking the state system.

For some "insider" views on how admissions is done at Duke, take a peek at Rachel Toors' "Admission Confidential". I do not know the numbers breakdown for Carolinians at Duke, but I do know that there is a quota of 13% written in the charter for the school.

Hard to assess you for engineering as you do not include SAT2 scores or where you are currently in math, important considerations for those going into engineering. What sort of school do you go to, how is its curriculum, what classes have you taken, and where do the top 10% usually go to college?

My suggestion for you, given the info you have posted, is to also look for some smaller schools with nurturing engineering departments if you do not have heavy duty math and physics well under your belt in high school. A lot of kids get killed with the engineering curriculum at the tougher and less personal schools. I used this strategy with my girls for med school as they were not strong test takers nor did were they science whizzes. A large state university or a tough premed program would have compromised their ultimate goal, which is to become a doctor.

By Blaineko (Blaineko) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 04:45 pm: Edit

Look at small NLACs...

Like Trinity College or Lafayette College for example. Swarthmore and Wesleyan also have engineering majors. Check out Brown and Lehigh for more options.

By Dukeda1 (Dukeda1) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 10:26 pm: Edit

My first choice by far is Duke. I will be applying there e.d. to Trinity School instead of Pratt (engineering) b/c of my lack of math and physics. I will be taking regular physics next year (the only physics type class offered at my school) along with AP Calculus (AB). My school is on the block schedule so the max Aps per year is 3. Along w/ calc., I will be taking AP Biology & English-Lit (which are the only aps offered at my high school that I have not taken).

The top students at my school usually attend Davidson College, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, etc. w/ a few (including two of my sisters) to Notre Dame and one to Air Force Academy for aeronautical engineering. No one in my school (at least in the past 15 years has attended Duke). Could this fact hurt, help, or have no affect on my chances.


Jamimom, can you think of a few examples of small, private schools w/ "nurturing engineering" programs like you mentioned earlier? I understand and appreciate your advice, but just am not very informed about small unversities w/ developing engineering schools. Thanks again.

Also, got something from Lehigh (as Blaineko previously recommended looking into) today in the mail, looks like a very nice place; however, the packet, although somewhat informative, didn't go in quite enough depth for me personally to get a good feel for the college. Can anyone tell me about Lehigh (difficulty of admission, quality of engineering school, campus, etc.)?

I realize that my questions are sort of random, but I am just trying to come up with the best list of colleges to apply to as possible (including reaches, matches, and "safty" schools). I sincerely thank you for your time and advice, and I wish everyone the best of luck!

By Dudedad (Dudedad) on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 10:59 am: Edit

I see you live in Elon Dukeda1. In your experience can you describe activities/shops/etc. that exist for students at Elon in the Elon/Burlington area, both on and off campus? I visited last year and it seemed a little quiet compared to places like Chapel Hill to the east, and Greensboro to the west.

btw you might want to check out RPI and Case Western

By Rogracer (Rogracer) on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 01:04 pm: Edit

Lehigh is a wonderful school...you can get an eductation there that is second to none. I went there as an undergrad, and later went to grad school at MIT. In many ways, the education was superior at Lehigh. The facilities are beyond belief for the size of the school. Especially if you are technically inclined, it deserves a very strong look.

By Blaineko (Blaineko) on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 03:14 pm: Edit

Hey there...

Duke does have a set number of spaces for NC residents. SATs tend to be slightly lower than for the regular pool of applicants, so you stand a good chance. Definately ED at Duke.

I agree that Jamimom is a great person to go to when you have a question--itelligent and thoughtful.

Just my opinion.

By Par72 (Par72) on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 12:22 am: Edit

Might want to look at RPI, Holy Cross, or WPI.