Class of '06 - Where Are You Applying

[Fiona]

Applying to:
Stanford (early action)
Caltech
MIT
Princeton
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Purdue

and I wanna go into aerospace engineering

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Updated List:

Yale: Single Choice Early Action

Regular:
MIT, CMU, Stanford

Rolling:
U Mich, Purdue

[nehalita]

Updated (as of...Sept.3):
Early Action: MIT, Caltech, GTech
Regular Action: Duke/Cornell/CMU/JHU (via commonapp), Stanford, Berkeley, debating on BU (any comments on BU? PM me)

I still can't decide what field I want to go to... either
a) EECS (elect eng and comp sci)
b) MechE
c) BioMed/BioInfo E (wetzel's gotten me very excited about BioInformatics -- ask him about it!)

I deviate between these three -- I was set on BioMed until the summer and now I'm just stumped. I just don't want to get bored, I want to get into something hands-on and I want to go into a fresh field -- I plan to get my doctorate eventually and since I'm going to dedicate so much of my time to a field, I want it to be one I love. If anyone has any opinions or advice for me, PM ME, I'd love to get feedback.

So what am I doing?: Finished all of MIT app (minus two optional essays), Did most of CommonApp (minus one or two essays...) but still have to do the additionals, Need to look at Gtech and Caltech's app, studying for SAT and retaking SAT2 (phys and chem) in nov.
What is everyone else doing? How far have you gotten?

[greencactus3]

im applying to u of mich engineering first. and if that goes well im done. if not then ill scramble to apply to Rose-Hulman and michigan tech and more if i really need it. i was hoping to send these out during next week... still working on my essays. and gotta talk to my counselor. who is too busy looking after the freshman. i think she should be looking at the seniors before bothering with the freshman tho. pisses me off.

[Corey Balint]

I made a quick list for my dad before, so we could start getting things in order. I took out some of my "Reach" schools(UC Berk, USoCal) and just kept all my safe bets.

1. Michigan
2. Purdue
3, Boston Univ.
4. Rochester Inst of Tech
5. Univ. of South Carolina(actually moving up fast in my book, possibly #3)
6. Northeastern
7. Waterloo
8. Clarkson
9. Univ. of Delaware
10. Univ. of New Hampshire
11. Worcester Poly Inst
12. Rutgers
13. Stevens

Ill apply to the schools mostly for engineering, but i have the feeling ill switch into a Business Management type deal soon. My major goal in life is Sports Management, either General Manager of a team, Coach, Scout, or Agent.
So all the Heavy based engineering schools are dropping down fast, and the schools that tend to be split withtheir majors, are rising fast.

[koala79]

Good looking schools, all. Is anyone applying to NC State?

[dubious elise]

I am applying to .....
Notre Dame (let's go i-rish!)
Harvard
Columbia College
University of Wisconsin - Madison (safety)
St. Mary's College (out-of-state-with-lots-of-scholarships-and-ND-football safety)

I'm still looking at Stanford and Yale. I love the fact that they both have strong research programs (even though neither holds a candle to Madison in terms of Genetics) but I am nonplussed by their lengthy applications. Call me lazy, but I simply have too many classes and activities outside of school right now to be concerned with essays up the wazoo.

We'll see though. Aside from essays, I have completed nearly all of my applications. I just don't have any blazingly good ideas off the top of my head right now.

[Joe Matt]

Just to throw it out, make sure to check out all the available FIRST scholarships!

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2005...hipsummary.htm

If anyone here is interested in the University of Dayton and they want to stop by, I'll be more than happy to show you around and let you sit in a class or two with me.

[sciguy125]

I'd like to note that it would probably be best to stay out of the California public school system (UC and CSU) if possible. The budget problem is getting pretty bad. I've heard that the UC system is fairing better than CSU though. UC Berkeley is UC's flagship school, so they're probably doing alright. There was some talk awhile back about San Fransisco State cutting their entire engineering program. I don't know what happened though.

I go to San Jose State and it's not pretty. The place is becoming seriously overcrowded. I need to get to school before 8 just so that I can find parking. Less money, however, means fewer classes. More students and fewer classes is a bad combination. I have to be there before 8, but I couldn't get any early morning classes, so I sit around for a few hours. Two semesters ago, they even cut some of the smaller majors (ie Russian and some other languages, not a big loss I guess). Some of my professors stopped handing out syllabuses (syllabi?) and handouts because their paper budget was cut back. After doing teacher evaulations, a lot of them would make a big deal about getting all their pencils back. One of my physics professors made a comment about needing to get some lab equipment calibrated, but not having the money to do it. Through all of this, tuition is still on the rise. Not that I'm complaining, it's still pretty cheap.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by sciguy125

I'd like to note that it would probably be best to stay out of the California public school system (UC and CSU) if possible. The budget problem is getting pretty bad. I've heard that the UC system is fairing better than CSU though. UC Berkeley is UC's flagship school, so they're probably doing alright. There was some talk awhile back about San Fransisco State cutting their entire engineering program. I don't know what happened though.

I go to San Jose State and it's not pretty. The place is becoming seriously overcrowded. I need to get to school before 8 just so that I can find parking. Less money, however, means fewer classes. More students and fewer classes is a bad combination. I have to be there before 8, but I couldn't get any early morning classes, so I sit around for a few hours. Two semesters ago, they even cut some of the smaller majors (ie Russian and some other languages, not a big loss I guess). Some of my professors stopped handing out syllabuses (syllabi?) and handouts because their paper budget was cut back. After doing teacher evaulations, a lot of them would make a big deal about getting all their pencils back. One of my physics professors made a comment about needing to get some lab equipment calibrated, but not having the money to do it. Through all of this, tuition is still on the rise. Not that I'm complaining, it's still pretty cheap.

While the state school system is in trouble financially, they're still the best public schools in the nation. From what I've heard, once you get into a UC, you're fine. The problem is it's increasingly hard to do so. I haven't heard such good things about the CSU's, though.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Cory

I haven't heard such good things about the CSU's, though.

I don't know about the regular CSUs but as far as I know the Cal Polys are doing okay. At Pomona, they are building a 13 million dollar parking structure right now. And the grounds upkeep is phenomenal. They are huge on landscaping there.

For classes at Cal Poly Pomona, it has been a slight bit hard to go by the flow chart for what classes I'm supposed to take. You don't get to pick your professor or time of the class because they fill up really quick. You have to pretty much take whatever you can get. Anyway, I have always been able to get a full course load and it isn't like I've had to take any filler classes that don't count for anything related to me. So far I've had instances where I can't get what the flowchart recommends, but I can take something else further ahead on the chart instead. And I haven't had to add any classes either, I've been able to get a full schedule in pre-registration.

So, I wouldn't say it's too bad at the Cal Polys, at least not yet. There are some classes that there aren't enough of for the demand, but it is manageable.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I don't know about the regular CSUs but as far as I know the Cal Polys are doing okay.

The CSU's are pretty much all seriously impacted. I know people who are going to take 5-6 years to complete their education as a result.

Still good schools, but something to keep in mind.

[tfedullo]

Applied to Cooper Union, early decision and was accepted!

[dubious elise]

Considering that I finally finished all of my applications and heard from another one of my schools, I figured that I might as well update my list...

UW - Madison (accepted)
Saint Mary's - Notre Dame, IN (accepted, $48,000 scholarship)
Notre Dame - Notre Dame, IN
Columbia University - NYC
Harvard
Stanford
Yale

They're all regular action, and, as far as I know, I won't be hearing from any of them before March 30th. Huzzah!

[Jaine Perotti]

Well, so far I have heard from 2 out of the 3 schools that I applied to early action:

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (accepted, $60,000 scholarship)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (accepted, $53,700 scholarship)
University of Miami - College of Engineering (will hear back by Feb. 1st)

I am not sure which out of the three schools I am most interested in attending, but I am leaning toward UM. We will see what sort of financial assistance they will offer me.

In terms of where else I might apply for regular decision -

Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon
UCONN
Clarkson University
Georgia Tech

The only reason I did not apply to these other 5 schools early action was because there are one or more factors that I see as deterrents for wanting to attend those schools. Cornell and Clarkson are just too darn cold and out in the boonies for my liking! Carnegie Mellon sounds amazing, but I get the impression that it is very academically competitive. As for UCONN, I like it, but I don't love it. I spent a week there this summer at an engineering camp, and I was extremely bored half the time. Plus the campus isn't very pretty and it seems a little on the big side. Georgia tech sounds great, but its in the middle of a big city and I would prefer a more suburban environment.

The three that I applied to early action are by far my favorites because:

1) The quality of their academic programs is outstanding
2) Classes are taught by professors, not TAs
3) Professors are accessible after-hours for personal help
4) Numerous opportunities exist for undergrad research, internships, co-ops, and study abroad
5) All three universities take pride in their "hands-on, early on" approach
6) All three universities have displayed a sincere concern for each student's well being and foster a nurturing atmosphere

As I said before, I am currently leaning toward UM, mainly because it offers the full spectrum of majors as well as those in engineering. This is important to me because I want to be able to continue to study non-engineering related fields that I am also interested in, such as foreign language and art. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry about transferring to another school if I decided not to major in engineering. I am also considering a dual major in ocean/atmospheric science as well as engineering, and UM has a fantastic school of ocean and atmospheric science.

Good luck to everyone! I am looking forward to hearing more updates from all of you.