It looks like application season is upon us as we make our way into October. So, Class of 2021, feel free to let us know what colleges you are planning to apply to and your intended major, if you’ve decided. Current college students and/or alumni, feel free to offer any advice!
My current list:
Stanford
Northeastern
Georgia Tech
MIT
Rutgers
Carnegie Mellon
Princeton
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Cornell
UC Berkeley
University of Michigan
Columbia
Planning to major in computer science and possibly business.
If you haven’t heard of it, we’re a really tiny (~350 people) engineering college near Boston, with a strong focus on project based learning and interdisciplinary engineering. We’re all about experimenting with and revolutionizing engineering education, with a focus on the students — if you like getting your hands dirty and building/coding/designing more than you like sitting in a lecture hall, do yourself a favor and apply
US Air Force Academy
US Naval Academy
Georgia Tech
University of Michigan
University of Southern California
Rice
Colorado School of Mines
NC State
Stanford
Clemson
University of South Carolina
I plan on majoring in mechanical engineering (or engineering with mechanical engineering intent in the colleges where that is the option)
General question, because I know my info is 10+ years out of date now. What’s the current guidance for number of colleges or general strategy for applying?
WOW! Compared to some on here, it looks like my list could fit on a post-it note - of course, there is nothing wrong with that!
FYI I’m from Pennsylvania
I am applying to 3 colleges:
- Penn State (University Park, Mont Alto, and Harrisburg) - Since my father went there, I became a huge Penn State fan. That was where I thought I was going all my life. - West Virginia University - Lots of family members go there, and it’s a great value engineering school - Michigan Technological University - I’ve had family friends go there, and heard many good things from professionals. I also did a campus tour, and really liked it.
Based on some statistics I’ve seen, it definitely seems nowadays we’re applying to more and more schools. Common advice is to have 2-3 each “safety,” “match,” and “reach” schools. Of course, so many factors play into that decision- as we’ve seen in this thread, some folks have settled on a few, whereas others are applying to a dozen+ or have a lot more narrowing to do. Neither is wrong, per se. If you fall in the first camp, though, your application process and decisions down the road will be a lot easier.
I plan to major in Mechanical Engineering. I started with every school that offers that program and narrowed it down to 8:
This gives me a good opportunity to toss in this endorsement of my alma mater that I wrote last year. That whole thread is a great read for anyone looking at colleges.
Of course, take everything said there with a grain of salt now that the college experience stands to be very different on (or off) many campuses. I hope life will have returned to closer to what we used to call normal by next August or September. With that in mind, I would encourage anyone looking for a classic four-year undergraduate experience to consider Columbia.
I will say to you, @vkoutha, that Columbia’s CS department had a bit of a reputation for being a dogfight to get into some of the popular courses depending on the specific focus area, and the major is oddly offered by both the engineering school and the (non-engineering) college, so decide which route you want to go with if you do end up applying there. I think that reputation was earned more on the college than the engineering side.
Of course, don’t reach outside your financial means. Columbia—at least at sticker price—is stupendously expensive, but I found their need-based financial aid to be very generous and on net more affordable than competing public schools for me. Your mileage may vary depending on your exact finances, so just be aware of that.
I’m also currently in graduate school at Georgia Tech, so while I don’t have all the details of undergraduate life here, I’m very happy to speak about both schools.
Being someone that wants to do EE, it’s always been funny to see college counselors reactions to my saying “Electrical Engineering” and not computer science, mechanical engineering, or biomedical engineering.
Right now my list is:
Case Western
Olin
WPI
Georgia Tech
CU Boulder
NC State
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University
Marquette
Saint Louis University
I’m curious to hear what everyone’s thoughts are on stretch schools. While filling out my FAFSA today I added MIT as a potential choice. I really doubt I’ll get in, and even if I do, I don’t really envision myself there. But I figure there’s no harm in applying (aside from the application fee)
I was getting emails for the longest time titled like: “You’ve been selected for early admission to USC”
(it was South Carolina)
A couple angry replies later and they kept coming, but changed to “UofSC”
I did not choose to apply
