u/Radiant_Isopod2018

Hello, I posted here before but I only got one answer so I am hoping I can get more opinions this time around.

I am a 29 year old full time student and worker (work at a cold warehouse as a high reach forklift operator, I mostly pick very heavy pallets. It is a very physically demanding job, but only basic arithmetic is used nothing fancy). I got into FIU as a CS major after hs and basically performed poorly, and eventually dropped out because I basically became homeless after financial aid cut my money off after I pulled that bs. I got put on probation for that, so keep that in mind. I had previously lived with my dad right out of high school but he pretty much just wanted me to gtfo and get lost. Anyways after a lot of maturing and developing a lot of grit I registered at my CC to initially just qualify for a better position at my job(who is reimbursing me for school), but I have been performing so well I wanted to apply to some good schools and pray for full or 20-25k annual gap in aid. I intend to do Electrical engineering, my gpa is 3.98, and these are my courses completed:

Computer Science I (A) • English I (A-) • General Chemistry I (A) • Cinematography (A) • Calculus I (A) • Cultures, Peoples and the Environments of the World (A) • Calculus II (A) • Physics for Science and Engineering I (A) • Introduction to Psychology, Honors (A) • English II, Honors (A) • Calculus III (A) • Physics for Science and Engineering II (A) • Engineering Graphic Essentials (in progress) • Introduction to Communication, Honors (in progress) • Statics (in progress) • Differential Equations (in progress)

My dream school is Lehigh and I attend a CC with transfer credit agreement, and an “honors agreement” with Lehigh.

What do you think? I am thinking of applying to these schools:

Lehigh, MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, UPenn, Brown, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Rice, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Tufts, Columbia (GS), Notre Dame, Olin College, Harvey Mudd, Boston University, Lafayette, Northeastern, Villanova, Stevens, Penn State, Pitt, GW, Drexel, Marquette, RIT, Illinois Tech, University of Rochester, Temple, NJIT, Wilkes, Alfred

Anybody emailed an AO recently?
I emailed my region’s last week with some questions and haven’t gotten a response yet. I don’t want to email again and get remembered for being pushy/annoying. Since it’s summer I also figured he might be on vacation. Just looking for a timeframe from your experience from dealing with them.

I’m trying to get into Lehigh or at least that’s the most, I think, I could hopefully set the bar to. I am an adult transfer student studying at a cc I have a 3.98 gpa with only 5 courses left, calc and physics series completed. I work as a forklift driver 3rd shift full time. And have been taking full time credits at school since 3 semesters ago. I plan to join either ME or EE(EE most likely).

Here is the tricky part. I was a Computer Science major in 2015 and was forced to drop out due to multiple reasons including my poor performance. I purchased my transcript and it shows that I was placed on probation the last semester I was in. I am a completely different person now and I am passionate about learning and don’t have the obstacles that were placed in front in me when I first tried.

I wanted to ask whether you guys think it’s possible or I should put more effort into schools that are less selective.

Edit: I should add that my cc has a transfer credit agreement with Lehigh (NCC)