Where Should I Apply
I am co'27, wanting to major in Mechanical Engineering. I feel like i have decent stats and ecs but other than a few texas colleges (tx resident), idk where to apply.
I was planning on applying to only utd, ut, and texas a&m, but because I am not in the top 10% people have told me that all of these colleges (except maybe utd) are like reaches/hard targets for me. Where else can I apply out-of-state with a good/prestigious engineering and overall school with somewhat low to medium tuition (no private school)?
Here are my stats:
GPA: 4.0/4.0 UW, 5.257/6.0 W
SAT: 1460 (690 RW, 770 M) (Planning on retaking in Aug for at least 1500+)
PSAT: 1480 (720 RW, 760 M)
Additional Coursework: AP World History, AP Physics 1, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 2, AP Computer Science A, AP Language, AP Chemistry, AP US History, Dual Credit Calculus 3, Dual Credit Differential Equations, AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Macro
Extracurricular Activities:
- Internship at an Engineering firm, modeling multiple CAD projects
- Internship at a non-profit ecological conservation company (made a report and researched ways to minimize the effect of mining on wildlife by using different engineering fields to design a solution)
- Aviation & Aerospace Engineering club president and founder for 2 years, making a club with 40+ members, holding biweekly meetings over aviation and engineering involved in it using activities, flight competitions, etc
- Varsity Choir section leader for 2 years, Social officer for 1 year
- Science Museum volunteer where I designed exhibitions in STEM (rocketry and Civil activities) and was a floor worker (150+ hours)
- Did Indian Classical Music for 7+ years, certified for 4 years; sang at community fundraising and general events with 1k+ people and represented TX at the Indian Embassy in cultural performances
- Science UIL Club Social Media officer and Science UIL participant (recruited 15 additional members using advertising and campaigns)
- Physics, Math, and STEM volunteer tutor on an online website reaching 25+ learners in 10+ countries (I only have 50 hours so far*)
Honors & Awards:
- NMSF/Commended Scholar (idk about NMSF cuz my score is a 220 and TX cutoff last year was a 222)
- TMEA All-Region choir and Area qualifier as an alternate; top ~6% of all participants in TX
- UIL Region Solo and Ensemble Superior ratings (9, 10, 11) and Texas State Solo and Ensemble Qualifier/Participant
- Math UIL 2nd Place team in districts for 3 years
- AP Scholar with Distinction
*should i apply a bit later to colleges (a month or two) so that i can get these hours up or is it not worth it (like 50 -> 100)
Here's my current list (just added random good engineering schools):
- Texas a&m, ut, utd, texas tech, uiuc, purdue, u wisconsin, cu boulder, umich, virginia tech
