If you were going to pick a few high reaches for this kid:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing in this profile suggests a kid that would be admitted to a T10. Good ecs and high stats aren’t enough for an unhooked kid. However since you like Princeton and can afford it with aid, apply there.

His counselor says he is in the range where he has seen kids get in, and of course also seen kids rejected. He says that it’s worth applying to a couple of those high reaches since if he gets in it will likely be cheaper than UMD.

So, he’s going to pick a couple schools where admissions is a reach but the money is guaranteed, and a couple schools where admissions is likely but the scholarship he’d need is a reach like Wisconsin, and some where the chances are more realistic for both.

I wouldn’t be so sure that Princeton would be cheaper than UMD. I am not sure how they do it, but UMD has a knack for identifying Ivy admits and offers them the full ride BK. I know several now. If your unhooked kid is good enough for an Ivy, they’ll probably get a full ride at UMD.

If he gets a full BK, or something like Stamps Eminence at Ohio State, I'm pretty sure he'd choose that over Princeton. But those are reaches too, probably as unlikely as Princeton, so he might as well apply to both.

[Anonymous]

What is full BK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is full BK?

Banneker key the scholarship at UMD comes in a full version and a half version.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where would you look:

Strong enough GPA, test scores and rigor that taking a shot at a T10 makes sense.

Good EC’s that support what he wants to do in and after college.

Wants to study civil engineering and geoscience or hydrology, with a goal on working on water related issues in international development.

Would like a school that takes a lot of AP credit, and that offers non-Western languages.

Needs to stay under 40K so the school needs to either meet need, or give good merit.

ChatGPT suggested Princeton.

UVA or UMD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would you look:

Strong enough GPA, test scores and rigor that taking a shot at a T10 makes sense.

Good EC’s that support what he wants to do in and after college.

Wants to study civil engineering and geoscience or hydrology, with a goal on working on water related issues in international development.

Would like a school that takes a lot of AP credit, and that offers non-Western languages.

Needs to stay under 40K so the school needs to either meet need, or give good merit.

ChatGPT suggested Princeton.

UVA or UMD

No not UVA. Try VTech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would you look:

Strong enough GPA, test scores and rigor that taking a shot at a T10 makes sense.

Good EC’s that support what he wants to do in and after college.

Wants to study civil engineering and geoscience or hydrology, with a goal on working on water related issues in international development.

Would like a school that takes a lot of AP credit, and that offers non-Western languages.

Needs to stay under 40K so the school needs to either meet need, or give good merit.

ChatGPT suggested Princeton.

Georgia Tech is the best fit.
1. It takes a lot of AP credits so DC can graduate in 2.5 years.
2. Georgia Tech is a T10 engineering. And broadly speaking, Georgia Tech is not worse than any of T10s, perhaps better than a couple of T10.
3. OOS tuition is low, you don't need merit if going to Georgia Tech. Under 40K.
The only thing is OOS acceptance rate is low, so DC may not be accepted. Good luck.

GA tech cost of attendance out of state is $53K and OOS aid is very limited. It seems better to use the reach spot for a school where, if accepted, he could afford to go, which means a meets need school.

— OP

Most T20 private schools will not count AP classes as credit. AP scores may be used to get out of intro classes, but you still need to take the traditional four years of classes to graduate. I'm a little surprised that Georgia Tech will allow AP credits to be used to graduate with an engineering degree in 2.5 years. I really doubt it. But it is a public school, and public schools are much more generous with applying AP credits. But if that's the case, even if Georgia Tech is more than $40,000 a year, it'll be far cheaper in the end if those AP credits are knocking off a year and half of tuition.

But engineering everywhere is a very regimented degree, so I find it very unlikely anyone anywhere can graduate in less than 4 years. But if that is the case at Georgia Tech, it's worth looking into.

There are about 20-30 schools that genuinely meet all financial need. For people interested in engineering, that would be schools like Princeton, CalTech, Rice, Stanford, MIT, probably Harvey Mudd, Olin, and Cooper Union too even though are very small. Almost no one is saying no these schools because they are unaffordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would you look:

Strong enough GPA, test scores and rigor that taking a shot at a T10 makes sense.

Good EC’s that support what he wants to do in and after college.

Wants to study civil engineering and geoscience or hydrology, with a goal on working on water related issues in international development.

Would like a school that takes a lot of AP credit, and that offers non-Western languages.

Needs to stay under 40K so the school needs to either meet need, or give good merit.

ChatGPT suggested Princeton.

UVA or UMD

We have UMD on our list. We're instate and he really likes it.

UVA doesn't have a particularly strong reputation in his areas of interest, but I recently learned that they meet need for OOS, so it's worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where would you look:

Strong enough GPA, test scores and rigor that taking a shot at a T10 makes sense.

Good EC’s that support what he wants to do in and after college.

Wants to study civil engineering and geoscience or hydrology, with a goal on working on water related issues in international development.

Would like a school that takes a lot of AP credit, and that offers non-Western languages.

Needs to stay under 40K so the school needs to either meet need, or give good merit.

ChatGPT suggested Princeton.

UVA or UMD

No not UVA. Try VTech

We are still trying to figure out how to estimate aid, but VT looks like it's a school like Wisconsin or Ohio State where getting in is likely, but getting enough merit to attend is less likely. I feel like he has enough of those schools on his list, and the ones he has are schools he likes better than VT.

This is totally off topic for this thread, but if anyone has thoughts on how to estimate merit aid, that would be great. I appreciate schools that guarantee it, or that figure it into the net price calculator, like Minnesota!