If you will be full pay, that may be to your advantage at some schools who will be facing significant revenue deficits because of COVID. Do you have the resources to weather any travel restrictions/mandatory quarantines whether travelling to the US or back to Indonesia? Do you have the tech infrastructure to go to remote learning if cannot travel back to the US?
@mrksne: Can you elaborate more on your bronze medal winning of “pre-university Science Olympiad?” Was that the famous International Science Olympiad competition and so I guess you were a team member for your country? My “subjective” probability assessment given above on Post#16 was actually conditional prob. on each prospective school which I assumed you would write an exceptional essay and get several great recommendations from VIPs…
My point is that if you don’t believe deep in your heart that you have a better chance than getting a “H” in a “fair” coin flipping, why bother (to apply)?
Good luck!
BTW, are you from East Asia (i.e., China, Taiwan, Japan, HK, Macau, Mongolia or Korea?)
So you’re 16 this year?
Admission process is not a randomly selected procedure and if you’re determined enough and have the grit, you would find a pathway to achieve your goal even if you get rejected at first place.
Good luck!
And mind telling us your SAT verbal part score?
OK, I saw your post: you’re from Indonesia. I really think you have a better chance comparing with those from East Asian countries.
Sorry, I’ve been away for a while. The road is littered with applicants that considered Cal Poly a safety school. There are plenty of applicants who have gotten into UCB and/or UCLA that were rejected by Cal Poly. It’s completely major dependent. Based on previous years an applicant probably can’t amass enough other accomplishments to offset a 3.75 GPA and expect to get into the highly competitive majors like CS and ME. I’d consider that record a match and possibly even a safety for IE.
As for OOS, stats seem pretty consistent relative to in state. There are fewer OOS applicants, but they only dedicate 15% of their slots to OOS applicants.
I believe they consider international applicants in the OOS pool, but they do announce international acceptances earliest of all. Since the pay the absolute most they may have an admissions advantage.
Lastly, many international students don’t care about anything but reputation, especially if they plan on returning home. As much as I like Cal Poly and know that my son received outstanding preparation there, I’m not sure it has the cachet the OP seeks.
“This is as baseless a speculation as any I’ve ever seen with respect to college admissions.”
I agree.
Berkeley and GT are 2 of the hardest admits for public schools even with perfect scores.
You have a less that 20% chance at those.
Easier admits would be Purdue and UIUC. Purdue has a 50% admit rate for engineering, UIUC 45%.
@Greymeer, at UIUC, it depends heavily on the major. I believe engineering CS has a single digit admit rate (or close to it) while other engineering majors are far easier to enter. Also, that UIUC Engineering admit rate looks higher than I remember.
And I may be wrong, but I thought that at PU, entry in to a specific engineering major is competitive.
UIUC Grainger CS major had a 4% acceptance rate for class of 2024, confirmed by multiple AOs.
@momofsenior1 knows Purdue Engineering well.
This is simply not true. Beyond some very basic litmus tests (GPA, test scores, rigor) there is a randomness, at least looking in from the outside. Yes, the adcoms have a vision of the class they’re creating. Even then given the amount of time they have to vet the vast number of applications popular schools get, much of the process is subjective. The most popular schools get many more fully qualified applicants than they have slots for. Even the best students can apply to a school like Stanford or Harvard 20 times and not get in. It is a myth that you just need to try harder and be more persistent. That’s misguided, ESPECIALLY for engineering. Engineering is pretty egalitarian. To delay earnings in the hopes of getting into some prestigious program, where the people hiring won’t even all agree on whose grads they prefer to hire (every company has a list of pet schools based on their previous experience with grads), is bad advice.
My understanding is Purdue engineering acceptance percentage has dropped into the 30s, which includes instate applicants. (The overall university acceptance rate is that 50% number but Purdue admits by college). My D’s year in ‘18 it was in the low 40s. It’s getting more and more competitive each year. CS had a much lower acceptance rate.
That said, this applicant would be very competitive for Purdue. Certainly a match especially if full pay.
Purdue accepts a good number of international students each year. The big key for Purdue is to be sure to apply for EA. It’s non binding but they fill most of their class in EA.
@mrksne : Further notes on Post#45. My point was even if you get rejected at the first place, there are still two pathways, as I can see to finish an engineering degree at a top school. Let’s take UC Berkeley (Cal) for example:
- Check if Cal still offers Spring admission and re-apply it. Check all the details before applying especially during this pandemic period.
- Go go your local community or city college (CC) for two years and make a transfer. Make sure the CC you go to offer courses which are accredited by Cal.
Several of my international friends did so and managed to graduate in 4 years (2 yrs at CC and 2 yrs at Cal) as well.
Good luck!
@eyemgh Firstly, my GPA is actually not a 3.75 since I did the IGCSE’s and IB. I calculated that myself so it’s wrong since I got straight A’s in IB. It is most likely a 3.89. Secondly, what are OOS applicants??? Thirdly, I feel quite offended that you said most international students only care about reputation which is not true. I want to go to a good university and get a good job not to just brag about it to people in my hometown.
OOS = Out of State.
Schools like Cal Poly and Michigan are subsidized by their state’s tax payer money so their primary mission is to serve the students from within their state. It makes it more competitive for students who are non-residents to gain acceptance.
There are hundreds of good universities in the US for engineering. Your initial question was about the elites.
Is a GPA of 3.88 within range though? Will they even consider me? Throughout freshman year and sophomore year, I got a B+ in music and everyone else in the class got that as well (technically we could not get higher than a B+).
Yes a 3.88 GPA puts you in range. I’d also recommend not bothering to convert a foreign school’s marks into the US system. College admission counselors know most US high schools have rampant grade inflation that the rest of the world doesn’t have.
The issue with US college admission is that it is very holistic so even perfect marks and scores doesn’t guarantee admission. The acceptance rates are very low for these schools. That’s why most adults on this site recommend having a wide range of schools in terms of selectivity on everybody’s list. D had a friend with a 4.0 UW/perfect test scores, tons of awards, ECs, etc… get WL for Michigan engineering. There really are no guarantees.
Yep! Somewhat explains why my in-state, 1600/36, 3.95 UW, many great ECs son was rejected EA from UIUC for CS! Hopefully many of the comments on this thread helps the OP look at the chances realistically.
I’m sorry. I didn’t claim to know what’s in YOUR heart and mind. I said that because reputation is all that many if not most international students know about US Engineering programs. What evidence beyond rank do you have that all of the schools you mentioned, any for that matter, are good universities or will result in getting a good job offer? I’m in no way saying they aren’t or won’t, but the way each and every one of the schools you listed educate their students is pretty different. The overall student experience will be radically different between them.
I can tell you that the startup my son works for has multiple engineers that are considered to be tops at what they do in their industry. Many were long term Apple employees. Only one of them did their undergraduate at a school on your list. The rest went to random schools around the globe you’d probably not even consider. They are brilliant engineers. They’re still in semi-stealth mode, so I won’t mention their name, but they aren’t some random nothing company. There was a media leak. After hearing who was at the company one of the publications that covered the story referred to their project as the most anticipated consumer product by a Apple alums since Tony Fadell left to co-found Nest. Maybe it is hyperbole, but it’s high praise considering a lot of things have happened in those 12 years.
My point is this, decide what you want your day in day out undergraduate experience to be like. Then look beyond some poorly constructed list based mainly on graduate school reputations and find schools that offer programs that look like what you want your experience to be like. By concentrating on ranking you miss great schools like Harvey Mudd, Rose Hulman, Cal Poly and Olin, because they don’t offer doctoral programs. They produce great engineers and aren’t even on “the list.” Then know that no matter where you go that you need to be engaged both academically and in clubs and/or research. You need solid grades. That combo is not a golden ticket. It’ll just get a foot in the door. From there it matters not one iota where you went to school. Those who can do, rise. Those who can’t, don’t. There’s little correlation between success in engineering and undergraduate institution. It’s far more about curiosity, mental horsepower, the ability to thrive in a collaborative environment and personal drive.
Good luck and I meant no offense.