I am junior student living outside the US. So yeah, I’m graduating this year and thought I’d have a shot at CMU, MIT(first choice), Purdue, CalTech, Minnesota, and Penn State-UC.
SAT I: not taken / not needed for international students
SAT II: MathIIc: 800 Chemistry: 740
TOEFL: Expecting a 255-275 / 300
<li>Co-authoring and building a standardized programming language which is somewhat similar to Python and Perl. (Obviously, using ECMA as a standard for our code)</li>
<li>Develop and design dynamic websites (blogs, CMS, etc…) using PHP, Flash, and CSS.</li>
<li>Moderating and Adminstrating a highly respectable and famous web design community.</li>
<li>Electronics workshop and computer maintenace.</li>
<li>VP of Class.</li>
<li>Table Tennis, Tennis, Basketball, and Soccer.</li>
APs: None. (Not offered here But the courses are really tough here, so far I’ve done:
3 years Chemistry
2 years physics
2 years biology
3 years mathematics
3 years english
2 years humanities (Economics, Business and History)
That’s pretty much all about me… I’m aiming for an Electrical Engineering degree.
<p>International Student?
MIT and Caltech: very slim, for international student, your stats kinda below average.
For top notch unis, Stanford and Berkeley are slightly easier to get in, you can give it a shot.</p>
<p>CMU: Good Match
Purdue, Minnesota, Penn state: you're in</p>
<p>To get to MIT/Caltech as an International, you need:
1. Achievements like International Olympiad medal or
2. National medals showing that you are the top in the country rather than merely in a school.
3. Perfect in standardized requirement tests if any
4. Extreme prodigy or early research attitude
5. or Your relative is an instructor in those schools :)
6. And LUCK LUCK LUCK</p>
<p>And I would say your chance at Cornell is 50/50 depending on your essays and all those stuffs.</p>
<p>Don't really want to sound like a jerk but, ain't writing a programming language considered "an extreme prodigy"? And about the early research attitute, I learned all of these stuff by either reading a book, folowing a tutorial, or experimenting with functions...lol.</p>
<p>And about the "LUCK LUCK LUCK," yeah!!</p>
<p>Anyways, can someone just confirm my 'matchness' to CMU?</p>
<p>Unfortunately no, what I mean by extreme prodigy are the kind of students that complete their high school before 15 year old with perfect score, or have published some journal in academia world in their high school year.</p>
<p>I really think you are a match for CMU because CMU International students have similar stats like yours. Good luck though.</p>
<p>I'm wondering why you don't intend to apply to Berkeley? Cornell, Michigan and UIUC have strong EE dept too. I think you can get into one of these schools, so I don't know why you should include Purdue and Minnesota</p>
<p>A lucky international student, EE, Caltech(undergrad)/MIT(grad)</p>
<p>Correct me if I'm wrong, but, the deadline of the of application at Berkeley has already passed, no?</p>
<p>And you lucky guy, CalTech and then MIT!! hehe</p>
<p>Both UIUC and Michigan require SAT I, which I never planned to take until May (the new SAT), and anyway UIUC's deadline has already passed.. :-</p>
<p>You see, I never intended to apply in my Junior year, but I thought that staying a year for an introductory calculus course and a 4th year literature isn't worth it. So I started planning in early November.</p>
<p>And, I thought Minnesota and Purdue were good, no? I've been told that they were in the top 20 list of the best engineering schools, or are you talking about something else despite their academics?</p>
<p>Wait... You are a junior (=Grade 11), and you are graduating from HS this year without completing Grade 12, right? I don't know if the colleges will hold this against you.</p>
<p>That's why you only have 3 years of English and 3 years of Math. Most top colleges will like to see 4 years of English; and MIT/Caltech will probably want that 4th year in Math.</p>
<p>And Boomer was right that SAT I is required... unless you are from China where SAT is not offered. But then if you have the means to take SAT II, it is kinda hard to convince the colleges why you couldn't also take SAT I. You put yourself at a disadvantage for not taking SAT I.</p>
<p>Your biggest problem is that you only took SAT II for Math IIc and Chemistry. Why couldn't you take Writing at the same time? SAT II Writing is specifically required by MIT, Caltech and CMU.</p>
<p>As it is, you have no proof of your English proficiency. TOEFL is not an equivalent for SAT I Verbal or SAT II Writing. You'd better find a way to demonstrate your English proficiency in your application.</p>
<p>Btw, your SAT II scores are good but not exceptional. I've had students with nearly perfect SAT II scores (Math 800; Physics 800; Writing 780) and still didn't make it to MIT.</p>
<p>There are always exceptions. If you are really exceptionally talented, some colleges may overlook their requirements... MIT and Caltech are just this kinda of schools.</p>
<p>Did someone mention that you need to write compeling essays?</p>
<p>yeah dude, Purdue is pretty good for EE like #8, also I think you will make it to CMU but it is really expensive like 40k per year and there is no financial aid for internationals. I would suggest you go to a public school (purdue, UIUC, Minnesota, or Penn state) and then do graduate school at CMU or MIT.</p>
<p>Upps ... I didn't realize that you actually intend to attend one of those schools next year. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, Purdue and Minnesota are good, but they are rather well-known because there are a few prominent professors whose researches mostly have nothing to do with the undergrad education. Secondly, the environment is not that competitive compared to top notch engineering schools. I'm saying this because you're an international student, and I know that international students tend to be stronger/competitive than local students. What I mean is that other universities: Upenn, Princeton, Columbia, Yale ... are worth trying, may be they're not that techy, have only limited courses in engineering and do not have great facilities, but they do have strong environments.</p>
<p>And by the way, your choice for your undergrad school indeed affect your chances for admission to grad school, so choose carefully.</p>
<p>Boomer01: Hopefully, I might be financially backed up by a company or the government if I'm accepted at a top-notch school, so the tuition fee isn't my major concern.</p>
<p>And GoBlue81, MIT do, indeed, waive the Writing Component for International Students, and international students are free to either do (SAT I + three SAT IIs) or (2 SAT IIs and TOEFL).</p>
<p>rtkysg, thanks man for all your help, I hear ya there bro, and that was a major concern for me as well.. :-\ But those were my safeties. what's your research field? I am mostly interested in logic control and automation.</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? Communication is old stuff?</p>
<p>My sister is majoring communication as well (undergrad at a national uni), and she basically loves antenna propagation and wireless communication.. she just talks about these courses and how cool they are.. lol</p>
But the courses are really tough here, so far I’ve done: