Chances at MIT, Caltech, Stanford for an International Student (Junior)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello, I'm new here. I'm just starting to think about college. Do I have any realistic chances of getting into schools like MIT? Here's some info about me:</p>

<p>Myself: Male, 17y/o, Latino/American (American mom, Latino dad)
I grew up in Chile until the age of 11, then moved to the U.S. I came back at 16, and have been in Chile for about a year. I'm not sure if that's a positive or negative for a university. What do you think?</p>

<p>Now I'll give some information about what I was up to in the U.S. (left halfway through 10th grade)-</p>

<p>School:
4.0 GPA
Pretty competitive, highly ranked school in Bethesda
Chess Club, JSA (Junior Statemen of America) Director of Debate
Only AP was NSL, unfortunately</p>

<p>EC's:
Tennis- played at many USTA tournaments, got to a semifinal once. I also played in a USTA Junior Tennis Team a few times.
Guitar- I started playing in 2010, and performed at a few "coffeehouses" at my school with my band. I also started studying classical guitar in 2012. Oh, and I went to a summer guitar program at the Eastman School of Music (in NY) in 2012. </p>

<p>Now, Chile (I just started 11th grade)-</p>

<p>School:
One of the best private schools in the country
6.8 NEM (out of 7, NEM is just like my grade)
A few awards: Outstanding Achievement in Physics, Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics, and Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry. Also voted "Best Classmate"
Physics Club, debate club
I'm in the process of joining the student council (might also start a Science Committee)
I wrote a book about special relativity (about 120 pages) for a school project</p>

<p>EC's:
Still playing guitar, now I'm also getting into recording
Still playing tennis
I also jog now</p>

<p>Competitions/Honors:
1st place in ABSCH (Association of British Schools of Chile) Physics Olympics
Silver medal in National Chilean Chemistry Olympics
Took a summer physics course at the University of Chile, was first in the class (of 100+ students, where I was the youngest). My grade was 6.7 (again, out of 7)
Will participate in National Chilean Physics Olympics this year, if I do well I'll go on to the Iberoamerican Physics Olympics next year (I'm fairly optimistic I'll do well, by the way).</p>

<p>Ok, so that's about it as far as school and EC's go. There's also a few other things- I haven't taken the SAT yet, but I took the PSAT about 2 years ago and got ~2100 (they called it 210, if I remember correctly). I recently took a practice test and got like 2200, so if I practice a bit or read that huge blue book I'll probably get a pretty good score. My math was 800, reading 680, writing 720 (approx.). As for recommendation letters: I could get one from the professor from my summer physics program at the U. of Chile, who seemed to like me. I could also get rec. letters from my chem teacher, physics teacher, english teacher, etc. Many options. I think that's about it! So what chances do I have at schools like MIT, Caltech, and Stanford? How about University of Maryland, UPenn, or Duke (apparently Duke's looking for kids from Chile)? Thanks very much! </p>

<p>EDIT: Almost forgot! At school right now I'm enrolled in the IB Diploma, where I'm taking Spanish Standard Level, Economy Standard Level, Chemistry Standard Level, English Higher Level, Math Higher Level, and Physics Higher Level. I'm also, of course, taking Theory of Knowledge, I'll do an Extended Essay, and I'll do CAS (like a community service project). </p>

2

<p>bump…</p>

3

<p>You’re within the range of what MIT/CalTech, Stanford want. That still keeps your odds at 1:10.
Are you an American citizen? Because this will affect your admission odds (if you’re not a citizen, your odds decrease sharply, especially if you need financial aid.)
Your task now should be to identify a variety of colleges that you like and can afford, with a 30-50% selectivity rate. Run the Net Price Calculators and bring the results to your parents: does this look within budget for them?
With your GPA and scores, you’re an automatic admit/scholarship recipient for UAlabama’s Honors College (with Honors Dorms and other perks, plus full tuition) so that would be a nice safety.</p>

4

<p>Ok, that’s a little reassuring. Those aren’t good odds, but they’re realistic, I guess, for any college like that. I do have a dual citizenship, so I’m good on that end. The thing is, I’m planning on only applying to around 5 reach colleges (like the ones I mentioned) because I figure the University of Chile is as good as any pretty good U.S. college. I’m just hoping to apply to those top-tier ones on the odd chance of making it in, which would be great.
Thanks very much for your response :)! </p>

5

<p>Ok, so I’ve gotten it down to a top five. I <em>think</em> I’ll be applying to these schools:
MIT
Caltech
Stanford
UC Santa Barbara
Berkeley</p>

6

<p>MIT/Caltech/Stanford: Reaches, I don’t think anyone is truly a match for them
Berkeley: Match
UCSB: Safety </p>

7

<p>Ok, cool, thanks. That’s sort of what I was thinking as well. One worry I have regarding Berkeley (which is the one I’m most expecting) is its size. Is it true that individual students get almost no attention? </p>

8

<p>It’s hard to say Berkeley Engineering would be a match considering the college accepts only about 13%, and even possibly lower than that for this year considering the number of applicants has significantly increased. </p>

9

<p>UC’s would be full pay.</p>

10

<p>40% for MIT and Caltech (absence of awards on international level), for every other college - good chances.</p>

11

<p>@amhrst. I’m sorry…but did you just crawl out of the cracker jack box? Good chances at Stanford? NOOOO.</p>

<p>Stanford. highest reach.
MIT/Caltech. reach
UCBerkeley. low reach/match
UCSB. match</p>

12

<p>@gravitas2 I agree that I don’t have good chances at Stanford, but I’m pretty sure MIT and CalTech are both more of a reach than Stanford. (I think they’re all high reaches). </p>

13

<p>^^you might want to do some simple research available on the internet…last year Stanford was the toughest school to get into. This year it will be even tougher (we have a general idea what the numbers are going to be already come March 28). And when you apply next year especially as an international…who knows how low the acceptance rate will be. I hope you can “walk on water.” Good luck.</p>

<p><a href=“Stanford beats out all of the Ivy League schools by having the toughest admissions rate of all | Daily Mail Online”>Stanford beats out all of the Ivy League schools by having the toughest admissions rate of all | Daily Mail Online;

14

<p>WOW those are scary acceptance rates. </p>

15

<p>Agree with gravitas, all of those are reach schools except UCSB. Without an SAT score over 2300 none of those are close to being a match.</p>

16

<p>Reach for all except UCSB.</p>