<p>I kindly want your advice on my college choices. My current SAT score is 1920 and i am applying to U.S. for mechanical engineering. my sat 2 break ups are math: 790, chemistry 800 and physics: 760. I am also looking for 90% to 100% need based financial aid. My school counselor had suggeted me some colleges, some of which are bellow:
Brown University
Columbia University
Washington university in st. Louis
Duke university
Caltech</p>
<p>So, do you think these choices are good? I am little double minded about Brown and Columbia because in the field of Mechanical engineering, they are ranked in the range 51-100, So should i prefer them over Princeton Yale and Harvard, whose rankings are little better? Similarly, i also want to ask that Are Brown and Columbia generous enough to offer me substantial financial aid ?
There is one more question i want to ask. If I were to choose two colleges between Washington University in St.Louis, Swarthmore College, Vanderbilt university and University of Chicago, which two should i choose ?</p>
<p>Thank you very much, looking forward to your reply.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for that kind of financial aid, top tier schools like some of the ivies, MIT, and a handful of others are your only options, because they are the only ones who offer such aid to international applicants without the need affecting your chances of admission. There are others like Cornell which give internationals financial aid, but that need reduces your chance for admission. Your SAT II’s are great, but unfortunately, your SAT I score makes admission into any of those universities a huge reach. It would be best to retake it and aim for at least 2100.</p>
<p>Have to agree with flyboy. SAT I score is a HUGE consideration. There have been tales of people getting into the great institutions that you have mentioned with 1900-2000 range scores but in such schools, where like 2250-2350 SAT scores are the norm, the 1900 students are VERY scanty. And as you are an international student, you have an even greater problem. Improve your score! There is no harm in dreaming about these great institutions, we all do that, but be realistic man.</p>
<p>Oh and you must be wondering: ‘Why the hell is the SAT score so important?’ This is because it is the only thing that applicants cannot fabricate. Everything else on college applications can be EASILY fabricated.</p>