I’m not going to list out my ECs because I know they are crap, but I have irrelevant dream of going to MIT/Princeton.
By the way, I am an international (Asian) applying from some country in Southeast Asia.
I stay in a very small and laid back town, and a public school which is not competitive at all. The only things that show my passion for STEM are some random competitions like Kangaroo Math Challenge and UKMT, and the furthest I’ve gone with Math Olympiad is state level.
I have passion in music but I don’t hold any leadership position in orchestra etc. (there’s no orchestra in my state) and the only things that show it are my graded examination scores. The rest are informal stuffs like composing music and performing for the school.
The only good thing about my application is my grade, I’m around 34-35 ACT and 800 Math II. The first time I took SAT Physics I scored 740 so I’m going to retake it.
I know it sounds terrible, so someone please crush my dream of going to MIT/Princeton or any other ivies before I start to have high hopes ;___;
How can you be “around 34-35 ACT”? Or is this saying you haven’t taken it yet and anticipate that score?
I can’t crush your dream as there isn’t enough information. Schooling, English proficiency and what country you are from are just some factors that might make a big difference. If you are from a country that has a lot of applications (China, Korea, Singapore) then it hurts your chances. If you are from East Timor or other places that rarely send applicants then it’s a plus.
Of course, anyones chances at these schools are iffy and the 740 in the Physics II (which is 76th percentile) is very problematic. Based on the little I know I can say your dream is a huge long shot, but I don’t have enough information to rule it out entirely.
Thanks for your reply Troyus. I’m planning to take ACT in September, but out of the practice tests I’ve done under exam conditions I scored 34-35 in most of them. I know, and it is especially hard for internationals to get into those schools so I really want to prepare myself mentally for rejection before I get too paranoid.
If you can afford US tuition, then there are PLENTY of top schools that would value you on their campuses. MIT? Princeton? Unlikely – but that’s the same for EVERYONE. Come back after you score your 34 or 35 ACT. Your key is to search widely. Most US colleges love high-performing internationals. Top US colleges are EXTREMELY tough. Don’t fall into the trap that many international students find themselves in – they believe there are no valuable US colleges except for Ivy + MIT + Stanford + Caltech. That’s bollocks.
T26E4, you’re absolutely right. Come to think of it I shouldn’t fret over this because if I don’t get in it means MIT is not for me right… That made me feel less paranoid!
The other main reason I wanted to get into Princeton or MIT was their financial aid, because they give out generous aids to international students. I like a couple of universities like UCSB and U of Minnesota but they don’t give aid to internationals sadly…
You need to look at some of the LACs that provide generous financial aid to internationals. Those schools where you would be in the top of the applicant pool academically - not MIT or Princeton where you are likely to be a typical applicant among thousands of typical applicants. Of course, if your intended major is engineering, you are likely to find that list is tiny since LACs often don’t offer that major (although they do offer comp sci and other STEM majors).
Swarthmore offers financial aid to international students and they have Engineering. It is a highly selective and elite school, but it’s not quite as competitive as Princeton or MIT.
All ten are excellent schools and some of them (Harvard, Chicago, Stanford, Yale) are quite famous – those four are about as selective as Princeton and MIT.
Some of the schools are Liberal Arts Colleges like Swarthmore and might not offer an Engineering degree, but they are all strong in math and the sciences.
Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, Bates and Trinity are members of the prestigious NESCAC – the Liberal Arts equivalent of the Ivy League.
Thank you for your replies, I’ll definitely check them out! On the side note I’m feeling a lot more positive once I’ve let go of the obsession over top schools.
MIT has a 3.3% acceptance rate for internationals and you don’t stand out in any particular way so I would think it would be a pretty high reach for you. The same goes for Princeton, I’m sorry to say. However, as others have pointed out, there are other schools that you would have a better shot at getting into. Focus on them. Good luck!
10 posts in, nobody on this thread has asked about OP’s grades. That’s going to be the most important aspect of your application, as it is for any student. What sort of grades do you have, OP? And how does that compare to others at your school?
^^ Good point. I just assumed that OP was top of their class or they wouldn’t even be considering applying to two of the hardest schools to get into in the world. I shouldn’t make these kids of assumptions though.
