Do I even have a chance?

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm an Egyptian high school student that would like to get into MIT or Caltech. I have pretty good school grades, however, due to the education level here in Egypt, that's not really much to brag about. I scored 1530 on my SAT, and that's not even close to what MIT would want. I have only a couple months to study for my next SAT test. I would think I need atleast 2100, but I'm not not even that's enough. Do I have a chance or should I just give up?</p>

<p>PS: With that 1530, I had the second highest SAT score in my entire school. lol.</p>

<p>Best Regards,
Mansouri.</p>

<p>Is english your first language? if it isn’t MIT and CalTech should take into account that with your writing and crit reading. Really, you need a 750+ math to be “competitive” for either MIT or CalTech. Our valedictorian got denied from MIT last year with a 2360 SAT and heading the regional champion Robotics Club for 4 years. The only student at my school to make it into MIT was 4 years ago and he had a 2380/800 Math II/800 Physics/800 Chem/4.0 Unweighted GPA. I would think that the international applicants would need even higher stats than those of USA residents (as so many international students apply)</p>

<p>Maybe - if you don’t need a need-blind school - look into Worcester Polytechnic Institute? They’re a little less prestigious (around 60% acceptance rate) but still a really strong tech school</p>

<p>Wow, that was really discouraging. I’ll give it a try anyway. And thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately there is this government institution(I’m not good with details) that will pay my tuition if I study in one of the listed schools. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is not one of them. </p>

<p>English is not my first language, I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia for half my childhood and I didn’t even start learning English until Grade 1 or 2. Right now I’m scoring 500-550 on both CR and W. Even with a perfect Math score, I won’t hit 1900, which is horrible.</p>

<p>I really don’t stand a chance, do I? :(</p>

<p>You of course have A shot, just not a GREAT shot. You have no mention of any ECs, which you need, and SAT Subject Tests also matter a lot. I’d suggest looking into Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), it’s a great engineering/tech school as well where your scores may be more welcome. Georgia Institute of Technology may also be a bit of a reach, ranked 4th in the nation.</p>

<p>Though it’s not unheard of for some people to go from 550’s-650’s/700’s.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply. I hope I can get into MIT/Caltech, and I will do my best to get the best shot I can possibly get. If I do get in, I’ll be incredibly proud of myself, but my low chance is so discouraging… I’ll try not to let it bring me down, if anything, I’ll work even harder on this. Maybe one day I’ll be where I want.</p>

<p>Best Regards,
Mansouri.</p>