<p>Berkeley and Stanford are near San Francisco, but the weather is generally significantly warmer in those places than San Francisco.</p>
<p>Most of the schools you are considering are extremely selective. You may want to add some less selective schools like NCSU and Virginia Tech to your list.</p>
<p>To get into selective schools … SAT scores of above 2200 is a must , isnt it? Apart from all the other requirements.</p>
<p>I just came across something , browsing through this site. A lot of people are doing social service. Where I live ( Qatar ) , there is no opportunity for anything like that( its a small but rich country and so no need of social service) .There was a school charity drive which I participated in , but thats about it. Is social service necessary ? In my middle school , when I was in India ,I used to go on cleaning the park or cleaning the neighbourhood missions with my scout troop but I can not do that in Qatar.</p>
<p>If the OP found San Francisco to be too chilly, then Minnesota is absolutely out of the question! The OP would also not be happy in Ann Arbor, Michigan!</p>
<p>And Boston is not exactly balmy either in the winter. I honestly think that if you actually got into MIT, you’d be miserable there.</p>
<p>A little bit of fog or wind in San Francisco is one thing . . . but three to four months of sub-freezing temperatures is something else entirely! You do understand, don’t you, that visiting a city during August gives you absolutely NO idea of what to expect in January?</p>
<p>Oh, and Cornell is out of the question, also. Stick with Texas, Georgia, and the southern California schools.</p>
<p>San Francisco is cold because most people are not prepared for it in the summer. I was there 4th of July and was freezing cold at the pier. I had a jacket but not a winter jacket. So you might want to keep that in mind that you need to wear proper clothing for these places.</p>
<p>I understand … but I guess I can just wear a loooot of winter clothing(2 - 3 jackets or something like that) and get used to it … I guess I would need proper winter clothing if I want a chance there. But let me see what happens .</p>
<p>You like the warm weather and engineering but don’t mention Caltech. Great weather and pretty darn good in math and science. (And Minnesota is a great ChemE school but it can get down to -40C at the extreme (we live near), Wisconsin not quite as cold but plenty for most.)</p>
<p>REACHES:
California Institute of Technology
Cornell University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley</p>
<p>MATCHES:
Carnegie Mellon University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Rice University
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Texas-Austin</p>
<p>SAFETIES:
Purdue University-West Lafayette
University of California-Santa Barbara
University of Delaware
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>Offer them curry. Just kidding, I think you have a very good chance.</p>
<p>@Alexandre … thanks for the list !! Helps a lot .
@chachaseeds … I hope I do …</p>
<p>If your passion is chemistry, Berkeley’s chemical engineering program is in the smaller, prestigious College of Chemistry. The program allows a greater chemistry focus if desired.</p>
<p>That would be nice … But then Berkeley is easier to get into than MIT or Stanford or other highly selective schools , right?</p>
<p>Yes, it is.</p>
<p>A couple of people have mentioned UCSB (University of California Santa Barbara). This school fits all your criteria including fair weather. It is also located literally on the beach and has to be one of the most beautiful campus settings with pristine natural beauty in the United States. The school has a great reputation for ChemE. Cal Tech also is a good choice, and has a reputation similar or equal to MIT depending on who you talk to. It is a reach school for everyone. It is located in Pasadena, California which is even warmer than USCB as it is not located near an ocean.</p>
<p>If you have not experienced a cold winter before and if that climate bothers you then you should think seriously if you want to attend any school in the North East (NY, Massachusetts, etc.) or areas such as Minnesota or Michigan. These areas have long, brutal winters that will take your breath away if you have not experienced it before. I once had a friend from the University of Wisconsin, which is similar in climate to these areas, that originally came from Surabaya, Indonesia. She arrived in January to start school and didn’t even have a winter coat or proper shoes when she arrived. She was totally unprepared for life in such a cold climate. In fact, she could not leave the airport until she opened her suit cases up and put on pretty much every piece of clothing she had brought with her. It took her months to be able to adjust. She had never seen snow, or even vapor from her breath in the cold before.</p>
<p>If you do choose to go to school at MIT or UMinn, etc. make sure that you are mentally prepared for the experience. Arrive in the early fall or late summer so you can experience the climate gradually get colder and ease yourself into it. Also, make sure that you prepare with a proper wardrobe that will include heavy coats, gloves, warm hats, warm socks and proper footwear. Buy your stuff locally, not in India, so that you will have the same gear that everyone else has. Consult with your roommates and read up online what you will need. Additionally, if you plan to drive in these areas, you will have to get proper training from a native of the location. You will be a very dangerous driver on the road without experience and proper instruction. I suggest that you take it very easy your first and second winters until you learn how to drive in snow and bad weather. You will have to get snow tires and learn how to use snow chains as well. You must learn how to control your car in a spin and drive on snow and ice.</p>
<p>I do not want to alarm you. Millions of people live successfully in these areas and winter can be a lot of fun. But, if you are 18 and never seen snow and ice before, you are in for a treat and a shock!</p>
<p>Texas A&M would be a great option for you! Great on campus recruiting, and plenty of research opportunities available. And they have a campus in Qatar so you would be able to utilize both campuses as you see fit for both regular semester, and summer opportunities.</p>
<p>@Osakadad … I think I am in a better position than the girl you described , having experienced a winter that went up to -2 degrees … nothing as brutal as what you have said but still , I can guess what is coming … If I do go to those schools , I would arrive in early July - Late July to get used to life in USA (my school ends in March) so I would have time to prepare myself. And I dont think I will drive during my college life … I will only be 17 when I start college and I dont want to drive in college (its a personal choice).</p>
<p>@andy09 … Texas A&M is one of the colleges on the higher end of my list … I have a neighbor in College Station who recommended it to me and he also uses the Qatar campus in the holidays to spread out his courses or something like that.Its just a list I am making … got to know where I want to go , and then get prepared for it.</p>