<p>On a completely unrelated note…XKCD IS AMAZING. Thank you for showing me this awesomeness =D</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Heh… I’m proud to say that I’ve got about 10 other webcomics, along with Wired.com, RSS feeded on my Google homepage. xP</p>
<p>Being a nerd is awesome. ^^</p>
<p>the robotics program is called FIRST, it’s a very highly regarded program with college admissions I believe.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s what I thought at first, but after googling it, it doesn’t <em>quite</em> seem to be the competition that my school does. (Ah well, I’ll just ask the robotics sponsor and see.)</p>
<p>Perhaps you should try doing something creative to spend your time. Colleges go through thousands of applications, and numbers end up looking all the same after a while. They might be looking at personality in an essay rather than how many tests you took (like the Caltech ones)</p>
<p>like, I talked about researching different thermoplastics to see if I could safely set a xylophone on fire while playing it (unfortunately there wasn’t data for thicker samples), and that might’ve been what got me into Caltech (on top of other stuff similar to yours)</p>
<p>FIRST includes a LEGO robotics program for schools who arent able/willing to raise the money needed for the main robotics program. the lego program is also for middleschoolers</p>
<p>
Ahh… Okay, thanks.</p>
<p>Oh, and please excuse my friend sirmaximus… I sent him the link to his thread, and he decided to respond with a few (legitimate) jests of his own…</p>
<p>I didn’t read this whole thread, but some are suggesting you not take the SAT. But you would definitely beast it…and you’d probably do better on the essay this time. Why not?</p>
<p>Your top choices (such as CalTech) and your safety (UI) will be the easy part. The hard choices are likely to be in the middle. I think you should be sure to include a couple of financial safeties, good schools you can attend at a significant cost savings compared to the full COA at your top choices. Cooper Union (free tuition) and Olin (half tuition scholarships for all) were good suggestions. Also consider schools with strong merit scholarship programs (though significant cost reduction at these schools may be less of a sure thing). A few examples (spanning different locations, etc.):</p>
<p>The University of Chicago<a href=“Good%20science%20school,%20with%20one%20of%20the%20country’s%20top%20undergraduate%20math%20programs.%20No%20engineering%20program.%20Many%20demanding%20humanities%20and%20social%20science%20requirements.%20%5Burl%5Dhttps://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/scholarships.shtml%5B/url%5D”>/u</a></p>
<p>Johns Hopkins<a href=“Gets%20boatloads%20of%20federal%20grant%20money%20for%20research.%20Especially%20famous%20for%20biomedical%20research,%20but%20strong%20in%20many%20departments.%20Ranked%20#1%20by%20US%20News%20for%20undergraduate%20biomedical%20engineering.%20%5Burl=http://www.jhu.edu/admis/finaid/scholarships.html]Hopkins%20Undergraduate%20Admissions%20::%20Financial%20Aid%20::%20Merit%20Scholarships[/url]”>/u</a> </p>
<p>Duke<a href=“Ranked%20#2%20by%20US%20News%20for%20undergraduate%20biomedical%20engineering.%20Grants%20merit%20scholarships%20to%20%7E70%20students%20per%20year.”>/u</a></p>
<p>Rice<a href=“Grants%20merit%20scholarships%20up%20to%20full%20tuition.%20Has%20an%20engineering%20school%20and%20a%20highly%20regarded%20architecture%20school.%20Has%20been%20a%20strong%20participant%20in%20the%20Department%20of%20Energy’s%20annual%20%22Solar%20Decathlon%22%20project%20to%20design%20small,%20energy-efficient%20houses%20and%20erect%20them%20for%20evaluation%20on%20the%20Mall%20in%20Washington%20DC.%20%20This%20is%20an%20exciting%20hands-on%20collaborative%20project%20for%20students%20in%20many%20fields%20spanning%20science,%20engineering,%20and%20architectural%20design.”>/u</a></p>
<p>University of Rochester<a href=“More%20than%2030%%20of%20students%20receive%20non-need-based%20aid.”>/u</a></p>
<p>Grinnell College<a href=“Small%20liberal%20arts%20college%20in%20rural%20iowa,%20awards%20merit%20scholarships%20to%2010-15%%20of%20students,%20averaging%20%7E$9K.%20You%20may%20be%20competitive%20for%20a%20larger%20scholarship.%20No%20engineering.%20%20Good%20facilities.%20Relatively%20high%20percentage%20of%20graduates%20earn%20PhDs.”>/u</a></p>
<p>You should consider Cornell for a well-rounded engineering education and great Ivy League experience. Cornell has the best engineering program in the Ivies, undergraduate focus, and is almost as selective as MIT.</p>