I'm Not a Terrorist

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Sorry about the title but it probably grabbed your attention. And being brown, even in the Bay Area has me being called hajji and terrorist a lot.</p>

<p>Basically I want to be an aerospace engineer with probably a minor in EE. I just want to know what colleges I should apply for (i.e. match, reach). I also have extenuating circumstances to explain my poorer grades for freshman and sophomore years (my dad had a stroke so basically I became a janitor to pull in some extra money).</p>

<p>Stats:
Race: Indian
Location: Norcal</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 Math IIC: 800 Chem: 760
Class Rank 175/534
GPA:
Sophomore: 3.0UW 3.2W, 3.2UW 3.4W
Junior: 3.67UW 4.5W, 3.5UW 4.33W
AP Scores:
Physics B 5</p>

<p>Projected:
English Lan: 5
Calc BC: 5
Spanish: 3
APUSH: 5
Chem: 4/5</p>

<p>EC's
3 Years of FIRST Robotics
3 Years of Parliamentary Debate 2 Years Varsity
2 Years Varsity Track and Field</p>

<p>Jobs:
Janitor 3 years
Freelance Web design
User Interface Engineer summer 2005</p>

<p>One more thing. How do I advertise proficiency in a buttload of programming languages?</p>

2

<p>What are your chances where? UCs? You need an opinion from Calcruzer.</p>

3

<p>yea, this is funny because we don't know exactly where you want to go????? You might want to hit us back with that!!!!</p>

4

<p>UC Berkeley
UC San Diego
MIT
Purdue
Rose-Hulman
Franklin M. Olin</p>

<p>Also, are there any other colleges I should be considering? Keep in mind that I'm going for aerospace engineering and electrical engineering.</p>

5

<p>harvey mudd</p>

6

<p>Caltech?</p>

<p>Franklin W. Olin, btw</p>

7

<p>MIT is a huge reach for you. And Berkeley too.</p>

8

<p>Rose-Hulman's a good fit for you as long as you're sure about engineering.</p>

<p>If you have any questions I can answer them for you. I would definitely encourage you to visit.</p>

9

<p>wdf? Berkeley a reach???? c'mon now man...that's a match with those stats. his sat is a lot higher than most and even though he isn't ranked tht high...he still has a great chance</p>

10

<p>Also particularly the UC's since thats about the most viable option with my family's finances. I'm thinking UCSD since thats the only UC that I can see with Aeronautical engineering, but correct me if I'm wrong.</p>

11

<p>I second asianprincess in suggesting that you should consider Harvey Mudd. MIT is probably a reach, Berkeley is a bit of a reach (though I personally believe it's not unrealistic in the least, especially with your extenuating circumstances), the rest are matches/safeties (though I know absolutely nothing about Rose-Hulman, so I can't say about that.) UCSD sounds really good for you, match and fit. :) Good luck.</p>

<p>Oh, and I think you should definitely apply to MIT regardless of how much of a "reach" it is, because it seems like you're on solid ground with your maths and sciences. Also, why not Caltech? It's in California and everything :)</p>

12

<p>first of all, your rank (even with a mediocre UW GPA) should be higher, unless your school has major grade inflation which seems to be the case...you should try UCLA as well...</p>

13

<p>Aeronautical and Electrical engineering are offered as majors at the following UCs:</p>

<p>Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego</p>

<p>but not at: </p>

<p>Berkeley, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, or Merced</p>

<p>You can find the data on all the majors at this site:
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/A4T.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/A4T.pdf&lt;/a>
starting on page 32 (the engineering offerings start on page 37).</p>

<p>Your GPA is a bit lower than you would normally like for the four UCs above, but fortunately for you, the test scores and the situation with your father compensates for this. I figure your UC GPA at 3.72 (average admit is 4.05 at UCSD and 4.12 at UCLA), with the SATs being what saves you (you are at 2250 with SAT IIs of 800/760 with SAT I averages being 1950 at UCSD and 2004 at UCLA with SAT II scores at these schools being 600/600 and 650/650 respectively). </p>

<p>Also, the average UC GPAs at UCD and UCI are around 3.89 and 3.88, but the average SAT I scores are around 1850 at both schools.</p>

<p>I estimate your chances as follows:</p>

<p>UCLA--Match to Slight Reach (closer to slight reach)
UCSD--Match to Slight Reach (but very, very close to just a regular match)
UCD/UCI--Match</p>

<p>At the other UCs (the ones without Aeronautical engineering and EE):
UC Berkeley--Slight Reach
UCSB--Match
UCSC/UCR--Safe Match
Merced--100% guaranteed</p>

<p>MIT--Reach (for everyone practically)
Franklin W. Olin--Reach
Purdue--Safe Match
Rose-Hulman--Match (but I hope you are aware that Rose-Hulman does not offer an aeronautical engineering degree)</p>

<p>Both UCLA and UCSD are ranked in the top 5 for aeronautical engineering degrees, which is why you might have a little trouble getting into these programs.</p>

<p>In addition, to applying through the normal method to the UCs, you also have the option (which makes sense in your case) to apply based upon your test scores only.</p>

<p>Here's the link on that:
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Look at the first and the third options here. You can apply using either one. I think the first is still best for you, but I would talk to an admissions officer at UCSD and also an admissions officer at UCLA to ask their opinion based upon your situation with your father and your great test scores. They might tell you to apply using option three under your circumstances. </p>

<p>Best of success. </p>

<p>P.S. I hope people start recognizing that not every dark-skinned person is a terrorist or a criminal. I would have thought that at least here in the Bay Area that would have become obvious years ago.</p>

14

<p>Rose-Hulman doesn't offer an aeronautical engineering or aerospace degree, but it is available as a concentration as part of the Mechincal engineering program. Boeing and Lockheed Martin often hire Rose-Hulman graduates. We used to have an aerospace program, but after the Challenger accident and the downscaling of space exploration in the 80's and 90's, it was absorbed into the ME department. You still can have opportunities though. For instance one of our graduates back in 1997 had the goal of working on the mars rover and she's one of the lead engineers on the project. I don't know her name off the top of my head. Many of the folks who do the aerospace concentration go on to get a graduate degree from another institution in aeronautical engineering.</p>

<p>The nice thing about the way we do it though is that you always have a fall-back option. Mechanical engineering is such a broad field, so if you decide you don't fit into the aerospace industry, you have a lot of options that you would not have with a BS in aeronautical engineering.</p>

15

<p>Rose-Hulman is a popular option, even for people from here in the Bay Area.</p>

<p>One of the ladies I work with had her daughter graduate from there last year, and her daughter got a great job in California right after graduation.</p>

<p>My son's friend--who just got accepted to the nuclear engineering program at UC Berkeley--said his #2 choice was Rose-Hulman. Considering he could have chosen from MIT, Stanford, UCLA, Cornell, and UCSD, I consider that pretty high praise.</p>

16

<p>Well, thanks everyone. From the info you've given me, I have to say that Rose Hulman has turned into a strong contender. Turns out with all the AP's I'll take by the time I graduate and extra math courses, I should be able to trim a year off somewhat offsetting the costs.</p>

<p>Here's pretty much my final list of colleges I'll apply to (no real order):
MIT
UCSD, UCB
Purdue
Harvey Mudd
Rose-Hulman</p>

<p>But if there are any other good engineering schools you feel I should apply too, post.</p>

17

<p>TERRORIST!!! RUN!!!</p>