<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm an international student hoping to find a place in MIT, harvard, or UC Berkeley.
I've been doing these edx courses regarding programming, and I cant seem to get hold of them. </p>
<p>So my questions is, by having a prior knowledge of programming increase my chances of getting into these unis? Will I learn programming once I get there? Should I instead look into sources that are more related to Electrical Engineering like circuits and stuff?</p>
<p>First of all, international admissions is much harder and even the knowledgeable posters here can’t help you much in terms of telling you what you need to be competitive.</p>
<p>My experience is that programming is not much of a help for getting into a place like MIT or most other elite schools, the reason being is that it is hard to show your proficiency unless you are at an extremely high level. Maybe it will help you get into Berkeley since you are applying to the engineering school. At MIT, they don’t really consider your intended major.</p>
<p>I can tell you that programming is more integrated into the electrical engineering curriculum at MIT than at anywhere else. Most people who major in electrical engineering actually take the “electrical engineering and computer science” option, course 6-2. Course 6-1 is electrical engineering alone and course 6-3 is computer science; they used to share a programming core class, but I’m not sure if that’s true anymore.</p>
<p>In terms of preparation, I think it would be a good idea to learn some programming–probably C++ and/or Java would be the best. It’s always best not to start at ground zero. Don’t worry about learning circuits in advance, just make sure your physics is solid (and of course math through calculus at least.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the post.</p>
<p>I’m doing AS level computing which involves one module of theory and one practical. However, practical plays a huge part in most of the subject. Right now, I’m learning pascal using Delphi jsut making relatively simple programs designed to do simple calculations. Though, later on it will get really tough as nobody in last year’s computing class got an A …</p>
<p>Do you think I should continue doing computing in my A levels because then I’ll have to do a coursework which is basically creating your own program which will be graded. Do you think that would be good enough for lets say Berkeley in addition to little bit of knowledge of other programs? Normally people take 3 subjects in their A level which is what all the good UK unis are asking for but with at least one A* (>=90%). I’ve a choice of either dropping chem or computing from my 4 AS subjects. Which one should I drop?</p>
<p>Also,what do you recommend I should do outside the stuff I’m taught at school? Are doing those edx courses like the circuits one and the computer science one good enough for mentioning in my statement?</p>
<p>I don’t know much about A levels. You want to have at least the equivalent of AP chem when applying to American universities, though. This should be of higher priority than another comp sci. class. </p>
<p>I suggest getting in touch with people who have made it to Berkeley from the UK. They might have a better idea.</p>