<p>Well, I really really really want to go to Caltech/MIT and will be applying but I don't expect much from them. I'm looking at Rice as a more realistic school and it seems nice for me. My stats are very very mediocre by CC's standards... but here goes</p>
<p>Ok, this might turn out to be a pretty long post!
Well guys, I'm an international student from Trinidad & Tobago and I've just finished CSEC (O'Levels... they are about grade 10 level work). We have an international school here and I got a scholarship (based on my grades) to go there for two years. So instead of doing the CAPE exams (equivilant to A'Levels), I will be attempting the SATs for the first time this October and will be starting AP's. I'm going into grade 11 from September BTW.
In grade 11 I would be doing these APs</p>
<p>Physics B
Calc AB
Chem
Stats
and in 2nd year</p>
<p>Biology
Physics C
Calc BC
and i can do whatever i want here (I might do something like world history or economics)</p>
<p>Well thus far my EC's are</p>
<p>Music: Guitar
Harmonium (indian instrument)
Steel Pan ( trinidadian instrument also known as steel drum)
Swimming (its recreational so i highly doubt it counts at all)
Archery (i just started this)
I also started latin dance classes (rofl!)</p>
<p>When I start the international school I'd be able to do</p>
<p>Steel Pan in the school band
I always wanted to play violin so i might try that
Science club
Math olympiad
Golf
Community service in an orphanaga</p>
<p>So guys, say i do all these EC's and get say 2100+ on SAT's and triple 750+ in SAT 2's and all 5's on AP's ... how do my chances look. I still have two years so im thinking i have time to "pull up my socks" with respect to my EC's. (assuming i do the math olympiad well) Oh, also I have gotten awards each year in HS for academics (thats one thing i love about my school!)</p>
<p>Okay, honestly, as someone else just pointed out on another thread in the Rice section, I think pretty much everyone is a bit weary of "chance me" threads. While posting your test scores and ecs and having a bunch of strangers tell you "you have a great shot" is a great ego boost, it gets old for the people watching it after a while. Honestly, unless there's someone who has really out of whack scores or no ec involvement, it's hard to say, and all of these look pretty much the same. And so much of the application process depends on things that don't really show up in these posts, such as essays, recommendations, and interviews (though almost everyone I've seen post one of these "will have great essays and recs"). </p>
<p>So to really gauge your chances, look at your scores and see if they're in Rice's range. If they're anywhere close and you like Rice, then apply - I've met some people at Rice who absolutely astound me as to how they got in based on their application and met some people who got rejected who had what looked like great applications. How much your ecs, essays, and recommendations add up to is really pretty subjective and can't be determined by anyone other than the admissions council. But be sure you have some alternatives that you really like - even if you have a great application, keeping in mind that Rice rejects almost 80% of its applicants.</p>
<p>(I'm not trying to be hard on you in particular or imply anything about your qualifications, this is just my general attitude to pretty much every single one of these posts)</p>
<p>i understand thelonius, also can you recommend me some good "safety" schools for engineering?
and one other question... im not really good at interviews and i know that the interview is optional so would i be at a major disadvantage for not taking the interview?</p>
<p>Hey it's me again. I just wanted to clarify something on this post. In the beginning, when I stated "I don't expect much from caltech/mit", I meant it in the sense that I know how hard it is to gain admission to these schools. I should have said instead "but I know how hard it is to gain admission" I just wanted to clear that up since it can be interpreted in a negative sense ( which I did not intend)</p>