Newbie from India. Need suggestions/advice on my final list of colleges!

<p>Hey guys,
I'm from New Delhi India. I've given my SAT 1 and scored a 1800. I'm giving it again in may and aiming for at least 2000+ with 700+ in math.
I have the following subjects:-</p>

<p>1) Math
2) Physics
3) Engineering Drawing
4) Chemistry
5) English</p>

<p>I am in grade 12th at a very reputed high school in Delhi and foll. are my grades (aggregates):-</p>

<p>9th - 89%
10th - 86.5%
11th - 80 %</p>

<p>I have shortlisted the following universities with my counsellors. wanted your suggestions on my list:-</p>

<p>Here are some colleges that i have found from some research:- (they do not require SAT 2)</p>

<p>Top colleges list:-</p>

<p>1) University of Michigan
2) Stanford
3) Georgia Tech
4) Purdue
5) McGill University (Canada)
6) Pennsylvania State University</p>

<p>Backup list:-</p>

<p>1) University of illinois urbana
2) University of texas at austin
3) University of maryland
4) University of arizona
5) Virginia tech
6) University of southern california</p>

<p>glad to be here on the forum.</p>

<p>Can we assume you need no financial aid as none of the schools on your list are need blind to internationals?</p>

<p>Okay, you definitely need to make changes to the Backup list, because some of them are def not backups.</p>

<p>1) University of Michigan - Reach
2) Stanford - Extreme Reach
3) Georgia Tech - Low Reach
4) Purdue - ???
5) McGill University (Canada) - Reach
6) Pennsylvania State University - Low Reach</p>

<p>Backup list:-</p>

<p>1) University of illinois urbana - Match
2) University of texas at austin - Reach
3) University of maryland - High Match
4) University of arizona - ???
5) Virginia tech - ???
6) University of southern california - Reach</p>

<p>FIND A SAFETY PLEASE =)</p>

<p>Ya lets assume that i need no financial aid.</p>

<p>also please indicate what you mean exactly by-</p>

<p>??? -</p>

<p>match - </p>

<p>high match -</p>

<p>I am looking for an engg. degree. Also is something wrong with purdue as a choice? which backups would you suggest or any changes to my list of engg colleges?
Thanks.</p>

<p>People on this forum are going to be mislead by your grades. In the U.S., percentages in the eighties are not good enough for the top schools. In the Indian system, those are probably very strong grades. An 1800 is not an impressive SAT score for these schools, however.
Your chances depend critically on whether you need aid. So answer that question, first.</p>

<p>Stanford isn’t even worth applying to unless you increase your SAT by several hundred points. Why do you want to come to the States and pay $30-$50K per year for an average state college engineering degree when an equal degree in India would be a fraction of the price?</p>

<p>I’m hoping you understand that going to school here doesn’t mean you get to stay after you graduate. So I have a hard time understanding, other than that it might be fun, why you’d pay for this.</p>

<p>Well dont really need aid. It is welcome but not necessary.</p>

<p>Also based on my profile, does anyone reccommend a good list of colleges to apply to?</p>

<p>Have you tried applying to any of the IIT campuses in India? In the Indian community getting a degree from IIT is far superior than getting one from MIT. While IIT may not provide the comprehensive education certain institutions in the US provide, it will give you a GREAT education in the fields you are planning to work in. To give you some insight on how difficult it is to get in (comparing with a PhD program) my dad got into Harvard (full fellowship) and got flat out rejected to IIT. </p>

<p>Assuming you do not need aid, you go to one of the American/British/French International Schools in India? An 80% at such schools may be low, but if you go to a traditional (not Government) school in India and made First Class, you should be in good standing. Make sure, if you do plan on going to US colleges, to stress that an 80% is a decent score… I know for a fact the difficulty and rigor of the program is far greater in India than most schools here.</p>

<p>And finally, some schools you should apply to… ALL assuming you do not need FA</p>

<p>-University of Iowa-In
-Uchic-reach
-Virginia Tech-Match/low match
-W&M-idk
-Caltech-reach
-Duke-Reach</p>

<p>Good luck… and to all the Americans IIT≠Illinois Institute of Technology… It is one of the most prestigious institutes in India, and some accept less then 1/20 during different seasons.</p>

<p>Also i will not be giving sat 2’s so no caltech etc to apply for me anyways…
also would u guys reccomend penn state or upenn? i’m confused.
other than that i would like to keep the top 6 fixed.</p>

<p>Very very confused about backup list :S</p>

<p>Purdue is most likely a safety. That school is very easy to get into.</p>

<p>May I suggest:</p>

<p>Northwestern
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
and Duke</p>

<p>^All reaches… He may need more matches… I seriously encourage you to try out IIT, though.</p>

<p>NYU Poly as a match?</p>

<p>srsly, Purdue is definitely a match to a high-safety.
With you being an international, there is no true guaranteed safety, and I would just suggest using schools in your home country as safeties.</p>

<p>Schools in India are very sporadic… IIT is like a godly extremely super reach and the others lose quality very quickly…</p>

<p>IIT is IMPOSSIBLE!
students from all over india start prepping for the IIT entrance exam since, believe it or not, as far back as 8th or 9th grade!!</p>

<p>I know that… One of the best schools in the world, though. In terms of job placement it probably IS the best. Not one IIT graduate do I know who makes less than 400k (and most of em make millions)… One of the most amazing places in the world.</p>

<p>So can anyone suggests changes to the 6 backups?</p>

<p>1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)</p>

<p>1)University of Iowa
2)Purdue
3)Umich
4)Uwis-Madison
5)Drexel (the worst private university in America, still OK though)
6)UCI or UDC</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s odd. I know so many…</p>

<p>(IIT’s a great school, clearly. But let’s not overstate the case, shall we?)</p>

<p>I will try to give you six schools based on the criteria/credentials you have.</p>

<p>1-University of Rochester
2-University of Florida
3-University of Wisconsin
4-Rutgers University
5-Georgia
6-Oregon</p>