<p>I dont know why you dont want a religiously affiliated school. Its a great misnomer to assume that they require to teach you dogma if that is the reason. Most often they are superb schools with outstanding TEACHING faculty. But whatever. That is your choice.</p>
<p>If Engineering is your real interest...then I can recommend NCState to you. Its an OUTSTANDING engineering school. </p>
<p>Nationally ranked Engineering Schools you may consider are Cornell, Duke, Johns Hopkins, University of Washington, UVa, Lehigh, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, USC...and of course the number one Engineering program in the country: MIT.</p>
<p>Engineering is a multifaceted area: Aerospace, BioMedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electonic, Environmental, Industrial, Mechanical, Nuclear, Petroleum etc. Many, many choices here.</p>
<p>Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
University of Souther California
University of Texas, Austin
Worcester Polytechnic Institute </p>
<p>But the thing is which of these do I consider a safety. I don't have a safety!</p>
<p>Your best chances for admission are at RPI, RHIT, and WPI. I'd call them matches to safeties.</p>
<p>The public schools on your list all have specific quotas mandated by state law for international students. They are all excellent schools, and will all cost you about $40,000 if you are classified as out-of-state/international. I'm not too sure you will be able to get financial aid as an international resident regardless of citizenship. Have your parents been filing tax returns in the United States? That would certainly help your case, but it still wouldn't be certain.</p>
<p>The University of Texas Austin is a superb school. It has a very good biomed engineering school as well as a lot of the more theoretical engineering disciplines rather than the practical ones (the saying in Texas goes that "UT Engineers can design you anything you want, and Texas A&M engineers can build it.") Engineering is a competitive admission program for in-state students but not riddiculous and with your statistics you'd almost certainly be admitted. However, as you aren't a Texas resident I'm not certain. I believe you would be competing with the out-of-state US residents for around 5-10% of open spots and it's a lot more competitive. Sorry but I really couldn't tell you whether or not you'd get in though because I'm not really too familiar with their OOS/International admission standards.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help, and yes my dad files his tax returns in the US
So all of the universities i listed above are matches, except for Berkeley?
Anymore safeties</p>
<p>USC is as hard to get into as UCLA. If UCLA is a reach for you then so is USC. UT-Austin is a great school..but its HUGE....just HUGE...and Texas has this rule about admitting kids in the top10% and that makes it hard for out of state/international kids to get in. </p>
<p>If I may criticize you please allow this as friendly advice. I get the impression you are panicking and floundering. If so, STOP! Take a breath and calm down. If you have a directory like Petersens or Barrons in front of you (both of which are very good and HIGHLY informational) then get your thoughts organized and pick 10-12 schools. Some kids pick them on geographical factors, some on pure academic standing, some on social or sports standing, some on program/majors standing, etc. Make your list and then research the schools. But you have to know what you want...and it seems you do to some extent: science/engineering/match oriented programs and schools. Fine. Then examine the size of the school that fits YOU and YOUR personality best. Small and personal or large and autonomous? You decide. Then look in the directories and see the avg SAT scores and gpa's and see where you fit into the picture: bottom 25%, middle 50% or upper 75%. The schools where you are in the upper 75% of admits will likely come after you the strongest with the most money. And being international that is a factor that differs from school to school.....so email the school and see if they give financial aid to international students. If they dont reply within 48 hours, then CALL THEM and ask financial aid office directly. Its a yes or no question. Some schools have Q & A on their websites and already have the answer for you. </p>
<p>I query why UCSD is a reach and Harvey Mudd is a match for you. Look more closely on their stats. </p>
<p>And then submit your applications and wait to see what happens. And when you hear from them, yes, no, deferred, waitlist whatever.....it will help you narrow down your choice. You will get in at several schools so relax. And once admitted, look at their financial offer and call them if its not enough and you REALLY want to go there. If you are only mildly interested, then send them a NICE letter declining their offer of admission and move on. By May 1 2008 you will have a clear choice...and that will be your school. </p>
<p>But for now, focus on PERSONALITY of the school, its programs and YOUR personality and academic fit. Do it in an organized and rational level. Its not easy. Saying NO to someone is never easy. But it must be done. Its what millions of kids are doing right now. </p>
<p>We got down to 2 schools last April..and it was HEART WRENCHING because the offers were near identical...and they both had SUPERB faculty and programs...and one of my D's best friends was going to one of the schools....but we ultimately made our choice and have not looked back. We wrote the OTHER school which we declined....explained our decision and were gracious and grateful for their offer of admission. They wrote back and said, "we would welcome you here at any time if you decide to change your mind. Simply call us and we will reinstate you with no questions or paperwork." It pays to take the high road!</p>
<p>I would also consider Harvey Mudd to be a reach.</p>
<p>And actually, USC is NOT as difficult to get into as UCLA if you are out of state. It is much easier.</p>
<p>You really can't call any out-of-state flagship university a safety. Georgia Tech, Texas, and Purdue as well as the lower tier UC schools are all matches for you. Purdue is probably the easiest of these to be admitted to.</p>
<p>I'd honestly consider the three private engineering schools you have listed to be safeties, and you probably could drop those you have listed as safeties.</p>
<p>theloneranger: you mean RPI, WPI, and Rose-Hulman should be safeties. That's really good advice because I was thinking the same. i wanted to drop drexel, clarkson, an Stevens institute too. good</p>
<p>and i'm not giving the UC's my SAT math level 1 grade. I'm giving them the SAT math level 2 grade. it's just that the level 2 math won't have good score</p>