<p>First of all, I'm planning to major in Material science and engineering
and I'm trying to go for an ED to either Northwestern, U Penn, or Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>I'm an international student residing in China with GPA 3.7/4.0 (I kinda ruined my freshmen yr)</p>
<p>SAT 2230/2400</p>
<p>(Math II+C 760, Chemistry 730)</p>
<p>(AP Comp. Gov. 4 AP Calc. BC 5 and also planning to take AP Eco. later)</p>
<p>(I've joined 3 varsity sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball) 3yrs each, Math club 1yr, Chess club 1yr, Relgious studies2yrs,choir 2yrs, Newspaper 2yrs)</p>
<p>(learning Chinese as my third language)</p>
<p>I've taken 4yrs of Math, 4yrs of science, 4yrs of social studies, 4yrs of english, 4yrs of bible (since our school is a christian school), and 4yrs in foreign language (that would be chinese for me) 1yr in religious classical literature.</p>
<p>which one seems to have a better chance of letting me in for ED?</p>
<p>I know they all have an excellent engineering programs,
but can I know which colleges seem to be easier for me to get in as an engineer? or which one seems to be hardest for me to get in</p>
<p>If you apply to an ED program just to get in, the university will figure it out. A university really wants to see a deep seeded passion for the university from its ED applicants. If they cannot sense the passion, you can expect either a rejection or a deferral. Chose the school that you love most and apply ED to it.</p>
<p>I’d have to think your best chance would be Carnegie Mellon. Certainly Penn would be your worst chance, I would think. This all assumes you don’t need financial aid.</p>
<p>Actually Northwestern has the nation’s first MatSciE department that consistently ranks in the top 3.
But in addition to the three, you might consider a few more schools that have excellent MatSciE programs and would be a match for you as well (i.e. Illinois, Penn State). Your best chance at ED would probably be with CMU.</p>
<ol>
<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</li>
<li>Northwestern University (McCormick)
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign</li>
<li>University of California–Berkeley
University of California–Santa Barbara</li>
<li>Stanford University (CA)</li>
<li>Cornell University (NY)
Pennsylvania State University–University Park
-</li>
<li>California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
-</li>
<li>Harvard University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
University of Pennsylvania</li>
</ol>
<p>Edit: Maybe Wisconsin Madison and Purdue as well (good matches).</p>
<p>easiest: Carnegie Mellon
Middle: Northwestern
Hardest: Penn
If you like these three schools absolutely equally, then apply ED to Mellon because obviously you have the best chance there. If you like one more than the others, apply there! They are all great for what you want to do.</p>
<p>gd016, the NRC rankings are for PhD programs and is 13 years old. Materials is a relativly young field and there have been a lot of changes in the field. And the USNWR ranking you provided is forPhD programs. Now I agree that a top graduate programs always translates into a top undergraduate program, but there sometimes is a small marginf for error. Undergraduate rankings in Materials Engineering according to the latest USNWR:</p>
<p>1 University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
2 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
3 University of California-Berkeley
4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
4 Northwestern University
6 Stanford University
7 Cornell University
8 University of Florida
9 Georgia Institute of Technology
10 Pennsylvania State University-University Park
11 Carnegie Mellon University
12 University of Wisconsin-Madison
13 Ohio State University-Columbus
13 Purdue University-West Lafayette
15 Iowa State University
15 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
15 University of Pennsylvania
18 University of Texas-Austin</p>
<p>^Penn is proably the hardest to get in based on acceptance rate (though their SAT average is no higher than Northwestern’s).</p>
<p>Although CMU is probably a tiny bit easier, you can very well get rejected by it and accepted to Northwestern. I also think the two schools are different enough to warrant further investigation. Are you able to visit before applying for ED? CMU is more tech/trade oriented. They have strong undergrad business, architecture, theater, and engineering programs but the liberal arts are relatively weak. I personally find Northwestern’s campus prettier. Penn/Northwestern are more balanced as they are strong in liberal arts also.</p>
<p>At least a few of the top schools on the USNews ranking in materials don’t even offer an undergrad degree in materials. I know Caltech doesn’t (it’s an option within ChemE where you take a grand total of three classes) and I don’t believe there’s one at UCSB either.</p>
<p>I went to CMU for undergrad and absolutely loved the program there. It’s rapidly growing, but the professors are still extremely willing to give individual attention and most seem to really enjoy teaching their classes.</p>
<p>Also, be aware that CMU doesn’t offer aid to international students, so if that’s a concern for you, you should be aware.</p>
<p>Since your specific interest matches one of Northwestern’s specialties, it is a great option for applying ED–which has a significantly higher admit rate than does RD. However, it appears that you have selected your schools very carefully & you cannot, in my opinion, make a mistake in applying ED to any of the four schools; Northwestern, CMU, Penn or Cornell. Applying ED is an advantage at all four schools to the best of my knowledge & belief.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that CMU has Early Decision Round 2. Penn and Northwestern do not. So…if you happen to like Penn or Northwestern more, don’t worry about possibly losing out on CMU…that much.</p>