<p>@gtfotu
It can’t be put in a better way. Even though UIUC is highly regarded especially in engineering, more prestigious schools are more preferable because of the obvious reason… prestige. :)</p>
<p>I have, however, read in a number of places that if you’re looking to be an engineer, you should go for school ranking, but if you want a basic science degree [engineering in this case; so you have a basic set of “craftsman” skills, you know what I mean?], but eventually want to move into the management side [maybe even do an MBA later on], then you should go for school presitge rather than ranking. I hope that made sense. =S
Anyway, if you got what I’m saying, what’s your take on it?</p>
<p>I agree and I think I’ve read the same article because those sentences look familiar. :)</p>
<p>Simply:
–> You need a great education in engineering –> Go to schools with great engineering programs and great repuration in engineering
–> You need a good education in engineering and a prestigious diploma –> Go to schools with great general reputation and a network of alumnus in great places</p>
<p>God, I swear, I don’t know what I would have done without CC and the people on it. <3</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They are preferable because they have huge endowments and offer a nearly-free ride for families with less than $60k/year income.</p>
<p>Yea, but we were talking only purely on the basis of prestige and ranking</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your replies guys (: i am really considering going there now ^^ i dont know what i would have done without CC</p>
<p>accepted- Civil engineering
pretty crappy stats i would say lol
SAT-1770
ACT 27
8 APs
30/600 class rank
no leadership
50 volunteer hours
weighted GPA-4.2
unweighted 3.75
out of state
Academic Decathlon
very weird essay ( i think that helps me a lot )
low income
ummmm yeah nothing special, i was very surprise to get in, and totally not expecting to get into engineering … yup , good luck to the admits :)</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): 660R, 620M, 690W
- SAT II: 720 Biology, 590 Korean (:O)
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
- IGCSE: 1 A, 4 B’s and 1 C
- A Level : 1 A, 2 B’s and 1 C
- Senior Year Course Load: AS Level English, A Level Economics, A Level Biology, A Level History
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Vice Chairman of the Student Liaison Council 2009, Chairman of the Student Liaison Council 2010
- Volunteer/Community service: Varied from AID’s orphanage to river clean ups to teaching English, 200+ hours
- Essays: Who knows
- Teacher Recommendation: OK?
</code></pre>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>* Applied for Financial Aid?: no
- Intended Major: Economics
- Country (if international applicant): South Africa
- School Type: Small, competitve private
- Ethnicity: Asian
- Gender: Male
- Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m a South African born Korean?
</code></pre>
<p>Reflection</p>
<pre><code>* Strengths:Extra curriculars, Courseload
- Weaknesses: School marks? Essay?
- Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I have no idea, maybe because I’m international and I pay more
</code></pre>
<p>General Comments: Relieved 
And happy :)</p>
<p>Accepted in December under Early Action.</p>
<p>Accepted to ECSE
Switching to Materials Engineering
ACT: 35
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Taken 11 AP classes (most my school offers)
Captain of Robotics, Captain of Chess, Programming club, volunteering, concert pianist, etc etc etc…too many extracurrics to list hahah</p>
<p>Hook: none. My essays were great though…</p>
<p>@ siverturtle…You forgot to list lack of modesty as one of your weaknesses</p>
<p>The mere fact that you have ten thousand posts suggests that you do not have time to keep up good grades, and secondly…have no life</p>
<p>Son was accepted into Engineering. one down…ten more to wait for…
Does anyone know when Reg decision scholarships are awarded?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My son is regular decision and has gotten two of them so far – $15k/yr for 4 years and a minor one worth $7k total.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Silverturtle is one of the smartest teenagers you’ll find anywhere. Having raised two boys with tested IQs north of 150, I do not say this lightly.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Do you even know his stats (he’s a 2400er) ? Did you read all of his posts to suggest that he lacks modesty?</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR 800 M 700 W
[</em>] ACT: 33 
[<em>] SAT II: 800 M2, 780 Chem, 770 BioM, 710 USH
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6 UW 4.1 W
[<em>] Rank: 111
[</em>] AP: Bio 5, Chem 5, USH 4, Psych 5, Calc BC 5, Eng Lang 5, Comp Gov 5, Stats 4
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs (Phys B, Comp Sci, US Gov, Psych)
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: minimum
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: minimum
[<em>] Summer Activities: minimum
[</em>] Essays: strong
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: strong
[</em>] Counselor Rec: ???
[/ul]
Other:[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid: no
[</em>] Intended Major: ECE
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): California
[</em>] School Type: Public Magnet
[<em>] Ethnicity: Chinese
[</em>] Gender: Male
[*] Income Bracket: Upper[/ul]</p>
<p>I’ve got an email for admit, but will they send a hard copy of the admissions letter?</p>
<p>SAT: 2110
SAT2: terrible. chinese 780 and the rest were under 700.
uw gpa: 3.4
weighted: 3.8/3.9
junior year: AP Calc AB, AP Chinese, AP Bio, American Lit (Honors), American Studies
senior year: AP Calc BC, AP Government, Physics Honors
rec letters: good?
extra curricular: pretty strong. leadership position in extra curricular, over 300 hours of community service, badminton sophomore/junior year.
out of state
decision: admit.
applied: undeclared
strength: no idea. i have a 3.8 unweighted sophomore year and then bombed junior year. maybe they saw potential?</p>
<p>^ they send you an email, and then they send you a packet with admission information like housing, etc. it took around 2/3 weeks for the packet to get here.</p>
<p>^
“they send you an email, and then they send you a packet with admission information like housing, etc. it took around 2/3 weeks for the packet to get here.”</p>
<p>Thanks to my country’s awful postal service I never received that package but received a letter congratulating me on my acceptance and giving information about iEFX program.</p>
<p>Son accepted- Engineering</p>
<p>ACT 34
GPA 4.1 (unweighted)
Rank 1/70
Will wait to see aid package and other decisions</p>