<p>Hi Guys, I am applying for Computer Engineering in US.My problem is that I don't have very average relations with my teacher , last year they gave so below average recommendations that I couldn't go to my dream school(and their were other bunch of reasons too) but ultimately I had to drop and take a gap year.Now again this year approaching them for recommendations is clearly not a very good option for me.I don't wan't to face them again!!!!
So I wanted to know about universities which don't require teacher recommendations or counselor(We don't have one usually my principal who knows nothing about all this fills it) recommendation.For a start , example: University of California Berkeley . Please guys Help me!!! I really don't wan't to see them again!!! Thanks for reading this and your responses.</p>
<p>There are many that don’t require letters of recommendation. None of the California State schools, including Berkeley, as you mentioned. Many other state (“public”) schools also do not require them. The University of Illinois specifically refuses to look at them - super good school for CS. You could also transfer to a school that does require them after a year or two. Transfer students never need letters from their high schools.</p>
<p>Right. many state schools don’t require LORs because they don’t have the admissions staff to process/read a gazillion recs.</p>
<p>However, state schools also don’t give need-based aid to int’ls, so what is your budget?
(for instance, Berkeley would cost you over $50k per year.)</p>
<p>What are your stats (test scores and GPA).</p>
<p>I am giving sat on October 6.I have given sat previously however my score was not very good so I decided to take one more shot.There is no GPA system in my school.I got 91.3 % in 10th and 86.4%in 12th ( 
was expecting more).Currently I have dropped I year and I am preparing for Indian Engineering Exams.For Extracurricular I learn french , play snooker , computer programming. I have done internship at Computer shop in locality.For Olympiads ,I never knew about them until I joined College Confidential in my senior year but by that time everything was lost.Last year , I didn’t know anything and just applied to MIT and only MIT.What a fool of me!I have given toefl ibt - 105 , sat 2 p-760 c-770 m-740. If you would suggest me anything it would be great!
Yeah , I would really need financial aid otherwise I will have to take loan from hsbc bank.As far as I know only ivys , mit , stanford (which are probably out of my reach :() provide financial aid to internationals.</p>
<p>grohan - not exactly sure what you are asking for at this point. You are obviously smart and web savvy but seem to lack basic information.</p>
<p>A quick Google turns up this website which lists schools with financial aid for international students. [eduPASS</a> | Financial Aid for International Students | Schools with Aid for Undergraduates](<a href=“http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml]eduPASS”>Schools with Financial Aid for International Students - eduPASS)</p>
<p>I suggest you build yourself a spreadsheet with college choices grouped by “reach”, “match”, and “safety” schools - perhaps 3 or 4 of each. Don’t include any that are financially out of reach and give some very careful thought as to how much you should borrow (are you sure you can qualify for a loan?). Figure out how much your monthly payments will be after graduation and weigh that against how much you will earn in the US if you land an engineering job here or end up working back at home. You should know this already but an undergraduate degree typically costs from $120,000 to $220,000.</p>