First post here, really stressed out with college applications. I’m a student at an international school in Mexico (US system) and I’ve wanted to be an engineer all my life. Currently looking at civil engineering at MIT. I know it’s extremely selective, even more so for international students, but I still want to give it my best shot. If anyone could help me out by taking a look at my application and essays I’d really appreciate it, thanks!
Background: (I really don’t want to make excuses, but I feel like my background plays an important role in my application). I live in Tampico, Mexico. Tampico’s a small city on the gulf coast, my school’s the only one there with a US system, and it’s not as advanced as other international schools. We take SATs and APs but there aren’t really that many options, compared to other schools around the world with more opportunities. Plus, Tampico’s currently going through a hard time with the drug war, things are violent, there’s not much activity in the area (not many options for internship or research in any field).
PLEASE be honest, harsh, I want to know if I have a shot or if I should look at other schools.
Thanks!
Here’s my stats:
4.0 GPA UW (Class rank:2/60)
SAT 1570, 780ERW, 790M
SAT Subject Tests 770BioM, taking Math II in November
TOEFL iBT 116
Took AP Biology, Seminar, English Lang. Comp., US History, Research, three 5s, one 4 (APUSH), one 3 (Seminar).
Currently taking AP Calculus (school only offers AB, doing self-study for BC), Physics C: Mechanics, and Computer Science
My school limits the amount of APs you can take per year to three, and only offers a limited range of AP classes as part of its curriculum, STEM APs are really limited.
Extracurriculars:
Internships at local construction firms during summers
Volunteer work at local non-profit that builds new classrooms for public schools in the area for a couple of years.
International leadership summit in China, representing Mexico, won cultural award, attended lectures and expo on Chinese tech advancements
Attended the Committee on the Status of Women at the UN in NYC last March, representing a national non-profit (Teletón) where we discussed the status and role of women in Mexico (society, economy, reproductive rights, etc…)
Ama tu Playa: founding member and treasurer of a group that has organized beach and park cleanups once a month for three years, we’ve picked up over 5 tons of garbage and now have hundreds of members, given lectures at local university, worked together with local government and 4Ocean, an international environmentalist group.
Created a new organization that has raised thousands of dollars to improve facilities at local public schools for kids with less resources and schools for the developmentally disabled
Literally hundreds of math and SAT tutoring hours
Some academic achievement awards given out by school and Mexican govt.
MUN: Organizer and chairperson at school MUN events, have attended MUN events in other schools in Mexico and the US.
National Honor Society: Historian, Treasurer, hundreds of service hours with diverse focuses
Student Council: member, class representative
Upstanders Alliance (Founding member of local anti-bullying group)
Diving, French, Golf, Piano, etc…