I should have added Englisher…
You can take my word for it digitaldad, I did not use ChatGPT to find me that link, just google doing its thing.
Yes, I totally agree. But went along with the headline, and read the first line. Did not think too much about it.
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This is perhaps the biggest skill you need to hone to be successful. You need to think about things.
What is your native language?
… and Purdue!
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So apparently German as a second language, taking German classes in “Upper-Intermediate” level (one step from Advanced).
Certain things in life ill put more attention and effort into. If I put maybe a little more into things like this maybe I would not even be here. Again said better to learn now than once I start 11th grade
I was born and raised for 11 years in America, but ya I’m still learning English but IB lang and lit mother tongue. Only downfall is that I have dyslexia that’s why I mess up.
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Yes, exactly.
So went from Kindergarten through 4th or 5th Grade in the U.S., before moving abroad?
And since then you attended a school where generally all classes are held in… English? or in German?
(Only if you’re comfortable sharing - otherwise please disregard!)
Ditto Cal Poly. They have 84 dedicated labs in the college of engineering alone. I specifically didn’t mention schools like those though because I wanted the OP to see the facilities of a school that isn’t on the “Top Whatever” rader and is almost a guaranteed admit for anyone.
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I attended MIT for my bachelor’s degree, and for my freshman year was taking classes that would be appropriate for a major in any of Math, Mechanical Engineering, or Physics. I can tell you what I did to get into MIT.
Basically, for the specific purpose of getting accepted to MIT I did not do anything. What I did instead was whatever was right for me. This in my case included doing well in math and science classes, and playing chess, and a few other things.
This same approach has worked well for family members. However, what was right for them and what was right for me were entirely different things.
I would suggest that you do the same. Figure out what makes sense for you, then do it very well. Meanwhile, keep ahead in your classes and strive for academic excellence.
Then apply to a range of universities and see what happens. Make sure that you include some solid safeties in the list of schools that you apply to.
In other words, “Do more things I care about” sounds exactly correct.
While you are at it, Google “applying sideways MIT” and read the blog that it takes you to.
As long as you understand that in the US it means you can choose from hundreds of colleges and still be in the top 10% universities, with very competitive applicants, facilities, and opportunities.
Look at the USNWR list titled National Universities and keep the top 75.
Then look at the USNWR list titled National Liberal Arts Colleges and keep the top 75.
Then take the top 15 for Regional Universities North and top 6 for each other Regional University list. You’re under 200 universities and you’re still within the top 10%.
Make that list of roughly 200: that’s where you’ll find the best options. Explore them seriously.
Anything in the top 40 from the 1st list and in the top 30 in the 2nd list is likely to reject you regardless of anything (lottery schools, reach for everyone).
Anything 41-60 list1 and 31-60list2 is a good bet but no certainty when it comes to admission if you get a 38 IBD result. Push uourself to get an admission from one or of them. All have better facilities and more opportunities for undergrad than almost any European university.
All others are almost guaranteed (often with Honors) with a 38 and reasonable with a 36.
So, that’s a lot of work, but fortunately it’s summer vacation, so you have plenty of time!
At public universities, there are special programs called Honors.
Always build from the bottom up.
Identify 3-5 colleges where a 36 would guarantee admission and that you like.
Start looking into Suny Binghamton, UVermont, Villanova, Elon, Bradley, Clarkson, RIT, UCincinnati, UDel, Iowa, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly Humboldt.
Which are your favorites?
Top colleges do NOT want you to take 4 HLs nor more than 6 subjects (especially since IB is extremely rigorous and TOK, CAS, EE also count academically.)
They want you to choose HLs that make sense for your purported college goals and DO WELL.
Design Tech HL would make more sense than German HL but it’ll be okay if you switch those. Math&Physics HL would really be to your advantage for Top 50 universities.
You DO NOT need to take college courses. That is NOT expected from IB students nor from European students.
Generally, 32 is the absolute minimum (2×6 + 4×5). 2x7s and a 36 put you within range for Top50 universities but really for HYPSM you’d need a 38 (same for Oxford, St Andrews, etc).
OP, what kind of college experience do you want? I’m one who believes college life extends beyond the four corners of campus. You will live in that community for four or more years.
People can easily rattle off the “top” engineering colleges but do you want to live in Georgia or Indiana? Do you want a single room as a freshman? If so, better cross Stanford off your list. CalTech is amazing but it’s tiny. This is not to say that resources and facilities don’t matter—they absolutely do. But fit matters too. It doesn’t matter how amazing a college is if you hate being there.
Make a well-balanced list and, if possible, visit a wide variety of colleges. You should be able to figure out pretty quickly what kind of college atmosphere (big/small/urban/rural) you prefer.
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Exactly, my 11 years growing up in America and then the rest 6-10 so far in Austria.
All classes in English besides Spanish class for 2 years French class for 2 year and German class for 4 years.
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Congrats for getting in! Maybe they saw the passion and drive you had and didn’t take you for someone doing it cause they want to get accepted.
I have a family member that went to MIT as well and they did the application for MIT, he told me they looked for leadership, if people can work good together and that extra step into a project etc.
Ill read the article now, thank you for sharing.
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A “leadership” story occurs to me.
In high school, at the very beginning of my senior year, I found out that the president of the chess club had resigned. We had a meeting to figure out who would replace him. I was the only person who was willing to do it, so I got the job. The problem is that I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do as president of the chess club.
So I asked other students what they suggested. Then I took the best ideas, and got the students who had suggested them to help me implement them. Several students came up with some very good ideas. This got more students interested in the club.
It turns out that “leadership” is not about getting your way. It is about making an activity better for everyone who wants to participate (or at least nearly everyone). Listening is a big part of leadership.
Perhaps I got lucky.
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Full stop.
You are bouncing all over the place.
Take small steps:
1.) Budget. What will you be able to afford? Stick to that.
2.) Start your US school list from bottom- up based on the above budget.
3.) Do well in school. Do well for you.
4.) If a site says “36”, and you are assuming a boost because of “small country diversity” don’t pack yet.
You can’t assume you are in.
Rejection is common because there are too many good students from everywhere.
No one knows how an admissions committee will select the students.
5.) Get some help with your English grammar skills. They are all over the place here. If you can’t write a coherent essay, you will have problems with most admission’s committees.
6.) Focus on your studies these next two years. Not on what you think the colleges want to see. Stay focused.
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Interesting, ill make that list with some criteria and a few other factors. Ill spend my time wisely trying to get those top scores and extracurriculars perfect. Also do the things I love and my dreams projects. Got lots on my mind but so little time.
“What are your favorites”.
I want to look at everything that fits the criteria that I’m going to make, like the IB, and further identify. I also want to research more and read articles, also the colleges you posted and the other 200. So ill take a couple of days to really think about it and sleep on it. Still have 2 years, so things will change, also, it’s hard to make that list of acceptance cause I can only get my 6-10 grade GPA, also use other factors like extracurriculars.
I learned a lot so that I won’t say anything for right now, I’ll think about it for a couple of days. Do more research and, like I said, sleep on it. I gotta rethink some things as well. Also, talk to family and see what works best.
Ill try to visit them next summer or when I have winter break and do virtual tours etc. Very good points, thank you. Ill try to make that list best on my wishes and what I like. Also how do I figure out if I like living with other randoms for undegrad or being alone? I only lived with randoms for 4 weeks not years. Lots of information is kinda hard to find out by actually being there and experiencing it.
I wanna start my own Engineering club for Vienna, I was first thinking of doing it for my school. But I can’t get as much attention and get a wide range of students and thus diversity. Also, if the Austrian government funds it, and I try to combine it with the TU Wien (Vienna best Engineering college) that would be awesome. Or do you recommend doing it for my school?
Also thank you for the advice. I will listen to the other peers and get their input not only my intuition. Best for a club to prosper and develop.