I’m a Pre-IB student currently about the begin IBDP soon, I’ve always had a passion for space, and plan to pick it up in the form of Aerospace Engineering. I plan to apply to multiple sets of Ivy colleges and Institutes of Technology.
I plan to Take up Physics, Chem and Math AA HL and French English ECO SL. I scored 1230 on the PSAT last year without any preparation, and I’ve been doing well in all of the Subjects in MYP, scoring 7s across. I’ve also made sure to get a few Extracurriculars built up, I’m a frequent MUNer, with multiple Best Deals behind me, as well as qualifying to the national finals of a band competition and Cleared the YLE PET KET and the FCE with distinction, and more school level awards as well.
what must I do in these 2 years of IB, to make sure I can boost my Chances of admissions to the greatest possible degree, and also, I would be helpful to know which Ivys and Institutes offer the best aerospace courses.
PS:
I’m not a US citizen. Financial aid would be helpful but isn’t needed per se.
Why Ivies? The only Ivies with aerospace engineering are Princeton and Cornell.
You can easily google which colleges offer majors in aerospace engineering. You need to do more research.
You should be aware that finding employment in the US in the aerospace field will be very difficult if you are not an American citizen. Most jobs in the field require US citizenship for security purposes. You should not come here to study aerospace engineering with the idea that you can get a job and stay after graduating.
Not a lot of ivies on the list. There are also a lot of other schools that have very solid programs. I know a lot of the Texas schools have strong ties to NASA so if they are strong in engineering they are likely good options too.
In addition to the above: note that not being a citizen reduces your chances of admission from around 5-6% to around 1-2%. Most of the colleges you are aiming at only award need-based aid so if aid is just “helpful” you almost certainly won’t be getting it. Not needing aid might be a very slim advantage over other internationals at colleges that do not have need blind admission for internationals.
The comment about googling who offers what, apart from being an obvious thing to do yourself to see what is appropriate, actually runs deeper. I am not sure if you are aware that colleges all require a specific essay in which you explain why you want to go to them and what you in turn can offer them. You will need to do some real digging into each of them to be able to answer these properly. A one size fits a all cut-and- paste change-the-name essay isn’t going to do it.
The point about staying for jobs in that field is also important. We noticed when we immigrated here that even with green cards we were not eligible to apply for many jobs (not just the direct engineering ones either) in those types of industries before becoming citizens. If you want to pursue those studies to take them home then of course that will be a great avenue (and you may even find some home country based funding in that case).
FWIW at the undergraduate level, CC poster @rogracer, an aerospace industry insider, recommended a mechanical engineering major with some aerospace-oriented electives, rather than an aerospace engineering major.
This is not true. The most selective colleges require this type of essay, but most schools do not. Most state schools don’t have this requirement, and many of the stronger engineering programs are at state schools. My 2 kids applied to a total of 11 colleges between them and only one of the 11 required this type of essay.
Click on More Search Options to include additional factors. For “State you live in” choose Other. That way you will pull up tuition and fees for out-of-state residents for the public institutions.
I was talking about this in the context of OP saying “ I plan to apply to multiple sets of Ivy colleges and Institutes of Technology.” OP did not mention state schools at all.