bkim_09

Hi. I'm a rising senior; asian; male (necessary? lol).

For AP's... I've taken BC calc and Computer Science sophmore yr; Chem and Stats junior yr; and signed up for Physics, Econ, and Art Studio for nxt yr.

GPA...
this is one thing i want to make clear about. I know colleges look at the freshman and sophomore yr grades, but... well here's my case.
freshman yr, around 15~20% (yeah... very far off from those top scores)
then i moved to the states and as a sophomore yr around 20~25%... (english was the "thing" for me)
BUT... as a junior i ended the yr with the top 5% (a major improvement I guess....)
percentage-wise, number-wise, I've gone through a MAJOR improvement in my GPA.

sports...
sub varsity x-country(cap.) and lacrosse. not really significant. I'll explain y later

music...
not really significant just a couple bands. just normal...

arts...
this is one i would like to emphasize on my app.
i've been taking art classes every yr since middle school, won some prizes, and planning to send a portfolio to the colleges w/ my app
i heard the engineering schools are recently looking for those talented in art as well, so maybe a plus impact? (i hope...)

EC
math team- president, and won several honorable awards on competitions (i'll skip listing which competitions)
math club (seperate from team) - president
won a couple math prizes for my dedication to the school's math team.
AIME qualifire (sophomore n junior n probably senior as well..)
patent holder <- also wat i would like to emphasize on my app.
done public services constantly : I've been going to the same public service center for the disabilites since middle school, worked as a translator on a International Marathon Walk, etc.
internship at Seoul National University (#1 university in korea)
internship as a junior researcher at a fashion company
AND...
done several researches/reports on the field of math/science/and art
the researches are purely done by myself, which I managed to do since middle school. I'm planning to send a CD with the reports I had done on it.
AND...
currently working with the fashion company I worked as a junior researcher on combining IT with fashion (applying my patent).

well this is basically wat i hv.

I'm aiming a range of 2100~2200 for SAT and 30~35 ACT (taking this sept. and oct.)

for SAT 2's, I hv a 800 on Math 2c, 750 on Physics (planning to take again; usually get 800s... don't know y i got that..) and a 710 on Chem(ouch... planning to take again.. i usually get 790 or 780 on practice tests).

So... plz based on the assumption that DO get such scores on my SAT and ACT, could you evaluate my status and which schools to apply for?

THANK YOU! luv u all.

collegehelp

Berkeley, Stanford, Harvey Mudd, UCLA, U Washington

RGPanda

You should also try MIT, Cooper Union, Johns Hopkins, and WashU.

bkim_09

collge. thanx for the advice. maybe another advice of where i should put for EA/ED?

EG. thanx too. is Cooper Union good for EE?

bkim_09

BUMP plz reply if u read this :P

ExplorerCY

you don't give your gpa so hard to tell.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Tech

bkim_09

well, the main reason is caz our school uses a 6 scale instead of 4...
so it's kinda different from wat you all would know. neway my junior GPA was around 5.2~3 out of 6.0

RGPanda

Cooper Union is good for EE at the undergrad level. An advantage of Cooper Union is that students there don't pay tuition. It charges about $120,000 for four years, but it gives all enrolling students $120,000 scholarships.

bkim_09

wow... even to international students like me?

bkim_09

BUMP one more

RealM

Georgia Tech, of course.

ParentOfIvyHope

Since your are an international applicant the following will be hard to get in.
MIT/UCB EECS
SAT1: > 1550/1600 (CR and Math)
SATII: > 2300 (M, Physics/Chem, 3rd subject)
Stanford:
SAT1: > 2300
SATII: > 2300 (M, Physics/Chem, 3rd subject)

bclintonk

What areas of engineering are you interested in?

MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, Michigan, Illinois, and Cornell have top-10 faculties in just about every area of engineering. Others are a little spottier, but if you have a specific interest in Electrical Engineering, for example, you may not care that a school is not as strong in Chemical Engineering.

You GPA sounds a little questionable for MIT, Caltech, Stanford and Princeton, and even apart from GPA you need to count those as "reach" schools, though you may want to take a shot a applying to one or more of them. Berkeley is also a difficult reach if you're OOS. I'd say take a good look at Cornell, Michigan, and Illinois. Among the Ivies, Penn is also pretty good in some areas of engineering. Other non-Ivies with strong engineering programs are Northwestern ,CMU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Texas, UCLA (tough if OOS), and Georgia Tech.

Sam Lee

bclintonk offered a good list.

lfecollegeguy

CMU doesn't take into account freshman GPA so that might help your case.