Class Rank: 69/860 (but i m pretty sure it will go up)
ACT/SAT Scores: 1450 (without studying 790 math & 660 R&W)
List your HS coursework
English: AP Enligh Lang
Math: Advanced Mathematics (AP Calc BC completed in Junior yr)
Science: AP Physics : 1, 2, & C (planning to do C in senior yr)
CS - AP CSA ( got a 5)
Awards
School Academic Excellence and Honor rolls
Collegeboard National Recognition
AP scholar
Extracurriculars Founded International Students Association in HS
Made it to Academic Decathlon State (won bronze in science in honors category an highest scorer on the team)
Made it to Deca state for Finance Operations research event
Texas Highschool Ideas Finalist
Computer Science National Honors Society Offficer
Schools Safety - University of Houston, University of Texas at Dallas
Likely - Texas A&M University College station
Reach - UT Austin
I am a high school junior. UT Austin is my dream school but it has gotten really competitive during recent years. So I wanna know what I can do ovr the summer of my junior to senior year so that I can max my chances of getting in for ECE.
ECE will be tough, even if you get top 5%. Will you have all these ? Classes like AP CS likely don’t matter. You need the core - you are here on a Visa but how does that impact, if at all, the foreign language requirement ?
I expect that te guidance office at your TX high school will have an extensive history of admission results for TX public colleges (for engineering and non-engineering majors). I don’t expect most summer experiences will move the needle in terms of admissions so do something you will enjoy, get a job, etc.
As an aside, I would advise you (and every other student) to forget the idea of a dream college. There are many fine options where you can have a great four year experience and get where you want to go in life.
You’ll apply and see. There’s nothing magically in summer that will change things. Certainly A&M is realistic and your safeties very safe. Good luck.
do you think an undergraduate university matters. For instance, getting into a good state school like TAMU in Texas compared to getting into an ivy league or UT, and also how that positions you for you masters. Like would top Universities like MIT or Imperial College of London care where you came from?
No!! ABET accreditation matters. And btw the Ivies, short of Cornell, aren’t necessarily top engineering schools.
UTD and UH would get you into a strong Masters program or would get you a fine career.
Many who choose to do a Masters and it’s likely not many as a percentage - might do a 5th year where they are.
Prestige and engineering, except at a few schools, is generally not a thing. Mine chose a low rated SEC school over a UT peer and he works with kids from the top and not top. And they all started at the same $$.
As a Texas high school teacher, what I remember from the recent several years of students accepted to UT is that rank and GPA matter a lot, more in public high schools than in private ones. When your rank is 9%, I don’t think you are one of the high priority applicants the admission officers would look into further information such as EC. In the past three years all my students accepted to UT have been top 5%, and two of them this year did not get their first choice major.
I did a masters degree at Cambridge in the UK. My cohort came from a wide range of universities- some very well known names and others you’ve probably never heard of. What they all had in common was very good performance at undergrad (and presumably good application materials, which included an outline of what we planned to write our dissertations on). As an aside, you’ve probably never heard of my undergrad college (international), but we always had top students going to Oxford and Cambridge for graduate degrees, as did other universities in my country you’ve probably never heard of either.
Since you mention Texas A&M, be aware that it has competitive secondary admission to specific engineering majors for first year engineering students who do not earn a 3.75 college GPA.
