I see
on the other hand, both A&M and UTD are very strong in engineering. One of my students chose A&M over UT this year with his mind set on computer engineering, mainly because he felt A&M showed him stronger support. He has already established contacts with some students there, unofficially joined two clubs, and being recruited for some competition team.
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I mean, kids choose less selective over more selective every day - so that’s not surprising at all. Both mine did.
If you are on a permanent resident visa then I am pretty sure that essentially is the same as being a US Citizen for the purposes of attending university. If a parent is on a work visa then I honestly do not know how that impacts university admissions or in-state versus out of state tuition for schools in Texas.
I am assuming that you will study some before retaking. My understanding is that studying for the SAT does help. Of course you have a lot more potential improvement in the R&W part since your math score is already excellent, even for a potential engineering major.
Really no, where you go for a bachelor’s degree does not matter much. For engineering, ABET accreditation does matter. However, if you look at the students at very good master’s degree programs you will see that they came from a huge range of undergraduate schools. Also, when you are working on a job, people will care that whatever you design actually works, but will not care where you got your degree (and in many cases will not even know where you got your degree). Also, TAMU is a very good university, and as far as I know it is ABET accredited. I do not know your safeties as well but my understanding is that they are also ABET accredited.
And I agree with @tsbna44 that most of the Ivy League schools are not particularly known for engineering.
I worked in high tech for pretty much my entire career. Most of the people I worked with just had a bachelor’s degree, and this includes some very strong engineers. A few had master’s degrees. I can only think of one or two who had a PhD, and I do not recall them as standing out when compared to other very good engineers. Generally my coworkers had graduated from a huge range of schools, at least to the extent that I even knew.
Personally I think that UT Austin is probably a reach for you, but is also worth applying to. Otherwise while your list is short I think that it is a very good list. Your GPA and SAT are very good (I am sort of amazed that you are only top 9% with a 3.96 unweighted GPA – I wonder whether grading should be tougher so that students do not need to have straight A’s to be near the top of the class but neither you nor I get to set your high school’s policies). Your guidance counselor will be more familiar with public universities in Texas than I am, but I don’t see a need to expand the list much if at all.
Every student who I know who has studied at a very good graduate program has said the same thing. Graduate students in very good programs come from all over the place.
@Viha I think that you are doing very well and are likely to continue to do well. Best wishes.
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You only enter on a permanent resident visa - you then become a green card holder (literally as soon as your passport gets stamped). So if OP says “on a visa”, they will be non-resident/international.
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You need to research and find out if you qualify for in-state tuition. Look online, talk to your guidance counselor, etc.
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What if I probably want to work as a quantitative analyst. Based on what I hearing you need to come from a really competitive school.
Not true. But some wil have a higher proportion that end up there. Others have tests and will let most anyone take. One isn’t eliminated based on schools but may have better odds at others.
But if you don’t get into UT, you don’t get in. Not much you can do. But if you don’t, the dream isn’t over.
You will have a difficult time getting a job as a quant analyst from any school simply because there are so few of those jobs, and because you are an international student your chances will be even lower.
@hebegebe can give you more insights, including potential AI impact on entry level quant jobs
Hi @Viha,
So you would like to become a “quantitative analyst”? I have written about the different roles in quant in a previous thread:
Summarizing a bit, when many students talk about quant, they are talking about the trading roles in companies like Jane Street or Jump Trading, or about the research roles in hedge funds like DE Shaw or Two Sigma. I call these NY-style quant companies These are among the most difficult positions to get, and the typical background is someone majoring in Math or Stats, followed by those majoring in CS, Electrical Engineering and Physics. These companies don’t care at all about a finance background, and their interviews don’t ask finance questions, assuming with strong math skills can learn the finance. Most hires in these roles come from elite colleges with MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford being the most represented. But it is possible to be hired here from other colleges (such as UT Austin) if you can get called for an interview.
But there is another set of quant companies that I call “Boston-style” which expects less math brilliance but an understanding of finance. This is often demonstrated by making progress towards becoming a CFA charterholder. These companies more often hire from a larger set colleges. For example, it’s pretty common for graduates of BU or Tufts to have successful careers in these companies.
In addition, these companies also hire software engineers. There are diferent types of roles here as well. Some are relatively close to the quant researchers, and convert their insights into efficient production code. Others are further away and may work on more core infrastructure tools such as compilers or fault tolerance.
AI is making everyone at these companies more efficient, and in many companies is reducing the number of new hires, making getting hired into a quant company even more competitive.
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To add to the list, there are other types of quant jobs — structuring jobs on bank dealer desks, risk management roles at banks, actuarial jobs, derivative pricing jobs at broker dealers etc. it is a broad category with different hiring requirements.
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Thanks for your input. Can you also comment whether international students are typically able to get internships and post-grad jobs in these companies? (? for @neela too)
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The higher the pay, the better the chances for an international student. So higher chances at places like Jane Street, Citadel, DE Shaw, Two Sigma etc. — they almost don’t care — they think of their talent pool as global. As you go lower down in pay, employers are less likely to be inclined to put in the effort (these days) to get you immigration processed. Also, these days, the minimum pay to get a H1B is going up (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-08/trump-s-h-1b-visa-proposal-requires-salary-increases-for-entry-level-jobs) So the job needs to be high paying. Some of the entry level risk management jobs may not even qualify from a pay point of view.
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thanks. I also wanted to ask @hebegebe what I could do as a high school junior to kind of be prepared. For background knowledge, I have already taken Calc BC. I have no olympiad experience but I am really proficient in math.
What math are you taking senior year? What visa do you currently have?
I am taking AP stats since that is the only option I have left. does visa matter? I am on L category. I am dependent on my dad’s visa
I may be misreading but I believe you would qualify for Texas tuition.
Here’s the table by Visa status. It says - The following non-U.S. citizens are eligible to establish a domicile (permanent place of residence) in the State of Texas for the purpose of determining residency for tuition purposes:
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thanks
Well, it’s relevant in that it is one of the visa categories that allows you instate tuition (assuming the residency requirements have been met). I assume you are aware you will need to change to F1 status if you turn 21 before you finish your degree. (Some people change to F1 status sooner than that as it allows for (limited) employment, unlike a child L or H dependent.)
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