Thanks, that’s a great fit suggestion. Embry-Riddle makes a lot of sense for an aero-focused applicant, and I hadn’t factored in how much their merit leans on test scores. Good to know the institutional scholarships are automatic off the admission app and that a 1500 could pull a strong award there; that GPA-vs-scores tradeoff works in my favor. I’ll add it as a target and run their net price calculator, since as a private it’ll cost more than the state options even with merit. My one hesitation is how aero-specialized it is versus a broader engineering school, but for a safety/match with a real merit shot it’s a solid add. Appreciate it.
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Thanks, this is really practical advice. You’re right. an acceptance I can’t afford is effectively a rejection, so I’ll apply for aid wherever I’d need it rather than skipping it out of fear of being need-aware. And good point on the Net Price Calculators being unreliable for internationals; I’ll treat them as rough estimates and confirm actual costs with each school’s international financial aid office instead.
On ED, you’re right to question it. Another commenter made the same point, and I’ve dropped the idea. Since my clear favorites in the realistic tier (Purdue, VT) are EA-only anyway, and I’ll want to compare merit/aid offers across schools, ED doesn’t make sense for me. I’ll focus on EA deadlines instead.
And yes having a couple of affordable sure things (esp. Alabama) is exactly what lets me take swings at the less-sure ones. Appreciate all the input.
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Thanks!! UAH is a great call. I’d actually glanced at it early on but hadn’t given it enough weight. The Huntsville location is the real draw: being right next to Marshall and Redstone means real aero exposure even as a mech major, which fits exactly what I want. I’ll add it as a target. I know its international merit is more modest than the Tuscaloosa campus, but if it lands in budget with a strong aero environment, that’s a great combination. Appreciate it.
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This is a good point, for which I had forgotten, honestly, when mentioning that point about holistic…
As an international applicant, though, I think you are going to have to cast a really wide net I am afraid. That said, the fact that you can pay a fair bit is somewhat helpful. A lot of international students are looking for full aid, I imagine….FWIW, Case and Tufts are need-aware even for domestic students! (Both sort of hide that, though, and I don’t think either take it into HUGE consideration for domestic students as they are wealthy schools, but they aren’t 100% need blind).
Also, bear in mind engineering programs in US, thanks to abet accreditation, are all very solid no matter the school! Do well, network and join clubs (especially design/build teams) at ANY, and you should be good. (And I am one on CC that is WAY more prestigious-focused than most people - I went to an Ivy and think experience was incredible and worth a LOT- but for mech-e, that sort of school matters way, way less). Find a school you can pay for, get good grades, and build things.
With a budget of $50,000 per year, this will put some of the private universities in the US way over budget. MIT, CMU, and Tufts for example are likely to be unaffordable even if you were to get accepted. Have you run the NPC for these schools? It might be necessary to get your parents to run the NPCs since they will ask for quite a bit of family financial information.
Even if they consider need for admissions, an unaffordable acceptance is not really worth much. You might want to run the NPC for these schools, be aware that the NPC is likely to be a best-possible-case situation and actual results might be worse, and just see whether the private schools on your list have a chance of being affordable. If you need aid, and if the NPC shows that need based aid is possible, you might either apply for financial aid or just drop the school from your list.
One issue for schools that consider need for admissions is that your level of need might be lower compared to many international applicants. There are quite a few international students who are academically excellent but can afford very little (or sometimes almost nothing) compared to the cost of university in the USA. Thus a school being need-aware might not be quite as big of a problem for you as it might be for at least some other international applicants.
For a potential engineering major, three B’s in AP English do not concern me at all, and I doubt that they will concern the universities at all. B’s in mathematics do concern me. To me this makes MIT seem very unlikely.
A few B’s in biology might not concern me, whereas for a potential engineering student a few B’s in physics might concern me for admissions to the most selective schools.
If you are in the middle third of students in your high school, even at a very high end specialized high school, I do not think that I would bother applying to MIT and probably not CMU or Georgia Tech. Tufts with an 11% acceptance rate (but lower than this for international students) also seems unlikely. I would focus more on schools where admissions and affordability is more likely.
For someone whose native language is not English, and who wants to study engineering, 700 on the English SAT is very good. The quality of your English in this thread is also excellent. 800 on the math SAT is of course perfect, and very encouraging for a potential engineering student.
These are very good universities and way more likely compared to MIT or probably CMU, GT, or Tufts.
I also quite like the location for Tufts. I used to live near there. However, there are a lot of other very good universities in the Boston area, some of which are less likely for admissions and some of which are more likely.
I am hard pressed to think of other universities in Medford or Somerville (MIT and Harvard are not all that far away, but are even harder for admissions). However, if you are looking for good universities that are approximately in the Boston area, there are lots of them. One that you might want to think about is the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. It is ABET accredited for ME, is not all that far from Boston, and admissions would be likely. I am not sure about the cost but they do offer some merit aid for out-of-state and international students. Your GPA should be fine, and your SAT is superb for U.Mass Lowell.
U.Mass Amherst is another possibility. It is quite a bit further from Boston, a bit more difficult to get into, but is also a bit higher ranked compared to U.Mass Lowell. The last time that I checked both U.Mass Amherst and U.Mass Lowell were test-optional for admissions, but with a 700 on the English part and 800 on the math part of the SAT I would definitely submit these excellent scores.
Personally I would only apply ED if a school is your clear number 1 top choice and the NPC shows it as likely to be affordable. It is not clear to me that any school meets this criteria. You do not need to apply ED anywhere. One big problem with ED is that if you get in, then it takes away the chances of comparing financial aid at different schools.
I am however a big fan of EA, and would apply EA to anywhere that offers it.
Let’s assume that you get accepted to a good university in the US, and it is affordable, and you are applying for a visa to study in the US. If you say “I intend to stay in the US after graduation” that could be a reason to deny a student visa. If however you say “My home country has a strong aerospace and robotics industry, and a US degree is highly valued there” that is going to come across a LOT better.
I might be a bit confused on this last point, but I have somehow gotten the impression that you are from South Korea. If I have this right, then I might mention that some years ago I had the great honor to get to visit your country twice, and for example tour the Korean War Museum in Seoul. I had two great trips to Korea, have fond memories of your country, and wish you the best. Others have suggested quite a few schools where admissions would be likely with your stats, and which are likely to be affordable. It can be difficult to accurately predict admissions and affordability for international student but I wish you the best and hope to see you studying here in the US in the near future.
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This is incredibly thorough thank you for taking the time.
A correction I should make (my original post was unclear): I will be applying for need-based aid at the higher-cost schools that my ~$50k is a real ceiling, not full-pay. So your NPC point is well taken; I’ll have my parents run them for any private on the list and treat the results as a best case, then either apply for aid or drop the school. And that’s a fair reason to be realistic about MIT/CMU/GT/Tufts given where I sit in my cohort I’ll treat those as, at most, one or two non-binding EA lottery tickets rather than a real plan, and put my energy into schools where admission and affordability are likely.
Your read on the B’s matches my own worry exactly, the English B’s don’t bother me, but the Calc BC and physics B’s are the real soft spot for an engineering applicant. That’s precisely why I’m leaning on the 800 Math and hands-on projects to carry that part of the story.
UMass Lowell and Amherst are new to me. thank you, I’ll look at both. Lowell especially sounds like a strong, likely, affordable ABET option, and you’re right that with these scores I’d submit them everywhere.
And the visa point is genuinely useful! I hadn’t thought about how the “intent to return” framing matters for the F-1 interview itself, not just for my own planning. Framing it as “Korea has a strong aerospace/robotics industry where a US degree is valued” is both true and the right thing to lead with. I’ll remember that.
You have South Korea right and it means a lot that you have fond memories of visiting. Thank you for the kindness, and for one of the most helpful replies I’ve gotten here.
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