I believe that I’ve included all the relevant information, please let me know if you need more.
Demographics:
Indian Citizen (US Permanent Resident but considered OOS in all states)
Gender/Race: Male, Asian
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering (but open to Mechanical as well)
Test Scores: (self-predicted, official predicted coming in 2 months)
IB HL scores: 777 (physics, chemistry, math AA)
IB Overall: 40 (38+2)
Class Rank: Top 5 (unofficially)
SAT Score: 1500
Extracurriculars:
Part of the student council
Developed three applications (albeit they’re pretty simple) (not ‘published’ anywhere other than GitHub)
Co-founded a 30-students strong cleaning club (beaches, streets)
LORs:
One from my DPC (Diploma Program Coordinator/Principal)
Budget:
up to 80k (could go higher if needed)
Future Plans:
Naturalize and work at a large aerospace company (civilian, military, NASA, aviation, or space focused firm)
There are a lot of universities below so I’d appreciate your feedback for even one or two of them.
What is your UW and W GPA? UofArizona is good safety, you may get goof merit depends on GPA. Texas A&M, UC Davis, CU Boulder are good target. The rest are mostly reach.
Caught me red-handed but yes I’d like to know my chances at these unis since I want to do my bachelors in the US (if I don’t get into the more selective unis in my list I’ll have to join an Indian college)
IB students are unfortunately not given a GPA since the IB grading system is different from that of however GPAs are calculated. Colleges generally do not convert IB grades to GPA - they are assessed independently (however a IB40 very approximately corresponds to a 3.8 unweighted GPA).
And thanks for the target recommendations (feel free to update them based on the GPA)
Congratulations on your achievements. I can’t chance you but expect you will be competitive at many schools.
It does seem you understand that even as a permanent resident you may be limited working in aerospace in the US (ITAR and all). I think the current wait time is 1-2 years for naturalization, but not sure.
I don’t know all the ins and outs of the rules but encourage you to figure it out sooner rather than later because this could also impact your ability to get certain internships, and ultimately jobs.
@dadjerseygirl I can’t remember…do you know how this works for perm residents?
As a permanent resident, OP can work or intern freely anywhere in the U.S., except at jobs that require security clearance or US citizenship (typically defense contractors and government agencies). Unfortunately, a lot of aerospace engineering roles fall into this category. However, there are some such jobs where a “Limited Access Authorization (LAA)” is acceptable in place of a security clearance, and permanent residents can get this authorization.
OP has to have been a permanent resident for 5 years (and have maintained a presence in the US for 5 years) before being eligible to file for naturalization. The processing time to become a citizen (once he files) varies from 6-12 months.
^ that means OP cannot attend a university in Canada.
Also, perhaps another type of Engineering (MechE?) might make things easier.
Would any MechE programs offer an Aero concentration or minor?
Purdue University has an interactive Data Digest, here: https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/. If you go to the links for “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile” you can get some objective information about recently matriculated students at Purdue. Perusing some of this data could probably give you a rough idea of your admission chances at Purdue.
For the past 10 or so years Purdue has kept tuition and room/board constant, and has been a great bargain in that regard; although I don’t know how much longer that policy will continue.
ME with AE electives* may be more flexible in general for job seeking – aerospace employers readily hire ME graduates, but other employers may see AE as a signal that non-aerospace is not the applicant’s preferred choice.
*Some schools may not have AE majors, but just AE course electives within ME.
I’m definitely aware of the high security standards that the aerospace industry has.
Although naturalization is usually a smooth process (as far as I’ve heard), it means that it’ll be a while until I actually receive citizenship (We’re getting the green card this month actually, meaning I won’t reach the 5 year period until April 2029 and citizenship until 2030!)
Also, I’ve spoken with a (permanent resident) family friend who’s doing his PhD at Purdue (aerospace) and he says that there will be plenty of aero internship opportunities for me to do with the green card (although I doubt Lockheed would be eager to intern me ).
I’ve heard many people recommend me/others to major in ME with AE minor/electives. For now I’m sticking with AE major since I’m 99% confident that I want to work in aerospace. However, I’ll ponder more about this issue when I’m less bogged down by academics.
But regardless of my choice of major, my uni options above (at least the target/low reach unis) will remain mostly unchanged right?
ME with AE electives will likely increase options if you choose not to go into aerospace, or that path is blocked for you (due to security clearance issues or a downturn in that specific industry).
There may be additional schools with ME with AE electives but not an AE major that may be suitable for your application list.
I see, I’ll explore ME courses as well since it falls within my area of interest while also greatly expanding my options (since it’s not a guarantee that I’ll get naturalized in time/get special security clearance for AE). Thanks
but yes I’d like to know my chances at these unis since I want to do my bachelors in the US (if I don’t get into the more selective unis in my list I’ll have to join an Indian college)
(feel free to update them based on the GPA)
).