I am a high school graduate from India.
I want to do a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and computer science. Starting in Spring 2016
Standardized scores-
TOEFL- 109
ACT- 31(E31, M 34, R 33, S 26)
SAT2- Physics 760, Maths 740
Class 12 - 86.4% (91 percentile)
A little background-
I come from a system where only the end result, or the final marks(in a nationwide conducted exam), matter and so for the last 2 years my participation in EC’s has been discouraged and hence, limited.
Nonetheless, I was the band leader in my final year and a senior member of the school MUN team( won prizes at all 3 competitions both I, and the school participated in.
In this break semester I have been reading 1 book every 2 days, and reviewing them. Also I am halfway through writing my own novel.
Doing my research I have seen that only large public universities offer admission in the spring for international undergraduate admissions, my list so far is-
MIT (reach)
Ohio State
University of Massachusetts
University of Arizona
University of Wisconsin
University of Michigan
University of Maryland
University of Illinois
Purdue University
I personally want to attend a smaller college/university, but so far I have been unable to find any. My parents don’t want me to wait till fall next year.
P.S. I have also been taking verified EdX courses(6 in all), and learning python.
Please suggest any more colleges/universities that I should add, and my chances in getting into those I have(I don’t have any cost constraint)
Also any other E.C. that I should take up over the summer.
Any other suggestions are also welcome.
Thank you.
If you want a smaller school, why don’t your parents allow you to wait a few months? What’s the hurry? You have the advantage of being full-pay, so you’re really limiting your options with that spring admission maneuver. You might end up at a research uni anyway (for physics/CS), but it sounds like it would be nice for you to throw in a few apps for smaller schools.
They don’t want me to “waste” my time by dropping for a whole year. I want to go to a smaller school because I for the last 7 years have been part of a very small, cut of form the world, boarding school, and have really loved it. That is the majn reason why I want to go to a smaller school. Please list out any “small” school, that you know off and would consider spring applications. Also what are my chances for above mentioned schools?
What are your plans after graduation? If grad school, you need to be careful with the course offerings for physics/CS at smaller schools. There may be only a handful of smaller schools worth considering, in which case you can simply check if those schools offer spring admits.
By the constraint on spring admissions that you and your parents have imposed on starting study in “spring” presumably at the best possible college that’s consistent with your interests and abilities you appear to be missing the point of how the educational protocol and culture works in the United States. I strongly suggest that you and your family begin to think that you will (or wish to) study in the United States and therefore accept the cultural and procedural norms that this implies. If you disagree please ignore the rest of my post.
So consistent with your desire to attend a college/university that’s smaller than the large publics that you’ve identified research the colleges that will work for you and which are consistent with your stats. Put aside the start date. There are several excellent college guides that can help you find suitable colleges. Also colleges generally post their course catalogs online and these often are very helpful in distinguishing among them.
Then apply for fall 2016 admissions. For selective colleges applying early decision gives you an admissions advantage. So you may want to pick one of the colleges accordingly. If you do get in early admissions then you’ll have the decision in a December or so timeframe. If not you’ll have to wait till spring.
What then should you do for what is essentially a gap year? I recommend that you consider working, or volunteering, or seriously taking online courses, or possibly travelling to the United States and enrolling in a community college. If you do the latter make sure that the colleges to which you’re applying allow that. Or consider a 5th year at an American Boarding school. Use google to find some such private American high schools.
In my opinion the education system in India is deeply flawed and I am not going to waste any more of my time here.
I recognize that most people begin college in the fall, and it is the best time to do it. But my parents consider even my writing and reading novels a utter waste of time I am thinking of going to a large public university in the spring, just to see how it goes(smaller school is a preference based on past experience, not a dealbreaker) , and get rid of the incessant nagging I am routinely subjected to.
I have been led to believe that many colleges do not offer introductory courses in the spring, is it necessary or does it depend on the college?
Also please rate my chances of getting into the above specified universities.
Thank you!
It’s hard to assess the chances for internationals, but you’ll get in somewhere if you apply widely, being full-pay. U Michigan is a reach. I believe MIT does not offer spring admission.
Add UT Austin, Boston U, U Washington, Penn State. Check the dates. I believe Boston U (private) offers January admission. It has somewhat fewer undergrads than the others and it’s solid for physics/CS.
Most smaller schools are privates which don’t offer spring admission. If you applied for Fall 2016, you could look at Carnegie Mellon (reach), U Rochester (low reach), Rensselaer (match).
Rennselear seems to be a the best fit, and they have started offering spring admissions
Penn Sate also offers spring admission, their applications opened on June 1.
I think I will apply to penn state and a some of the other schools by the next week, and wait(and request) to see if they can give me their decisions before September, as the deadline for most of the other schools is 1st October(I might save a lot in application fees this way). If I don’t get in I will submit 10 more, so 14 or 15 in total.
And yeah I was misinformed about MIT, thanks for correcting me.
Also are my ec’s strong enough, and if not can what I am doing over this summer(programming, reading reviews and writing a novel) counter that.
Also please suggest any other activites that might help me,(remembering it’s always 100° outside).
Well, the idea is to seek admission to the most selective / best for phys/cs schools, so even if you have early success, you should still apply to a handful later on. You shouldn’t need to apply to 15, but try to make a priority list so you don’t bypass the better schools. Rensselaer’s size definitely looks good for you. Stay open-minded about the size criterion, though, because quite frankly, most academically-minded STEM kids who end up at larger research universities tend not to complain about their overall experience, due to the better resources/research opps/course selection and campus vibrancy. Try to figure out what you want for campus “fit”, in case you end up with a few options.
As for your ECs, it’s hard to say, do you live near a university?
Colgate doesn’t offer international spring undergraduate admission.
Yeah I will keep in mind the facilities and research opportunities more than the size while deciding on a university. I don’t have any reputable universities near me.
Pennsylvania State University—University Park 48 (tie) Nov. 30
Purdue University—West Lafayette (IN) 62 (tie) Feb. 1
University of Pittsburgh 62 (tie)
N/A
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick 70 Dec. 1
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities 71 (tie) Dec. 15
Indiana University—Bloomington 76 (tie)
Feb. 1
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 76 (tie)
Feb. 1
Michigan State University 85 (tie) Nov. 1
Binghamton University—SUNY 88 (tie)
Jan. 15
Stony Brook University—SUNY 88 (tie)
Jan. 15
University of Alabama 88 (tie)
Feb. 1
University of Tulsa (OK) 88 (tie)
Feb. 1
Your post has been on my mind since I read it yesterday. That said, I am not sure how best to respond so I will lay out my thoughts simply, quickly and with all due respect.
You say you need to please your parents and matriculate somewhere for a spring term even though the usual cycle for these competitive schools and their freshman intake programs are geared for fall admission. And you are willing to transfer institutions to satisfy the plan.
It seems to me that your reading and writing to date has made you the thoughtful, talented and (yes) respectful
person you are and that as it’s your life- not that of your parents- the pressure and restrictions your parents seem to
be imposing on you are simply not fair. And as you already know viscerally, and I can affirm, who you are in life is really about how you feel about yourself and how you live your life. Your reading and writing are in no way a “waste of time” as they contribute to your character development as the person- adult, parent, professional and community member- you are becoming.
I hope that you will be able to manage your parents’ attitudes while delivering for yourself a calm and measured approach to achieving your university education STEM or otherwise. Given that you are doing the legwork in determining the application process for these schools that will achieve your goal - and your parents are not- I hope you can steer a path to the fall admissions route, matriculate somewhere you will remain for your degree and will challenge your thirst for knowledge with electives outside the delimiting nature of a STEM-alone education.
I wish you success with your eventual plan’s execution!
I am thinking of going to a large public university in the spring, just to see how it goes(smaller school is a preference based on past experience, not a dealbreaker) , and get rid of the incessant nagging I am routinely subjected to.