<p>Hi guys,
I am english (but with american citizenship) and am looking to apply to american universities to do engineering . I am a pretty good student. I am an academic scholar, getting all A’s in nearly all classes and have a good range of extra-curriculars including shooting target rifle for england. I have also been told that I should look to apply to about six universities with 2 safety 2 normal and 2 reach. My ideal choices are the kind of obvious ones (MIT, Caltech, Cornell, UCB, Harvard, Stanford) one of my questions is are all of these universities reaches or are a couple of them ok? Could anyone recommend some normal or fallback universities? Also as I live in the UK I am doing GCSE’s and A Levels, would these be taken into account when I apply to university? </p>
<p>Real thanks and happy new year,
GeorgeBA</p>
<p>Yes those are all reaches. They are reaches for kids in America, so for internationals it’s even harder. Do you need financial aid? Then it could be even tougher.</p>
<p>What are your stats? Perhaps we can help with some suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. BTW I am english but I have american citizenship so I can be counted as american application wise. Stats wise I get nearly all A’s I have not taken SATs yet and was wondering about what is the best way to study for them? I am probably in the top 20 students in my year.
Thanks.</p>
<p>These are definitely all reaches. Grade-wise you seem okay, but what are your extracurriculars and awards?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering. </p>
<p>Extracurricular: I shoot target rifle for england and will be captain of my team. I am captain of kayaking club for the second year. I have done a level 2 BTEC. I am an NCO in the combined cadet force. I have done 6 school plays. I was in the choir for 2 years. I am a school guide. I have got 2 first aid qualifications. I have john muir discovery award for awareness and conservation of wild places and I am also going for a national engineering scholarship (this is more academic but what ever)</p>
<p>Thanks,
George</p>
<p>If you have an american passport, then you are an american citizen and not an international student, which is a good thing. It’s a weird convoluted system here in the states, lol.</p>