I am currently a high school senior living outside the U.S., planning to study Mechanical Engineering in the United States. I intend to enroll for the Winter 2027 term, which leaves me with a “gap year.” Because the extracurricular activities available in my home country are often not recognized internationally (or we dont have many)I am focusing on building a competitive profile during this time
I have already achieved a 1590 on the SAT and am currently preparing for AP exams. During my gap year, I have secured an internship at a mechanical engineering firm. While I have completed many projects in the past—ranging from rocketry and electronics to chemistry—none of the was considebly hard(at least for me )I want to challenge myself with something more rigorous and “considerably hard.” Oh and i had lots of time with 3d printing solid works fusion coding in c# and python
Since my local options for in-person activities are limited, I am looking for high-level extracurriculars. I am open to online programs even traveling internationally if necessary. Although I haven’t participated in Olympiads or major competitions in the past due to previous financial constraints of my family, money is no longer an issue. What specific extracurriculars or “real-world” projects would you recommend to help me stand out for top-tier U.S. engineering programs? I’m open for all
You don’t need any. And what you’ve done is a lot.
Not sure what you mean by top tier or what you can afford but do something with a gap year. Maybe a service activity - maybe you can help a struggling operation with your know how - whether modernizing something or building something.
But you don’t need specific engineering activities and there a lot of top engineering schools, depending how you define that.
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Well, I can’t deny I made lots of things, but the biggest problem is it’s not official. I mean, I know lots of professors from university because of my project; I can ask for recommendation letters, but what is the reason for him giving me a letter? I haven’t attended his class; he just gave me advice on one of my projects.
Or let’s take my projects: how can I prove I did them or that it’s my project? They are still lying around in my house, yes, but I don’t have proof that I made them. That’s why I’m planning to document everything about the project I will make on my gap year.
Oh, and preferably I want to attend an Ivy League. About my finances, let’s just say I can afford almost everything. I can’t even prove I know Python; I never attended a course, etc., I just learned it on the internet. And what type of service activity? As I said, I can’t do much here. The problem is not just recognition of activities; the bigger problem is there is almost none because here we have a national university exam, and that’s it that’s the only way to enter university here.
Btw, my project is going to be an electric car or, if I get proper certification (which is incredibly hard), a 2-stage rocket I will make from scratch. I already made designs, I already bought common materials, I know welding, and I have experience with them.
I’m suffering of self thought i got the skills and the hardware sitting in your garage, but on paper, i am a ghost. There is no activities in my country
I even have chem lab in my home welding machines (cnc machines before it burned)
Your intellectual curiosity is coming through loud and clear to me, which is what you need to communicate in your college essays. You don’t need “high level” ECs. I agree that you have done plenty in HS and having a mech E internship for your gap year is more than enough!
I’m going to address some other things -
“I intend to enroll for the Winter 2027 term.” Have you already applied to colleges and taken the gap? It doesn’t sound like that from your original post and I don’t know of any high ranking school that will allow for an early matriculation in winter 2027 with this next cycle of the common app (other posters, please let me know if I’m mistaken).
Engineering courses in the US are very very sequential. If you start midyear/off cycle you may have difficulty getting into the courses you need or graduating on time.
”Oh, and preferably I want to attend an Ivy League.” Why? The only Ivy known for the strength of their engineering program is Cornell. Here’s the top 10 list of mech e programs in the US:
MIT, Stanford and Berkeley (tied), Georgia Tech, UIUC, U of Michigan, Cal Tech, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell rounding out the list at #10.
If you are full pay, and your grades match your test scores, you are already very competitive for UIUC and Purdue. And I’d venture you have a good shot at Michigan and GT. The others are much more unpredictable unless you are one of the top students in your country.
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Hmmm…That would mean you would have already applied in many cases…
I think you may just want to apply for Fall (aug/sept 2027) at this point if looking at top schools..
Some schools allow direct applications for the winter term (though usually you still apply with teh fall cohorts), but most top private ones don’t have an application cycle for that, especially for first year students.
That isn’t necessary, especially if from another country. Take full advantage of what you can do where you are. Projects you have done on your own are great…1590 is fantastic..an internships at a mech-e firm is perfect, especially if you can keep it a substantive amount of time…I a not sure you really need to do more…travelling abroad for competitions or events or programs isn’t really necessary IMO.
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Whether you are a US citizen or an international student can be significant in terms of university admissions, financial aid, and scholarships.
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So here is some things I need to address more carefully where did that winter come from when I was writing Idk I’m planning to enroll in fall (September 2027) so my test scores is 98 out of 100 in avarage so when I do some research everyone that enters mit Stanford caltech doin some activites or olympiad ap classes but my country doesn’t have them i can take ap exams in here but it costs around 200 dolar per exam maybe that puts how limited my country is
If you are still saying it’s enough I want to ask some things so i what should i do other than long term intership my project that i will document and ap exams to enter the universities i mention (caltech mit Harvard etc)
Here’s the thing, admission to the MIT/Cal Tech type schools are holistic. You could win an international olympiad and still not be admitted. The acceptance rate for international students is ridiculously low. You are better off spending your time researching and creating a list of schools where you have a more reasonable change of acceptance.
You also don’t need to self study for AP tests. The admissions officers will look at your application in the context of what was available at your high school and in your country.
I would recommend that you read the old MIT blog “applying sideways” as it is still relevant today- Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions
Thanks for the truthful advice besides usa im planning to apply technical university of munich bc last year i learned german and now i have c1 gothe certificate so question is can you give me an advice what should i do except things i will do there is 2 reasons first reason is make my chances of entering prestigious schools higher second reason is i hate when i dont have any work to do i need something to do in my free time (which i hate having it)
Thank you all for advices i came to a conclusion i will build my own path and maybe follow it who knows
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I don’t think I saw your citizenship status or need for aid above, but if $200 is a challenge, then it sounds like college costs will be a top priority. Your citizenship status will also play a role in the availability of financial aid. These factors may drive your college list above all others.
Small request. Can you please use punctuation in your posts…instead of one long run on sentence.
- I would suggest you do a chance me/match me thread. And please answer every single question.
- Do you have financial constraints, or can your family pay up to $100,000 a year for you to attend undergrad school here in the U.S.
Please keep in mind that IF you come to college in the U.S., it is very likely you will be required to return to your home country once your student visa ends.
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No 200 dolar isn’t a challenge. Considering normally its 130 dollars 200 is expensive.
I’ll definitely pay more attention to my punctuation. Since I don’t have financial constraints, I know there’s a high probability I’ll return after college. I’ve also gotten the answers I needed, so I won’t need to post in the ‘catch me’ thread anymore.
I am actually a little surprised that no one has mentioned this already (even though it has only been 6 hours). You should read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site.
As I understand it, this blog recommends that you do what is right for you, whatever you do you should do it well, and treat people well. This is exactly what I did, and it did get me into MIT although admittedly that was a long time ago. I did not do anything at all for the purpose of applying to MIT. I just did what was right for me.
Also, what is right for you, and what was right for me, are likely to be two completely different sets of things. That is okay. We do not need to participate in the same activities.
And I might add that a similar approach IMHO is appropriate for other top universities in the USA.
Personally I think that your activities are already very good.
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Thanks for the insight. That actually clears up a lot of my doubts. I’ve come to the conclusion that the path I’ve taken—focusing on deep self-study and my own independent projects—was the right one for me all along.
It’s encouraging to know that these self-driven projects and my internship are valued even without international competitions or Olympiads. I’m going to double down on exactly that. I’m deeply in love with science, and self-study is what I do best, so I’ll keep pushing my limits through independent learning and my own hands-on projects. It’s a relief to know that this path is valued.
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