I’m a high school junior and the first in my family to pursue higher education. I’m passionate about engineering and aiming to apply to competitive programs. However, I’m concerned about how to make my application stand out, especially since I don’t have access to many resources or guidance.
I’ve maintained strong grades and been involved in various extracurricular activities; however, I’m unsure how to highlight my experiences effectively. Are there specific projects, competitions, or initiatives that could bolster my application? Additionally, any advice on navigating the college application process as a first-generation student would be greatly appreciated.
First relax. There are a lot of very good universities in the US, and just as many or more elsewhere. There are a lot of universities that are ABET accredited for multiple types of engineering, and they are all good. This probably includes one or more in-state public universities for you (and might include a LOT of in-state public universities if you are in a large state).
Next, do well in your math classes. You do not need to jump ahead. You can take your math classes in the normal order. However, engineering relies on quite a bit of math, and doing well in math classes will help anyone who wants to become an engineer.
And you should understand that engineers who graduate from MIT or Stanford routinely work alongside engineers who graduated from UNH or U.Mass or San Jose State or Cal Poly or Rutgers or any one of 100 or probably 200 other universities and in most cases no one cares where anyone got their degree.
Make sure that you apply to at least two safeties. Keep your budget in mind. Look for a university that is a good fit for you. Budget and finding a good fit are important. University rankings are not.
Agree with the above advice. You need to look for ABET accredited engineering programs. Look for places where you can afford the costs, and where you would like to be.
If you do a chance me/match me post, and specifically ask for some college suggestions, I’m sure you will get many! Please answer all the questions on the chance me/match me template. And include info about the sort of places you might like…geographic location, school size, religious or secular, weather…anything that you think will help folks here help you!
Have you taken the SAT or ACT? If not, practice using Khan Academy, sample questions and register for a summer test.
What math class are you taking junior or senior year?
Have you taken bio, chem, and physics? What science class can you take senior year?
What State do you live in? Advice could be tailored to your state (ie., classifying state schools as reach/target/likely, whether it belongs to a group like Wue/WICHE..)
Have you run the NPC on any college?
Budget is very important so running the NPC will help you figure out if you qualify for need based aid (based on finances) and/or merit (based on scores&GPA).
So this means the immediate most important question is–what is your budget? Like, how much in total can you contribute including all of tuition and fees, housing and dining, mandatory health insurance, travel, and all other costs?
Your answer to that question will basically dictate where you can consider applying in the US, and then from that you can get suggestions on how to apply, including what different colleges might be looking for in terms of an International applicant and how to show that in your application.
What may be relevant is whether the OP is currently outside the US, or is an international student currently living in the US (e.g. on a dependent visa). If the latter, some states allow some international students living there to have residency for tuition purposes on some circumstances.
Of course, beyond international status, there are the usual recommendations of doing well in school, and including the highest math available to the student, and including physics and chemistry along with all of the usual expected college preparatory course work.
Take a practice SAT and ACT under test conditions and decide which you would rather prep for. SAT is digital and the math section comes with access to Desmos, and has a large question bank but only a few full length tests while the ACT can be paper or digital and has more official practice tests available.