Like the title says, I have a meager amount of extracurriculars so I donāt have my hopes upā¦
I believe that Iāve included all the relevant information, please let me know if you need more.
Demographics:
Currently Residing: India (however, I am a permanent resident with an address in Texas hence Iām considered a domestic applicant)
Gender/Race: Male, Asian
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering (open to Mechanical as well)
Test Scores:
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 theyāre pretty simple) (not published anywhere other than GitHub)
- Co-founded a 30-students strong cleaning club (beaches, streets, etc.)
LORs:
One from my DPC (Diploma Program Coordinator/Principal)
Budget:
None (no scholarship necessary)
Forgot to mention, these are my predicted scores for this year (since IB exams are in Oct/Nov).
Iāll be officially graduating from high school on Dec 16 and Iām planning on applying for EA/ED.
Think hard about all the things you have encountered within student council, and possibly even your apps. There are stories within the stories. Those are also activities IMO. I also happen to like the cleaning club a lot.
I think you may be in a better position than you perceive.
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Do you want to stay in India for college? Go back to Texas? What are you interested in?
Are you still considered a TX resident? If so you can get a good deal by going to any of the state colleges within TX.
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Many many colleges donāt care/arenāt concerned with ECs.
Just depends on what you seek.
Look at a U of Arizona as an exampleā¦fine aero school with a diverse population. Others would be - really many state schools including in Texas (like a Houston, Texas Tech) or other fine aero like an Alabama, UAH, MS State and Iām sure many more.
But what type of school do you seek?
Not having ECs (and not sure thatās true because it seems like you do) - does not preclude you from an outstanding aero degree.
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You say you have an address in TX. Could you be eligible to be in-state for TX? If so, the TX public colleges should be on your list.
Itās great that you have that nice SAT score to confirm your academics. I think youāre in a very good position, applying to any engineering schools other than the tippy top ones.
Get a second letter. Most schools want two, and they prefer one from a humanities teacher, one from a STEM teacher.
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Maybe it is just me, but I really like this as an EC.
You might want to read the āapplying sidewaysā blog on the MIT admissions web site (a quick Google search should find it). At least in my experience the same approach seems to be helpful for other universities also. As I understand it, it recommends that you do what is right for you, and do it well. If you have gotten 30 students to cooperate in cleaning up beaches and streets, then you have made a difference that helps people.
You do not need a long list of ECs. A few ECs that make a positive difference is a better approach IMHO.
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Thanks for the advice, Iāll try to elaborate upon the ECs that I already have in my college application.
Iām planning on settling and naturalizing in the US and hopefully work at a defense company like Lockheed, Northrop, etc. I am considered to be like any other Texas high school student hence I can get in-state benefits.
However the issue is that my dad said he wouldnāt help me with tuition unless I get into a t40 at least. And as far as I know (correct me if Iām wrong), only UT Austin and Texas A&M are in that range - and Iām not really sure about my chances for either. Iād be happy to go to these unis but I believe my luck might be better out-of-state (again, please correct me if Iām wrong).
Although Iām not exactly sure by what you mean by ātype of schoolā, Iām fine with any college thatās preferably in a town/urban environment with a medium/large student population and plenty of opportunities to do internships or research - all the colleges youāve mentioned look great and Iād love to study at them.
However, my dad wants me to go to a highly ranked and well-known uni (ex. Purdue, CU Boulder, GIT, most UCs etc.) and thatās why Iām not sure if my ECs are at par with these colleges.
I am considered to be like any other Texas high school student hence I can get in-state benefits.
However the issue is that my dad said he wouldnāt help me with tuition unless I get into a t40 at least. And as far as I know (correct me if Iām wrong), only UT Austin and Texas A&M are in that range in Texas - and Iām not really sure about my chances for either. Iād be happy to go to these unis but I believe my luck might be better out-of-state (again, please correct me if Iām wrong).
Regarding the LoRs, my DPC is my chemistry teacher as well so ig that partās covered lol. But I havenāt had a humanities subject since I was in grade 10, is it ok to ask for an LoR from my grade 10 teacher in that case?
Not all have aero - and I get what your dad is saying - but maybe you should visit Huntsville - which is surrounded by defense/aero firms - itās basically NASAs #2 spot. Or the treasure coast of Florida - which Florida Tech and ERAU both have strong preferences.
Bottom line - you, not dad are going to school - and frankly, where you go for aero, short of a few, wonāt matter - youāll likely have a similar outcome at name your school to Purdue.
But you canāt go somewhere if you donāt apply - so apply to those you want - but ensure you have assured schools as well.
You asked for matches due to a lack of ECs - which I noted I disagree you lack in ECs.
So I provided - but dad wanting you to go to CU or Purdue doesnāt mean CU or Purdue or any UC is taking you.
So I provided other options - that wouldnāt care about ECs. U of Arizona, by the way, extremely well known for Aero and extremely easy to get into. Itās CU Boulder ish - in my mind rep wise.
Best of luck to you.
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My recommendation would be to find a couple Texas public universities with majors of interest beside TAMU and UT.
Then you can expand your list.
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Great point - in addition to A&M and UT, UT Arlington is ABET for aero.
And Angelo State, Houston, Lamar, Midwestern State, North Texas, Prarie View, Tarleton State, Texas A&I, A&M Kingsville, UT Arlington, UTD, UTEP, UTSA, UT Tyler, Texas Permian Basin, UTRTG, Texas Tech, and West Texas A&M are all ABET for MechE.
Tons of great options in Texas - and most likely donāt give a hoot about ECs (again, not that theyāre bad for this studentā¦theyāre notā¦but back to their premise).
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Thanks for sharing the blog, although Iāve heard people say quality matters more than quantity, reading it from MITās blog really brought it home.
ig half of my application will be about the club lol
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I understand. At the end of the day, I wonāt get a 500k paycheck just because I graduated from a āgoodā university.
Iāll do my best to fulfill my dadās requirements, else Iāll
- Convince my dad that I wonāt become homeless because Iām not sitting in a t5
- Or complete my bachelors in India and come to the US for my masters
Thanks for your recommendations and taking your time to help me out 
Thanks for the recommendation, Iāll look into it 
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I would have a conversation with your dad to see if he can expand on this. Is it, heās only willing to pay for a T40 if heās being asked to pay $90k/year? Is he willing to pay for a non-T40 if itās significantly less expensive?
Also, what does he mean by T40? Is this for USNWR overall rankings? Rankings in engineering (and by whom)? Etc.
I also believe in building a college list from the bottom up, meaning finding the schools where you are extremely likely to be admitted, will be affordable, and that youād be happy to attend. Below are some schools you may want to consider, sourced primarily due to the strength of their engineering departments, particularly as it relates to aerospace engineering.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Likely (60-79%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
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By T40, he specifically refers to American engineering college rankings (from USNWR/QS).
Since I havenāt done so previously, Iāll elaborate on my financial issue; Although it sounds counterintuitive that he would only pay either top-dollar (upto $90k) or nothing (even if its a ~T65), his logic states that its better to save the money and study domestically for UG than it is to spend the money for a US uni - that is unless I get into one of the āLower Probabilityā or higher colleges from your (really helpful!) list.
His traditional mentality makes him think that I am a shoe-in for the āLow Probabilityā unis just because Iām predicted to get a really high IB-DP score - even though my ECs donāt really match my academics (hence the title of the thread).
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