<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I’m an international student; I want to do engineering in college.
As an international student, I am not elibigle for MIT EA, and I do not want to do any ED b/c I want to give MIT RD a shot (I know, it’s extremely foolish/crazy)</p>
<p>Could you guys compare the admissions before Stanford SCEA and Caltech EA? What are some guidelines for me to pick which one I should apply early to?</p>
<p>Some people say Caltech is more number-based. I have good numbers besides SAT reasoning (m800, cr560, wr640), which I will be retaking in Oct. </p>
<p>Are there any suggestions on how I should pick which school?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>do you have a specific field of engineering in mind?
becuase Stanford and Caltech are both amazing engineering schools, but Stanford is better at EE and Caltech at ME (this may be debtable–but this is what I think mainly from what my dad tells me and he works at Caltech so I would like to believe that he pretty reliable)</p>
<p>I dont’ know about Stanford, but again my dad told me that it is EXTREMELY hard to get into Caltech as an international. Where do you live? </p>
<p>And NO, Caltech is NOT more number-based. I know plently of people who had average SAT scores who got in becuase they demonstrated their love for science. </p>
<p>I don’t think either Caltech or Stanford favors their early applicants, but next year–since Harvard and Princeton–no longer offers early, my guess is that those students will all go to Yale and Stanford. Thus, Stanford might be overfilled and Caltech might be easier. :)</p>
<p>So far I’m considering EE, but not quite sure.
I might go in Materials science/engineering, but I’m definitely not doing mechanical or theoretical sciences. </p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton taking away SCEA and ED is one of the concerns, I feel those ppl will more likely do Stanford than caltech.</p>
<p>another concern is that my counselor at school told me stanford is more well-rounded, while caltech’s applicants are much more science/engineering focused. Thus, while I do well at math and science in our school, I’m considered a pretty well-rounded applicant. She thinks I can stand out in caltech’s pool but not as much in stanford’s pool. Any comments on that?</p>
<p>Furthermore, ppl have been saying how colleges dont want well-rounded applicants anymore. They want a well-rounded class. What should I do since I’m more of a well-rounded applicant but not extremely thriving (eg win national champion or something) in anything? The only national champion I won is the debate competition @ Taiwan. All my other awards are regional ones (in the US). </p>
<p>any further advice appreciated.</p>
<p>yes Caltech applicants are much more science focused. It seems like it would be better for you to apply EA caltech then. good luck with that! I might join you too ;)</p>
<p>i’ve heard rumors that caltech favors CA applicants just like Duke favors NC applicants. is that true? (perhaps not officially, but in reality it does?)</p>
<p>do stanford. you get a much higher chance at stanford that way.</p>
<p>u mean the well-roundedness?</p>
<p>hmm I think that MIGHT be true. MIGHT
about 2-5 kids get in every year from my school and since the freshmen class is only 250, I guess that’s a lot. </p>
<p>and also, Stanford favors cali residents too.</p>
<p>any other guidelines as I pick?</p>
<p>it’s such a hard decision…</p>
<p>I have to admit I think I’d enjoy stanford more than Caltech, but if applying to Caltech EA means securing a spot on 12/15, then it’s a good deal too.</p>
<p>Early action is non-binding. You can apply to multiple schools EA.</p>
<p>but SCEA is,
the only schools I might apply early is Stanford and Caltech (the other EA schools are not on my college list)
so it all comes down to these two. </p>
<p>thanks for all the suggestions; any further advices greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>You won’t get into Stanford.
You have a good chance at Caltech. (they won’t mind your 560 CR)</p>
<p>You pick.</p>