What are the best target schools for me?

[harshikd]

<p>Asian/First-Gen/US-Citizen/International (Domestic / International)</p>

<p>Brief profile:
School Area :
Up to 8th grade : MASON/ OHIO, USA
9th-12th : International School / Bangalore, INDIA
School Size :1500 Students
GPA : 7.5 On a 10 point scale
Rank : 10/40
High School Junior & Senior Subjects : Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English (Board Certificed)
Teachers Recommendations : Positive of getting very good feedback
Extra Curricular : Limited to academic in High School
PSAT : 220
SAT : 2100
SAT Math 2C : 800
SAT Chemistry : 770
SAT Physics : (Given the exam and positive of getting 770+)</p>

<p>Parents background:
1) US Citizens, own the home in US, currently residing outside (and I stay with them)
2) Father works for an Multi-national company, receives local income, files US State & Federal Taxes with IRS
3) Will file FAFSA as we go forward
4) Range of tuition fee parents can offer : 15-20 % of the cost</p>

<p>I am exploring for admission to fall 2012, with an interests in undergraduate program in:
Bio-Medical Engineering (offered by School of Engineering)</p>

<p>I am looking for US public / private universities with
- High probability of getting a job after undergraduate program (assuming I maintain good credentials)
- High probability of getting the degree in 4 years
- University with high graduation rate
- Campus medium size universities (not near major city downtowns)
- Cost of education/living/ is a certainly a priority
- Probability to cover ~ 70-80% of total cost covered by various form of support (scholarships / grants / aid / need based assistance)
- Applying for loans is my last (or mostly not my) priority
- I would like to apply for not more than 6 or 7 colleges</p>

<p>Can you please let me know
- Whether my background, facts & data are inline with top 20 schools in Bio-Medical Eng Schools?
- If not, can you please suggest some modifications to make it more realistic?
- Are there any areas that I can improve
- Can you please recommend me a list of universities that I MUST focus on?</p>

<p>Look forward for your comments, suggestions to make my college application journey more realistic, fulfilling and rewarding.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>harshid</p>

[questionsg]

<p>I think, for Biomed, you should aim for schools like Rutgers, Urbana Champaign and Ann Arbor. Your GPA isn't excellent and your SAT scores dont make up for it. I f you have good ECs and decent essays, you should be able to get into these schools.
Let me know if there's something I missed from your resume.
Chance back :
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-5.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-5.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

[harshikd]

<p>Thanks for the response:</p>

<p>I am aware that my GPA is not excellent. But that's how few things happened here & some of the schools work here. They focus more on board exams (10th & 12th). </p>

<p>In 9th, transition took a toll on me. In my 10th grade I got 9.6 out of 10. </p>

<p>For 11th grade the stream, it is an internal evaluation, and the school first was 9.0 out of 10. And they intentionally make this to motivate the students for board exams. 12th is a board exam.</p>

<p>For 12th, so far I have 8.0 (out of 10) & I am trying to reach 8.0 +. But I am positive that I will be in the top 20-25%. And I still have one choice to improve my scores, before I send my CommonApp & other Apps.</p>

<p>Also, I did double honors programs when I was back in US (was 8th grade and used to take 10th grade). I was in a Gifted Student Program & all the way a A/A++ student over there. </p>

<p>Not sure whether this helps and don't know how to transform this into the application form either.</p>

<p>Regarding the RC letters
I am positive that I can get some very good letters from my schools teachers, both from US school and as well as in India. Should I include the ones from my 8th grade teachers?</p>

<p>I am working on my essays. Hope I can make some turn around.</p>

<p>Now, my questions are as below:
What are my best bets (in terms of %), for the following Schools (Bio Med Engineering)
1) Georgia Tech
2) University of Michigan
3) University of California, LA
4) UIUC Urbana
5) CMU
6) University of Pen.
7) CWRU
8) Purdue University
9) OSU</p>

<p>Help & comments are highly appreciated and eagerly awaited.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>harshikd</p>