Harvard Princeton Yale MIT Caltech am I flying too high.......?

Question

I am an Indian Student. I want to do a major in Engineering
My profile goes down as below:
Class Subject Grades
IX Science A
IX Mathematics A
IX Social Studies B
IX English B
IX Hindi B
For Class X as well I got same grades with the same subjects.
XI Physics A
XI Chemistry A
XI Maths A
XI English B
XI Physical Education B
Rank:
Class IX and X : 1 of 100+
Class XI : 2 of 867
Percentage:
Class IX : 89.2%
Class X : 84.2% (I got jaundice right before exams.)
Class XI : 91.2%
Also I have participated at the Inter School (state level) Debate Competetion emerging 8th of 164 candidates, and have been best debator of the school for two years.
I have been selected in the Indian National Physics Olympiad (which selects top 30-35 students from the whole country. After that they select 5 to represent on the International Physics Olympiad. They dropped me there.)
I am immensely interested in Cricket and have played for the my house team in Class IX and X.

Recommendations is no problem with me. I have strong ties with my Maths, English and Physics teachers and I am sure that they will put up great (in fact, I must say excellent) recommendations for me. How will that account for my profile as a candidate?

I require financial aid greatly (Dad earns 12k per annum only and mum a housewife).

Will it be enough to get in any of those 5 institutes?

Kindly post me of any other elite institution in Engineering and recommendations to upgrade my profile.

Answer 1

I do believe you have a chance of getting into Caltech or MIT, but don't even try Harvard, Princeton, or Yale. Not that you don't have a chance with those schools, it's just that they are not good engineering schools. I suggest you also look at Duke, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford.

Answer 2

Sorry. I don't think your chances are too good. You have listed some of the most competitive schools in the world. They get tens of thousands of applications and have fewer than 2000 spots each. Harvard and Yale do not focus on engineering. So the competition is fierce. And I don't think any of these school accept more than a handful of international students each year, and probably have almost no financial aid for international students.

So, I think you should check for other schools that have Engineering programs where you might be able to get a Merit scholarship. There are hundreds of engineering schools in the USA and Britain (no cricket in the USA!!!) . After you go through your undergraduate degree, you can go to a more prestigious school for your MS or PhD, and you have a better chance to get a fellowship for that than to get an undergraduate scholarship.

Answer 3

Very difficult to make a prediction. All your schools are in the A+ category. A standard procedure is to also include a number of schools with lessor esteem, but with an extremely high probability of gaining entrance. Thereby, you are not left holding the bag.
BTW, one's education does not necessarily suffer if a slightly lessor school is chosen. It's up to you and the particular professors you bond with.
Good luck.

Answer 4

best bets are cal tech....or MIT...but having been to both---id say cal tech the others arent really known all that well for tech degrees and you seem to be into physics..so id say caltech for that too

ok with that low of an income--you better try a lesser known school---but still very good---georgia tech...florida state...clemson...RPI, va tech, texas tech, La tech, Purdue, etc...and you willneed financial aid at all of these 12K/yr wont pay for any ivy leauge (harvard princenton yale >>>12K)

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

Once you have your SAT scores, you can go to each college's website and determine if you are within their test-range.

The entrance requirements for these specific schools are highly competitive - I encourage you to not only apply to these specific colleges, but also to other accredited colleges with engineering programs.

Answer 7

You need straight A's and a shitload of activities. Try it, you never know.