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Hi, along with the score in my subject line, I need to add the following:

I was a Rotary Exchange student to Japan in 11th grade and am now fluent in Japanese; mock trial state champ team 2 years (hopefully 3 counting this year), swim team (no records broken, but on team 3 years), jazz band (3 years; average sax player).

Am looking into either mechanical or electrical engineering.

Do I have a better chance at a Canadian school...University of Toronto or University of British Columbia than other higher ranked schools in the US?

Would appreciate any comments/suggestions as to where to apply. Thanks!

By Kissy (Kissy) on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 11:30 am: Edit

Where is your residency? Without knowing much about Canadian schools, in the US you might consider RPI, Rose-Hulman, Cal Poly SLO, Bucknell, Lehigh.

By Marie_B (Marie_B) on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 11:46 am: Edit

I live on a small island in Hawaii. My current classes are:

AP Calculus

Physics (We have no AP class offered)

English (Had to choose between AP Calculus and AP English since they were offered the same period)

Band 4

Jazz Band 4

History 4

Thanks for your help. I could really use more if anyone is willing to share their thoughts. I will research the ones you sent me.

By Marie_B (Marie_B) on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 01:30 pm: Edit

Sorry, re: the above message, I had to choose betweeen 4th year band (not Calculus) and AP English because they were offered at the same time and decided to continue with band. All band students had to make this difficult choice.....you would think the scheduling would have been thought out better.

By Realtyrd (Realtyrd) on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 05:06 pm: Edit

Don't let those SAT requirements fool you into thinking that you can't get into your dream school. I have a friend who got into Dartmouth with a 1290 on her SATs. With that said, you might consider looking at the following schools for their mechanical engineering programs: Cooper Union, Rensselar Polytechnic (if you're a girl, be prepared to be surrounded by lots of guys, as the female population is only about 35%) also try looking at Harvey Mudd College, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. In regards to your question about schools in Canada, I do know that if you're looking for the college experience, the University of Toronto would not be a good choice as it is mainly a commuter college, but schools in Canada should not be overlooked because they're significantly cheaper than their American counter-parts. I'll also suggest that you look at the following websites to aid in your college search, www.usnews.com, and www.review.com, I highly recommend review.com because they offer a special feature with each school that actually states the opinions of students attending schools you may be looking into, it also offers a special feature called Counselor-O-matic, which is basically a virtual counselor that helps you find your perfect match school, your safety schools, and your reach schools. But don't forget, visit these schools, and consider location, urban, rural, suburban. Do you want to be at a big university, a small university, or a medium sized university..don't make the same mistakes that I did. I chose a huge university, with a high majority commuter population, now I feel as though I'm missing out on the whole college experience, and I'm also miserable, looking into transferring hopefully by next year..but seriously, visit these places, ask lots of questions...from where you can get your hair done, to how long the diner stays open...it sounds funny now, but it won't be funny when your hair is looking a mess and you need to know the best, and cheapest place to get it done because you will be on a budget...no question is too stupid because remember that you'll be living there for the next 4-6 years, and you have to know where all of these things take place.

By Realtyrd (Realtyrd) on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 05:08 pm: Edit

Oh yeah, I also wanted to say that if you're seriously considering going to Canada for college, that you should know that you can apply for financial aid in America and have it transfer over to cover tuition costs in Canada.

By Studiousvegetar (Studiousvegetar) on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 08:37 pm: Edit

U of Michigan is excellent. I got into U of M Engineering. I applied in late September. 1380 SAT I. 4.0 UW. Female. Tons of Ecs and a good rec.

By College (College) on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 12:53 pm: Edit

bump...

By Chrisd (Chrisd) on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 03:11 pm: Edit

Look at Olin College of Engineering, Needham MA. There's only 150 students, but must be half a dozen from Hawaii--seems to be some affinity! If you like a place, apply--don't get too stressed about the test scores.