u/SubstantialSession93

Hi! I'm an Indian (who doesnt live in india if tht matters) student who'll be applying for mechatronics at Uwaterloo and UofT next year and I got no clue whether I'll even be capable of getting in.

Academics: CBSE Private school

10th: 94%
11th: 89%
12th predicteds: prolly in the mid 90s
1560 SAT (790 Math, 770 English)
6 APs, 5 in all of them. Calc AB, Calc BC, Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics C Mechanics, Physics C E&M

ECs:

1. Two published research papers (One in materials engineering, other in multivariable analysis)
2. FGC Robotics #2 in world finals (Engineering team lead)
3. Co-founder & CTO of a profit generating (5 figures) business related to fluid dynamics simulation
4. In varsity swim team and national level swimmer
5. Started a non-profit that gave a lot of underprivileged schools access to hands-on STEM & Engineering resources (over a 1000 people impacted)
6. Founder of school's STEM and Engineering Club

Hi! I'm a high school student rn, and I'm trying to figure out if I should apply here. I'm not that interested in core software, but rather embedded, VLSI, robotics, and motion systems. Is it worth it to come here for ECE?

And are the ECE placement inflated because people in ECE pivot to software roles which pay higher?

Hi! I'm an Indian student who'll prolly be applying for Waterloo in 2028. I really don't know if it's even realistic for me to get in tbh, but it's my first choice and best fit.

Stats:

1560 SAT (800 Math, 760 Erw)
Took 6 APs, 5 on all of them. (Calc AB, Calc BC, Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics C Mechanics and EM)
94.2% in 10th
Currently in 11th but it isn't looking too good 😭. My predicteds will prolly be between the high 80s and low 90s if I could guess.

ECs (For AIF):

1. Two published research papers in engineering physics, and materials science
2. FGC (Robotics) Lead Engineer (Won second in world finals)
3. In varsity swim team and national level swimmer
4. Co-founder & CTO of a profit generating (5 figures) business related to fluid dynamics simulation
5. Founder of school's STEM and Engineering Club
6. Started a non-profit that gave a lot of underprivileged schools access to hands-on STEM & Engineering resources (over a 1000 people impacted)

Demographics:

South Asian Male
No Hooks
High income bracket

Applying for MechE, DS&AI and ECE at:

MIT
Stanford
Cornell
Princeton
Harvard (aight i know that these 3 prolly wont take me since I dont have any serious olympiad medals but still worth it to give a shot)

UIUC
Georgia Tech
UT Austin (all of these are backups, I prolly wont go here even if I get accepted since it's 50k usd a year and H1b isnt looking too good)

UofT
Waterloo
McGill
NUS
NTU (I'll prolly go for NUS if I don't get into mit, stanf ....)

Academics:

96% aggregate in Grade 12.
1560 SAT
6 APs, 5 on all of them: Calc AB&BC, Phys 1, Phys 2, Phys C: Mechanics and EM.
2 Research papers under a local prof: One related to materials engineering & simulation, the other is in software development & aerodynamics. Published in a reputed, peer-reviewed journal.
Represented my country in the International Olympiad of AI(IOAI). No medals.

ECs:

Lead Engineer, represented my country in FGC (First Global Robotics) and won second in the world championships.

Started a non-profit that gave a lot of underprivileged schools access to hands-on STEM & Engineering resources (over 1000+ participants)

Co-founder & CTO of a 5-figure business that sells Cloud-native simulation software.

School Varsity swim team & National level swimmer

Co-founder & VP of school's STEM and Engineering Club

LORs:

My after-school Physics teacher: 8/10 letter ig, pretty personal (all school teachers hate me)

Prof I worked under for research: 10/10, not glazing but he ltrlly said that he had never worked with a hs student like me before

School Counsellor: 6/10 idk, pretty normal and basic.

my_qualifications

Hi! I can't choose between these. I didn't get into NTU with the grant, so 200k USD will have to come out of pocket. My familly is willing to pay it, but I'm really skeptical of the job market and the ROI.

Delft seems better, it's more prestigious than IIIT-H and a lot cheaper than NTU, but then again, Aerospace jobs are really only for citizens/PRs (unless I go for masters and then get into automotive or smth, which has been my lifelong passion).

Or I get into IIIT-H, ECE. The placement stats are strong, but I don't want to end up in a boring software job and have no options for my masters outside of India since I went to IIIT-H.

tysm in advance!

Edit: My parents want to send me to NTU (we can afford it, but idk putting 200k usd on my parents isnt something that I'd want to do)