Expert: Bruce - 9/22/2007

Question
QUESTION: hi, im a grade 12 high school student in vancouver. i immigrated to canada at grade four but went back to china at grade 8£¬ and didnt come back until grade 11.right now im still not a Canadian citizen.
I'm getting very high marks in my school right now. especially math, physic and chemistry. which is all above 95%. highest in the school. but since english is my second language and im having some difficulties in enlish12. im hoping to reach around 80% in english 12 by the end of this semester. im especially interested in computers. i've self-learned simple programming and attended several programming contests. in the future,  i really want to start or work in a gaming company like blizzard, or in softwares like bill gates. so what field should i study in? and whats a good college for me? i really want to get into the top 15 universities in america. and should i take toefl?
thx

ANSWER: Hi Ang,

Thanks for your question.

Because English is your second language, I think it would be a good idea for you to take the TOEFL (test of english as a foreign language) along with the SAT. The latter will be required for entry to most any US college and the TOEFL might be helpful, too, since you are bilingual.

There are a number of good colleges in the US, well beyond a top 15 grouping. Given your location, I'll suggest a few in the western US.

Univ of Washington
Washinton State
Gonzaga
Univ of Oregon

out of that region, you may want to look at some tech specific schools:

Virginia Tech
Michigan Tech
Clarkson
RPI
Georgia Tech

You could also try calling a human resources recruiter at Microsoft or other gaming companies, and ask him/her what colleges they find their good tech staffers coming from, that might expand your list of schools

Hope this helps. Best wishes, and try to schedule those two tests to be taken soon.

Bruce

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i checked out the universities you listed.there are pretty far way from the top 15 groupin. will i get a better education there than the top 15 groupings? cause my dad always told me that the better the school internationally the better it is. so im kinda confused now. its not that i dont want to study in canada. i should be able to get into university of toronto, and that is my option before, but my councellor told me that you should seek better school in the us. i have no prolem study anywhere in the us so eastern schools will be alright for me too.
ps£ºwell i actually want to start my own businness of computer games or softwars in the future. or just work as a CEO or manager in a gaming company. so wat should i take other than computers in college?
pss: for sat, do i just resgister at collegeboard?


thx for your time bruce.

Answer
Hi Ang,

Yes, you can register for the SAT through the College Board Web site.

With regard to the schools you want to apply to, its great to aim at the top end schools, but you need to build a larger list, as those are exceptionally hard to get into. Without knowing anything about your test scores, its tough for me to speculate at all on your chances.

Also, I urge you not to think that gaining entry to one the elite schools is the only ticket to success. The US university world has many many good schools, and in some areas, these may exceed the top/prestige schools. Even as you look at the top schools, you really need to have another list of places that is top notch in what you'd like to pursue.

For the top 15 US schools; I guess I'd say:

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Brown
Penn
Cornell
Dartmouth

Northwestern
Univ of Chicago
Stanford
Cal-Berkeley
NYU

If you really want to get into computers, you'll want a school that is top notch in that arena. The top 15 may or may not be. So do look at these schools known for engineering:

RPI
Clarkson
Rochester Inst of Technology
Carnegie Mellon
Univ of Texas @ Austin
Lehigh University
Texas A & M

Univ of Toronto is an excellent choice as well.

You may want to find a place where you can study both computers and business.

Best wishes - I'm always glad to answer more questions.

bruce