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[Mdac_sud]

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[Nishikata]

I won't group UCSD, Michigan Ann Arbor, Wisconsin Madison together with MIT, Caltech and Princeton.
However, they're still not safety schools obviously. But maybe you have some chance if there's a good fit.

I like the mentality. Go big or go home.

[Mdac_sud]

Hi Nishikata, thanks for your response, I certainly agree, I have separated the schools in two groups. I understand that it is impossible for you to tell me if I am going to be admitted or not in any of the universities to which I applied. However, do you think my profile is good enough for beeing admitted? or did I aim too high? (without taking into account variables such as international competition with other applicants, funds, space, etc). My priority is Princeton and maybe Michigan.

[profw]

If you want the truth - most US professors know little about academic institutions in Argentina. So if your research is something mainstream (as opposed to something Argentina-specific, e.g., some observatory in south hemisphere where US astronomers use/frequent, or some specific areas that require US researchers carry out field work in Argentina and you happen to work at their local partners' institution), it would be very hard to get in, unless one of the following is met: 1) your ranking in your class is top 1 and all the reference letters from your university stress that you are the best student in a generation, for example; 2) you have published some research that caught the attention of some US professor and you happen to reach out to him/her; 3) your research experience skills match some professor's needs and you reach out to them and they know about your application

[Nishikata]

Balseiro maybe known in the US. I do not think that you already understood the admission process based on your request:

However, do you think my profile is good enough for beeing admitted? or did I aim too high? (without taking into account variables such as international competition with other applicants, funds, space, etc). My priority is Princeton and maybe Michigan.

You did all you could during your masters at Balseiro: perfect GPA, have research experience.
Whether those will be good enough has to be compared relative to a reference. If we remove the other applicants, then there is only one way to know:

Do you/your professors know whether there were Balseiro students in the schools that you apply to?
Some professors are given this question in their recommendation letter, and to compare you to the other alumna who were previously accepted at the school. This information will be used by the school to understand whether you will be able to perform using the previous student as a benchmark.

However, you have done all you can on grades, so there's little to worry or little you can do. Suppose MIT's previous Balseiro student also had a perfect GPA + research experience as you do:

• if that student does well, it helps your case

• if that student flunks, it usually brings doubt to the subsequent Balseiro alumna. But with perfect scores you will not be harmed as rational human beings would think that the other student must have some other unique problem.

So, answering this question is the only way in your corridor to know whether you're good enough.
Even then, there's a big factor of international competition that will decide whether you actually will be admitted or not.
So I suggest don't bother. At this point, the race is either already won or lost.