Am I applying to colleges that I won't even be able to be admitted?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>A little bit about my self.
I'm taking a lot more harder classes this year.
Also, a little bit about me, I made the mistake of not "trying" in high-school. In freshmen and sophomore year, I've never even heard of colleges, my mother has never talked about it. At the start of junior year, I started getting all this pressure and expectations from my parents that I get into a good school. To be honest, I started very late, and I wasn't able to reach my full potential. However, I am still trying to make the best of it. I started taking harder classes junior and senior year. and I'm packed with a lot of work. Also, I'm an international student, that means no green card, no citizenship. So I'm often told that I will be overlooked simply because I am an international student, but I've been here for 9 years and I consider myself more American than my actual homeland because I grew and developed here. And in my essays, I'm going to emphasize that I can improve and that I can reach my full potential at the given college.
These are my stats </p>

<p>ACT : First time : 27 Second time: 31
SAT subject test : First time: 680, Going to take it on Nov. 8 (goal : 800)
GPA UW: 3.85, end of junior year
W: 4.04, end of junior year</p>

<p>This is my schedule for all 4 yrs in High school</p>

<p>Freshmen Year
acad english A
honors geometry B
social studies A
band A
physical science A
Intro to bussiness A
Half semester music class A</p>

<p>Sophomore year
honors algebra 2 A
Honors world affairs social studies B
acam bio A
acad english A
spanish 1 A
band A
Half sem robotics A</p>

<p>Junior year
apush A
hon chem A
hon english B
hon precalc A
band A
spanish 2 A</p>

<p>Senior year
Ap physics currently 77 percent. Will try to get b for 1ST nine weeks
band A
Hon ochem A
Ap psych current B want to get A. Possible
Ap calc currently B want to get A. Maybe. Not a lot of points going in the grades this nine weeks
ap econ A
hon english currently b. Definitely will get A in first 9 weeks</p>

<p>I won't be able to put in my first semester grades since I it won't be over by regular application deadlines. </p>

<p>ECs. My ECs are VERY weak. And I completely regret not joining clubs and a sports team when I had the chance, but I played video games instead.. Stupid me..</p>

<p>Marching Band - 4 yrs
Forensics - 1yr
Church Missionary - Once every yr, 3 years total in high school. Spend whole week community service
Youth Group leader at church - 2 yrs
NHS - Joined Senior year
KANE - Help in Elderly Home, went a few times, once a month, for about 1-2 to hours.
Ping-Pong Club Member - Senior year</p>

<p>These are the schools I want to go to : My major is also engineering so these are some really good engineering schools and I know it is hard to get into. In addition, I'm going to slim this list down to maybe 5 or 6 schools. 1 safety, 2 high reach and 3 possible.</p>

<p>University Of Illinois Chamapign - High reach?
Purdue University - High reach?
University of Michigan - High reach?
University of Texas - reach?
USC - High reach
University of California Santa Barbara - ?
UCLA - High Reach
University of California -Berkeley
Texas A and M - ?
Georgia Tech - High Reach
Virginia Tech - Safety
Pitt - Reach
Penn state - Reach</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time for reading this. Love you all <3</p>

2

<p>I think it’s very honorable that you recognize your faults and are owning up to it! THat certainly shows a lot of character and colleges would like to see that. I think you could definitely get into Penn State, and definitely Texas A&M. USC, Berkeley, and U Mich I think are your highest reaches. All the rest are doable if you put your mind to it!</p>

<p>Also is there anything unique about your international experiences? You could definitely use that to your advantage by making the case that you’re super cultured.</p>

<p>Good luck! And if you can please chance my Tufts post! <3</p>

3

<p>Where is your home state? Which SAT2 did you take?</p>

4

<p>Good luck!!! You have decent chances</p>

5

<p>Do you need financial aid?</p>

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<p>@intparent , yes I do, but realistically I won’t get any. Though price has a big effect in my decision, i’ll still live with the debt. And Hopefully get through with it.
@billcsho I’m going to take the sat subject test math 2 in nov. 8th. About a month from now</p>

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<p>@premedprincess13 Can Virginia Tech be my safety school? Or could I not get in with ease?</p>

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<p>University Of Illinois Chamapign - Match
Purdue University - Low match/Match
University of Michigan - Reach
University of Texas - Reach
USC - High match
University of California Santa Barbara - Match
UCLA - High match
University of California -Berkeley: Reach
Texas A and M - Match
Georgia Tech - Reach
Virginia Tech - Safety
Pitt - Safety
Penn state - Safety</p>

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<p>Remember that this student is international and applying for FA if I understand correctly. None of these schools are need-blind for international applicants, which would skew the odds more against you than other applicants. </p>

10

<p>ACT 31 and GPA 3.85 would make UCB, UCLA, UMich and UIUC engineering reaches for you. Purdue would be a match.
UIUC and UMich have admission average GPA for engineering school at 3.9. The mid 50 ACT is 31-34. UCB and UCLA are also in the same vicinity. Also, don’t expect much, if any, financial aid from these public schools for international students. You will not get any merit aid with your score/GPA either. You should first check the NPC for all these schools to see if any of them are affordable to you.</p>

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<p>@intparent could you elaborate when you mean that my odds are more against me?</p>

<p>@Catria Sorry but for clarification, what does Math, reach. Low and High Matches mean?</p>

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<p>Colleges that are not need-blind for international students are more selective for those students than for international students who are full pay or any US students. So essentially you need higher stats to get admitted than those other students. And unless the college meets need for international students (a different thing), you may not get the financial aid you need to attend even if you are admitted.</p>

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<p>@intparent so… i’m screwed? Well not screwed but… I would be better off if I had a green card</p>

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<p>Note that even if the school is need blinded, you still need to come up with the required money in order to get a visa to enter the US. These schools are $40k to $60k per year. You will need to show proof for 4 years financial support on paper.</p>

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<p>OP, you may get admitted to some of them, but your FA may not be what you need it to be. I could be off by a school or two, but I think USC is the only school that meets need for international students on your list. And if you read other threads out here, you will see that “meets need” is definitely by THEIR definition, not yours (FA often isn’t great). So if you can’t afford these schools out of pocket, then yes, you have a problem.</p>

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<p>@intparent So we’re looking at this from a financial standpoint? So If i tell the universities that I am able to pay, My chances are higher? My parents are both going to go back to my home country and both will get a job to pay for my tuition. Also, my dad’s father-in-law is a contractor and he’s fairly wealthy, and I was hoping maybe I could talk to him about financial support</p>

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<p>Yes, your odds of admission are higher to all of the colleges as a full-pay international student vs. one applying for Financial Aid. But really… you expect your parents or dad’s FIL to pay essentially a quarter of a million dollars for your undergraduate education? You better check in with them first…</p>

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<p>@intparent yes I’m very worried… I definitely don’t think my parents can pay all of it. Also, my parents are under a student visa, therefore they cannot work here… So how can I tell the universities that I will be able to pay? Also, is financial aid even considered for international students? Cause I do know that the FAFSA won’t be avaliable for international students either.</p>

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<p>Yes, if you apply for financial aid your odds drop dramatically. If you don’t, you won’t receive any money and your family will have to come up with 45-65k.
You can only apply for merit scholarships now but many universities require a 32.
You can apply to Howard for a full tuition/full ride (HBCU, in DC), as soon as possible, and I think UMontana has one for ACT 28 (Davidson Honors College with Presidential Leadership, last time I checked…) UAlabama has an automatic full tuition scholarship for your stats if you want to be an engineer, or partial tuition if you don’t.
On your application (commonapp or university-specific), there’ll be a question: Are you applying for financial aid? Answering yes decreases your odds dramatically. There may be another question: Are you applying for merit aid? There, you can answer “yes”, no problem.
As an international who needs FA, your odds are very low compared to permanent residents and citizens, or even compared to internationals who don’t need FA. If there’s a reasonable way for you to get a green card and you just never got around to it, get off your chair and work on it <em>now</em>, then apply next year once you’ve received it. If you’re not eligible, then things are very difficult indeed.</p>

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<p>University Of Illinois Chamapign - Reach
Purdue University - Match
University of Michigan - Reach
University of Texas - Reach
USC - Match
University of California Santa Barbara - Match
UCLA - Reach
University of California -Berkeley: Reach
Texas A and M - Match
Georgia Tech - Reach
Virginia Tech - Safety
Pitt - Safety
Penn state - Safety</p>