I have a bit of a weird situation. I’ve lived in the US until I was 12 when my dad got a job overseas. Because the city we moved to was very far from the main international school, and there are no English-language schools there, I was sent to a local school. Right now I’m a 9th grader (last year of middle school here). I speak the language fluently (even managed to get rid of the annoying heavy American accent lol) and it looks like we’ll be staying till my high school graduation.
My main question here is whether I’d be considered as an international student - I’m an American citizen and got my state residency and everything. Also, how would US colleges consider my school records here? I have pretty good grades.
2nd question: there are no formal, school-based EC’s here like there are in the US. I’m in a local volleyball club and I’m pretty active in my church youth group but nothing beyond that. Would that be a strike against me? Seriously I look at everybody’s huge EC lists here and it’s scary!
If you are a US citizen you are not an international for the purpose of applying to colleges or obtaining government backed financial aid. You will apply as a US citizen.
A different issue is your mention of state residency. From what you provide, I do not know whether you can actually be considered a resident of any particular state for the purpose of being admitted to or paying in-state resident tuition at public universities within that state. State residency will depend on the status of your parents in relation to a state at the time you apply for and will begin college. If they are living not in the state but in a foreign country, then whether they (and you) will still be considered residents of a state will depend on such things as whether they still maintain an address in the state, annually file state tax returns and pay income taxes in that state, or still are registered to vote in the state.
EC’s are helpful but availabilty is also an issue considered. I do not know whether you actually have the dearth of opportunities you describe but lacking any access to EC’s would be something to note in an application and will be considered to explain their absence.
Colleges are looking for people who get engaged with the place where they are and who develop their interests. My guess is that your background will make you a more interesting candidate, not less. Just make sure you take all the standardized tests for US colleges. AS an American, you are not competing against foreign students.
I want to clarify on this point. Your application will be read relative to applicants from your school, country, region. In that sense you are competing against students from your location. But for FA, scholarship, or quota, you would be treated as an American student.
We lived abroad when my younger daughter was applying to colleges. I continued to pay state taxes while we lived abroad, so she could have enjoyed in-state tuition at our home state. Her application was read relative to students from her school/region. Many top tier schools in the States only admitted few students from her school, so she was definitely competing for those few spots.
Thanks for the quick replies!! this is really reassuring. I’m really happy to hear that there’s won’t be any problems with that. Plus, there are hardly any people in this place who apply to colleges in the US (people usually don’t go to college straight out of high school here anyway, so my counselors here are not very helpful because they have zero experience with college admissions), so there won’t be much competition.
Now I’m moving on to obsessing over my grades/subjects… how would they compare to what’s taught in the US, etc. I’m assigned to the highest level available in math, and of course English. We’ll see I guess.
Your SAT/ACT scores will be important. Make sure you take required tests for colleges you are interested in. Some may require SAT II even with ACT scores (like Cornell), and some may just take your ACT scores. You may need to take TOEFL depending on your English proficiency.
You might consider hiring a college counselor who can work with you via email if you don’t have good local resources. HE/she would be able to help you work through some of the more unique elements of your application.