Any hope for me?

I am a student coming from Africa. I lived in Saudi Arabia for my sophomore and freshman year. My grades proved me as a good student. I got all As in my classes though I only took 1 AP class ( AP Physics) and 2 honors class: Chem and precalc. I have a 32 on my ACT. I was school president and class president simultaneously in my school in Saudi Arabia and the schools top speaker and most outstanding student. BTW my GPA is 4.0 (my school doesn’t give more than that). I arranged many occasions and did surveys for many stuff. I still haven’t volunteered here but I did some volunteering there.

I am wide open to criticism, so please give my your opinion guys?

What schools? What can you and your parents afford? Intended major? Geographic location? Are you Junior or Senior now?

@Gumbymom i am a junior now. I dont think my parents can afford expensive colleges. I would like to study chemical engineering. I dont really care about the location but I want it to be one of the top schools.

I advise you not to “think” what your parents can afford, but find out how much money in $ amounts they are willing to spend on your college education. There is no point in applying to top schools if you cannot afford to attend in the end. Are you a US citizen or International? Do you have a state of residency? You have given little information in your post. No EC’s only 1 AP/1 Honors course but an excellent GPA. What kind of classes are you taking now?

Many applicants want to attend “top” schools, but you need to define which schools and why? They are all different, so if you are only looking for prestige, you need to do some research and come up with a better reason. Do you want a small school/large school/rural/urban/religious etc…?

@Gumbymom I most probably will take a loan. I am a US citizen, and I have the passport. My state of residency is Iowa. My previous schools didn’t offer AP but I now take 2 honors and one AP class. I will get a bigger load next year. I don’t know about extracurriculars. It’s what I said in the beginning. I was think maybe U of Chicago or better?

As a student, you can only take out a total of $27K/4 years in loans. The rest will have to come from your parents unless you qualify for financial aid and merit scholarships. I suggest you take a look as some these links to help in choosing schools where your stats will get you the money you need to attend college. Look at your in-state schools first.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html#latest

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html#latest

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1651944-very-low-cost-oos-coa-universities-less-than-25k-coa-for-everything.html#latest

Good Luck.

@Gumbymom I do qualify for financial aid, so I was just wondering, what do you recommend. What is the best college I have an 80% chance of getting into

UIUC and Case Western both have good engineering and I got in both with stats lower than yours.(CWRU gives heavy scholarships)

Thanks @F33derman .What else could be an option? I’m trying to get as much as I can

I have the same issues but I’m from the Philippines and I’m graduating from my undergrad (BS Information Technology) this April

I think purdue gives good aid to internationals usually? Also UChicago does not have undergrad engineering so you may as well cross that off your list. If you qualify for in-state tuition definitely apply to UIowa, as that’ll be a cheap safety.

Ya I guess that U of Iowa is a good safety, but I want to know, Where is my reach? Where can I look up to? Where is a possible high achieving college?

Ask your parents what their budget is and have them calculate their EFC.
What you will pay isn’t isn’t what they’re willing to pay. There’s a formula and colleges that “meet need” will provide sufficient aid so that your family “only” pays their EFC. Those are about 80 colleges out of 3,700 in the us and they’re the most selective. For ALL others, they don’t meet need but some offer merit scholarships to help you pay part of tuition, sometimes full tuition - some automatically, some competitively. With your 32 ACT, for instance, you’re guaranteed admission to the (excellent) Honors College at UAlabama as well as a full-tuition scholarship.
http://onlyconnectparke.blogspot.fr/

Are you a boy or a girl?
Are you Black African or living in Africa?
What majors are you interested in?
(all of those would make a difference)

Start with UIOwa and IowaState. Run the NPCs and look at the scholarship offered. Make sure to apply in the summer BEFORE senior year so as to not miss deadlines.
(NPC = net price calculator)
Then, run the NPCs on excellent Midwestern colleges:
Case Western Reserve
UChicago
Grinnell
Carleton
Drake
St Olaf
Illinois Wesleyan
They’re all very different. UChicago, Grinnell, Carleton, St Olaf are along the few that “meet need” for admitted students, so if you’re lower-income you’re likely to get good financial offers… the difficult is to get in! In addition St Olaf has merit scholarships that you can add to your need-based award.
Case doesn’t meet need but has great merit awards - however, with your record, odds are low the awards would be sufficient, but you should try.
Drake and Illinois Wesleyan don’t meet need but would likely offer you a lot in scholarships.
These different universities, alongside Iowa’s NPC, would give you an idea of what to expect.

I am pretty sure I can manage to pay for colleges. My problem is that I would like to get in. I am an African Immigrant from an Arabic country (Sudan) . I am a boy and I’m interested in Engineering, especially chemical

Hmmm Have you asked your parents what their budget is? Can you run the EFC calculator and see? Are you a permanent resident (“immigrant”) or do you plan to be a student (in the US, NOT immigrant)?
UDel and UMinnesota-Twin Cities would be great choices for chemical engineering, but there are many possibilities at state schools. Unfortunately, not all are good with financial aid/merit aid for internationals.

I am not an international student. I am a US citizen. I currently reside in Iowa but I have an immigrant background. I would like to discuss financial issues later. My primary concern now is where is the best place I can try to get in.

If you’re a US citizen, then definitely UDel and UMN-Twin Cities, as they have the top programs in the country in that field. Your ACT score would make you average at UMN-Twin Cities’ program, but would give you a good shot at a scholarship and Honors College. UDel would be a good low match.

Unfortunately, while most HS students would like to discuss finances later in the process, it’s a crucial element: no point in applying to a college you can’t go to because it’s not within your parents’ budget. So, ask your parents or run the EFC calculator.

I don’t think you understand the concept. Colleges are very expensive. It would do no good for one of us to tell you you have a great shot at a top tier university that costs $60k a year, for you to get in, and then realize you don’t have the money to go there. Money doesn’t appear out of thin air and only the very best, and most disadvantaged, students will receive aid from those places. So, as much as it sucks to hear, you need to calculate your budget and figure out what you can afford before any of us can tell you where you have a shot at getting in.

Thanks guys. I heard though that both U of Chicago and Harvard give free tuition for students with financial barriers so I thought the rest do the same too