<p>Hi!</p>
<p>Could someone, please, write-out a detailed checklist/routine that I'll need to follow, after I write my SAT 1 on May 5?</p>
<p>Example Points;
admissions, aid applications, essays, common app, etc..</p>
<p>Also, do international students have to fill out the FAFSA?
I heard that they can't because they need a SSN; however, I used to live in the US (though, I'm not a citizen), and, thus I possess a SSN.</p>
<p>
One of the very first questions on the FAFSA is, “How do you qualify to apply for federal financial aid?” If none of the categories they list (US citizen, permanent resident, refugee, etc) apply to you, you cannot continue with the application. </p>
<p>
Here’s the complete checklist:</p>
<ol>
<li>Identify which colleges you’d like to apply to.</li>
<li>Follow the checklists provided by those colleges. </li>
</ol>
<p>Different colleges have different admission procedures, so it’s impossible to make a more specific checklist that would apply to all colleges out there. </p>
<p>Many colleges do not use the Common Application. Some colleges ask for a pre-application (just some basic information that lets them start a file for you) before you submit anything else. Some colleges have you request an interview well ahead of the application deadline; other colleges will invite you to an interview automatically after you have submitted your application; yet others don’t interview at all. A few colleges ask for an official external evaluation of all foreign transcripts. </p>
<p>If you apply to performance-based programs, the admission process will revolve around an audition. If you would like to get recruited as an athlete, you’d have to get in touch with coaches ASAP (yes, more than one year ahead of time to get first dip on athletic scholarships). The application process for need-based aid (which is very rare for international students, by the way) is very different from the application process for merit-based aid, and there’s all sorts of ways in which colleges award merit scholarships (some are awarded automatically based on grades and test scores; some require extra essays or letters of recommendation; some require an in-person interview on campus; some require documented community service, etc)</p>
<p>For the time being, just make sure that you have a plan to get all of your testing done by the application deadlines. (SAT, SAT Subject Tests, TOEFL if applicable) Also start thinking about which teachers you could ask for a letter of recommendation and make sure to make a good impression on them. (I am saying this because in some foreign school systems, there is very little interaction between teachers and students. That would make it difficult to get American-style letters of recommendation. If this does not apply to you, ignore this point.)</p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I also read that , in such cases, some colleges require you to submit the application anyway, or to the college, so they can have access to that information. Is that true?</p>
<p>Ca you recommend any good, reputed Computer Science(as a major) colleges, who offer UX Design(as a minor) and the like?</p>
<p>Also, What are the “four free score report credits” that the college board tells me to submit within 2weeks of writing the SAT 1? Does this mean I have to choose which colleges I wish to apply to before writing the SAT?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@B@r!um</p>
<p>
I seemed to not get this part. As far as I know we just have to ask the school to send an official copy of the transcript. What does external evaluation mean? :0</p>
<p>@arvindch</p>
<p>I wonder why colleges would ask you to submit FAFSA while it is not for international students? It’s only for the students eligible for federal aid. Outside US, Canadian students are only allowed to apply via FAFSA at most.</p>
<p>About SAT scores. We have to select our colleges within two weeks after taking the SAT. Or else we have to pay for the score reports. :)</p>
<p>
It means that an external organization would look at your transcripts and determine which level (in the American system) your courses were taught at and what your grades would mean on an American 4.0 scale. An evaluation is sometimes requested by colleges which do not know how to read a foreign transcript. Here’s one organization that would do this: [World</a> Education Services : Transcripts and Evaluations](<a href=“http://www.wes.org/fees/evaltypes.asp]World”>Evaluations & Fees - World Education Services)</p>
<p>
I have been following international college admissions for 6 years, and only heard of a single instance of this happening. You’d be committing a crime if you submitted the FAFSA with false information (e.g. your eligibility to submit the form at all) - please don’t. There are other financial aid forms that can be used by international students, and any college which knows what they are doing would direct you to one of those forms instead.</p>
<p>
Your SAT test fee includes 4 free score reports. These are useful if you are taking the SATs in October or November right before you apply, but May is too early to send score reports to colleges. Your scores might get lost in the meantime, and you probably don’t have a list of colleges yet.</p>
<p>It’s better not to send scores until the next application season starts (in August or so?). You can still request scores then, but as Decibel said, you’d have to pay for score reports.</p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>@barium</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What do you mean by “too early”?
If I want to send scores, does that mean that I have to have written the essays and stuff. Also, since I am yet to take the SAT 2 or any APs, does that mean that I have to wait to submit scores, since some colleges require SAt2 scores for admission?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And, what exactly do you mean by that? Because, that sounds a bit scary.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If I submit them then; I would be doing so with the essays written, and with my SAT 2 scores?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@barium i sent my scores in february. Will i have to send them again?</p>
<p>I meant that some admissions offices discard old scores between application seasons. They cannot keep every piece of mail they get forever, so they might only store documents for the current admission cycle. The next admission cycle starts in August, and I would not send scores before that (or check that the scores are still on file then and resend them if necessary). </p>
<p>If you are also taking SAT IIs later, sending SAT scores right now is useless anyway because you’ll have to request another set of score reports with SAT II scores later (and you can include your SAT score for free). </p>
<p>You generally don’t need to write essays before you send scores. There might be a few exceptions, but you can just follow the college’s instructions. (My own undergraduate college requested a “pre-application” with basic personal information and a paragraph about our interests before we submitted anything else. That was so that they could open a file for us so that other documents could be filed properly and not get lost in the shuffle.)</p>
<p>@b@r!um</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So, when I send my SAT 2 scores in, I can send my SAT 1 scores along with them, for free?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For all non-rolling admissions colleges, or? Also, how do rolling admissions work?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>
Yes.</p>
<p>
Common App won’t be available for the next admission cycle until August or so. Colleges not using Common App can do whatever they want, but I suspect that no American student would submit a college application until after the end of summer break (May - August) anyway (because they need letters of recommendation, etc).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ok.</p>
<p>Also, I read about stuff like transcripts. Could you explain what this means to an international student? What else would I need while applying? Other than the obvious - grade report and LORs. Also, what is the purpose of a SSR?</p>
<p>And, I’ve been attending a 11-12 grade school that prepares students for IITJEE - a premier Indian engineering institute’s admission exam. Now, this means that, though the school follows regular curriculum, I have been taking way, way harder and more quality+quantity courses than the average Indian HSer. How would I convey this to adcoms?</p>
<p>The secondary school report has several purposes: it includes your transcript, it collects information on how you compare to your classmates and how your school compares to other schools in the country, and it gives you an opportunity to attach a “school profile”, which can add whatever additional information about your school you deem relevant. For example, the school profile could elaborate on the selectivity of your school, the distribution of grades or the rigor of the academic curriculum. Here’s a sample school report from my local American high school: [Palo</a> Alto High School](<a href=“http://www.paly.net/info/profile.pdf]Palo”>www.paly.net/info/profile.pdf)</p>
<p>A “transcript” is a grade report that contains your grades from the last 4 years of secondary school, and any standardized external exam results that are part of your school system. Such a document need not be official in your own school system. As long as it’s signed by a school official and included in your school report, it is considered official by American colleges.</p>
<p>@b@r!um-</p>
<p>Thanks for the sample SSR! I don’t think schools here have so much info, but I’ll talk to the principal about it.</p>
<p>Also, for my LORs, most engineering colleges require 1 each from Sciences and Humanities. Now, the 11-12 grade HS I’m attending has limited students per classroom, however, the teachers are all part-time and rarely, if ever, remember even our names! They are just there to teach, not to form a bond. 
So, would it be okay if I get my LORs from my 6-10 grade school, instead, where the teachers there have known me personally for 3+ years? Or, will that be looked down upon?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are two batches at my HS - IIT coaching and non-coaching. If the principal signs documents detailing the difficulty/level of my (IIT-coaching and normal) courses, it’s official? Is there a way for me to compare the course difficulty to US standards to give adcoms a better comparative view at my HS course level?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I go to a select school for IIT coaching - specific training; it’s not that easy to get in, but selectivity? Schools in India have no such information to provide, nor can they boast of too many awards like the ones in the sample, as most competitions are at the max state-level not national. Also, in that respect my previous 6-10 grade HS has way better stats. The school I’m in now is relatively new and basically focuses on coaching. Back at my old school, I would participate and win in lots of competitions. Any ideas?</p>
<p>@ B@r!um:</p>
<p>Does that mean we have to send a school info/profile along with the SSR? Or is it optional?</p>
<p>Just curious…how do colleges evaluate those school profiles when most of the international schools do not provide such SAT and GPA data (most do not issue GPA but grades and grade boundaries can vary from school to school.) o_O</p>
<p>School profiles are optional but highly encouraged. </p>
<p><a href=“most%20do%20not%20issue%20GPA%20but%20grades%20and%20grade%20boundaries%20can%20vary%20from%20school%20to%20school.”>quote</a>
[/quote]
That’s exactly why information on the distribution of grades is so useful! For example, just how good is a mark of 8 on a 10-1 scale? It might be really good (if only 5% of all grades given were 9-10s) or below average (if 50% of all grades given were 9-10s) but there’s really no way of telling without additional information. Any information that you can provide about the distribution of grades at your own school would help colleges evaluate your transcript in its proper context. </p>
<p>If your school does not send many students to US universities, no one expects you to have information on your typical SAT scores or what sort of US colleges past students have attended. However, any sort of information that will help US colleges compare your high school to other high schools would be very much appreciated.</p>
<p>For example: if not everyone can attend your high school, what are the minimum admission requirements and the typical profile of entering students? How do students at your school do on national exams (e.g. IIT entrance exams) compared to the national average? Data like this will help colleges appreciate the rigor of your high school. </p>
<p>
I am afraid that I am unable to answer this question. I have never worked inside a college admissions office, and my best guess could be false. Common sense tells me to get the best letters you can get. For an American audience, “good” means positive and <em>detailed</em>. For example, adjectives like “creative” or “hard-working” mean very little without specific examples illustrating your creativity or work ethics. If you could get such a letter from your grade 9-10 teachers and not your current teachers, the older teachers might be the better pick.</p>
<p>
The best way I can think of would be to call courses by descriptive names that would be used in the US. For example, “math” could be just about anything but “geometry”, “pre-calculus” (trigonometry, conic sections, complex numbers, vector geometry, maybe an introduction to limits), “calculus”, “statistics” or “linear algebra” are well understood.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, I can get all that stuff; however, I think I’ll have to sit down with the principal and walk him through the whole process.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My HS is in a partnership with a coaching institute to provide IIT coaching. The official HS stuff is handled by the HS staff, while most of the core subjects are taught by the coaching institute. Also, it’s a very new program; so, no one from my HS has even written the IIT exam yet. Could I provide statistics from the coaching institute instead, as they’ve been doing this for 7+ years?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Then. I’ll definitely get them from my 9-10 teachers. They know me really, really well. They could definitely provide a detailed description.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is there a way to compare them to AP or Honors classes; whatever those are?</p>
<p>
I really doubt your choice of doing so. The reason is that coaching classes/coaching schools are really not official academic authorities. But I believe you can just ask the respective authority to write a letter explaining the process.
AP’s are just advanced level courses similar to that of GCE A Levels/IB/Abitur but less rigorous compared to those.</p>
<p>
Not really. AP classes are classes that follow a standardized curriculum set by the Collegeboard, which culminates in AP exams. Honors classes are just “harder” versions of the “normal” classes offered by the same school. </p>
<p>
I agree with Decibel that that probably won’t be very useful information, unless the coaching institute’s past clientel has the same make-up as your current high school class.</p>
<p>@decibel -
</p>
<p>Ok. I’ll look into that.</p>
<p>@barium-</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It actually does. So could I use that information?</p>
<p>Also, this is my last day on CC before I write the SAT 1 on May5. I need to study w.o any distractions, now. 
Any pointers for the SAT?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>PS I’ll be returning afterwards. Since the commonapp will be out in Aug.; I should probably narrow down a list of colleges before that right? I think I have ample time? Also, what do you think of Purdue U, LeHigh U, Lafayette U, and Trinity College?</p>