You say you are applying to reaches, and then say you are confident that you will be accepted at all of them?
Umm… I did not say that at all. Not once. I’m saying the exact opposite. Applying to some reaches and as many safeties as possible… Because my chance of acceptance is quite low.
If you need significant financial aid, you aren’t going to find many, if any, colleges in the US that are safeties (virtually guaranteed admission AND affordable) for international students. If you share your stats, posters will be able to make better recommendations.
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Actually my stats are not quite ready yet. The tests dates have been postponed repeatedly due to the ongoing pandemic. I still have to give SAT and ACT.
My high school doesn’t calculate GPA… Only annual examination percentage
Grade 9-- 95%, class topper
Grade 10— 94.8% (external board exams), class topper
Grade 11— 80% , grade dip as both my parents were affected by Covid at that time.
Belong to extremely less represented ethnicity
Only student from my high school to clear Pre-Regional Maths Olympiad 3 years in a row in Grade 9, 10, 11.
Won a state level scholarship (rank- 7/60k+) which helped me study AP and honors level concepts at a private institution. (Parents wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise.)
Founder and President of Vocal Music Club of our school
Performed on the state radio several times.
Won gold at NCC state singing competition while attending a 10-days Camp (kind of like boy scouts).
Tutor neighborhood kids for free who can’t afford internet for online classes.
Volunteered maintenance duties and tutoring children for free at a rural school (when the lockdown was lifted for some time).
(Although my mother works at that school, it was still volunteer work. Hoping that won’t be a problem.
Actively participate and organised anti-bullying events in my high school.
Will have excellent teacher and counsellor recommendations.
Participated in several International MUN conferences during the pandemic. (Unfortunately, school doesn’t have an MUN club… Not much students interested)
Tackled a lot of problems in my past including domestic violence, bullying due to religion, homophobia… About which will write in my essay.
Won several medals at intra school and regional level in badminton, table tennis.
Advocated against gender assignment to a particular game (kho-kho/ called tag in Britain). Founded and leaded the first boys team ever in our school, also coached the boys selected for the team in next year.
Also, not that it helps much… or at all, but still — Professional touch typist (75 wpm)
So… yeah… That’s it. My ECs aren’t that good but I’m confident about my SAT and ACT scores… they’ll help a lot. And also I’m pretty good at essay writing… According to what almost all of my English teachers told me.
This doesn’t apply for international students.
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Your GPA could be an issue, I believe that is the number #1 item colleges look at for admissions and merit scholarships (at least this year with TO). Covid is something that affected almost everyone negatively.
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Well I wasn’t talking about quota or something. Several advisors told me that colleges try to create a diverse student body. So if I’m an international student from very underrepresented ethnicity and quite good Scores, that could work a little bit in my favour than the other students applying from my country.
If you look at what you previously wrote, you said few reaches and safeties.
If you’re talking about my grade 11, marks… That was not in my hands. My parents were sick. I had to take care of them, and take care of the whole house along with my sis who’s got college.
I believe my freshman and sophomore year grades are good though… Anything above 92-93 % here is considered quite good.
Could you mention the specific part please??
EVERY college and university is different. No two are alike.
They ALL vary in:
Location
Weather
Size
Transportation
Personality
Cost
Fit
Religious affiliation (if any)
Seeing the campuses, virtually, does not indicate the feel of the community.
You might get into a large university where the campus sits in the middle of a farming community.
You might get into a campus that sits in the middle of a large city, but the area is run-down or dangerous.
You may get into a college where the school is great, but getting to the location is tricky, requiring planes, buses, or trains. Once there, you are stuck.
You may get into a college where the teaching methods are based mostly on theory. What happens then?
I noticed that there was an international student who posted (within a year ago or so) about transferring out of the small, religious college he/she was attending. It was the only college that had admitted him/her.
Yes, he/she received considerable financial aid. Yes, the people were welcoming but, the school was just too small for him/her and, the weather and location were not a good match.
He/she was desperate to get out and was asking about transfer options to another college, within the US, with good financial aid. If getting in as a freshman, with good financial aid is very limiting, imagine the hurdles a transfer student faces.
You need to narrow your scope because applying to 30 schools will be evident in your application. There is always additional information required by the schools.
You will be required to pay for US health insurance. The funding from colleges does not cover health insurance.
Hmm… I’m thinking maybe before applying, I’ll create a new thread with all schools that I’m applying to. That way, maybe some users might help me weed out schools which are not a good match for me.
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Colleges do try to create a diverse student body and the focus is on domestic students. For international students the two major factors are GPA and financial ability (except for schools that are need blind). They also group international students by country, so don’t count on being a URM to help you.
It’s probably better to do it sooner rather than later, as you could miss out on a college you didn’t think about before.
Ah well… I was kinda expecting that. Still… it never hurts to mention something like “becoming an inspiration/ one of the first”… or something like that in the essay🤷🤷
Yeah I will. Just weeding out some of them myself. Spending a lot of time on college sites now-a-days. Once I myself have made a list, will post it in a thread and hopefully people will participate like they did here😄
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Your sister is in college too? How much is her fees? Sounds like you’ll need essentially a full ride, which is insanely hard for international students. Can your parents handle both of your college education costs? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just go to a college in your home country?
Well she is in a local College. It’s manageable quite easily. Also, I’ll be applying for need based financial aid at any college I apply to. Our yearly income and assets are quite low, I’m quite sure if I’m accepted, I’ll get full ride. Which, once again, further decreases the chances of my acceptance, which I fully acknowledge. If I don’t get accepted at any Us college, I’ll ultimately have to attend college in my country. But our education system doesn’t sit well with me… And I atleast want to try, else I’ll never know if I even had a chance 🤷.
Ok, just making sure you have everything accounted for. College admissions is a lot of moving parts, and I wish you the best. Good luck!
Thanks a lot!
PS: The last ever SAT subject Tests are taking place on June 5. Many students from my country won’t have the chance to take them… Fortunately in my region, centres are still open. I do feel bad for them but this might give me teeny-weeny extra benefit in admissions process I guess😅.