Hi! So I am a high school student in Spain and so I was thinking of going to the US to study (So that you know I study with the British curriculum, and I am mostly an A student). However, I am not sure what college/ university would be the best for me and the most suitable for me. I really would like to go to a university with lots of diversity but not too liberal neither too religious. I am a christian, but I do not want to go to a christian university, however I neither want to go to a university were I cannot be christian openly. At the same time, I would really enjoy going to a University with a strong school/ team spirit, as well as with amazing happy energy. Also, a well ranked university is what I’m looking for. As you may see, I have a lot of requirements, which may be the reason why it has been difficult for me to find a good match. So if someone could help me, I will be so grateful!! Thank you so much!!
What can your family afford to pay?
What subject would you like to major in?
What job are you getting yourself ready for, and are there employers in Spain or elsewhere in the EU who will hire you for that job if you raduate from a college or university in the US?
Those are the questions that really matter for an international student.
Boston College comes to mind, seems to push all your buttons and getting there should be quite easy from a major Spanish airport.
“I really would like to go to a university with lots of diversity but not too liberal neither too religious. I am a christian, but I do not want to go to a christian university, however I neither want to go to a university were I cannot be christian openly.”
HootieA, BC is a Catholic institution, and the OP said he does not want to go to a Christian university. He also said he wants a university with “lots of diversity”. I am not sure BC fits that criterion either, with only 2% of its student coming from overseas.
littlestudent7, happymomof1 asks very important questions. In addition to her questions, how did you do on the SAT?
My family will be able to afford everything, so money should not be a problem. I would like to major in a BA of International relations. And finally I would like to work in a non profit organization, and perhaps in the future create my own non profit to help mostly needed children. At the same time, I would like to be involved in International business< I would like to start my own business.
In British curriculum we do not do SATs but we do the IGCSEs, which are the same as the GCSEs but International. In these I got mostly all As and A stars. So, in conclusion, I did pretty well.
The SAT is a requirement for many universities. IGCSEs are great, and your strong results will definitely help you, but it does not exempt you from having to do the SAT for most good universities. There are exceptions for A Level students, such as Wesleyan University and NYU, and you have many very good colleges that are SAT optional, like Bates, Bowdoin, Grinnell, Macalester and Wake Forest, but most good universities will ask for the SAT.
You mentioned International Relations as a possible major. Georgetown and Tufts are both excellent, but both of them require the SAT and the SAT subject tests.
Do you know of any Universities with a high population of international students
And perhaps some universities which accept the IGCSEs
Boston College is Catholic in flavor. An Eastern Catholic School that is Jesuit is nothing like a “christian” school. I am going to guess 30-40% of students are not Catholic and those that are maybe 5% go to mass or even talk about religion.
@littlestudent7 Why does it matter how many international students are there. Aren;t you coming here to experience the US? In fact with admissions harder for international students, you would want to stay away from schools with high populations. You are Spanish too. I don’t think any kid at BC is going to treat you any different because you are coming from Spain.
@HootieA Catholics are christian.
Googled and found this list of US schools that accept IGCSEs. There are 20.
University of Southern California
• Columbia University
• Purdue University, Main Campus
• New York University
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Boston University
• The Ohio State University, Main Campus
• SUNY - University at Buffalo
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Florida
• Cornell University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Harvard University
• Texas A&M University
• Indiana University at Bloomington
• University of Maryland College Park
• University of Houston
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
@me29034 No kidding duh, but we refer and many others delineate “christian” schools like Evangelical schools from Catholic schools. In Europe, there is very little Christian religion that is Evangelical in nature. Spain is a decidedly Catholic country where the term “Christian” is used differently and much narrower than here.
Boston College is extremely Catholic-light. BTW even Notre Dame and Holy Cross are considered by church authorities to be very lacking in being Catholic.
US News has a list of universities with the greatest population of international students. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/most-international
@bouders Yes and about 70% nationally are from China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan. Europe has very very low representation at US colleges, so in this case it doesn’t matter. The Middle East is growing rapidly, at 10%.
You made a good point! I understand
@HootieA The OP didn’t ask for a university with a large percentage of Europeans.
Thank you so much @me29034
Why would a European student make it a priority to pick a school with a high international component of Asians, who generally do not acclimate and socialize with the greater student body? Makes zero sense.
@littlestudent what ever floats your boat
Thank you too @HootieA