<p>I wanted to apply to several US colleges, and I'm doing SAT this october. The problem is, I don't go to international school and that CR part is really hard. Then I asked few people and they think that admission officers have more understanding for students like me. Although I'm not speaking about score of 1500 or lower, I still don't know if perhaps 1800+ would be enough. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>It depends on the schools you are applying to. For top tier colleges (such as the Ivies), an 1800+ won’t cut it. It is very possible to improve your score though. Just practice more and you will see improvement.</p>
<p>I heard that Colleges might take international students’ reading score more tolerantly, but that’s about 50 points lower than those of local students. Instead, international students have to score higher on math.</p>
<p>That’s not true. You are competing with all the international students out there, including some brilliant students from Asia, Europe and Australia.</p>
<p>Many of them can score as high as 2200+, adcons won’t look leniently on your low score.</p>
<p>What I would suggest is that don’t ever let your foreigner status pulls you back. </p>
<p>Read more, read dense, practice a lot and memorize many vocabularies. </p>
<p>CR is a monster, but keep in mind, it’s beatable and learnable.</p>
<p>Well…Then I’m screwed…I mean, I’m not even sure I’m gonna have that score, but I’m pretty sure I can’t outreach it…I did plan on Brown and UPenn…
Anyways, everything else on my application is good… 4.0 GPA (when translated), a LOT of EC, great essay…I’ve spent a month in US on Youth Leadership Program, sponsored by State Department and they gave us tons of recommendations and stuff like that…Idk…The only obstacle I see are those damn SATs…Maybe they’ll understand that I didn’t take any classes in English (except English class lol), nor I ever took any courses in this language…But still, I manage to communicate normally…speaking, reading, etc…</p>
<p>They’ll look at your Cr score in context.
Look at the act. Some students like the format better.
The youth leadership program is a big plus in your favor. Have you kept in contact with anyone that could give you advice and/or write you a recommendation ?<br>
All in all though remember that your odds of getting into the two schools you named are under 1 in 10.
What characteristics do you especially like ? You need to find schools that are similar but easier to get into.
One school you should definitely look at with that profile - youth leadership - is Macalester.</p>
<p>Okay, so here’s my list:</p>
<p>Brown University<br>
Colby College
Colgate University
College of the Atlantic (safety choice)
Connecticut College
Quinnipiac University (safety choice)
Skidmore College
Smith College
University of Pennsylvania
Vassar College
Honestly, I don’t know what to do. Brown is my dream school and I was going to apply ED.
I don’t want any of these schools to think I don’t have enough knowledge or potential, or that my high school is too easy (trust me, it’s not) just because stupid SAT scores say so (subjects too)… I mean, I’m one of the best students of my generation (we don’t have that percentage of class like you guys do, but I’m sure if we had, I’d be in first 5-10%)… Anyway, I really like to learn and stuff, but this kind of testing is just too much. You don’t have any idea how hard it is to learn world history for SAT II if your history classes were in Serbian language and everything you’ve learned were details and details about Europe and a bit of “new world”… We hardly ever mentioned Africa or Asia…Oh, and did I say that our educational sistem doesn’t let us choose our subjects? Every year is consisted of 14-15 subjects that you have to attend in order to pass. You may wonder how could I learn in one of your colleges if I can’t deal with SATs…Well, I think I could…I attended some econ classes at UW Seattle when I was in US…I understood literally everything and also liked it very much, so that’s why I want to try to study in US…</p>
<p>But that’s not all…My country also has this United World College…That’s something like attending 11th and 12th grade classes in English. All of those kids end up at one of US colleges (mostly the finest ones). I’m worried that, knowing about this school, they’ll say: Okay, here’s one more from Bosnia…lousy scores comparing the others from her country…well, better luck next time kido!
I wanted to explain all this in that additional information/resume on Common App, but I’m not sure they’ll read it. </p>
<p>I hate when people whine, but now that I’ve written all of this, I’m even more concerned…Damn it!</p>
<p>Sorry, I forgot to say:</p>
<p>There is no ACT testing in Bosnia and I am in contact with all of them and they will write me a recommendation. :)</p>
<p>Email the act company and see if they could set up one test date.
Excellent for your contacts.
By the way the fact you were selected for that program DOES tell colleges that you’re among the brightest in your whole country. Trust me the Us government does not go around paying a month long trip to just any random kid. They do it because they’ve identified you as a future leader go your country and they want to make sure you stand by the Us.
Apply to Brown Ed. but make sure you apply to other colleges RD. If you get in withdraw your application elsewhere. If you don’t get in Ed - and prepare yourself for that possibility - you’ll have other schools to fall back on.
Are you a girl? If so why apply to Smith but not Mount Holyoke and the other women’s colleges? How did you pick the schools? They run the gamut in setting size atmosphere …<br>
College of the Atlantic is a very small college with very few majors and I’m Mont what they’re like wrt financial aid for internationals.
I notice all your schools are in New England - why? Increase your odds by applying to schools in the Midwest. If you did well at UW why not apply to Lewis and Clark, Whitman etc? Don’t forget to look at Pa too 
Do you have a college guidebook? Fiske, or Insider’s guide or Princeton Review’s 378 best colleges?</p>
<p>*I’m not sure
…
Automatic spell check from hell</p>
<p>Ive seen internationals get near perfect in CR. I mean alot of kids. Theyre just crazy</p>
<p>I’m still gonna do the SAT to see what the scores will look like. If they are really bad, I might take your advice for ACT.
I chose Smith because I liked it the best as a whole college (classes, programs, campus), but I’m not really fond of going to all girls college. Also, Smith is in some kind of society of several colleges, so I could attend some classes at Amherst, for instance.
Yes, I know that College of the Atlantic is small and with few majors, but it’s nice and it does provide financial aid for internationals.
I chose New England because I have some family there, with whom I can spend winter holidays.
Yeah, I have that Princeton Review :)</p>
<p>Anyhow, what do you think about the idea to explain my status through the Common App supplement part? Would I look desperate?</p>
<p>Saying ur english is bad in the additional information wont come off well since their are intls who have good english. They will obviously prefer the intls with good english skills. Betterr to just leave it and let them wonder i guess. You could just be a bad test taker. Some kids just cant figure out standardized testing</p>
<p><em>there</em> </p>
<p>Before the grammar freaks start pointing it out</p>
<p>But dude, you’ve seen my writing… I have enough skills to speak, learn and do researches… If I don’t know what cacophony means (which I do), it doesn’t mean my English is bad… And I wasn’t going to say I don’t know the language, I was just going to explain that I’m not used to taking this kind of test.</p>
<p>Your major problem is that you view the SAT as some horrendous obstacle that’s impossible to overcome. I don’t mean to be a dick, but you need to stop whining and get to work. Standardized tests are going to be there for the rest of your life, and you need to get good at them. It’s not impossible to increase your SAT score to a 2100+. Everything you need is literally online so get to work as soon as possible.</p>
<p>I second omnipotent’s comment. What I really mean by saying " don’t ever let your foreigner status pulls you back " is stop looking for excuses and work your ass off on SAT.</p>
<p>I’m same as u in the schools conditions and stuff; we don’t get to choose courses and I was even in a science special class that destroyed my GPA in 10th grade. Trust me, there are tons of people just like u, and I know how hard it is if ur not in US educational system. SAT I’d definitely defeatable; after all u seem to be very bright. I used to thought it wasn’t, but then after one year, I did improved from a 1400 to a 2000-2100. It’s not that hard and I think u should stop concerning so much.</p>
<p>You’re studying right? You will improve that score. in any case it’snot a deal breaker. Your score will be understood in context : did you attend an international school? Does your national curriculum emphasize essays or multiple choice tests? Did you self teach or take a prep class ?
And whoever said these tests will be there for the rest of your schooling … not at the schools you’re aiming for. Nor will they be prevalent if you take honor classes. In fact a relatively low CR score can be offset by an excellent Writing score but neither is a deal breaker.
If you like the idea that Smith is in a consortium you would like Mount Holyoke which is part of the same consortium and Barnard which is in a partnership with Columbia.</p>