<p>Hi all,
I am an international student applying to American colleges. So far, I have applied to UIUC, Georgia Tech and Purdue for biochemistry major. I was intended to apply to Purdue as my safety. However, today I was talking with one of my classmates and she told me I cannot use Purdue as my safety. So I am a little scared now. Since I am an international student, I am not sure about my chances. Now I am also applying to UCs, but those schools are basically my dream schools.
Can somebody suggest me some other schools which I can use as my safety?
Here is my info:
GPA 88.6/100(10,11)
93/100(9,10,11)
In my country, 9th grade is the last year of middle school, so the courses are much easier.
Toefl 107
SAT CR 630 MATH 800 W 680 Total 2110
SAT2 I took Math2 and Chem in Nov, and I can expect decent scores.
My school does not offer any APs, but I am self-studying Calculus BC, Statistics,Chem and Human Geo.
I have pretty weak ECs.(maybe 6/10) nothing special, no leadership
My most impressive award is the first prize of a creative writing contest.(nationwide)
I also have some other awards.(city-level and school-level)
I think my essays are very sincere. I am a good writer and I am pretty sure I present myself well.</p>
<p>Some great engineering schools off the top of my head are rose hulman, wpi, illinois institute of tech. They should take u. Wpi is extremely int’l friendly</p>
<p>UIUC does grant aid to international students. According to their 2012-13 Common Data Set (section H6), aid was awarded to 4197 international students for that year. That number apparently represents all undergrads. The average amount was $13,371. However, the total COA is over $40K.</p>
<p>Many other public universities do not grant aid to internationals. Georgia Tech does not. Purdue does, but the average award for 2012-13 was only $1,650. So if you need aid, you should check each school’s Common Data Set. You will not be granted a visa to study in the USA unless you can demonstrate ability to cover all costs.</p>
<p>The CDS looks like that aid is merit-based. It’s unknown if that’s awarded to incoming freshman, or if some/most is awarded to upper-classmen for performance (dept awards).</p>
<p>That said, if the OP needs lots of aid, then UIUC wouldn’t be the source.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies!! My parents told me that they are willing to cover all my educational costs. But actually I know that my family is not that rich. Maybe my mom and dad can manage to pay for my education, but there will be a lot of pressure. So if there is a chance to get some aid, I will definitely want to grab it. So currently I plan to apply to Mount Holyoke College(ED2) because I know LACs can offer scholarships to international students. But obviously, I will not use MHC as my safety, so I think I should stick with WPI or RPI as my safety college.</p>
<p>Unless you have the grades and ACT/SAT scores that would guarantee you admission at one of the colleges and universities in the US that admit students strictly based on their grades and ACT/SAT scores, you do not have a safety in the US. At best you have matches.</p>
<p>If your parents cannot afford the full cost of your education at a college or university that would guarantee admission based on your grades and ACT/SAT scores, then all you have here are reaches.</p>
<p>It really is that simple.</p>
<p>Talk with your parents. Find out what they can pay in USD each year for four years. You need to know that figure because if you are admitted ED to MHC you will have to decide very quickly based on the preliminary financial aid package. Frankly, if you do need aid, ED is not a good idea. You want to be able to compare financial aid packages between all of the places where you are admitted.</p>
<p>How badly do you want to study in the US? That will determine how deep and far you need to dig to find a financially safe institution here.</p>
<p>With these stats + being full pay, you are in at UC-SC and certainly UCR and UCM.
Same thing for CalPoly.
However, you don’t need a school of engineering for biochemistry.
Your 1st prize nationwide for creative writing would make you very interesting to Smith, which does have an engineering program (if you are politically liberal though), or to Bryn Mawr (physics, chemistry, or CS majors can then get automatically admitted to Penn for a master’s in engineering!) While those wouldn’t be safeties, they may be very good options.
Also look into University Rochester, Geneseo, and Dickinson College.
Another definite safety for you would be Juniata college. Superb for the sciences, especially if you consider how accessible it is.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. There is a lot of valuable info for me!!
Now I want to ask two separate questions:
What colleges do you think will be my safeties(I know no college will guarantee my admission, but what are the colleges I have a huge chance to get admitted) based on my stats and profile and international status if I don’t need to worry about money at all? Actually, I am the only child of my family,and my parents are sure they can cover my four years’ expenses if the school will not cost over $55000 per year, and I am definitely not applying to those super expensive schools.
I am also considering ask for some FA(probably$10000 per year to relieve my family’s pressure)by applying to LACs. I want to ask that if I apply to a college(let’s say, MHC) ED and ask for some FA(like $10000 per year) and get admitted, do I have to go if the college will not satisfy my FA request?
I am really new to this college applying stuff, so…
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>You don’t “request” a specific amount from the college. You send in your academic and financial information (only 6 colleges in the USn separate the two for internationals) and they decide whether you should receive a financial aid package or not. Typically, the first $2,000 will be a job on campus called “work study” because the work hours must be outside of class hours. Then the rest may be a grant or a loan, depending on how desirable your application is.
If you apply ED, get in, and receive insufficient financial aid, you are allowed to decline.</p>