<p>Hi there,
I am a Canadian student and will start applying to colleges in the summer. I was thinking of looking into California and Florida colleges. My grades in my freshman and sophomore years of high school were TERRIBLE. However, they are much better now. The canadian grading system is different than the american one. Overall, so far, I have a gpa of 3.3 and I am aiming for at least a 25 on the ACT. I am not considering any sort of aid. Where do you think I can I get in? FIU? FAU? Maybe UMiami and UCLA? btw U Miami DOES NOT require standardized tests from international students. Are there any other decent colleges I could get in??? Also, are physical education marks important? </p>
<p>I have a job at a medical clinic.
I volunteer at the hospital.
I am part of the social justice club, business club, debate club.
I play soccer and badminton.
I do dancing and boxing.
I have volunteered at third world countries outside of Canada.
I tutor children. </p>
<p>I don’t know about any schools in Florida but UCLA is a reach with your GPA and ACT. You would need at GPA of 4.0+ and ACT of 30+ to be in running. If you are interested in the UC’s, you only chances many be UCR and UCM. Good Luck. There are many Cal States and privates in California that would gladly take you. Just keep on researching.</p>
<p>I’m a Canadian going to USA next year. Your college search will be 1000x easier than mine if you don’t need any financial help. Here’s the deal, I cannot stress enough how important standardized tests are for international students especially if you’re applying to large public schools like UCLA because its not worth their time “converting” your grades into US standards when they can easily compare your ACT along side American applicants. A 25 would be LOW but Miami (Fl) won’t need to see it unless you need aid (which you don’t!) so I’d look into that some more.
Rather than asking about every single school on this forum, id suggest using about.com to compare your ACT scores with accepted students. Here’s UCLA’s profile… </p>
<p>What you’re looking for is the ACT composite scores. UCLA is 25/31 That means anything less than a 25 would put you in the bottom 25% of accepted students. The top 25% of the admitted class had above a 31. For any school, if your ACT is below the first number then its going to be a reach to get in. If you fall within the two numbers (25-31) then its a “match”. If your score is above the second number (31) then you consider it a “safety” meaning you can pretty much guarantee they’ll accept you.</p>
<p>I’m going to assume you’re coming to the US for the weather (judging by the states you’ve selected) but I’d recommend broadening your search to a few more states in the sun belt. Who knows maybe you’ll fall in love with a school in Arizona, Georgia etc…</p>
<p>If you have a 3.3-3.5 and 25-26 on the ACT, you can apply to FAU, USF, UWF, perhaps UNF, plus Eckerd and Flagler. In California, the UC’s require 3.4 from internationals so you’d have to look at the CSUs but with impaction I wouldn’t really pay OOS costs for a CSU. You have LMU, Chapman, Whittier, St Mary’s of California, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco.
In AZ you have ASU and Westminster Mesa. In New Mexico, U New Mexico, New Mexico School of Mines. </p>
<p>The OP is better off getting research experience, good grades and good GRE scores at home and then s/he can try for a PhD in Florida or California but I recommend this path only if the OP feels that a PhD is in the long-term plans, if only because most worthwhile PhD programs are funded one way or another.</p>