Chance a non-citizen minority! (Help with matches, safeties, SCEA)

Applying to College
1

<p>Intended Major: Classics
Race: Hispanic (El Salvador), but not URM because I’m not a resident/citizen, although I live in Virginia and pay taxes. (sigh)</p>

<p>Test Scores: SAT I (780 CR, 710 M, 800 W = 2290 2nd sitting) (may take again for math)
SAT II: Latin (750 1st time, 800 2nd time), World (780), US (800), Lit (750)
AP’s: World- 5, took APUSH, lang, psych this year
Grades after 11th: 4.0 unweighted (despite some close calls!), 4.391 weighted</p>

<p>HS Courses on transcript:</p>

<p>8th- Latin I, Algebra I HN
9th- Latin II, Geometry HN, PreAP World, PreAP Eng 9, Bio HN, Journalism 1
10th- Latin III, Alg II HN, AP World, PreAP Eng 10, Chem HN, Journalism 2
11th-Latin IV, Precalc/Trig HN, APUSH, AP Lang, Physics HN, AP Psych, Journalism 3
12th- AP Vergil, AP Calc BC, AP Combined US/Comp Gov, AP Lit, AP Enviro, AP Euro, Journalism 4</p>

<p>EC’s: (Top 5)
Teach attic Greek to classmates who have taken Latin, prepared them to take national greek exam.
Latin Club/Honor Society- consul of the former, president of the latter (same thing)
Certamen (Latin quiz bowl)- team captain. Have won 2nd pl level III, 4th pl level IV
School paper- Writer in 9th/10th, News Editor this year, Editor in chief for next year
Tae Kwon Do- Brown belt, have won multiple 1st place trophies for forms/sparring at local tournaments. Will participate in biggest tournament on east coast in august, which at my age/level may not have many contenders.</p>

<p>Recs: One from Latin teacher, one from lang teacher, both will very good. (both will definitely have specifics). Counselor rec may be generic as she has many students and is unfamiliar with out-of-state admissions.</p>

<p>Main essay: Will be about my struggles between fitting in with the latino culture I was born in vs. the Caucasian environment I’ve been raised in outside of my home, and how I realized that I don’t have to identify with either, I can be my own person and have the best of any world without limiting myself, evidenced by my ability to make friends with everyone from the ESL kids to the anime “nerds” to the upperclass lacrosse jocks, an ability I never would have thought possible before in years when I was shy.</p>

<p>Awards-
(See certamen above)
National Latin exam- gold (level II), gold (III), perfect paper (IV) (there were only about a dozen other perfects)
National Greek Exam- blue ribbon (only missed one question) on intro to greek exam (11th)
Medusa Myth test- laurel crown certificate (10th), bronze medal (11th)
National Roman Civ test- silver medal (11th)
CAMWS Translation contest- Top 50 letter of commendation</p>

<p>Awards from 2009 state latin convention- 1st place street certamen, 3rd place school spirit, 3rd place children’s book (craft), 5th place prose comp exam, 6th place poetry comp exam, 8th place grammar test</p>

<p>2010 state convention- 1st place sweepstakes (most accumulated points for grade 11), 1st place modern myth composition, 1st place English oratory, 1st place + best in show latin dramatic interpretation, 1st place + best in show Latin sight reading (they don’t normally give best in show for this), 2nd place grammar test, 2nd place prose comp test, 2nd pl latin lit test, 4th place children’s book (craft), 4th place art/architecture test, 5th place cartoon (art), 5th pl mythology test, 6th place latin derivatives test</p>

<p>2011 national convention- will happen this summer
2011 state convention- will happen late nov.</p>

<p>Other stuff:
-Accepted for attendance to Governor’s Latin academy, summer of soph year.
-Invited to participate in minority student panel to talk to Hispanic parents from feeder middle school about how to motivate their students to succeed in school.
-invited this summer to castra Latina to practice with state certamen teams to prepare for national convention.
-Will undoubtedly do community service at local Hispanic resource center this summer teaching English or will get a part-time job.</p>

<p>Colleges:
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Dartmouth
Brown
Duke
Colgate
U of Richmond</p>

<p>Because I’m not URM and am considered international, I’m not sure whether I should apply to Harvard (my first choice) or Princeton using SCEA because I’ll be pitted against “real” URM’s and athletic recruits. Also, because I am studying my butt off to dominate my state’s 2011 convention after EA apps are due, I’m not sure if the college will see my results. In addition to chancing me, I would appreciate any more suggestions for colleges, especially financial matches and safeties. Many of the matches and safeties I had considered before offer no FA to internationals, so I’m only left with the list above for now. Financial aid is very important to me. Income is in the low 70,000’s and was in the high 50’s until recently because my father had been unemployed for five years. Also, it is quintessential that the school be accepting of gay guys (i.e. I can fit in as a typical student, and not just be part of a niche group). Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Someone please help! Sorry for the length. </p>

<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC App</p>

3

<p>are you a permanent resident? if you live in america
(which i think you do?) then i dont think you’re international</p>

4

<p>I live in America but I am not a permanent resident because I don’t have a green card. I have TPS, which means I am legal so long as the U.S. keeps extending this status, but don’t qualify for any federal aid, etc and don’t qualify as an eligible-non-citizen</p>

5

<p>Not one of those is a safety for an international applicant. Truth be told, since you need aid, you don’t have a safety anywhere in the country. You need to dig a bit deeper and find other places that do offer some aid to international applicants. There are a lot of institutions that do. Even if there is only one BIG scholarship awarded to an international applicant each year, you should be applying to that college or university if it offers your major.</p>

<p>For a Classics major, outside the usual suspects (Harvard, Yale, etc.) there are decent options at the LACs. Byn Mawr if you are female, Haverford so you can major at Bryn Mawr if you are male, just about any Jesuit university, or even some of the better Lutheran colleges. Back in the stone age when I was an Archaeology major, Emory had a good classics department as well. I have no idea whether or not that is still true.</p>

<p>Fortunately, with TPS you have a work permit. That means even if you don’t get any significant aid, you can always get a job to help cover your expenses. Not the easiest way to go to college I know, but it may make things workable.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve started looking at Washington and Lee as a pseudo-safety. My stats exceed their middle 50%, they have financial aid for a limited amount of internationals, and some friends of mine have gotten accepted with less than stellar applications.</p>

7

<p>Bumppppp</p>

<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC App</p>

8

<p>Yoooo</p>

<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC App</p>

9

<p>

Why wouldn’t you? Harvard and Princeton are two of the very few colleges that disregard international status in admissions and provide full financial aid to international students. With your profile, I think you have a decent shot at either and strongly encourage a SCEA application.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I agree with happymom. Safeties are a difficult thing to come by for international students with need. A few possibilities:
[ul][<em>]U Minnesota has a rather reasonable tuition + room/board rate of ~$24,000 for OOS students and an excellent classics program.
[</em>]Cincinnati would be a safety and offers merit scholarships to international students. It has a better classics program than many elite universities.
[<em>]Boston U provides no financial aid to international students, but merit aid there may be a possibility. The scholarships are pretty hefty and usually cover tuition. Both classics and archaeology are very strong.
[</em>]USC - See Boston U. It would be a match rather than a safety. Merit aid would be more likely if you could raise your math SAT.[/ul]</p>

<p>Look over [this</a> list](<a href=“http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml]this”>Schools with Financial Aid for International Students - eduPASS) of schools providing financial aid to international students. Colleges with particularly good classics programs in each category:
[ul][<em>]150+: Harvard, Penn, Princeton
[</em>]100-149: Brown, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Oberlin, Stanford, Yale
[<em>]50-99: Beloit, Brandeis, Columbia, Cornell, Franklin & Marshall, GWU, Tulane, Wesleyan, WUStL
[</em>]15-49: Amherst, Bard, Bowdoin, Chicago, Colgate, CU Boulder, Davidson, Hamilton, Johns Hopkins, Kenyon, Swarthmore, Williams[/ul]
Unfortunately, I think your level of proficiency in Latin would prove problematic at most LACs, as only a handful regularly offer more than the first two years of the language.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m quite good enough to earn merit awards at BU (especially in Latin, those prep kids are fierce), so won’t apply there. I’m reconsidering Duke if you can post or PM me regarding your own personal and academic experiences! My list has actually changed a little. Dartmouth is now high up there, as is williams. I’m applying for WoW if anyone has any experience regarding this trip. I believe it is also now need-blind for internationals as well!</p>