Hey guys, I’m a French students but I live in New Caledonia (a French island). I’m deeply in love with American culture, especially students life and so I have decided to apply (as a freshman). A university teacher helps me but idk about my chances to get into those 2 universities. Also about my essays they are pretty good I guess since my past few years have been really intense ( 5 months in Australia, travelled around the world, French education, I love photography)
What are my chances to get into Schreyer or JHU
—> I am applying for International relations/studies or PoliSci WITH SCHOLARSHIP
If you have any tips or recommendations by the way ! Thank you
Here would be my GPA since we don’t have this system in France : ~3.8-4
AP does not exists in French schools.
my EC’s are pretty strong tho I guess.
-I am a member of the New Caledonian Youth Congress (56 members) representing not only the youth of the country but also the inhabitants of the communities. I am one of the 3 representatives of more than 100,000 people and the congress represents more than 280,000. Our role is to create projects and prepare the future of the island.
-Prize for Citizen Education awarded by the National Order of Merit. In 9th grade, I was an ambassador for Respect Zone, a non-governmental organization that aims to fight against harassment and intolerance. I was one of the first in France (and in the world, since it was created in France) to carry out the project, along with a delegation of students and my principal, who went to the award ceremony. After several years, we have received the support of several organizations: UNESCO, the French Ministry of Education and the European Commission among many others.
-I am the President of the Student Life Council of my high school, which represents a total of +1200 students. With the SLC we organize various activities and carry out different projects in various fields. All concern the High School.
-I am a member of the Board of Directors of my high school, which allows me to vote and make budgetary and societal decisions for the High School.
-I am a volunteer at the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). I have been involved for 2 years in preserving the species of plants in New Caledonia that are on the verge of extinction throughout the world.
-I am a referee of my class.
-I am an eco-delegate in my high school, which is like the WWF an ecological commitment that I took last year.
-I carried out a project to make my high school self-sufficient in energy and to register it in a dynamic of sustainable development.
When you say “with scholarship” how much financial aid do you need? The rest of this post assumes you mean a full ride.
What are your actual marks? what sort of school leaving exams are you sitting? Do you have any standardized test results (from anywhere?
US colleges/universities average 8-15% international students, so you can figure that your chances are much lower than a US citizen. So many applicants (citizens and international) want/need scholarships that there is a lot of competition for them. There are US colleges/universities that will meet the ‘full financial need’ of international students- but (except for 5 super-competitive ones), they will consider how much financial aid you need when deciding whether to take you.
You have some nice ECs, but it will take more than that to get a free/mostly free college education in the US.
ps, Penn State will not give a scholarship to an international student, so that’s a non-starter.
Hey ! Thank you for your quick answer ! Well for JHU we will ask for around 30K in scholarships which is I guess a lot, especially for an international student. My actual marks are an average overall of 16.5/20 almost 17/20. We do pass the French baccalaureate here. Unfortunately, SAT and ACT are not available on my island…I will give a proof of English proficiency though.
I get it intos are less likely to get into a uni but anyway I was just asking…let’s give it a try.
For PennState, sorry my bad, I was talking about merit scholarships which are, i reckon, given either to internationals or not ?
If you have any other idea of good universities I could apply to (with either aid or merit based) thank you
Penn State will not give you a meaningful amount of money under any heading. The merit scholarships are a drop in the bucket (most of them are just a few thousand $). Penn State is a public university (funded by Pennsylvania taxpayers), whereas JHU is a private university, and the difference is important when looking at finances. The public university system in Pennsylvania is stingier with it’s own citizens and taxpayers than most states- there are many states where you would have better possibilities. I’m not clear why you think Penn State is a great option for you, either financially or for your subject area.
For need based aid, you don’t ask for an amount- they tell you what they will give you. You / your family completes a very extensive financial document and the university decides how much they think you need (if they promise to “meet need”, as JHU does), or how much they think it is worth giving you (if they don’t “meet need” (Penn State). You/your family then decide whether you can pay the amount the university wants you to pay. You repeat the exercise every year, and the amount they expect you to pay can change, depending on how your family finances change.
Excellent on the Bac! most US universities will know how to evaluate that - unless they ask you to convert to a GPA stay with the Bac.
So, the cost of attendance at JHU is about US$70K/year, and you are asking for $30K, so you can afford to pay $40K/year? What is most important to you/your parents about university? If you want to be in the USA no matter what there are definitely universities where you can get admitted with your Bacc + $40K - but they might not be places that you have heard of.
We would pay up to 30K EURO for a very good university (basically if it is worth it). JHU was one of them and also it is a ‘’super reach’’ so my odds are low but definitely worth the shot. I have done my list already and will probably if i have time apply to Yale/Stanford if I got the time to but focusing on JHU and Tufts. Anyway I guess you answered all my questions and don’t want to take too much of your time ! If i dont get admitted in the USA then hope it will be the case for UK and Canada.
Thank you for all your answers and I wish you a good day
! If i dont get admitted in the USA 
then hope it will be the case for UK and Canada.