Hi, I wanted to see what are my odds of getting into big schools or Ivy League ones. I’m from Mexico and moved to MN in August 2017 for my junior year. I’m scare of not getting into any prestigious schools because of my lack of AP classes and extracurricular activity. In Mexico we don’t have sports or arts related extracurriculars as part of the school. So it is harder to do a lot of these in comparison to the USA. We are not allowedt decide which classes to take and didn’t have AP classes or some equivalent. I’m afraid of being discarded really fast just because of this. When I arrived to MN I was only able to sign up for one AP class because the rest were full already. Do you think they will understand if I describe why my course load doesn’t look very challenging? I found American classes to be really easy in comparison to what I was used to back at home and I applied for PSEO at the U of MN for my senior year. I’m mostly involve in music extracurriculars like choir and musical theatre productions. I don’t practice any sports (mainly because of health issues) but I did practiced Krav Maga and Track for a few months each. I graduated junior high with honors and received the award of 1st place of the generation, my current gpa is 3.98 and my act is 30 (I’ll take it for the second time in sept. and my target is a 34). I hope you can help me figure out if the schools can understand the situation of different education systems and the slight disadvantage it has given me. I’m a really determined person and if you give me some ideas to improve my chances and turn around this situation, I’ll do it. Thank you in advance for your help.
Schools will not hold it against you! They will see that you changed schools and there is a spot on the common app to add additional information if you feel you need to further specify your situation, or you could have your guidance counselor write about it in your recommendation. Definitely work on getting your ACT up and remember the Ivies and equivalent are reaches for everyone. Good luck!
What is your immigration status? Are you a citizen, do you have a green card, or are you here on a visa? If you are a citizen or have a green card, you are considered a domestic applicant for financial aid purposes. That will make a big difference for most places where you apply.
When you apply, you will need to provide official copies of your records from your school in Mexico and from your high school here. So be certain that you can get the Mexican records.
How much can your family afford to pay for your education each year? What do you think you want to study? Be sure that your application list includes some places that are easy to afford, and where you can study the major that you want. You need to have some safeties and matches on your list, not just reaches.
@happymomof1 I’m currently here on a non-immigrant visa (TD). I have all my Mexican records and with me and when I signed up at my school here in the USA they made a transcript with all the grade equivalents. I’m also wondering if I’ll be consider a domestic applicant or international. I already know my major, biomedical engineering. I’m thinking of applying to various institutes of technology and schools that focus on math/science and not too much on liberal arts. My parents can only pay up to 20k, so I’m really counting on getting financial aid and scholarships.
You are an international applicant for financial aid purposes. You might be an in-state applicant for public colleges and universities. Check the specific policies at each in-state college/university on your list. I don’t know the rules about TD visas and college-level study. @“b@r!um” might. It is likely that the international students office at U MN-TC would. So ask them. Sometimes it is possible to start college in one visa status, but then the student needs to change to F1 when they age out.
Your grades and test scores are good enough to qualify for some of the automatic full tuition and full ride scholarships listed in the thread on that topic at the top of the financial aid forum. Some of those are open to international students so check each one carefully this summer and fall to find out if there have been changes. @paul2752 has one of those scholarships and can give you more information about them. Raising your ACT score or getting an SAT score that is relatively higher will improve your changes of landing good merit-based aid. Many of these scholarships have early cut-off dates, so be ready to apply by the late summer.
What your family can pay, and what the colleges and universities will expect them to pay, are two different things. The Net Price Calculators at their websites are not accurate for international applicants. You will need to apply strategically. Truly, there is a lot of expertise in the financial aid forum. So spend some time reading through the threads there.
Each college and university sets its own policy about English proficiency exams. Save yourself a big headache. Plan now to take the TOEFL or IELTS. The TOEFL is a US exam so some of your strategies for taking the ACT will be effective. However, the topics, vocabulary, and format are different. You should do some specific review before taking the TOEFL. If you don’t want to spend money on prep books, look for current prep material at your public library. Make sure that is current. The test has changed over the years.