<p>So I'm a current italian high school student ( 4th year , we have five years ) who is totally going nuts because of college admission .
I want to enroll in a us college , most likely a ivy one ( or one that gives financial help to internationals students ) but I'm so confused about the whole process.
I know you need to have very high marks , n I'm probably gonna have them in my final exam next year , n to do a lot of extracurricular activities . The point is in italy we don't have that kind of stuff , I'm a member of every single club in the school n they are 4 , neither volunteering is common , even if i'm thinking of trying with the red cross . So I really don't know what to do to improve my chances , I went to a 6 months foreign exchange program in Australia this year n every summer attended english camps abroad but I think it's not enough. ( may some references from my aussie teachers be useful ? I had all As over there ) Yesterday I went to an educational meeting n they told me I can hire a college consultant ( there was there a man representing Antogo llc , ever heard of that ? ) , would that be useful . I wanna study human sciences/psychology/philosophy n work in the research field n I found some ( quite expensive , I must say ) internship programs in the uni of pennsylvania about that , again would that help me ? I just found out about TASP but I think it's too late , isn't it ?
So yeah that's pretty much everything , thanks for the attention :)</p>
<p>p.s. : I had a poem published n win a competition , besides I may as well join the school newspaper n publish some articles in my town's newspaper .</p>
<p>Read through the whole website, then make an appointment with the counselors at the Advising Center closest to where you live. They are the experts.</p>
<p>Some short tips: Give them a sense of who you are and specify which of all these extra curricular activities is your favorite and what you have done to further pursue that interest. Take the SAT and Toefl, and for Ivy schools you probably need at least 2150 or something like that, but also have some other amazing stats and/or awards. Toefl is not that important but you need to get at least 100 on the internet based version. I don’t know about the paper one. The school newspaper sounds like a good plan if you are interested and want to pursue writing at college (which practically everyone does in one way or another).</p>
<p>Lastly, don’t get hung up on Ivy schools, I did that as well at first, but there are at least one hundred other schools which are academically just as good (except for the prestige perhaps) and much easier to get in to. I waisted last year applying for only reach schools, and as an international student that was the worst decision I could have done. I hope you can learn from my mistakes! Good luck :)</p>
<p>Thank you Yeah I saw the ivy league admission rates n they are kind of depressing -.- I’m taking into consideration Amherst college and Duke university as well , the only thing I’m worried about is financial aid And did they look at your high school grades ? Like all the years grades or just the latest ?</p>
<p>For the schools at the Ivy League level, including Amherst and Duke, you should be top 1% to 5% of your class for at least the past two years, get 2200-2400 on the SAT and have a talent or leadership that is above the school level. It helps if you are a math genius. Do something unique this coming summer. Sign up for an SAT course, perhaps an online one, and prepare for the TOEFL.</p>
<p>They usually look at the last four grades of school, which is the equivalent of high school in the US. Some only look at the last three.
Yeah, the TOEFL’s not really important. It’s pretty much pass/fail. Get over 100 and you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Ah, about financial aid, well, if you’re an international who need financial aid, all schools are reaches for you. Most have acceptance rates of 10-20% if you need aid, but there are many top liberal arts colleges that are very generous with internationals once they get in. If you’re a girl, check out the Seven Sisters (actually 5). They’re women’s colleges, and they’re quite generous to internationals, but make sure to research them well, they’re not for everyone. </p>
<p>Also check out Brandeis U, Colby, Grinnell, Kenyon, Macalester, Reed, and pretty much all the CC Top LACs. Acceptance rate for internationals with financial need isn’t higher than 20%, but it’s still better than the Ivies XD</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with katliamom, if it’s a paid program that’s not selective at all, then I don’t think it’ll make a difference.</p>
<p>Hi(:
i am italian too,and i’d like to apply to a us college too!
anyway,being an international student really sucks, because of all the differences but it is not that much bad.
for the grades it is not difficult. i mean, it is, but you already have to have high grades for the maturit</p>
<p>Yeah. Getting all 9s would have been something like a suicide. Really impossible. But 8, oh well it is not easy, but it acceptable.
I was thinking about Harvard, Columbia and Brown. And maybe someothers (more are better!) but I still have to decide.
I’d like to go to an ivy,and for now my best choice is Harvard. Mostly because it gaves financial aid. Because that is my biggest problem.Oh and find something like volounteer or any award to put onto my application.</p>
<p>Where have you had the educational meeting? (:
That sounds really intresting! I live in a small town and if I say I’d like to study in the usa, the people gives me a creepy look. So I’d like to talk to someone who can explain me some things :D</p>
<p>I had it in milan , but that was the last for the year D: The others one are in switzerland and france -.-’’ When are you going to apply to uni ? I wanted to apply to an ivy as well , but I was told to apply to schools like brandeis and colby that have an admission rate of 20% for international students ( with financial aid ) which is definitely better than harvard’s 6,5 % -<em>- ( shame on them -</em>- ) and canada as well . I suppose you do my kind of school !!! SO BLOODY HARD ,isn’t it ? I feel like I’m on the death row . Seriously .</p>
<p>Oh crapp -.-"
I will be applying in two years (yeah, i still have time)…
It is difficult to be an international student. Plus an italian international student. We are really a few D:
I go to a classical high school (how do you say liceo classico in english? that name doesn’t exist!). so. freaking. bloody. hard.
I still do not know why I choosed this school. I literally sucks ar Greek. I can’t understand things. But I am pretty well in the translation part, so I keep it ok :)</p>
<p>I will check brandeis and colby, because being accepted by Harvard is an almost impossible dream… </p>
<p>I think you say grammar school but ours are more difficult lol Yeah , me too !!! And I have stupid teachers -_- I reckon you could go for the 4th and 5th year to IB which is international baccaulerate and graduate there , you will have much much more chances . You could try with england too !!! They are very very cheap and pretty good ( check ucl ) There is a uni in canada called simon fraiser , check there as well And you could look on harvard’s site whose schools the medicine graduate student come from . ( you can do undergraduate in one school and then apply to harvard’s medical school ) . Also the Seven Sister’s , they are for women , which . actually . makes . me .very very . sad . Seriously who wouldn’t like to meet guys from all over the world ? Which part of italy are you from ?</p>
<p>Oh,I’d love to do an IB!I think it gives you even credits for colleges! Have you done that? People usually say it is difficult, but I do not think: i mean, you choose the subject you want to study! how cool is that?
England is my second chance, there are pretty good colleges and there would be the greatest place for me and my carriere, but I still want to try with usa. But I think admissions aren’t easier, my cousin tryied to get in (oh,well, he wasn’t prepared and he had no good ecs, but he didn’t need financial aid, instad i do)
I have eliminated canada because of the weather, it is too cold for me.
my luck is that i sill have time to decide what schools to apply to, i think i will made a big list and then decide. and you? have you decided?
I am of the northen, near Milan. But in a small town in the country… and when i say small, i truly mean small :(</p>
<p>Tell me bout that !!! lol I live near turin , in this small , ugly , countryish village where you can smell cow scent in the morning -_- IB is very expensive thou D: But then again it depends on the school , there is just one in piemonte n is like *** seriously I could like rob a bank and still run out of money in less than a week I am gonna apply to every single school that gives aid to international students do the same In case I get in a college , I could write a reference for you , which possibly would help ? Those bastards ( seriously that’s all you can say ) really like legacies . Which means if ur mom went there u have 20% more possibility of getting in . That’s nepotism . I’m never ever gonna blame the church again D: But besides my personal opinions , maybe they’d appreciate if u had contacts on campus :D</p>
<p>Ahah, I totally understand you…
I live in Piemonte too! (but i am nearest Milan than Turin)
I though about going to an IB school somewhere… Money is my biggest problem. Even for college!
I hate nepotism, i was even shocked when i found out about letters of reccomandation for the admission. but that is the normality in the us. that is really strange to me!
But I’d really appreciate if you will write something
are you going to apply next year,right?
oh, and for ecs like volounteer, i think you can find something even in your town (or maybe near, that is more probabily)
all i came up thinking (for where i live) is LIBERA,the DONACIBO (ahah, dunno how to say it, but it is when you collect food and then give it to charity, usually in october if i remember right, there is the day of alimentar raise) in which i partecipated for 3 years and I am sure there is in other places too! and maybe you can do something at the redcross… but i am not so sure about this.
instead i think a great idea is doing a trip (my religion’s teacher organize this!) to a poor country to build schools and stuff like that. that would be really great!</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation are pretty good when they are from teachers , but not when they are from influent people and they just gets you in because they are famous I’m going to apply in December You know what you should volunteer at the hospital You maybe need some course thou And ec’s are great but I study 15 hours a day :o It’s really stressing , trust me next year is gonna be killing mode all the time For financial aid you should just apply to every uni that gives aid and to scholarship and someone will get you in I’m definitely gonna write you some reference if I get in !</p>
Yeah I saw the ivy league admission rates n they are kind of depressing -.- I’m taking into consideration Amherst college and Duke university as well , the only thing I’m worried about is financial aid 
And did they look at your high school grades ? Like all the years grades or just the latest ?</p>
I’m happy a 8 is like an A 
And ec’s are great but I study 15 hours a day :o It’s really stressing , trust me next year is gonna be killing mode all the time