Hello,
Could anyone suggest me any colleges? I think I have enough reaches, but more suggestions would be welcome. I think I need to work on my safety/match list, however.
I’m looking for a college with:
-An urban/suburban setting
- Location does not matter to me (East coast, West coast, or South is ok)
- With financial aid
-Not overly party-focused, but an relatively active student body
-Small or Midsize, but not huge
-Will consider LACs, but few are in urban settings
My intended major is undecided, although I am considering a Biology major to later have a Public Health job. Otherwise, I would major in Political Science or something along those lines.
Here are my stats:
Academics:
-3.99 GPA (UW). 4.7 (W)
- 2130 SAT (750 Math and Writing, 630 Reading). Took it only once, so will prep over summer and try to bring up CR to 750.
-Rigorous Schedule: 11 Honors/12 APs
-Waiting on SAT IIs
Extracurriculars:
-Founder of learning platform, and partnered with a school district to adopt it in afterschool programs
-Currently working on an EdTech startup with some friends
-Founder and President of a solely student-run organization that partners with regional/state organizations to collect/distribute items needed for the poor
-Have personal Tutoring Business and volunteer as tutor/mentor for an organization to help poor students
-President of Science Club and Medical Internship: Coauthoring a review with a private clinic (Out of country and unpaid)
-President of Debate Club and Internship with Law Firm: Wrote an investment report now used by lawyers to attract foreign outsourcing clients (Also out of country and unpaid)
-Club Soccer
-Varsity Soccer (All Years)
Recs will be excellent.
Unknown if I will be applying as domestic or international.
Thanks.
How is it you don’t know your visa status? That is a key element of getting aid. As is ‘need.’ So if you want people to suggest colleges that is critical. International or no. If domestic, what state of residence. Qualifies for need aid or must have merit and how much over what you can pay?
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Unknown if I will be applying as domestic or international.
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???
What does that mean? Either you’re a US citizen/green card holder…or you’re not. What are you?
Macalester - and urban LAC. If you are an int’l, they are also one of the schools with more generous financial aid for int’s - but your chances are much better everywhere if you are applying as domestic candidate. Otherwise, you will definitely need to bring the SAT up unless you are coming from a country from which they get few applicants.
@BrownParent @mom2collegekids The necessary steps have been taken already to get my Permanent Residency approved, it’s just that the USCIS will issue the Green Card anywhere from October of this year to April of next. Obviously, if they issue it before most college deadlines, then I’m fine. If not, and they issue it sometime after January and most college deadlines, then I would be applying as an international. I live and study in America, in the South.
@N’s mom If I can bring up my CR to a 750, will I be good?
Here’s the rule of thumb: Go to the Common Data Set for a given school (google it) and scroll down to Section C, which shows the stats for the accepted student population. If you are looking for a lot of merit aid and/or scholarships, and you don’t have a hook, then you need to have stats that put you in the top 25% of their accepted class.
For example, with Macalester: http://www.macalester.edu/ir/institutionaldata/cds.pdf
You’ll see that 45% of the admitted students had SAT V scores above 700. Another 47% had scores between 600 and 700. Scholarships are probably not going to the unhooked kids with verbal scores below 750 at Macalester unless they have something else special to offer. (The country you are applying from is relevant in this respect.)
Now look at Rhodes, in Memphis:http://www.rhodes.edu/ir/1328.asp
24% of the students have SAT Verbal scores above 700 and 53% are above 600. Chances are better here, assuming they both have the same number of merit scholarships available - and available to internationals (not a good assumption - you’ll have to look up that info. Some schools have money for this, like Macalester, and others don’t. Not sure of Rhodes’ position.)
I second Macalester. Also check out Brandeis, Occidental, Lehigh, University of Rochester, and Case Western.
@lalalemma Thank you, I was looking into Case Western
I’m also interested in the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Is anyone familiar with this school?
Anyone have any other college suggestions?
If you apply as an international who needs significant financial aid, you will automatically be relegated to one of the most competitive pools of applicants looking for admission to US schools. You will therefore need to apply to a range of much less academically competitive schools to make sure you get in somewhere with enough financial aid. This is not a desirable strategy.
I suggest you contact schools to which you are hoping to apply. Tell them that you want to apply as a domestic applicant and that you expect your green card to arrive before you enroll. Get an email in hand from someone in admissions acknowledging that this would be okay. You don’t want to apply as an international - for the reason above - but you don’t want to lie on the application by saying you are domestic when your status is influx. Make sure if you do apply as a domestic applicant that you note your status in the application if your green card has not arrived by the time you actually apply and note that you had contacted admissions in advance about this.
If you apply as a domestic applicants and your green card does NOT arrive in time for you to enroll as a domestic applicant, take a gap year (you can almost always defer admission for a legit reason and this is one) until that green card arrives so that you are not enrolled as an international. You don’t want to be in a ‘bait and switch’ situation where you apply as a domestic applicant and show up as an international student. You could (and probably would) have your admission rescinded.
Alternatively, take a gap year and work so you can have your immigration status clearly defined at the time you apply and you will be eligible for any and all scholarships and financial aid available to domestic applicants.
This is a long preamble to saying that the list of schools that I’d suggest for a domestic applicant with your stats who need financial aid is entirely different from the schools that I’d suggest for an international needing financial aid because as an international needing aid, your chances are much lower everywhere.
for potential scholarships, Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and University of Montana and Montana State…
Yes, apply to Alabama for their assured large merit for your stats.
How much can your family pay each year?
If you go to a small college, you can ask to have a private meeting with the admissions and/or financial aid office to discuss your particular case since each is likely to want you to approach it differently. You can also try this at larger schools, but they are less likely to find time for you.
Otherwise, aim for colleges with good merit scholarships that are your safety schools. There are several decent colleges out there who would through a lot of merit money your way so that you won’t have to be as concerned about how financial aid will work.
If you have your green card on time, with your family contribution + Federal loans + modest hours of working during the summer and/or the school year, you more than cover the costs of living at UAlabama Tuscaloosa. Apply as soon as the app is up, because you qualify for an automatic full-tuition scholarship, along with Honors Dorms, Honors college, priority registration, and the opportunity to apply to special programs within the Honors College (such as STEM MBA). It’s not too large, all your AP’s apply so you’ll have 2 semesters of scholarship to use toward a second major or a Master’s degree. Sounds likethe perfect safety for you.
At 1380 SAT CR+M, you are 20 points short of the automatic full tuition scholarship at Alabama. Would the Alabama-knowledgeable people know whether this is given to international as well as domestic students? If so, it would be worth a retry on the SAT and/or the ACT (for a 32).
Your stats would give you automatic full tuition plus room at Howard if you apply early enough. It appears that these scholarships are available to international students (see article about students from Nepal attending there).
Obviously, the scholarship and financial aid options are much more numerous if you become a permanent resident.
Yes, it’s given to internationals as well as domestic applicants. I agree that being 20 points short means a retry would be a very worthwhile investment :).
@ucbalumnus @MYOS1634 Thank you very much! I will certainly retake the SAT and perhaps the ACT, in which I got a 31. This was only my first time taking both, so I will certainly study more and retake in fall.